Henry Mountains
| Henry Mountains | ||
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 Henry Mountains |
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| Highest peak | Mount Ellen ( 3512 m ) | |
| location | Utah (USA) | |
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| Coordinates | 38 ° 7 ′ N , 110 ° 49 ′ W | |
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The Henry Mountains are a mountain range within the Rocky Mountains in the southeastern US state of Utah . The highest point is Mount Ellen, 3512 m high . The mountains were named after the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institute Joseph Henry (1797–1878) and are among the most recently measured mountains in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii ). The Henry Mountains were almost unknown until after the American Civil War (1861–1865) and to this day the region is remote and sparsely populated.
geography
The mountain range runs north to south, is approximately 60 miles long and 20 miles wide, and is located in Garfield County , Utah. The closest settlement is Hanksville with 214 inhabitants (2012). The mountain range is bounded on the east and south by the Colorado River and its tributary Dirty Devil River . The northern border is the Waterpocket Fold , while the western border is formed by the San Rafael Swell (San Rafael Swell). The highest elevations from north to south are Mount Ellen 3512 m , Mount Pennell 3466 m , Mount Hillers 3268 m , Mount Holmes 2418 m and Mount Ellsworth 2510 m . The last two peaks are separated from the main mountain range by a valley and are also called the Little Rockies .
geology
John Wesley Powell mentioned the mountains on his trip in 1869 and named them the Unknown Mountains . He returned to the area in 1871 and named the mountains Henry Mountains after his friend Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC In 1875 Powell commissioned the geologist Grove Karl Gilbert to study the unique volcanic structure of the Henry Mountains. It took him two years for the study that was to become a classic of modern geology: Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains , published in 1877 by the United States Geological Survey , the US Federal Geological Office. In this study, Gilbert first referred to the Henry Mountains as Lakkolites , which consist of magma and are surrounded by sedimentary rocks . Gilbert's report is a standard work of geology. In 1950 the Henry Mountains were also scientifically investigated by the geologist Charles B. Hunt . He stated: The Henry Mountains have been described in the geological literature of all languages and are one of the places that are scientifically generally known.
The Lakkolith Mountains in Utah also include the La Sal Mountains , Navajo Mountains, and Abajo Mountains . They consist of magma that was pressed up through the earth's crust and then cooled. Each of these mountains provides vital moisture via watercourses, thunderstorms and the winter blanket of snow. In a low humidity environment, the average annual rainfall of 89 cm in the mountains is in striking contrast to the 26 cm in the canyons and mesas of the plain.
flora
The vegetation zones range from the high alpine level to the warm, dry desert climate at the foot of the mountains. Lichen and moss thrive on the summit, while ponderosa pines , pinyon pines , juniper and gambel oaks , as well as rabbitbrush and greasewood grow on the slopes . In the lower elevations, mugwort (sagebrush), dogweed , seaweed , yucca and cacti are native. Vegetation in the Henry Mountains has been severely damaged by overgrazing .
fauna
Deer , rabbits , kangaroo mice , voles and dwarf rabbits live in the dry desert climate of the Colorado Plateau and in the Henry Mountains, and they feed almost exclusively on mugwort. There are coyotes , foxes , lynxes and occasional pumas as predators . Most of the predators, however, were killed by the ranchers. Beavers can be found here and there on the mountain rivers . Among the numerous different reptile species, rattlesnakes and Gila crustaceans are particularly noteworthy. Birds are also very numerous, including sagebrushes , ravens , falcons and other birds of prey. Smaller bird species include canyon wrens , mockingbirds , pied flycatchers , helmet quails , woodpeckers and racing cuckoos .
Attempts have been made to reintroduce some large mammal species, such as elk and bighorn sheep , but to no avail. However, there was the successful introduction of bison , which did not previously live here. In 1941 eighteen buffalo were released north of the mountains. The following year five bulls were added and the herd grew and prospered to this day. Most of them live on the western slopes of the Henry Mountains, climb to the cooler higher regions in summer and hike into the valley to Swapp Mesa and Tarantula Mesa west of Mount Pernell in winter . The Utah Department of Wildlife Resources estimates the herd at around 200 animals today. The first buffalo hunt in the Henry Mountains took place in 1950 and there has been an almost annual hunt since 1960.
history
The inhospitable nature of the region has so far excluded extensive settlement in the mountains and their surroundings. However, there is evidence of the presence of prehistoric residents, such as members of the Fremont and Anasazi cultures, in the neighboring areas. However, the settlement of the mountains themselves cannot be proven. Even the Spaniards made no attempts to establish settlements in this remote region. Mormon pioneers first came to the area in 1882 when Elijah Cutler Behunin and his family settled in what is now Caineville . They followed Ebenezer Hanks the following year and settled with several other families on the Fremont River . In 1885 a post office was opened there and the place was named Hanksville. Around 1890 there were twenty families in the region and by 1893, according to church records, there were already 500 residents. Other small communities were planted on the Fremont River, such as Giles, Mesa, Clifton, Blue Valley, and Notom . However, a series of devastating floods in the 1890s and the following decade displaced most of the settlers, leaving only Hanksville today. South of the mountains were the small settlements of Hite and Halls Crossing . At the southern end of the Henry Mountains is the village of Bullfrog , a small tourist center on the shores of Lake Powell .
