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1951 Map of Otto

Name: 1951 Topographic Map of Otto
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1953
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1953

About this map

The Greybull River valley serves as the central artery for this 1951 topographic survey of Big Horn County, where a sophisticated network of irrigation sustains the high desert landscape. The town of Otto is the primary settlement, situated just north of the river near the confluence of the Wood and Burnett ditch system and the Farmers Canal. This intricate web of water management, including the Highline Ditch and the North Lateral Bench Canal, illustrates the region’s intensive transition to irrigated agriculture during the mid-century era.

To the north, the terrain rises sharply toward the flat-topped Table Mountain, providing a stark contrast to the verdant river bottom. Local history is preserved in the location of the Cem east of Otto and the Stringtown School (Aban'd) further west, which signifies shifting population centers as smaller rural institutions began to consolidate. In the southwest corner, the settlement of Webster sits near the Croxell Ditch, further emphasizing the reliance on gravity-fed water for Wyoming homesteads.