1934 Map of Ship Rock

About this map

Ship Rock rises as the central landmark of this high-desert landscape in the Navajo Indian Reservation, surveyed by Max J. Gleissner and R.O. Davis in the mid-1930s. The map captures a moment when travel through the San Juan Basin relied on the Red Rock Highway and various unimproved dirt roads that navigated the drainage networks of the Red Rock Wash and Ship Rock Wash. In the southwest corner, the Beautiful Mountains provide dramatic topographic relief near the Arizona-New Mexico border. Water sources, vital for pastoral life, are meticulously documented through labels like Sheep Spring, Sand Spring Wash, and Mud Spring. Geologic and topographic features such as Mitten Rock, The Thumb, and the Tocito Dome illustrate the erosion-carved character of the region, while the Ridge and White Rock define the eastern approach to the high country.