Loading map...

1953 Map of Abiquiu

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of Abiquiu
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1965
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1965

About this map

The Rio Chama valley serves as the central artery for this 1953 survey, where long-established land grants and small agricultural settlements define the landscape. Near the settlement of Abiquiu, family and community history is anchored by the Capilla de San Miguel and the nearby San Miguel Cem. The map illustrates the complex boundaries of the Piedra Lumbre Grant and the Juan Jose Lobato Grant, reflecting the region's Spanish colonial and Mexican land tenure systems that persisted well into the twentieth century.

Mountainous terrain dominates the southern and western portions of the sheet, rising to the heights of Polvadera Peak and Chicoma Mountain within the Santa Fe National Forest. To the west, the isolated mesa of Cañones Mesa and the spire of Cerro Pedernal overlook the Cañones settlement, where the Cañones Grade School served the local ranching community. The map tracks numerous resource-extraction and migration routes through a network of Jeep Trails and Pack Trails that connect remote outposts like Salazar Ranch to the river valley.