1950 Map of Onion Valley

About this map

The Middle Fork Feather River carves a deep path through this section of the Plumas National Forest, where a legacy of gold and chrome mining is recorded in the landscape. By the mid-20th century, many of the active sites had transitioned to inactive status, yet the map meticulously preserves their locations, including the White Pine Chrome Mine and Egbert Mines. The area around Rich Bar and McCarthy Bar along the river highlights early river-bottom claims, while higher elevations show the extensive Onion Valley Diggings and the now-vacant Onion Valley Site. This 1950 field-checked survey captures the transition from a resource-extraction economy to one focused on forest management, visible in the Feather River Experimental Forest and the development of the Onion Valley Reservoir.