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1923 Map of Altuda

Name: 1923 Topographic Map of Altuda
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1949
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1949

About this map

Altuda sits at the base of the Glass Mountains, serving as a vital point on the Galveston Harrisburg and San Antonio railroad during the early 1920s. This survey, conducted in cooperation with the War Department and the University of Texas, reveals a landscape defined by isolated homesteads and high-altitude mining. The presence of the Bissett Mine near Bissett Mtn highlights the region's mineral extraction history, while numerous family holdings such as Stroud Ranch, Nichols Ranch, and Skinner Ranch illustrate the vast pastoral reach of Brewster County ranching families.

Terrain features like the Del Norte Mountains and the prominent peak of Cathedral Mtn dominate the southern portion of the sheet, while drainage patterns are traced through Gilliland Canyon. The network of unimproved roads leading to Fort Stockton, Alpine, and Marathon connect these remote outposts, including the high-elevation Ainsleys Cabin and Esterwood Ranch, to the wider railroad economy of the West Texas frontier.