Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/111

LEFT E,OCKY MOUNTAINS 85 ROCOCO of Colorado, first met with in crossing the great plains that lie along the head- waters of the rivers which flow S. E. into the Mexican Gulf, and E. toward the Mississippi, has a general N. and S. direction. Santa Fe, N. M., is situated on this belt, and further N. it includes territorially the Spanish peaks. On its E. margin stands Pike's Peak, while in Colo- rado and Nebraska are those portions of the chain known as the Three Parks, and the Medicine Bow Mountains. From Long's Peak, in about lat. 40°, the range trends N. W., connecting with the Wind River Mountains, which latter includes Fremont's Peak, 13,870 feet above sea- level. Beyond that peak to the N. boun- dary of the United States the range sepa- rates the Dakotas and Washington, and the pass known as Lewis and Clark's, in lat. 47°, is the most northern pass of its system in the Union, and is the one fol- lowed by the Northern Pacific railroad. In British North America the "Rockies" di- vide the waters of the Pacific from those which flow into Hudson Bay, as the Sas- katchewan, Athabaska, etc., and also from the Mackenzie river, whose outlet is the Arctic ocean. The next great range of this mountain system toward the W. is that called the Wahsatch Mountains, lying S. from Great Salt Lake, and toward the N. W. this region is traced along the W. bank of the Colorado toward the Sierra Nevada, which forms the E. boundary of California, and the watershed of the Col- orado, and Lewis' Fork of the Columbia river, in lat. 37° and 46° respectively. Nearly the whole area between these points, and for a breadth of about 10 degrees of longitude, _ stretching E. from the Sierra Nevada, is a vast and par- tially explored territory, from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above sea-level, which receives the streams that fall on the W. slope of the Wahsatch range and on the E. slope of the Sierra Nevada. In British America this section of the chain interlocks with the main trunk of the Rocky Mountains. The W. portion of the chain commences at the S. extremity of the Lower Cali- fornian peninsula, then passing through California it bifurcates into two ranges, known, respectively, as the Sierra Nevada, at a distance of about 160 miles from the coast, and the Coast Range, skirting the shores of the Pacific from 10 to 50 miles inland, till it reconnects with the Sierra Nevada in northern California, in which section Mount Shasta attains an altitude of about 14,000 feet above tide water. Throughout all of Oregon and Washing- ton, the distinction is still maintained be- tween the main range (Sierra Nevada), here called the Cascade Mountains, and the Coast Range. The latter traverses the central portion of Vancouver Island for its whole length, and on the mainland in British Columbia the Sierra Nevada proceeds N. and is crossed by the Fraser river. Though the Sierra Nevada in its range between California and Nevada is intersected by no rivers, several of the streams which flow down its E. slopes have their sources high on the summits in the vicinity of those which feed the W. watershed. Several depressions are met with at these points, which serve as passes for the routes from Sonora, Sacra- mento, and Marysville to the E. By the canon of Carson river, the range is crossed at an elevation of about 7,250 feet; and by the Truckee Pass the eleva- tion is about 6,000 feet. From these passes the route is N. E. to the main road which crosses the Sierra Nevada in the N. portion of California, and which E. passes by the Humboldt Mountains to Salt Lake City. To the E. of Salt Lake this route continues across the Wahsatch range to the great South Pass of the Wind River Mountains, immediately S. of Fre- mont's Peak, and thence down the Sweet- water to the N. fork of the Platte. A more S. route connects Pike's Peak with the Utah basin, and thence turning S. W. crosses the Sierra Nevada near its junc- tion with the Coast Range in northern California, meeting at this point the route from Santa Fe through New Mexico, and the still more S. one from Texas, which follows the valley of the Gila, and crosses that river and the Colorado at their junc- tion. Mount St. Elias, in Alaska, is one of the highest peaks of this extensively ramified mountain system, though claimed to be surpassed in height by the neighbor- ing Mount Logan. For relative mountain heights, see Mountain. The mineralogi- cal, geological, and botanical character- istics of the various ranges of the Rocky Mountains' chain are treated in this work under the names of the several States, Territories, and regions with which it has connection. The Rocky Mountains were first partially explored by Lewis and Clark's expedition in 1804. Subsequently explorations were made by Harman, Long, Schoolcraft, Nicollet, Bonneville, Fre- mont, and by many others. ROCOCO, or ROCAILLE, a name given to the very debased style of architecture and decoration which succeeded the first revival of Italian architecture. It is orna- mental design run mad, without principle or taste. The ornament consists of panels with their moldings broken or curved at the angles, and filled with leafage, shell- work, musical instruments, marks, etc. This style prevailed in Germany and Bel- gium during the 18th century, and in France from the time of Henry IV. to the Revolution.