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1985 Map of Whitewater Lake

Name: 1985 Topographic Map of Whitewater Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1986
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1986

About this map

Whitewater Lake sits at the heart of this Sandhills landscape on the border of Hooker and McPherson counties. The terrain is defined by a series of isolated basins and valleys, including Bassett Valley and the broad reaches of Lamunyon Flats. This mid-1980s provisional survey illustrates a sparsely populated ranching economy where property boundaries and homesteads like Whitewater Ranch and Pinkerton Ranch are the primary markers of human presence.

A network of shallow lakes and seasonal wetlands, such as Sand Beach Lake and Dry Lake, provide critical water sources in this semi-arid region. The map captures the remote character of the Nebraska backcountry, where unimproved roads connect significant family operations like Bassett Ranch and Kramer Ranch. For researchers, the document preserves the specific locations of these historic ranching sites and the natural hydrography before modern changes in land use or water levels.