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1969 Map of Moon Creek School

Name: 1969 Topographic Map of Moon Creek School
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1972
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1972

About this map

Moon Creek Sch serves as the central cultural landmark in this rural Custer County landscape during the late 1960s. The area is defined by a dendritic network of intermittent watercourses that have carved the terrain, most notably Moon Creek and the curiously named Graveyard Creek. This drainage pattern influenced the placement of early infrastructure, such as the Graveyard Creek Road which follows the natural contours of the valley floor.

Evidence of ranching operations is visible through labels for a Corral and a Well, indicating the functional use of this Montana rangeland. The map illustrates a transition of waters, where the West Fork Cottonwood Creek and Cottonwood Creek drain the northeastern reaches, while Horton Creek and Hay Creek cross the western and southern sections. This survey captures a moment when one-room schoolhouses still anchored specific rural districts before the further consolidation of western ranching communities.