1972 Map of Roten Valley South

About this map

Roten Valley and the surrounding high plains of central Nebraska are meticulously documented in this mid-1970s topographic study. The landscape is defined by the prominent Rock Island Table to the northwest, a broad plateau that yields to a series of carved drainages including Sells Valley and Cottonwood Valley. This area straddles the significant county line between Custer Co and Dawson Co, illustrating a rural landscape primarily shaped by natural topography and water management. Evidence of the region's agricultural reliance on water is found in the south, where Buffalo Creek and the man-made Stump Ditch course through the lower elevations. Numerous scattered wells across the hills and flats indicate the infrastructure required to support life and livestock on this high prairie before modern irrigation transitions fully transformed the Nebraska interior.