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1893 Map of Higbee

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Higbee
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1893
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1893

About this map

The Purgatoire River carves a deep path through southeastern Colorado in this late nineteenth-century topographic study, which captures the rugged junction of Otero, Bent, Las Animas, and Baca counties. The settlement of Higbee and the nearby JJ Ranch represent the primary points of human occupation in a landscape otherwise defined by an intricate network of drainages. The river valley is flanked by numerous named topographic features, including Higbee Canyon and Smith Canyon.

Away from the main river, the land is broken by seasonal watercourses like Rule Creek and Hackberry Creek, along with isolated landmarks such as Alkali Springs. The detailed contour lines reveal the complex erosional patterns that characterize this portion of the high plains, illustrating the natural barriers encountered by early ranchers and travelers navigating between the canyons and upland gaps like Muddy Gap.