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1903 Map of Fort McKinney

Name: 1903 Topographic Map of Fort McKinney
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1917
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1917

About this map

Buffalo and the surrounding high plains of Johnson County appear in this survey conducted shortly after the turn of the century. The map centers on the Fort Mc Kinney Military Reservation and the adjacent Fort Mc Kinney Wood Reservation, reflecting the military presence that influenced early Wyoming settlement. To the west, the landscape rises sharply into the Big Horn Mountains within the Big Horn Forest Reserve, where numerous creeks like Clear Creek and Crazy Woman Creek originate before flowing toward the basin floor.

Local ranching history is exceptionally well-documented through numerous family-named properties, including the T A Ranch, Cross H Ranch, Hesse Ranch, and Smiths Ranch. Small clusters of activity at Klondike, Hazelton, and Greub provide clues to early rural networking and postal routes across the Kingsbury Ridge and Sisters Hill. Landmarks such as Lake De Smet and various hills like Muddy Hill offer precise geographic anchors for genealogists and researchers tracking land claims in this frontier era.