2011 Map of Three Buttes

About this map

The Missouri River winds through the northern portion of this Roosevelt County landscape, defined by a series of deep drainage coulees and the prominent rise of the Three Buttes. The river's passage is marked by the Culbertson Missouri River Bridge, a vital infrastructure point in this otherwise open terrain of the northern Great Plains. The topography is dominated by erosion-carved features such as Elm Coulee, Shaw Coulee, and Goodman Coulee, which channel seasonal runoff toward larger tributaries like Cherry Creek and Day Creek. The mapping of these ephemeral watercourses, including the S Fk Cherry Cr and East Hardscrabble Creek, illustrates the complex hydrological network required to drain the high benchlands south of the river valley.