1900 Map of Needle Mountains

About this map

The Animas River corridor serves as the primary artery through this high-altitude landscape, tracked by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad at the turn of the century. This survey, conducted by W. M. Beaman and E.M. Douglas, documents the remote alpine environment of the San Juan Mountains before modern access roads altered the terrain. The presence of Needleton and Beartown reflects the era's mining and railroad operations, providing essential points of reference for genealogists tracing early Colorado mountain settlers. The topography is dominated by the jagged peaks of the Grenadier Range and the Needle Mountains, where names like Chicago Basin and New York Basin suggest the origins of the prospectors who explored these drainages. Within the Rio Grande National Forest, numerous alpine lakes such as Molas Lake and Emerald Lake sit among high summits like Mt Eolus and Windom Mtn.