1971 Map of Sagavanirktok C-5

About this map

The Kuparuk River winds through the northern portion of this 1971 survey, carving a complex series of oxbows and braided channels across the North Slope landscape. This document, produced just after the first aerial photography of the region in 1970, captures a wilderness at the dawn of modern exploration. The southern terrain rises significantly toward the White Hills, where the contour lines tighten against the expansive wetlands of the coastal plain. A solitary Winter Trail cuts across the northern tundra, marking the primary overland route for seasonal movement across this remote Alaskan territory. The land lines shown here represent unmarked locations predetermined by the Bureau of Land Management, reflecting a period when the vast interior remained largely unsurveyed on the ground.