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The highest mountains in North America are the Western Highlands in the western part. One great chain or range extends the entire length of North America from the Arctic Ocean down into South America. Great forests grow on these mountains. In many places are huge masses of rock on which nothing grows, so this range has been called the Rocky Mountains. It is always bitter cold at the top of some of these mountains because they reach so high. Even in summer they are capped with snow. Nowhere in the world can more magnificent scenery be found.
West of the Rocky Mountains is the Pacific Mountain System.
Gold and silver are mined in the Western Highlands. In the wild parts of the forests, where no people live, deer, wolves and bears may be found.
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The low land between the mountains we call plains or valleys. There is a Great Central Plain which reaches from the Eastern Highlands to the Western Highlands. There are many rivers in this valley. The Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers are the largest.
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You remember how rivers make rainfall and fertile soil. The Great Central Plain has some of the best farm land in the world. In the northern cold part hardly anything grows, but in the central part great quantities of corn, grain, fruits and vegetables are raised. In the south the plantations or farms raise sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, rice and coffee.
SHEEP ON THE PLAINS.