1961 Map of Peterson Lake

About this map

Medicine Hill dominates the northeast corner of this central North Dakota landscape, overlooking a dense concentration of glacial prairie potholes and larger water bodies. The settlement pattern in the early 1960s is defined by a sparse network of section-line roads and the Northern Pacific railroad corridor, which skirts the southern edge of the massive Lake Williams. Rural community life is anchored by scattered landmarks including School No 4 and a series of denominational burial grounds such as Medicine Hill Cem, Peace Cem, and St Pauls Cem. The map reveals an area defined by its hydrology, where large basins like Peterson Lake and Lake Holmes sit alongside smaller named features like Billows Lake and Lake Margaret. Extensive Gravel Pits suggest the importance of local material extraction for maintaining the area's infrastructure and the intermittent Jeep Trail networks that cut across the undulating terrain.