1980 Map of Story

About this map

The Oglala National Grassland dominates this high plains landscape along the Nebraska-South Dakota border, where the drainage systems of the Hat Creek basin define the local geography. Established ranching operations like the Wallace Ranch in the north and the Falkenburg Ranch further south indicate the persistent agricultural use of this arid terrain during the late twentieth century. The map records a complex network of seasonal watercourses, including the forks of North Antelope Creek and South Antelope Creek, which converge near the Story Ranch. These creeks, alongside Horse Creek and Story Creek, have long dictated the placement of homesteads and livestock tanks in an area where water management is the primary driver of human settlement. Several Gravel Pits are also noted, reflecting the local extraction of materials for the thin network of unimproved roads that lace together these isolated holdings.