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1898 Map of Scotts Bluff

Name: 1898 Topographic Map of Scotts Bluff
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1942
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1942

About this map

The North Platte River serves as the focal point for this late 19th-century survey of western Nebraska, where the landscape transitions from the broad Mitchell Bottom to the dramatic bluffs of the Roubadeau and Scotts Bluff National Monument. The early irrigation infrastructure of the high plains is visible through the Farmers Canal and Enterprise Canal, supporting the growing settlements of Gering, Mitchell, and Scottsbluff.

South of the river, the topographic survey reveals the rugged natural barriers that dictated travel, including Roubadeau Pass and Mitchell Pass. The southern half of the sheet covers the high tablelands of Banner Co., centered on the town of Harrisburg and the drainage of Pumpkin Creek. Trace the early routes of the Burlington and Missouri River RR and the Chicago and North Western Ry as they followed the river valley, bypassing isolated outposts like Larissa and Ashford.