1954 Map of Pilot Knob

About this map

Robbers Mountain and Pilot Knob anchor this high-desert landscape in the mid-1950s, a region defined by its reliance on scattered water sources and its transition into military stewardship. The map documents the Naval Reservation Boundary, marking the expansion of the Naval Ordnance Test Station across vast stretches of Grass Valley and Superior Valley. This period shows a landscape where early mining and ranching history, evidenced by Copper City (Site) and various unnamed Mines, began to give way to large-scale federal operations. Remote outposts like Granite Wells and Slocum Camp appear alongside critical desert hydrology, including the aptly named Moonshine Spring, Lead Pipe Spring, and the ephemeral Superior Lake. The presence of several Jeep Trails and the dry Seaburgs Well suggests a terrain that was surveyed just as modern off-road access and military testing were becoming the dominant forces in the Mojave.