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1895 Map of Spanish Peaks

Name: 1895 Topographic Map of Spanish Peaks
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1961
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1961

About this map

The West Spanish Peak and East Spanish Peak dominate the western horizon of this 1895 reconnaissance, where the high country of the San Isabel National Forest meets the rugged canyonlands of southern Colorado. The landscape is defined by its early Hispanic plazas and coal-mining rail corridors. Along the western drainage, settlements like Trujillo Plaza and Martinez Plaza reflect traditional land use, while the eastern edge follows the Denver and Rio Grande RR Trinidad Line, connecting industrial outposts like Ludlow, Aguilar, and Hastings.

To the south, the Purgatoire River carves a critical corridor for transport and settlement, passing through Weston and Tijeras (Madrid PO) as it flows toward Sopris. This era precedes the major water management of the twentieth century, showing the State Reservoir and the intricate network of canyons, such as Zarcillo Canyon and Burro Canyon, that dictated the routes of the Colorado and Southern RR and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe RR.