ROCKY MOUNTAINS, or CORDIL. LERAN SYSTEM, the of mountains which constitute the major axis of elevated lands of North America, in the western part, extending from the Arctic Ocean on the north to South America on the south, sad parallel with the Pacific Coast This great system of mountains is continued along the Pacific Coast in South America under the name Andes Moun tains (q.v.). Between the Rocky Mountains and the Andes is a pass in Panama not many feet above sea-level. The width of the system varies ; the greatest breadth is in the United States between lat. 38° and 42° N., where it is about 1,000 miles. The width diminishes north and south, increasing again in Mexico and diminishing only with the width of the continent. The highest point of the system is in Alaska, but the highest land mass is in the United States between 35° and 42° and on the eastern side of the system.
Ranges.— The ranges on the western boundary, and near the Pacific Coast are the Cascade and Sierra Nevada in the United States, the Sierra Madre in Mexico and Central America. West of the Sierra Nevada, in Cali fornia, is the Coast Range. The Coast Ranges, Cascades and Sierra Nevadas are really separate mountain systems, folded at different times, and not genetically connected with the Rocky Moun tains at all, although popularly spoken of as belonging to the Rocky Mountain System. The eastern chains in the United States, called the Rocky Mountain Range, extend north and northwest in the United States, approach nearer the Pacific in Canada, continuing into Alaska to O the Arctic Ocean. On the east of the Rocky Mountain Range is the great central plain of the United States and Canada. Rising abruptly from this plain are many isolated cone-shaped peaks which gradually merge into ranges, form ing an almost continuous eastern barrier, com posed of short ranges, chief of which are de Cristo, Colorado or Front Range, Bow, Big Horn and Laramie. Farther east, in South Dakota and Wyoming, are the Black Hills, a mountain mass detached from the main ranges. In Wyoming the ranges divide, some extending southeast, others southwest and several short ranges having an almost east and west trend. Some of the well-known interior
ranges are Wasatch, extending through Utah, and forming the eastern wall of the Great Basin, Wind River, Salmon River, San Miguel and Beaver River. Bitter Root Mountains form the divide between the headwaters of the Colo rado and the Missouri rivers. In Nevada the short ranges are generally north and south; in the central and eastern part there are a large number of short, almost parallel chains. Other noted ranges are the Coeur d'Alene, the Lap wai and the Blue. The ranges south of the divide in Wyoming have a greater altitude than those north; but some of the southern ranges after leaving Colorado on the south and east end abruptly, and others slope gradually to the low desert plains. The greatest development is in Colorado.
Peaks.— In Colorado there are about 40 peaks which are over 14,000 feet in height Among them are Grays Peak, 14,341 feet in height; Longs Peak, 14,271 feet ; Pikes Peak, 14,134 feet. In the Sawatch Range, in Colorado, are Mount Harvard, 14,375 feet, and Mount of the Holy Cross, 14,176 feet. In the mesa re gion in western Colorado is Uncompahgre Peak, 14,408 feet; and in Sangre de Cristo Range is Blanca Peak, 14,463 feet. Other famous peaks, outside of Colorado, are, in Wyoming, Fre mont's Peak, 13,700 feet, in the Wind River Mountains; Mount Hayden, 13,691 feet, in the Sawatch Range. In the Colorado, or Front Range, there are four peaks over 14,000 feet; in Sawatch Range, 10 peaks; in the Sangre de Cristo, .three; in the San Juan, four; in the Sierra Nevada, four. In Park Range (not group) and in the Pikes Peak Group, there is one in each. The highest peaks belong to the Cascade Range. Mount McKinley in Alaska is over 20,000 feet above sea-level; Mount Logan is 19,500 feet; Mount Saint Elias, 18,101; Mount Rainier, 14,444. Many of the peaks of this vast system, especially in the Cascade Range, are extinct volcanoes. In Mexico and Central America there are a number of active volcanoes. Orizaba, 18,300 feet in height ; Popo catepetl, 17,:.:7 and Ixtaccihuatl 17,343, are among the highest active volcanoes.