1955 Map of Utukok River B-4

About this map

Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 encompasses this entire Arctic expanse, reflecting a mid-century period of strategic resource assessment in northern Alaska. The landscape is defined by the winding course of the Kokolik River in the northwest and the east-west flow of Avingak Creek, which cuts through the central terrain. Mapped primarily through photogrammetric methods from 1955 aerial photography, the sheet represents a remote wilderness where land lines remained unsurveyed and unmarked by the Bureau of Land Management. The absence of settlements or established trails underscores the isolation of this territory during the Cold War era. A surveyed Base Line provides a rare structural anchor to the topographic data, which was compiled by the Army Map Service to document the drainage patterns and elevations of this sparsely documented region.