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1966 Map of Brushy Canyon

Name: 1966 Topographic Map of Brushy Canyon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1967
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1967

About this map

The San Carlos Indian Reservation defines this section of Gila County, where a complex network of canyons and upland basins supported cattle ranching in the mid-1960s. The landscape is marked by numerous water-catchment tanks, essential for stock management in this arid environment, including Morman Tank, Sycamore Tank, and the curiously named Post Office Tank. These features, alongside scattered corrals, indicate the intensive use of the high country for grazing during this period.

Deep drainages like Brushy Canyon and Sawmill Canyon cut through the terrain, leading toward Rocky Creek in the south. Several Jeep Trails provide the only mechanized access into these areas, connecting remote sites like Brushy Basin and Mountain Lion Spring. The map serves as a detailed record of the infrastructure—fences, benchmarks, and springs—that enabled life and industry on the reservation before more modern developments altered the land use patterns.