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1918 Map of Moorcroft

Name: 1918 Topographic Map of Moorcroft
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1941
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1941

About this map

The Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad defines the development of this northeastern Wyoming landscape, cutting a diagonal path through the high plains and connecting the settlements of Moorcroft, Thornton, and Upton. Surveyed in the mid-1910s, the map reveals a rural society built around cattle ranching and early dryland farming, evidenced by the dense network of country schools like Thompson School, Thorn Ridge School, and Soda Butte School distributed across the drainage basins of the Belle Fourche River and Inyan Kara Creek.

Topographic landmarks such as Thorn Ridge, Grasshopper Butte, and Soda Butte provide orientation for travelers moving between the railroad stops and the remote northern reaches near Carlile. The inclusion of Shipwheel Crossing on Brush Creek highlights a specific point of travel in an era when river fords and primitive roads were the primary means of navigating the breaks and draws that characterize the terrain of Crook and Weston counties.