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1953 Map of Dry Fork Ranch

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of Dry Fork Ranch
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

The historic Bozeman Trail cuts across the northern reaches of this Wyoming landscape, marking a legacy of frontier travel through the Powder River Basin. This survey, conducted in the early 1950s, documents the high plains ranching culture at the border of Johnson and Campbell counties. Settlement is defined by isolated outposts like the Dry Fork Ranch and Irvine Shearing Camp, while the Nichols Ranch is noted as abandoned.

Vital water sources, including several Artesian Wells and the Dry Fork Powder River, dictate the placement of human activity in this semi-arid terrain. Of particular interest to local historians is the Cooks Seventeenmile Stage Station, identified here as a historical site along Seventeenmile Creek. The map provides a detailed view of the drainage systems and coulees such as Beecher Draw and Bullwhacker Gulch before significant modern development altered the region.