1895 Map of the Ozette Prairies

Prairies in 1895.  This map is a portion of the U.S. Public Land Survey map of the region, based on survey completed in 1895 (T31N, R16W Willamette Principle Meridian, published by General Land Office in 1897).  The survey includes boundaries for the Osette* Indian Reservation, which had been created by Presidential Proclimation in 189X, in order to include the Osette*  Indian Village as part of the Makah Reservation (established by treaty in 1855).  The praires are shown as a single, larger than present opening.  Whether Roose’s and Ahlstrom’s Prairies were actually joined, or if this is a cartographic artifact is unclear at this point.  Vegetation transect RFA, which runs across an area which is currently forested, was established to address this question. Several dwellings are marked as squares, especially along the coast, but none in the prairie.  It is also notible that several burns are shown in the region and the southern end of Ahlstrom’s Prairie is indicated to have been cleared.    *The original English spelling of Ozette was Osette.