1965 Map of Artichoke Butte

About this map

Artichoke Butte stands as a prominent landmark on this high plains landscape of Sully County, marking the transition from the rolling prairie down toward the waters of the Oahe Reservoir. In the mid-1960s, the Missouri River Basin development program shaped this region, with the reservoir waters creating an environment subject to controlled inundation. The map reveals the rural infrastructure of the era, where isolated education centers like Troy Sch served the surrounding ranching community near Troy Lake. A network of section lines and fence lines reveals the systematic division of the land into the large parcels characteristic of central South Dakota. This sheet documents the post-dam landscape at a time when the impact of the reservoir was relatively new, providing a clear view of the topography before further modern changes to the shoreline and local farmsteads occurred.