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1948 Map of Kaylor Mountain

Name: 1948 Topographic Map of Kaylor Mountain
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

Alamogordo Bombing Range and the White Sands Proving Ground dominate this 1948 survey of the southern San Andres Mountains, reflecting the post-war conversion of New Mexico's high desert into a military testing corridor. Despite the massive scale of these federal reservations, the map preserves the names of the remote cattle operations and family holdings that existed before the land was withdrawn from public use, including the Anderegg Ranch Headquarters and Ritch Ranch.

The landscape is defined by deep, named drainages like Hembrillo Canyon and Grandview Canyon that cut through the steep ridges. Natural water sources were critical for the few inhabitants of this arid terrain, marked by sites such as Cottonwood Spring, White Rock Spring, and Kaylor Tank. Small-scale extraction is also evident at the Fluorspar Mine and a Talc Mine, which sit alongside boundaries for the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge and the Jornada Experimental Range.