1967 Map of Updegraff Ridge

About this map

The Northwestern Pacific railroad tracks follow the serpentine course of the Eel River through this isolated stretch of Mendocino and Trinity counties, where the canyon walls rise sharply toward Updegraff Ridge. During the mid-1960s, this landscape was defined by remote outposts such as Spyrock and Bell Springs, which served as vital connections for the surrounding cattle ranches. The map documents the extensive reach of the Round Valley Indian Reservation, with its boundary lines and numbered tracts cutting across the steep terrain of Island Mountain. Local life centered on established holdings like Island Mountain Ranch and Big Bend Ranch, while the interior remains accessible primarily by jeep trails. This survey captures the region just as the traditional ranching economy and the railroad still dictated the rhythm of these river canyons before modern shifts in transit and land use.