1961 Map of Skagway B-8

About this map

The Alsek River cuts through the extreme northwestern corner of this territory, marking a rare break in a landscape dominated by massive glacial ice fields. This 1961 survey, based on aerial photography from the late 1940s and 1950s, documents the international boundary between British Columbia, Alaska and the Canada-United States border. The map is defined by its dramatic topography, where numerous crevasses are charted across the high-elevation ice, indicating the active and shifting nature of the glaciers at mid-century. Because no roads or trails are present, the sheet serves as a pure record of the physical frontier as it was understood by the U.S. Geological Survey and the International Boundary Commission before modern satellite mapping.