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1966 Map of The Hogback North

Name: 1966 Topographic Map of The Hogback North
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1968
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1968

About this map

The Navajo Indian Reservation is dominated by the striking north-south ridge of The Hogback, a monocline that creates a dramatic vertical spine through the San Juan Basin. In the mid-1960s, this landscape supported significant industrial activity, notably the Hogback Oil Field and extensive Gravel Pits along the northern edge. The San Juan River provides a lifeline for the area, diverted into the Fruitland Irrigation Canal to support agriculture in this arid region.

Water management and industrial infrastructure are central to the terrain, evidenced by several pipelines, an Aqueduct, and large Tailings Ponds. The confluence of the Chaco River and the San Juan River marks the northern lowlands, while to the south, the landscape is carved by seasonal drainages like Chinde Wash. This map captures a moment of resource extraction and tribal land management before further modern development altered the basin.