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1923 Map of Sierra Madera

Name: 1923 Topographic Map of Sierra Madera
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1923
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1923

About this map

Sierra Madera dominates this portion of Pecos County, rising as a distinct geological uplift within an expanse of high desert terrain. Surveyed in cooperation with The University of Texas, the landscape is defined by its drainage patterns and isolated ranching operations during the early 1920s. Human activity is sparse, centered on the Elsinore Ranch and Tulley Ranch, reflecting the region's historical reliance on large-scale pastoral holdings.

Ephemeral watercourses such as Sixshooter Draw, Number Four Draw, and Ellis Draw carve through the topography, indicating the seasonal flow of water toward larger basins. Primitive roads provide the only connectivity to distant regional hubs, including the routes To Stockton, To Sanderson, and To Marathon. This era of the Trans-Pecos shows the transition from the frontier ranching period into a more surveyed and systematized landscape overseen by the Bureau of Economic Geology and Technology.