1918 Map of Spring Valley

About this map

Spring Valley occupies a distinctive position in the coastal hills of Colusa County, defined by a complex drainage system that would later see its primary waterway renamed to Cortina Creek. This 1918 edition, based on earlier surveys by E. M. Douglas and C. H. Birdseye, shows a landscape characterized by sharp topographical relief and seasonal watercourses. The network of streams, including Spring Valley Creek and its South Fork, as well as the nearby Old Cortina Creek and South Fork Cortina Creek, reveals how water shaped early settlement and land use in this Mediterranean climate. The detail of Chamisal Creek further illustrates the rugged nature of the western Sacramento Valley foothills during this period of early 20th-century land management.