Description: A map of the Plateau Section of the United States as of 1898 AD. "This is the highland section of our country [United States]. The general surface is about a mile high, but the mountain ranges and many of the plateaus are much higher. Practically the only lowland in the section is in the extreme southwest...On the highland the summer days are usually hot, but because of the elevation the nights are cool. The winters in the north are long and very cold, but the lowland in the south is one of the hottest parts of the United States. The winters there are mild and almost snowless, and in the summer the temperature is sometimes 120°. Only on the mountain slopes and on the highest plateaus is there enough rainfall to support forest growth. Elsewhere the section is so dry that irrigation is necessary for successful farming. In the Great Basin and southward the lower lands are true deserts. Much of the section, however, is covered with coarse bunch grass, which forms good pasturage. By far the most important industry is the mining of metals silver, gold, copper, and lead. This section is the greatest silver-mining region of the world, and it produces more than half of the gold, copper and lead mined in the United States...After mining, herding is the most important industry. Vast herds of cattle find pasturage on the Great Plains, and thousands are annually shipped east to be converted into beef." &mdashRedway, 1898.
Source: Jacques W. Redway and Russell Hinman, Natural Advanced Geography (New York, NY: American Book Company , 1898) 84
Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman. |
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