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1896 Map of San Carlos

Name: 1896 Topographic Map of San Carlos
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1903
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1903

About this map

Rio Grande waters define the international boundary in this 1895 survey of the West Texas frontier. The landscape is dominated by the massive Sierra Vieja and the Capote Mountains, where high peaks like Gettysburg Peak and Capote Peak tower over a network of canyons and springs. Settlement is sparse and follows the essential water sources, evidenced by clusters at San Carlos and San Antonio.

Isolated cattle operations and outposts such as Bright's Ranch, Cienega Ranch, and Capote Ranch highlight the late-nineteenth-century ranching economy. Reliable water points like Newman Spring, Nixon Spring, and Brooks Spring were critical for survival in this arid terrain. This sheet, surveyed under Henry Gannett and E.M. Douglas, captures the topographical reality of the Presidio County borderlands before modern development altered the land use.