1963 Map of Costilla

About this map

Costilla sits at the northern edge of Taos County, where the high desert meets the rising slopes of the Sangre De Cristo mountains. In the early 1960s, this borderland landscape was defined by an intricate network of gravity-fed irrigation, reflecting generations of communal water management in the Sangre de Cristo Grant area. The map documents numerous water features including the Cordillera Ditch, Cerro Canal, and the Acequia Madre, all essential for sustaining the agricultural life of the valley.