1968 Map of Three Buttes

About this map

The Lee Coffman Ranch serves as the primary point of human settlement in this stretch of central Wyoming, situated along the North Fork Cottonwood Creek. The landscape is dominated by dramatic geological formations, most notably the high escarpments of the Red Wall and Gray Wall in the north and the expansive Cottonwood Rim to the south. Water management for livestock is the defining feature of the local economy during the late 1960s, evidenced by a network of catchments including Big Chief Reservoir, Little Chief Reservoir, and Big Jerry Reservoir. These small basins are linked by rugged thoroughfares like the Cottonwood Road and Lester Trail Road, which provided essential access through the terrain defined by the central Three Buttes.