Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,830 km) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada which all lie farther to the west.
The Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a broad belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks and valleys. At the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. After Europeans, such as Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Americans, such as the Lewis and Clark expedition, started to explore the range, minerals and furs drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, although the range itself never became densely populated.
Currently, much of the mountain range is protected by public parks and forest lands, and is a popular tourist destination, especially for hiking, camping, mountaineering, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, skiing, and snowboarding.
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American History USA Articles
- The Origins of Whitewater Rafting in the West
It is initially from the Nez Perce and other tribes that whitewater rafting was derived. From those origins it has become a popular outdoor sport. - The Colorado Silver Boom and Silver Purchase
Currency policy (gold vs. silver) was a contentious issue in the late 19th century. It made Colorado's economy in the 1880s and broke it in the 1890s. - Geoworld -- "Prehistoric Wyoming"
A remarkable number of well-preserved fossils have been extracted from Wyoming, including some stromatolites dated at nearly 2 billion years old.
Books/Sources
- Rocky Mountain Miracle - Christine Feehan
- Rocky Mountain Match (Aspen Creek Brides Book 3) - Kate Darby