Rocky

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Rocky

and singing with surprising force and beauty.
Rocky Mountain Goat (Haplocei'os mon-
tanits}, one of the few hollow-horned rumin-
ants found in America, and combining the
characteristics of goats and antelopes. It is
about the size of a large sheep, and is remark-
able for its* coat of long white, very soft and
warm hair. The head bears a pair of jet-black
horns, about six inches long, and the limbs

Rocky Mountain Goat.

are short and strong. The animal is distri-
buted over the Rocky Mts. from northwest-
ern Montana to central Alaska, but every-
where keeps to the tops of the mountains,
not descending below the edge of the forest
growth. It moves about in small family par-
ties, scaling and descending cliffs and declivi-
ties with wonderful skill.

Rocky Mountains, a great system of
mountain ranges in North America extending
from Alaska to Mexico, The original name,
'Stony Mountains,' refers to their rugged bare
rock character, and was applied specifically
to the ranges forming the eastern front within
the borders of the U. S. The more popular
name, Rocky Mountains, includes all of the
complex series of mountain ranges lying to
the e. of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades. In
a broader usage the term includes all ranges
between the Great Plains and the Pacific
Ocean.

The greatest width of this very complex
belt is between latitude 38° and 42° N.,
where it reaches 1,000 m. The total area oc-
cupied by these mountains within the borders
of the U. S. is 980,000 sq. m. The whole sys-
tem is also known as the North American
Cordilleras. The Rocky Mountain system, in
its broadest sense, is continuous with the
Sierra Madre and related ranges to Mexico.
The main range of the Rocky Mountains
proper in the United States terminates near
Santa Fe, in New Mexico.

About Yellowstone Park are peaks reaching
12,000 ft., while in the Wind river and Teton
ranges, s. of the Park, are summits reaching
nearly 14,000 ft., such as Fremont Peak (13,-
790 ft.) .and Grand Teton (*3»747 ft.). South

of the central Wyoming depression the first
great mountain range is the Colorado, or
Front Range, which contains peaks exceeding
14,000 it. in height. Among these are Long's
Peak (14,271), Gray's Peak (14,341), Tor-
rev's Peak (14,336), and Pike's Peak (14,-
108). This range rises almost abruptly from
the margin of the Great Plains, which in
their western parts average 5,000 to 6,000 ft.
in elevation. It is therefore one of the most
impressive portions of the Rockies-

The Desert or Basin Ranges occupy the
most arid region of Western Utah and Neva-
da. The easternmost of this group, the Wa-
satch Range, rises with extreme abruptness
from the plain of Salt Lake, 5,000 to 6,000 ft,,
giving a most beautiful and picturesque back-
ground to this rich agricultural valley. Still w.
of this lies the Sierra Nevada of California, a
single great range terminating in the n. with
extinct volcanoes, among which stands Mount
Shasta, 14,000 ft. The culminating point of
the Sierra Nevada is Mount Whitney, about
14,500 ft., the loftiest non-volcanic summit
of the United States outside of the district
of Alaska. The continuation of this range
northward into Oregon, Washington, and
Canada is known as the Cascades, named
from the many beautiful falls and rapids
formed by the rivers in crossing this barrier.

The highest peaks are in Alaska. Mt. Mc-
Kinley, about 20,500 ft. above sea level, is
the highest summit in North America. Mt
St. Elias, 18,100 ft., was for a long time sup-
posed to be the highest. A neighboring peak
to this, in Canada, is Mt. Logan, whose al-
titude is variously put at 18,000 and 19,500
ft. There are a great number of very high
peaks throughout the system. Forty peaks in
Colorado alone exceed 14,000 ft., and 200
exceed 13,000 ft. elevation. Pike's Peak in the
Front Range is the most famous mountain of
the Great Plains border.

Several of the most striking single moun-
tains are extinct volcanoes. Mt, Hood, 11,255
ft., and Mt. Rainier, 14,526 ft., are especially
good examples. Structurally the ranges differ
widely. The Basin Ranges are chiefly great
fault blocks. The eastern ranges, such as the
Rocky Mountain Front Range, exhibit a
granite core representing an upward folding.
The Uintas are broad folded and faulted sedi-
ments much dissected by erosion. The Sierra
Nevada are closely-folded schists and have
also volcanics. And the Coast Range re-
sembles the Appalachian type of folding.
Rocks of all ages are involved, but the chief
mountairi-maJdng movements date back only