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1955 Map of Thermopolis

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Thermopolis
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1980
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1980

About this map

The Wind River Indian Reservation occupies the heart of this landscape, where the Wind River carves through the Wind River Canyon to become the Bighorn River. The 1980 revision of this mid-century survey captures the region's agricultural and industrial infrastructure, from the Midvale irrigation projects to the extensive Oil Field developments near Gebo. The map documents a critical transition in water management, showing the Boysen Reservoir and Ocean Lake alongside the Wind River Valley rail network.

To the west, the massive peaks of the Absaroka Range and Wind River Range reach their zenith at Gannett Peak. These high-altitude wilderness areas, including the Washakie Wilderness and Fitzpatrick Wilderness, contrast sharply with the basin floor's settled towns like Thermopolis and Riverton. The transportation corridor is defined by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy RR and the Chicago and North Western Ry, which historically connected these remote Wyoming outposts to broader markets.