1943 Map of Willow Springs

About this map

The Tehachapi Mountains dominate the northern landscape of this 1943 survey, giving way to the broad alluvial Bajada and the arid flats of the Antelope Valley. This era of California history is marked by the critical infrastructure of water and power, visible in the sprawling Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Edison Co Transmission Line cutting across the desert floor. In the lower reaches, a network of isolated homesteads and family-named landmarks such as Wagon Wheel Ranch and Rottman Ranch illustrates the livestock-driven economy of the Mojave borderlands.