1979 Map of Big Sag

About this map

The Highwood Mountains dominate the southern portion of this Chouteau County landscape, where the terrain rises toward peaks like Gossack Mountain and Harris Mountain. In the lower elevations to the north, the Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific railroad cuts through the valley, passing by isolated Storage Bins and the drainage of Big Sag Creek. This late-1970s record captures a ranching and transport corridor defined by seasonal water sources such as Big Sag Lake and Harris Spring. Local movement is traced along the rugged Gap Road and various jeep trails, while the Upper Highwood Cem near Highwood Creek serves as a small but vital landmark for genealogists tracing family ties to this cattle and grain country. The map clearly illustrates the transition from the high ridges of the mountains to the coulee-cut plains where the railroad once moved the region’s harvest.