1966 Map of Spence

About this map

The Bighorn River carves a winding path through this mid-1960s landscape, creating fertile lowlands like Red Rim Meadows and Perkins Bottom against the stark rise of Sheep Mountain. The map illustrates the industrial footprint of Big Horn County during this era, centered on the Spence Dome Oil Field and scattered extraction sites such as the Strip Mine in the southern reaches. These operations are linked to the regional economy by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad, which follows the river's course past small railroad-dependent settlements like Himes and Spence. The interplay between the river's drainage and the dry upland terrain is evident in features like Crystal Cr and the deeply etched Ribbon Canyon, showing a territory defined by both its natural geology and its resource extraction history.