1953 Map of Double L Ranch

About this map

The ranching landscape of Platte County, Wyoming, is captured here as it appeared in the mid-20th century. Named family holdings like Double L Ranch, Grant Ranch, and the Lewis Ranch are distributed across a terrain carved by the drainage systems of Richeau Creek and Hunton Creek. These watercourses, along with their various branches such as North Richeau Creek and South Hunton Creek, were critical to the operation of high-plains livestock operations. The map illustrates the infrastructure of rural life in this era, showing several Windmills, a persistent Pipe Line, and a system of irrigation ditches, including a prominent Ditch near Walker Draw. Surveyed as part of the Department of the Interior's Missouri River Basin development program, the map documents a transition from early homesteading to established modern ranching, with high points like VABM 5890 Hunton and VABM 5700 Knoll serving as permanent geographic markers.