Crawford, Helen
1938

Manuscript Pictorial map of Wyoming

DESCRIPTION: “Wonderful Wyoming,” drawn by Helen Crawford, is a mid-century manuscript pictorial map that captures the frontier spirit of the state with humor and affection. Rendered in soft blue and brown tones, the map transforms Wyoming’s broad landscapes into a lively stage of cartoonish mountains, tipis, and cowboys. Around the border, the repeated phrase “Wonderful Wyoming” gives the composition a rhythmic frame, as if to remind the viewer that the state’s rugged charm deserves celebration.

Across its hand-drawn expanse, Crawford places familiar landmarks—Yellowstone and Teton Parks in the northwest, the Big Horn Mountains, and the oil fields and cattle country near Casper and Cheyenne. The Oregon Trail winds through covered wagons, while Alcova Dam, fossil beds, and elk refuges mark modern and ancient layers of Wyoming’s identity. Each vignette balances history and industry, suggesting a state caught between its mythic past and its mid-twentieth-century progress.

Little is known of Helen Crawford herself, but her work belongs to a distinctly American moment when tourism, optimism, and regional pride converged on paper. Like other pictorial maps of the 1930s and 1940s, her “Wonderful Wyoming” invites viewers not just to locate a place but to feel it—to trace its highways and histories in inked gestures that are both informative and endearing.

This pictorial map of Wyoming is dated ca. 1938 based on the drawing on the Alcova Dam, comparing it to known photographs.

Landmarks Depicted on “Wonderful Wyoming” (Helen Crawford)

Landmark	Type	Approx. Region
Yellowstone Park	National Park	Northwest
Teton Park	National Park	Northwest
Federal Elk Refuge	Wildlife Refuge	Northwest
Dude Ranch	Tourism / Ranching	Northwest
Big Horns	Mountain Range	North-central
Mato Tipi	Devil's Tower	Northeast
Dubois	Town	West-central
Lander	Town	Central-west
Atlantic City	Town	Central-west
Oregon Trail	Historic Trail	South-central
Rawlins	Town	South-central
Medicine Bow	Town / Range	South-central
Laramie	City	Southeast
Cheyenne	City	Southeast
Casper	City (oil, cattle)	Central-east
Alcova Dam	Dam / Reservoir	Central-south
Fossil Beds	Geologic Site	South-central
Basin	Town	North-central

CREATOR: Crawford, Helen

PUBLICATION DATE: 1938

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States

BODY OF WATER: N/A

CONDITION: Good. Shows the editing process though penciled and white-out changes to the original manuscript drawing. Small repaired tear at left margin. Small spot upper left neatline.

COLORING: Hand color.

ENGRAVER:

SIZE: 10 " x 8 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 41

PRICE: $350

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