1885 Map of San Rafael

About this map

Director J.W. Powell oversaw this early triangulation and topographic study of southern Utah, capturing the desert landscape as it was understood in the late nineteenth century. The drainage systems of the Green River and the Fremont River dominate the eastern and southern portions of the sheet, carving through the dramatic geography of Labyrinth Canon and past the Orange Cliffs. The interior is defined by the massive San Rafael Swell, a geologic feature that rises above the surrounding San Rafael Valley. Sparse human presence is recorded at the rail crossings of Blake and the small settlement of Tidwell. To the southwest, the Henry Mountains rise abruptly, anchored by the peak of Mt Ellen. This survey serves as a fundamental record of the high desert before modern infrastructure, detailing the precise relationship between the twisting river beds and the prominent escarpments that defined travel in Emery, Piute, and Garfield counties.