Loading map...

1893 Map of Mesa De Maya

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Mesa De Maya
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1909
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1909

About this map

Las Animas County territory in southeastern Colorado is dominated by the massive plateau of Mesa De Maya, which stretches across the southern portion of this 1890s survey. The landscape is defined by a network of deep erosional features, including the sprawling Chaquaqua Canyon and Water Canyon, which drain northward toward the Purgatoire River. The drainage patterns, such as Alkali Arroyo and Tinaja Creek, illustrate the complex topography that early settlers navigated along the Colorado-New Mexico border.

Human activity is concentrated at small hubs like Indianapolis and Troy, while the southern corridor near Watervale is marked by the presence of the Denver Texas & Ft Worth RR. This rail line cuts through the mesas, skirting the base of Chicorico Mesa and Longs Mesa. The map provides a look at the early infrastructure of the High Plains before the further development of ranching and transportation networks in the twentieth century.