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1889 Map of Huerfano Park

Name: 1889 Topographic Map of Huerfano Park
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1961
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1961

About this map

The Huerfano River carves a central path through this high-altitude landscape, where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains dominate the western horizon. Topography by C.H. Fitch and Perry Fuller reveals a region defined by critical mountain passages like Music Pass, Mosca Pass, and the strategically significant La Veta Pass. These gaps in the terrain dictate the flow of early commerce and travel, connecting small mining and ranching outposts such as Placer and Gardner.

In the southeast, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad winds through the foothills, skirting Muleshoe and Dumps Mt. as it approaches the settlement of La Veta. The map illustrates the early boundaries of the San Isabel National Forest and Rio Grande National Forest, highlighting the area's transition from open range and mineral prospecting to managed timber and water resources. High peaks like Blanca Peak 14390 and Greenhorn Mt. 12334 provide fixed anchors for this late-nineteenth-century survey.