1960 Map of Zempel Lake

About this map

Big Porcupine Creek meanders through this portion of Rosebud County, carving a network of drainage channels across a landscape defined by ranching and coulees. Surveyed in 1960 as part of the Department of the Interior's development program for the Missouri River Basin, the map reveals a sparsely populated terrain where land use is marked by fine fence lines and family-operated holdings. The namesake Zempel Lake sits in the southeast, flanked by the Zempel Ranch and the winding course of McGraw Coulee. Other legacy operations, including the Johnson Ranch, Olson Ranch, and Richardson Ranch, highlight the distributed nature of early 20th-century Montana homesteading. Water remains the central organizing force of the region, from the seasonal flows of Sun Coulee to the confluence of West Blacktail Creek and East Blacktail Creek.