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1949 Map of Orpha

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Orpha
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1977
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1977

About this map

The North Platte River defines the northern landscape of this Wyoming region, where the Chicago and Northwestern and Burlington Northern railroads trace the river valley near the small settlement of Orpha. This mid-century survey documents a land transitioning from frontier history to twentieth-century irrigation, marked prominently by the Fort Fetterman Reservation Boundary and the Oregon Trail Monument near Alkali Gulch.

Complex water systems including the Morton Ditch and La Prele Main Canal support rural ranching life, illustrated by the presence of family-named landmarks like Burk Ranch and Hart Ranch. Local education is centered at small country schoolhouses such as Whiting Sch and Pleasant Valley Sch, which served the scattered residents of Alberta and the surrounding high plains before modern consolidation changed the rural social structure.