1955 Map of Mount Michelson C-4

About this map

Arctic National Wildlife Range dominates this mid-century topographic survey, revealing the remote landscape of Alaska's North Slope before modern development altered the region. The drainage of the Canning River carves through the western portion of the map, serving as a primary hydrologic corridor between the southern peaks and the northern coastal plain. The terrain is defined by the massive uplift of the Sadlerochit Mountains and the Shubelik Mountains, with Mount Copleston rising as a prominent landmark. Between these ranges, the Ignek Valley and the waters of Nanook Creek and Ignek Creek illustrate the glacial and fluvial processes that shaped this wilderness. This 1955 survey captures the area in a purely wild state, showing unsurveyed land lines predetermined by the Bureau of Land Management for one of the most remote corners of the American frontier.