1950 Map of Skunk Lake

About this map

The Niobrara River winds across the northern landscape of this Sheridan and Box Butte County borderland, defining a region characterized by remote ranches and a high density of rural schoolhouses. The 1940s aerial surveys captured a network of one-room schools including School No 30, School No 93, and School No 65, which served the isolated farming families of the West Mirage and East Mirage districts. This map provides critical documentation for genealogists, showing family-named landmarks like Sandoz Ranch and Albrecht Lake alongside community burial grounds such as St Peters Cem and Neely Flat Cem. The southern half of the quadrangle is dominated by a complex system of alkaline depressions and wetlands, including Skunk Lake, Dillings Lake, and Goose Lake, illustrating the unique hydrology of the Nebraska Sandhills before modern center-pivot irrigation significantly altered the surface water patterns of the plains.