The history behind the American Mountain West offers an intriguing and distinguished history. Behind all that history lies a galore of folklore, facts, and wildlife. The Mountain West is home to many stories of cowboys, indians, gold, monsters, mountains, and other interesting topics. Thanks to the vast knowledge and tales of the west, the history has been enriched with fascinating culture.
The Mountain West has been around forever, but it hasn't been explored since recently. The 1600’s was the first time anyone besides Native Americans explored the area. The first people to ever reach and live in the Mountain West were nomadic people who had crossed of the Bering Strait Land Bridge some time ago, most likely …show more content…
Indians lived in teepees, which are tent like structures with sticks around the circumference of the area with animal hide or leaves as the outside layering. Many other settlers would use houses like this thanks to the good insulation during the summertime, and the ability to have a fire inside the teepee during winter time, which kept the residents warm through harsh nights. Other reasons for the teepees would be: tribes would move constantly, following game, getting away from bad weather, following religious order and possibly running from other …show more content…
Pools and marshes to rapid moving rivers and never-ending lakes. The rocky mountains overwhelm the large Mountain West area and run from New Mexico to the North West part of Alaska. The Rocky Mountains were formed by the Early Cenozoic and Mesozoic eras during the “Cordilleran progeny” (Encyclopedia.com). The Rocky Mountains can be divided into multiple sections, the Brooks Range, Northern Rockies, Middle Rockies, Southern Rockies, and the Wyoming Basin area. Of these zones the farthest-eastern “belt” comprises of the Front Range, the Wet Mountains, the Laramie, and the Medicine Bow. The Main Range consists of the Sangre de Cristo, Sawatch, Gore, Park and Mosquito Mountains. To the southwest, the San Juan Mountains fill the area and consist of volcanic rocks. The middle rockies are made of mainly the Wasatch and Teton and can be found in smaller quantities (Encyclopedia.com).The total distance can be measured up to a total distance of 3,000 miles! In the American West, Mt. Elbert, Colorado, tops the charts in height at 14,431 feet (Encyclopedia.com). Because the mountains reach such great heights, rivers are divided from entering whatever ocean lies beyond the mountain aside it. This division is called the Continental Divide and occurs in many places throughout the U.S Mountain