North American Regions - The Rocky Mountains (1967)

[Music] these Majestic Jagged peaks in Canada are part of the Rocky Mountain system a system of mountains which runs through the western parts of the United States and Canada this system is over 2,000 miles long from southwestern United States the mountains extend generally North and Northwest at the Canadian border the mountains continue north and west through Canada and into Alaska these Highlands occupy parts of New Mexico Colorado Utah Wyoming Idaho Montana and Washington in Canada the Rockies continue through the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and the Yukon Territory the system ends in northern Alaska the Rockies are part of the North American cordilla which also includes within the United States and Canada the coastal ranges the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges and the inter montine plateaus the Rockies are geologically young even though they were formed about 100 million years ago at a time when an ancient sea covered much of the continent of North America along the western edge of the continent mountain building began when the Earth's crust began to Sag this cross-section illustrates how a heavy load of sediment from the sea collected in the Continental depression causing a break or a fault as the deposit of sediment grew greater stronger pressures developed finally a portion of the continent was thrust upward as widespread faulting and folding continued uplift together with geologic forces formed great ranges of the Rockies such as the Grand Tetons in Wyoming after uplift gorges and canyons were cut by wind running water and other forces of erosion erosion by streams and Ice has continued for more than a million years and today the Grand Tetons form one of the many picturesque areas within the Rocky Mountains the Tetons and the other ranges of the Rockies lie in the path of moisture bearing winds from the Pacific Ocean these Westerly winds although losing some moisture when Crossing other ranges West of the Rockies are again forced upward when they reach the Rockies resulting in snow and rain most of it on the western slopes rain and snow falling on the Rockies provide water for the headquarters of some of the great North American Rivers this is the Columbia river which rises in British Columbia the Continental Divide along the highest peaks separates Atlantic and Pacific drainage Rivers such as the Yukon Fraser Columbia snake and Colorado flow west from the mountains into the Pacific Ocean flowing East are rivers like the Missouri the peace the Saskatchewan the Missouri the plat and the Arkansas flow Eastward from the mountains draining about onethird of Canada and the United States in the early 1800s Trappers and fur Traders sought the easiest routes West through the mountain barrier later Pioneers turned south of the high ranges and followed the Santa Fe Trail when gold was discovered in California in 1848 a greater Westward Movement began vast numbers of pioneers traveled the Oregon Trail this Trail crossed the Rockies through Wyoming for most of its length the Missouri Trail followed the Missouri River to its headquarters in the Rockies as the frontier continued to move Westward a few of the Pioneers paused at the Eastern foothills of the Rockies and established settlements there the discovery of minerals encouraged some of the first Rocky Mountain settlements in the mountains mining camps grew rapidly into mining towns such as Leadville Creek and Silverton in Colorado mining communities such as these provided markets for farmers who were beginning to develop farms in the nearby mountain valleys but some of the valleys bordering the mountains were too dry to farm until modern irrigation was developed in the 20th century this great dam in Canada for example provides water for farmlands near lethridge Alberta Helena the capital of of Montana is situated in the famous irrigated Prickly Pear Valley Cities such as Helena also grew in importance when transcontinental railroads crossed the mountains routs of the principal railroads that cross the Rockies include many examples of tunnels and other engineering Feats which overcome the mountainous terrain today trucks as well as TR RS transport the products of the Rockies to Market cattle provide important products from the vast Mountain grasslands during summer herds are grazed on the Highland pastures in the fall they are returned to Lan valleys to eat Alfalfa or other forage crops sheep ranching is another important use of land in the mountain ranges in the foothills of the Brooks range in Alaska another kind of ranching is practiced here reindeer graze in the lowlands and are a minor source of income for Alaska economic development of the Rockies in Alaska and in the Canadian Yukon has progressed slowly because of isolation and cold here's one of the newest sources of income in the far Northern Rockies oil the mineral resources of the entire Rocky Mountain system are rich and varied in addition to gold one of the first minerals found in the Rockies silver iron copper lead zinc malinam and other metals are also mined these are some of the cities that grew up as a result of mining activities for example at climax Colorado most of the world's supply of malinam is mined the but Montana District has long been an important center for the production of copper and other metals the ores mined in but are smelted in nearby anaconda and Great Falls the metal industry depends upon abundant hydroelectric power furnished by dams on the Great Rivers of the rocky mountain region trees provide another natural resource of the mountains some of these forests are part of the national parks which have been set aside by the United States and Canada as vacation sites grenell Glacier is one of the many ice formations in Glacier National Park in Northern Montana in Alberta Canada beautiful Lake Louise is one of the features of bamp National Park Yellowstone National Park most of which is located in Northwestern Wyoming include several volcanic Peaks and a remarkable group of geysers the lower Falls of the Yellowstone River provide another Scenic Wonder in Yellowstone National Park each year millions of Americans an and Canadians visit their national parks in the Rockies within the vast area of the rockis we have seen something of the physical geography and the human activities within this region is a relatively sparse population most of the people live in trading centers in areas of rich mineral resources in places where water power is being developed and in agricultural valleys less populous are the areas devoted to grazing and to Forest Industries of all the geographic regions in North America the Rockies form one of the largest in area and one of the most spectacular in surface features this is a region of significant importance to the economy of Canada and the United [Applause] States