North America and the Rocky Mountains

Colonial Explorers of the North American West
1)1528-1536: Narvaez and Vaca - Spanish conquistadors undertook an 8 year crossing.  Out of 600 men -  4 survived (including Vaca)  to cross the American Southwest.
2) 1793: Alexander MacKenzie reached the Pacific Coast having traveled from Lake Athabasca.  1789 he traveled to the Arctic Ocean (hoped to reach the Pacific). 
3) 1803-1806: Lewis and Clark traversed the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains to reach the Pacific Ocean.  

Two interesting sites in the Rocky Mountains:
1) Burgess Shale - where an undersea mudslide engulfed marine life 500 million years ago - fossilizing marine life from the Cambrian Explosion.  
2) South Pass - where colonial pioneers following the Oregon Trail crossed the Rocky Mountains to reach Oregon and the West Coast. Used between 1836 and 1880s. 

The Canadian Rockies are more jagged than the US Rockies, due to being farther North and heavier glaciation .  Another distinguishing feature is that the Canadian Rockies are largely composed of sedimentary rock, compared to the US Rockies  which are largely composed of Granite. 

Anomalocaris - an apex predator of ancient seas.  May have eaten trilobites and soft-bodied creatures with its disc shaped mouth. 

Hallucigenia - For decades paleontologists were not certain which end was the head vs the tail and which side was the top vs the bottom.  

Opabinia with the long clasping arm may have brought food to its mouth.

Pikaia - undulated thru ancient seas avoiding predators.  Thank goodness, because Pikaia or other similar organisms eventually evolved into fish and other vertebrates which is our lineage.  

Oregon Trail - passing through Wyoming.  

Oregon Trail wagon wheel ruts eroded into the landscape near Guernsey Wyoming (above).

Below - Independence Rock along the Oregon Trail.  Many pioneers carved their name and date into the rock.  If the wagon train reached Independence Rock before the 4th of July, they were on schedule to reach the West Coast before heavy snowfalls made travelling over mountains difficult further west.