1948 Map of Gypsum Gap

About this map

Mining operations and remote desert basins define this high-altitude landscape in San Miguel County, recorded just as the post-war era brought renewed interest to the region's mineral wealth. The Atomic Energy Commission cooperated on this survey, highlighting the industrial importance of sites like Long Ridge Mines and the Bald Eagle Mines. The terrain is split between the expansive Gypsum Valley and the northern reaches of Disappointment Valley, where water sources like Larson Spring and a small ditch network represent the sparse but vital hydraulic infrastructure of the late 1940s. Further east, the Pitchfork Mines sit near the headwaters of Gypsum Creek, illustrating a period when prospectors and geologists were intensely mapping the uranium and vanadium-rich pockets of the Colorado Plateau.