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1953 Map of Seminoe Dam

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of Seminoe Dam
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

The Seminoe Mountains dominate this central Wyoming landscape, where the North Platte River is transformed by a sequence of massive mid-century water management projects. At the heart of the map, Seminoe Dam and Kortes Dam control the river's flow, creating the expansive Seminoe Reservoir and the more confined Kortes Reservoir within Black Canyon. These engineering feats were mapped in the early 1950s as part of the Department of the Interior's Missouri River Basin development program.

Evidence of early ranching remains at Mihel Place and Anderson Ranch, set against a backdrop of complex drainage systems like Sunday Creek and Hamilton Creek. The northern portion of the map includes the southern reach of the Pathfinder Reservoir and the Pathfinder National Wildlife Refuge, illustrating the dual priorities of resource extraction and conservation. Steep terrain features like Windy Ridge and Steep Creek underscore the geological isolation of this high-desert region before modern access roads were fully established.