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1885 Map of San Rafael

Name: 1885 Topographic Map of San Rafael
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1901
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1901

About this map

San Rafael River and the winding Green River dominate this late nineteenth-century reconnaissance of southeastern Utah. The terrain is defined by the massive Swell and the jagged Orange Cliffs, showing a landscape where water and rock dictate the paths of early travel and commerce. The Rio Grande Western Ry cuts across the northern edge of the sheet, connecting the isolated settlements of Tidwell and Blake to the wider world.

Southward, the topography rises sharply into the Henry Mountains, capped by Mt Ellen. This map captures the region at a moment when the Fremont River and Labyrinth Canon were primary landmarks for surveyors and explorers like J.W. Powell. The early county boundaries of Emery, Piute, and Garfield reveal the political organization of this expansive territory before modern borders were fully refined.