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1955 Map of Cooper Lake South

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Cooper Lake South
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1982
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1982

About this map

Cooper Lake dominates the northern horizon of this Albany County landscape, its shores defining a high plains environment where water management was essential for ranching viability. The terrain is marked by an extensive network of irrigation efforts, including the James Lake North Canal and numerous unnamed ditches that cut across the basin. These man-made waterways supported the scattered operations of the era, most notably the Harris Ranch in the southeast.

Transportation and infrastructure are anchored by the Union Pacific railroad line skirting the eastern boundary, a vital artery for the region's cattle and goods. Evidence of earlier industrial exploration appears south of the lake near a Oil Well (Aband) 7188, while the prevalence of family-scale water infrastructure is signaled by over a dozen labeled landmarks such as Windmill 7024 and Windmill 7141. The map also captures the path of a underground telephone cable and a pipeline, illustrating the modernization of this Wyoming ranching district during the mid-20th century.