1982 Map of Dog Ear Buttes

About this map

Dog Ear Buttes and the surrounding rangeland of South Dakota's Tripp County are captured here just before the mid-1980s. The landscape is defined by the winding paths of Black Creek, Dog Ear Creek, and Mud Creek, which cut through the high plains. Human presence in this rural expanse is marked by the Weaver Sch and the section lines that organize the prairie into townships like Weaver, Dog Ear, and Mc Neely. The presence of a Gravel Pit near the southern border suggests the local material extraction necessary for maintaining the network of unimproved roads and trails that connected these remote homesteads and school districts. This 1982 provisional map reflects the area as it was field-checked in the late 1970s, preserving the placement of rural landmarks during a period of relative stability in the Great Plains agricultural economy.