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1899 Map of Witbeck

Name: 1899 Topographic Map of Witbeck
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1914
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1914

About this map

The Michigamme River and its complex network of tributaries anchor this late nineteenth-century landscape where Baraga, Iron, and Marquette Counties converge. This era in the Upper Peninsula was defined by a transition toward established industrial transport, evidenced here by the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul R. R. cutting through the southeastern corner near the settlement of Witbeck. The topography is dominated by glacial water bodies, from the sprawling Michigamme Lake in the north to the isolated Fence Lake and Witch Lake further south.

While largely a wilderness of wetlands and streams like Smith Creek and the East Branch Fence River, the map records the early surveying of political boundaries and the Superior Division rail line. This document reflects the region's character before modern development, marking significant hydrological features such as Chief Lake, Sundog Lake, and Squaw Lake that served as primary landmarks for early travelers and land managers.