1958 Map of Verdure 4 NE

About this map

Cedar Point and Bug Point dominate the high ground of this high-desert landscape on the border of Utah and Colorado in the late 1950s. The terrain is deeply incised by a network of drainage systems, including Monument Canyon and Coal Bed Canyon, which channel water through the arid plateau. This preliminary survey, based on 1955 aerial photography, reveals a remote ranching or agricultural environment where human presence is marked by isolated reservoirs and a solitary Cemetery near the center of the sheet. The network of unimproved roads and a specific Jeep Trail in the eastern section suggests a reliance on rugged transport to navigate between the high mesas and the winding corridors of Oak Creek Canyon and Squaw Canyon. The map also captures a rare tri-county junction where San Juan, Dolores, and Montezuma counties meet.