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1969 Map of Arapahoe SE

Name: 1969 Topographic Map of Arapahoe SE
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1971
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1971

About this map

The high plains borderland between Colorado and Kansas is defined by the incision of Ladder Creek as it winds through the arid terrain. Surveyed in the late 1960s, this map captures a landscape transitioning between the open rangeland of Cheyenne and Wallace Counties and the infrastructure of the central plains. The northern portion of the sheet is dominated by the strategic corridor of the Union Pacific railroad, which runs parallel to the sectional boundaries that carved the frontier into the Homestead-era grid. This transportation artery provided the primary link for the scattered agricultural interests in this dry region.

Water management is the central theme of the landscape, evidenced by the numerous labels for Well sites scattered across the plateaus and near the creek bed. These points reflect the essential reliance on groundwater for both livestock and domestic use in a territory where surface water is scarce. The map also records the fine-grained human footprint of the era, including selected fence and field lines that delineate the working boundaries of 20th-century ranching operations.