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1947 Map of Bruneau

Name: 1947 Topographic Map of Bruneau
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1966
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1966

About this map

The Snake River carves a deep, winding path through this high desert plateau, defining the border between Owyhee and Elmore counties. In the late 1940s, the community of Bruneau served as a hub for the surrounding agricultural valley, sustained by the Bruneau Canal and South Side Canal systems. A complex irrigation network including the Buckaroo Ditch and numerous Artesian Wells illustrates the effort to reclaim this arid landscape for ranching and farming.

Traces of earlier history are etched into the terrain, from the Petroglyphs near Johnson Ranch to the path of the Emigrant Trail crossing the Bruneau River at Emigrant Crossing. The survey records several sites already in transition or lost to time, such as the Little Valley Sch (Aband) and the Halls Ferry (Site) on the Snake, providing essential data for genealogists tracing pioneer families and early school districts in southwestern Idaho.