1953 Map of Wild Horse Mountain

About this map

Wild Horse Mountain and the towering Haystack Mountains dominate this high-altitude Carbon County landscape, where deep drainages like Coal Canyon and Corral Canyon cut through the rugged uplift. The 1953 field check captures a working ranching environment centered on Tapers Ranch, situated just south of shifting Sand Dunes. This era of the Missouri River Basin development program reveals a terrain defined by its water sources, with names like Cheyenne Spring, Coal Creek, and Rankin Creek tracing the movement of water across the basins and ridges. Transport across the elevation is sparse, marked primarily by a Jeep Trail winding through the north. The presence of the VABM Haystack 7482 survey marker at the summit of the range provides a precise geodetic reference point for the high peaks that overlook the Coal Creek Rim.