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Fast Facts
- Highest point in the Allegheny
Mountains: 5,729 feet (Mount Rogers, Virginia)
- Highest point in the Rocky Mountains:
14,433 feet (Mount Elbert, Colorado)
- Length of the Appalachian Mountains: 1,500
miles
- Maximum width: 120 miles
- Length of the Rocky Mountains: 3,000
miles
- Maximum width: 350 miles
- Average distance the mountain snow line descended
below modern levels during the Little Ice Age:
300 feet
- Number of horses Corps of Discovery obtained from
the Shoshone: 29
- Number they ate during crossing of the Rocky Mountains:
3
- Year Yellowstone National Park was established:
1872
- Estimated number of tourists to enter the park
that year: 1,000-5,000
- Number who visited in 2001: 2.8 million
- Park operating budget in 1872: $0
- Operating budget for fiscal year 2002:
$27 million
- Population of West Yellowstone, gateway community
near the entrance to Yellowstone National Park:
1,200
- Number of snowmobile rental shops: 14
- Number of snowmobiles available for rent:
1,300
Sources: "The World Almanac";
"World Book Encyclopedia"; "The Little Ice Age: How Climate
Made History" by Brian Fagan (2000: Basic Books);"The Way to
the Western Sea: Lewis and Clark Across the Continent" by David
Lavender (1988: Harper & Row); National Park Service; U.S. Census
Bureau; High Country News (April 1, 2002) |
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