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1940 Map of Palo Alto Ranch

Name: 1940 Topographic Map of Palo Alto Ranch
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1956
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1956

About this map

Working cattle ranches and legacy mining claims define this corner of the Sonoran Desert in the early 1940s. The landscape is dominated by the Coyote Mountains in the northwest and the Sierrita Mountains to the east, with the broad Altar Wash valley serving as a primary drainage corridor between them. Small-scale settlement is concentrated at family-held outposts like Anvil Ranch and the Palo Alto Ranch, which are connected by a network of unimproved desert tracks such as the Batamote Road.

The eastern slopes of the Sierritas reveal an era of intense, if short-lived, mineral exploration, marked by a cluster of inactive sites including the Banner Mine (abandoned), Aguinaldo Mine (abandoned), and Gold Hill Mine (abandoned). These features, alongside family landmarks like the Peyron Ranch and Pozo Nuevo Ranch, provide a detailed record of land use before the expansion of more modern infrastructure.