1951 Map of Survey Pass

About this map

The Brooks Range dominates this mid-century topographic survey, serving as a continental divide between the Arctic and interior watersheds. The northern extent of the sheet includes the southern boundary of Naval Pet Reserve No 4, a massive government land withdrawal established decades earlier for petroleum exploration. The landscape is defined by the high, sharp Arrigetch Peaks and the sweeping courses of the Alatna River and Kobuk River. Large natural water bodies like Walker Lake and Nutuvukti Lake mark the transition into the Schwatka Mountains and Endicott Mountains. This map captures a vast interior wilderness with minimal human footprints, indicated only by a single Cabin and the Survey Pass that allows transit through the formidable mountain wall. The judicial division lines crossing the terrain illustrate the administrative organization of the territory in the years leading up to statehood.