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1971 Map of Steamboat Point

Name: 1971 Topographic Map of Steamboat Point
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1980
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1980

About this map

Warner Valley dominates this 1971 landscape, a high-desert basin in Harney County where the terrain shifts from flat valley floor to the dramatic escarpments of Steamboat Point and Orijana. The map reveals a remote environment shaped by the necessities of livestock management and wildlife protection, evidenced by the Antelope Refuge Bddry stretching along its eastern edge. Water management in this arid corridor is central to the land's utility, marked by isolated sites like Drift Fence Waterhole, Middle Lake Waterhole, and Chrome Reservoir.

The presence of numerous Jeep Trails and unnamed trails winding through Kit Canyon and Orejiana Canyon suggests a network used for ranching and resource access. These tracks connect seasonal water sources like Mule Springs across the broad flats. This survey represents a specific era of land use in the Oregon high desert, where topographic relief and the availability of water dictated the movement of people and animals long before modern development reached this corner of the state.