The chinook is the warm dry wind at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, and presents the same features as the fohn winds of Switzerland. The chinook winds descend from the Rockies, and while they are chiefly found in Montana and Wyoming, they also extend from the southern part of Colorado up into Canada as far as the Arctic circle. The high temperatures are confined to the valleys, and occur in streaks or pockets so that a traveller frequently passes suddenly from a very warm to a very cold atmosphere. Research Chinook
In geography, a geyser (from the Icelandic geysir which in turn deribes from heysa meaning to gush or rush forth) is a term applied to natural springs of hot water of the kind that were first observed in Iceland. The geysers of Iceland, about a hundred in number, lie about 30 miles north west of Mount Hecia, in a plain covered by hot-springs and steaming apertures. The two most remarkable are the Great Geyser and the New Geyser or Strokkur (churn), the former of which throws up at times a column of hot water to the height of from 80 to 200 feet. The basin of the Great Geyser is about 70 feet across at its greatest diameter. The New Geyser, which is only 100 meters away, is much smaller in size. The springs are supposed to be connected with Mount Hecia, and the phenomenon of eruption has been explained by Tyndall as due to the heating of the walls of a fissure, whereby the water is slowly raised to the boiling point under pressure, and explodes into steam, an interval being required for the process to be repeated. The geysers of Iceland, however, were surpassed by those discovered in the Rocky Mountains in the Yellowstone Region of Wyoming Territory, the largest of which throw up jets of water from 90 to 250 feet high. The hot-lake district of Auckland, New Zealand, is also famous in possessing some of the most remarkable geyser scenery in the world. These phenomena are of three kinds: the puias (fire-springs), geysers continually or intermittently active; ngawhas or inactive puias, which emitsteam, but do not throw up columns of water; and waiariki or hot-water cisterns. This region is remarkable for the number of natural terraces containing hot-water pools or cisterns, and its lakes all filled at intervals by the boiling geysers and thermal springs, but the configuration of the country was considerably altered by the disastrous volcanic outbreak of 1886. Ngahapu or Ohopia, a circular rocky basin, 40 feet in diameter, in which a violent geyser is constantly ng up to the height of 10 or 12 feet, emitting dense clouds of steam, is one of the natural wonders of the southern hemisphere. Research Geyser
The Susquehannah Company was a land company formed in 1754, chiefly of Connecticut farmers, for the colonization of the Wyoming country. By a treaty with the Five Nations, July 11th 1754, an enormous tract of country was purchased for 2000 pounds sterling. It began at the southern boundary of Connecticut and followed in a northerly direction the course of the Susquehannah to northern Pennsylvania. In 1785-1786 many disputes arose between the Susquehannah Company and the Pennsylvania claimants of the territory. This was called the Pennamite War. Research Susquehannah Company
The Wyoming Controversy was a controversy which arose between Pennsylvania and Connecticut in 1782 regarding the jurisdiction of certain lands within the limits of the former State, but which had been settled by Connecticut adventurers. In 1784 the Pennsylvanians attempted to dispossess the Connecticut claimants. This led to bloodshed and to a revival of the Susquehanna Company in Connecticut for the establishment of the latter's claims. John Pranklin, the moving spirit of the Susquehanna Company, was seized and imprisoned by Timothy Pickering, clerk and commissioner of the new county of Luzerne, formed by Pennsylvania from the Connecticut claims in 1787. The question was finally settled in favour of Pennsylvania's jurisdiction in 1790. Research Wyoming Controversy
In 1776 two Continental companies had been placed in the Wyoming Valley for the protection of the settlers, chiefly Connecticut emigrants. Two years later Major John Butler, commanding a force 800 strong, of Indians, British and Torries, descended upon the valley. On July the 3rd, 230 Americans, in six companies, led by ColonelZebulon Butler, attempted to oppose the British raids. Their unorganized lines fell upon the British about four o'clock in the afternoon. The Americans were completely wiped out, as were the adult male settlers. Women and children were spared, however. Research Wyoming Massacre
Nodosaurus was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Nodosaurus was first described in 1889 by Othniel C Marsh on the basis of a few fragments of skeleton discovered, and later in 1921 was described more fully by R S Lull after further specimens were found in Wyoming and Kansas, USA. Nodosaurus was a medium-sized dinosaur, about six metres long, walked on all-fours and had an armour of bony knobs covering its body. Research Nodosaurus
Ornitholestes was a dinosaur of the Jurassic period. It was a small, lightly-built carnivore, about two metres long, that walked on its hind-legs, standing about one metre tall. An almost complete skeleton of Ornitholestes was discovered in 1900 at Wyoming, USA. Ornitholestes had small teeth and rather weak hands and long, slim arms and legs. Research Ornitholestes
Abbreviations
Research Chinook
