1967 Map of Cooley Lake

About this map

McDowell Ranch and Good Ranch anchor this landscape in the late 1960s, a period defined by large-scale livestock operations on the high plains of East Central New Mexico. The geography is dominated by ephemeral water sources and critical ranching infrastructure, including several named windmills like North Spy Windmill and Heifer Windmill that provided the lifeblood for cattle in this arid environment. The map records a series of distinct basins such as Urton Lake, Cooley Lake, and Salt Lake, which alongside the path of White Draw, illustrate the natural drainage patterns that dictated settlement locations. The boundary between De Baca and Chaves Counties is clearly delineated, crossing a terrain where fence lines, recorded here by the U.S. Geological Survey, served as the primary markers of human presence across the open range.