1952 Map of Russian Mission B-2

About this map

Discovery Creek and Swift Creek define the drainage of this wetland-rich landscape in the northern Kuskokwim River region. The terrain is characterized by an intricate network of hundreds of unnamed ponds and lakes, as interpreted from aerial photography by the U.S. Geological Survey in the early 1950s. This specific environment reveals the complex hydrology of the Alaskan interior before modern development. A notable human element is the Winter Trail, which cuts across the marshy lowlands, providing a critical transportation link through a region otherwise dominated by water. The land lines shown here represent unsurveyed and unmarked locations predetermined by the Bureau of Land Management, reflecting the early administrative efforts to map this part of the Bethel area.