Shoshone Canyon
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 44° 30.661 W 109° 08.367
12T E 647882 N 4930316
This Wyoming Historical Marker is located on the north side of US Highway 14/16/20 about halfway between the Buffalo Bill Dam and Cody, Wyoming.
Waymark Code: WMFB4P
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 09/22/2012
Views: 13
Shoshone Canyon
Shoshone Canyon is a gorge cut through Rattlesnake Mountain by the wearing action of the Shoshone River. The mountain is a northwest trending uplift in the earth's crust that rises 3700 feet above the surrounding terrain. Beds of sedimentary rock that are exposed on the mountain's northeast flank slope eastward beneath the plains. The same units, which range in age from 205 to 570 million years, bend up and over the crest of the mountain and stand vertically along the southwest flank. Granite exposed at the west end of the canyon at Buffalo Bill Dam is two billion years old. North of the dam, a fault (crack) in the earth's surface lies adjacent to the steeply inclined rocks. Geologic compressive forces which formed the uplift also caused rocks to move 2000 feet vertically along the fault. The Rattlesnake Mountain uplift began to form 66 million years ago, approximately the same time dinosaurs became extinct. The present topographic configuration of Rattlesnake Mountain and the formation of Shoshone Canyon are due to erosional downcutting occurring over the past three million years.
Marker Name: Shoshone Canyon
Marker Type: Rural Roadside
Group Responsible for Placement: Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
Marker Number: PA0015.92
Addtional Information: Not listed
Date Dedicated: Not listed
Web link(s) for additional information: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Wyoming history please include that in your log.