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1911 Map of Ray

Name: 1911 Topographic Map of Ray
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1911
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1911

About this map

The Missouri River snakes through the southern portion of this region, serving as a boundary between Williams Co and McKenzie Co. Along the river's northern bank, the settlement of Nesson and the Nesson Ferry highlight the early importance of river-based transit in this frontier landscape. To the north, the corridor of the Great Northern railroad dictates the pattern of development, with a string of communities established along the tracks, including Ray, Wheelock, Epping, and Spring Brook.

Drainage systems like Tobacco Garden Creek and Little Muddy Creek carve through the high plains, illustrating the transition from the river bottomlands to the upland prairies. Notable landmarks such as Twelvemile Hill and Cassidy Spring provided essential markers for early travelers and settlers. This 1911 edition, surveyed by geographers such as Glenn S. Smith and Basil Duke, records the infrastructure of the homesteading era before later 20th-century developments altered the rural character of northwest North Dakota.