1966 Map of Cook Creek Reservoir

About this map

Custer National Forest encompasses the rugged divide between Rosebud and Powder River counties, where a complex network of intermittent drainages carves through the Montana high plains. The landscape is defined by its water management, featuring numerous named water sources critical for livestock and land use, such as Cottonwood Well and Colbert Coulee Well. Isolated settlements like Colbert and Bringoff are situated near the headwaters of deep-cut terrain features like Rice Coulee and Double E Coulee. Central to the area’s geography is Cook Mountain, which serves as a landmark for the surrounding drainages of Cook Creek and the West Branch Daily Creek. This 1960s survey, updated in the mid-1980s, highlights the essential infrastructure of the era, from Shy Reservoir to Cook Creek Reservoir, reflecting the rural reliance on these scattered springs and catchments.