1955 Map of Meads

About this map

Overland Trail tracks across the high Wyoming landscape in this mid-1950s survey, a corridor where the echoes of frontier travel meet the modern era. Near the center of the sheet, the Stage Station (Ruins) serves as a concrete reminder of early western transit before the development of the Lincoln Highway and the Union Pacific railroad, both of which cut through the northern sections of the map. The settlement pattern is defined by isolated outposts like Meads and family-held properties including Peterson Ranch, Crone Ranch, and Hess Ranch. These cattle-and-sheep operations are situated around the natural depressions of Sand Basin and Overland Basin. The map captures a moment when the transition from historical wagon routes to established road and rail networks was still visible on the ground at Walcott Junction and along the Rattlesnake Pass Road.