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1970 Map of Monument Valley

Name: 1970 Topographic Map of Monument Valley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

Monument Valley and the surrounding high desert plateau are defined by the sharp escarpments of the Adobe Town Rim and Skull Creek Rim. This 1970 survey of Sweetwater County captures a landscape managed for water conservation in an arid environment, where a network of small impoundments and catchments like Water Can Reservoir, Dead Cow Res, and Sand Hill Reservoir dot the terrain.

Remote and sparsely developed, the area contains evidence of resource exploration via a lone Oil Well and a rugged Jeep Trail winding through the scrub. The drainage patterns of Sand Creek and Skull Creek dictate the topography, reflecting a moment before more modern energy infrastructure further altered the High Desert. This map provides a precise record of the named reservoirs and rim features essential for understanding the late-20th-century ranching and land use in this specific corner of the Wyoming basin.