1972 Map of Pine Gulch

About this map

Crazy Woman Creek winds through this Johnson County landscape, defining the drainage patterns of a territory shaped by ranching and resource management in the early 1970s. The map illustrates a high-desert environment where water is the primary architect of the land, visible in the intricate branching of Meadow Draw, Grub Draw, and the titular Pine Gulch. Human presence is sparse and functional, centered around the Jack Payne Ranch and scattered agricultural infrastructure like a lone Corral and Well. This survey was conducted as part of the Department of the Interior program for the development of the Missouri River Basin, capturing the area just before modern satellite mapping transformed topographic record-keeping.