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1951 Map of Moon Lake

Name: 1951 Topographic Map of Moon Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1951
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1951

About this map

The Calamus River meanders through this portion of the Nebraska Sandhills, a landscape defined by an intricate network of marshes and basins. The 1951 survey reveals a region of large-scale cattle ranching, where family-named properties like the McDaniel Ranch and Oatman Ranch occupy the low valleys. A reliance on local education is evident in the distribution of one-room schoolhouses such as School No 112 and the South Wrage Sch, which served remote homesteading families.

Surface water is the primary feature of the terrain, ranging from the expansive Moon Lake to the protected Long Lake Recreation Grounds. Numerous smaller bodies like Rat Lake and Skull Lake dot the valleys between sandy rises, while a Flowing Well in the south provides a glimpse into the region's groundwater management. This map documents a quiet period in the cattle country of Cherry and Brown counties before modern center-pivot irrigation altered the ranching economy.