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2014 Map of Meadow Lake

Name: 2014 Topographic Map of Meadow Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2014
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2014

About this map

Meadow Lake and the surrounding high desert of Harney County are defined by a network of ephemeral basins and volcanic terrain in this 2014 study. The landscape is characterized by its internal drainage, where water collects in features like Buzzard Lake, Moon Lake, and the larger Foster Lake in the southeast corner. These catchments, alongside the Alex Spring Reservoir, suggest a landscape shaped by the necessity of water management for livestock in an arid environment.

The presence of place names like Deadmans Bedground and Robinson Valley points to the cattle ranching heritage of the Oregon outback. Terrain features such as Buzzard Canyon and Deep Canyon cut through the high-elevation flats of Foster Flat, illustrating the erosional forces at work on the plateau. This map provides a clear record of the intersection between geology and early pastoral land use, visible in the distribution of named springs and seasonal lakebeds across the township lines.