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1920 Map of Monument Spring

Name: 1920 Topographic Map of Monument Spring
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1960
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1960

About this map

The Del Norte Mountains and the Payne Hills dominate this section of the Trans-Pecos, a landscape defined by the arrival of the Southern Pacific System and the Galveston Harrisburg and San Antonio railroad. These tracks transformed the high desert into a ranching hub, anchored by the settlement of Marathon and the now-vanished rail stops at Lenox and Harrisburg. The map reveals a sophisticated network of early West Texas livestock operations, naming established sites like the Combs Headquarters Ranch and Bourland Ranch.

Local history is deeply tied to reliable water sources, evidenced by clusters around Monument Spring and Garden Springs, which features noted ruins. Of particular significance to historians is the site of Old Fort Pena Colorada along Peña Creek, a military outpost established to protect the road from San Antonio to El Paso. The presence of numerous family-named landmarks, from the Arnold Ranch to the Old Payne Ranch, offers a genealogical map of the region's early 20th-century pioneers.