1954 Map of Vya

About this map

The Sheldon National Antelope Refuge dominates the high northwestern corner of this 1954 survey, preserving a remote basin-and-range landscape at the junction of Nevada, Oregon, and California. The map captures a transition between wildlife conservation and Cold War military utility, shown by the expansive U S Naval Gunnery Range situated south of the Summit Lake Indian Reservation. This era of the Nevada desert is defined by isolated ranching outposts such as Vya, Soldier Meadow Ranch, and Thousand Creek Ranch, which relied on scattered water sources like Bog Hot Springs and Reservoir and Emigrant Spring. Prospectors still worked the mineral-rich mountains, evidenced by the Cherry Gulch Mine and the Iron King Mine near the Trout Creek Mountains. The vast drainage of the Quinn River and the stark expanse of the Black Rock Desert provide a grounding look at the region before modern development.