1948 Map of Big Foot Butte

About this map

Big Foot Butte dominates this high desert landscape within the Ada County line, serving as a prominent landmark in a region defined by seasonal water and volcanic topography. Surveyed shortly after World War II, the map illustrates a sparsely populated range where life centers on intermittent water sources like Rabbit Creek and the small catchments of Tadpole Lake and Wind Butte Lakes. The terrain is marked by a network of unimproved roads and survey lines, reflecting an era when this portion of the Snake River Plain was primarily utilized for grazing and open-range land management. Revisions made in the late 1970s, noted in purple, track the subtle shifts in access and drainage that occurred as the region's land use evolved from its 1940s baseline.