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1893 Map of Mesa De Maya

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Mesa De Maya
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1922
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1922

About this map

The Purgatoire River carves a deep path through this high-plains landscape of southeastern Las Animas County, as documented by topographer Willard D. Johnson in 1890. The survey illustrates an era when small ranching and rail settlements like Troy and Indianapolis were emerging on the mesas and along the scattered watercourses of the Colorado frontier. The southwestern corner is defined by the Denver Texas & Ft Worth RR, which provided a critical connection for the settlement of Watervale and the surrounding rangeland.

Erosional features dominate the topography, with the massive Mesa De Maya and Chicorico Mesa rising above a complex network of drainage systems. Canyons such as Pinon Canyon and Chacuaco Canyon create a fractured terrain that dictated the placement of early roads and homesteads. This reconnaissance work shows the precise Colorado New Mexico Boundary Line, framing the geopolitical edge of the state during its late 19th-century development.