1949 Map of Box Butte

About this map

Wild Horse Butte and the surrounding high plains of the Nebraska Panhandle define this landscape at the close of the 1940s. The area exhibits a sparse, purposeful settlement pattern characteristic of western ranching country, where vital water sources like Box Butte Creek and Running Water dictate the placement of improvements. Isolated rural education centers, including School No 46 and School No 15, are positioned to serve the widely distributed homesteads across the county line between Box Butte and Sheridan counties. Numerous windmills are scattered throughout the sections, marking the essential infrastructure required to sustain livestock on these semi-arid rangelands. The terrain is marked by the eponymous Box Butte and the winding drainage of the creek, illustrating a period before extensive modern development when the local economy relied heavily on groundwater and the natural topography for survival and transit.