1958 Map of Pullman

About this map

The Snake River and Clearwater River meet at the hub of Lewiston and Clarkston, forming a geographic anchor for this mid-century look at the Palouse and northern Idaho. In the late 1950s, the landscape is defined by the deep canyons of the Snake River and the high plateaus where agricultural centers like Pullman and Moscow thrive. The complex transportation network of the era is evident through the winding routes of the Camas Prairie RR and the Northern Pacific RR, which navigated the difficult grades of the Craig Mountain plateau and the river valleys. To the east, the timber-heavy terrain of the Saint Joe National Forest and the Nez Perce Indian Reservation dominates, showing the transition from the rolling wheat fields of Whitman County to the steep, forested slopes of the Clearwater drainage near Orofino. Small railroad towns and settlements like Bovill, Elk River, and Pierce mark the reaches of industrial activity into the mountain interior.