1968 Bureau of Economic Geology Map of the Big Bend Region, Texas

This is a c. 1968 Bureau of Economic Geology map of the Big Bend Region, Texas. Coverage embraces the entirety of Big Bend National Park and environs. Mountains, ridges, peaks, and other geological features are illustrated. A dotted and dashed line marks the boundary of Big Bend National Park (although it is unlabeled). Roads appear as thick black lines, while thinner black lines mark geological faults.

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park opened to visitors on July 1, 1944, and is the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert ecology and topography in the United States. Originally established in 1933 as Texas Canyons State Park, the United States Congress began the process of acquiring the land from Texas in 1935. Texas deeded the land to the federal government on June 12, 1944. Big Bend National Park is the only national park in the United States to contain an entire mountain range: the Chisos Mountains. The Park also contains habitats for hundreds of animal and plant species, as well as 10,000-year-old archaeological sites, dinosaur fossils, and 118 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by the Bureau of Economic Geology c. 1968 and published in Ross A. Maxwell's The Big Bend of the Rio Grande: A Guide to the Rocks, Geologic History, and Settlers of the Area of Big Bend National Park. by the Bureau in 1968. Two examples of the present map are cataloged in OCLC and are part of the collections at Memorial University/Newfoundland, Elizabeth II and Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. The guide in which it was published is well represented in institutional collections.