1903 Map of Chisos Mountains

About this map

Tornillo Creek carves a path through the heart of this landscape, draining the expansive Tornillo Flat toward the winding Rio Grande border. Surveyed at the dawn of the twentieth century, the map documents a sparse ranching and mining frontier where survival was dictated by water sources like Smallpox Well, Gano Spr, and Dugout Wells. Along the southern boundary with Mexico, the settlement of Boquillas stands near an Old Smelter, hinting at the era's transborder industrial activity.