1919 Map of Perilla

About this map

The San Bernardino Grant dominates the lower center of this borderland survey, marking a significant historical land division along the United States Mexico Boundary Line. The landscape is a network of scattered cattle operations and water sources, where names like Stevens and Hennessy Ranch and J W McDonald Ranch reveal the pioneer family lineages of Cochise County. This era captures the transition of western travel, showing the El Paso and Southwestern RR running north from Lee Siding while the Borderland Highway begins to define automobile routes through the Perilla Mountains. Essential rural infrastructure is visible at the Cottonwood Creek School and a lonely Cemetery near the Hazelwood Ranch. Water is the vital thread for these high-desert settlements, as seen in the numerous named springs such as Ash Spring and the curiously named Spring of Contention.