In the late 1870s, cattle breeders drove their herds to the northern Henry Mountains. However, after a few years they moved on. In the 1890s, a few ranches were established in the mountains , of which only a few remain today. By 1900 sheep farmers discovered the Henry Mountains and by 1925 sheep had ousted cattle. Shortly after the end of the First World War, a large herd of goats was herded into the mountains. It is said that some of their descendants still live wild in the mountains today. The large herds of goats, cattle and sheep resulted in overgrazing, a condition from which the mountain slopes have not recovered to this day.
The cattle thieves were a big problem. In the Henry Mountains there were numerous so-called outlaws ( outlaws ) and other shady characters in the 1890s . The Outlaw Trail was nearby, and a preferred hideout was the Robber's Roost east of the Henry Mountains. This area was a favorite spot for some bandits, such as Butch Cassidy . The outlaws passed by or hid in the Henry Mountains before committing their crimes elsewhere.
The region saw the greatest influx of people from gold discoveries in Glen Canyon in the early 1890s. The prospectors needed wood from the mountains for the mines and stores. Roads were built to make it easier to get into the woods and to a sawmill on Bull Creek . At the same time, Jack Summer , who had accompanied Powell in 1869, set up a bromide mine below the summit of Mount Ellen. Yields were good and by 1893 more than 100 men were working in the mine. The small town of Eagle City arose on Crescent Creek at the foot of the mountains, with residential buildings, a hotel, two restaurants, a dance hall, three shops and a post office. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway planned a branch from Green River to Eagle City. But by 1900 the mines were already exhausted and Eagle became a ghost town. More mines were built on Mount Hillers, and around the turn of the century gold was found on the eastern slope of Mount Pennell. Edwin T. Wolverton built a stamp mill there in 1921 to crush rock, but none of the mines brought the hoped-for yields. Today there are no active mines or prospectors in the Henry Mountains.
Coal was mined west of the mountains from 1888 to 1945 . When there were increasing sales problems around 1945, the coal mines were closed. The situation is different for uranium mining . It is the only mineral that is continuously mined in large quantities in the Henry Mountains. The first mines were set up shortly before the First World War , when radium was discovered, which was used for medicinal purposes and for fluorescent paints. In the late 1930s and during World War II , there was limited mining of vanadium , which is used to temper steel. During the Cold War , the production of nuclear weapons increased and with it the demand for uranium. Numerous new uranium mines have been opened in the Henry Mountains, some of which are still in operation today. South of the mountains, the Ticaboo settlement was built at the end of the 1970s , the seat of a company and its employees that processed uranium from the mines there. When the price of processed uranium, so-called yellow cake , dropped dramatically, the company was closed. The relics of the uranium boom can still be seen there today: rusted machines, abandoned shafts and scattered rubble.
tourism
Drought, loneliness and the harsh environment have so far kept human settlement in the Henry Mountains to a minimum. The flooded Glen Canyon of the Colorado River south of the mountains is an exception . A large number of tourists come from there every year, some of whom are fascinated by the solitude and wildness of the Henry Mountains. More than 30 percent of the precipitation in the Henry Mountains falls in the months of July and August, often as a result of violent thunderstorms, which wash the roads and turn the dried up streams into torrents, so-called flash floods . The roads are usually either gravel or dirt tracks and are unsuitable for some cars. Roads in higher regions can become impassable due to falling rocks or snow. The Bull Creek Pass is usually closed by the end of July due to snowdrifts. The current road conditions can be found at the Bureau of Land Management in Hanksville. The Henry Mountain Bison herd is common on the south ridge of Mount Ellen in summer. The Desert Bighorn sheep are rarely seen. You can find yourself in remote areas of the Orange Cliffs , Little Rockies, and the Dirty Devil River Canyon . The Shitamaring Canyon is one of the richest uranium deposits . A uranium processing mill and the village of Ticaboo were established here on Utah State Route 276 in the late 1970s .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j History of the Henry Mountains ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed July 22, 2014.
- ^ Henry Mountains and Surrounding Deserts , accessed July 22, 2014.
