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1967 Map of Lake De Smet West

Name: 1967 Topographic Map of Lake De Smet West
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1978
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1978

About this map

Lake De Smet dominates the eastern landscape of this Wyoming quadrangle, serving as a focal point for the region's complex water management systems in the late 1960s. The map illustrates an intricate network of irrigation and diversion projects, including the Lake De Smet Canal, Kempton Ditch, and Hallie Ditch, which redirect the flow of high-country drainage like Shell Creek and Sayles Creek. These features underscore the vital role of water rights and engineering in sustaining the local agricultural and ranching economy.

Evidence of early local education and regional history appears with the Shell Creek Sch and the Father De Smet Historical Mon situated near the lake shore. To the west, the terrain rises into the Mowry Basin, where numerous forks of Rock Creek and McDonald Creek descend toward the valley. This 1978 revision, based on 1960s photogrammetric data, provides a detailed view of the rural infrastructure and named landmarks of Johnson County before later modernization.