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1970 Map of Rotten Springs

Name: 1970 Topographic Map of Rotten Springs
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1973
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1973

About this map

Powder Rim dominates this high-desert landscape along the Wyoming and Colorado border, a massive geologic feature that dictated the paths of early travel. The historical Cherokee Trail Road skirts the base of these cliffs, following a route used by emigrants and travelers through this arid territory. Evidence of 20th-century land use is seen in the numerous small reservoirs and improvements designed to capture scarce water, such as Hunter Res and Flat Draw Res.

The presence of MFS Homestead Wells and isolated water sources like Rotten Springs and Peeler Spring highlights the critical importance of reliable water in the drainage basins of Cherokee Creek and Shell Creek. Numerous exploration points, marked as Drill Holes, indicate a landscape being surveyed for its subterranean resources during the late 1960s, while the complex networks of Reader Draw and Anthill Draw define the rugged topography south of the rim.