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1952 Map of Burns Mountain

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Burns Mountain
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1954
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1954

About this map

Christensen Ranch and Tenmile House anchor a remote landscape of high-country ranching and water management in the early 1950s. The terrain transitions from the broad Argenta Flats in the north toward the prominent heights of Burns Mountain and Timber Butte to the south. This area is characterized by its vital water sources, including the Dillon Reservoir and several named springs such as Albers Springs, Maggie Spring, and Red Spring.

Family heritage is deeply etched into the landscape through properties like the John Shaffner Ranch and Hans Dons Ranch, showing the distribution of private holdings along the drainages of Ermont Gulch and Rattlesnake Creek. The map provides a detailed view of the infrastructure supporting this rural economy, from windmills to the telephone lines that once connected these isolated homesteads across the Montana territory.