1951 Map of Mobile

About this map

The Butterfield Stage Route cuts a diagonal path across this desert landscape, tracing a historical corridor of travel through the heart of the Rainbow Valley. To the southwest, the Maricopa Mts rise sharply, balanced by the towering Sierra Estrella in the northeast, where the boundary of the Gila River Indian Reservation is established. The southern portion of the map is dominated by the industrial spine of the Southern Pacific railroad, which links the small settlements of Mobile, Shawmut, and Estrella (Siding). This mid-century survey captures an era when transportation was defined by both the legacy of the old stage lines and the active heavy rail network. Features such as a lone Cem near Mobile and a remote Airstrip in the valley floor indicate the sparse, specialized land use in this arid region, where life was tethered to the intermittent drainage of Waterman Wash.