1895 Map of Largo

About this map

Bloomfield and the small settlement of Largo anchor the northwest corner of this late-19th-century reconnaissance, where the San Juan River meets the Animas River and Los Pinos River. The landscape of northern Rio Arriba is defined by an intricate network of deep drainages, including the expansive Gobernador Canyon and Blanco Canyon, which reveal the complex topography encountered by early surveyors like W.W. Davis and Hayden. To the east, the terrain shifts toward high-altitude hydrology at Horse Lake and the nearby Stinking Lakes, which feed into mysterious Sinks. These features, alongside isolated landmarks such as Angels Peak and El Huerfano, provide a rare record of the territory just south of the Colorado New Mexico Boundary Line during the territorial era. The map traces early routes and water sources like Mud Spring that were vital for transit through these high desert canyons before modern infrastructure arrived.