South Pass (Wyoming)

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/south-pass-wyoming

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How high is South Pass (Wyoming)?Approximately 7,412 to 7,550 feet (2,259 to 2,300 meters)
2. How big is South Pass (Wyoming)?Approximately 35 miles (56 km) wide
3. What is the location?Fremont County, southwestern Wyoming, USA
4. What is the hydrological divide?Separates watersheds flowing to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
5. What is South Pass in Wyoming?South Pass is a wide, gently sloping area in southwestern Wyoming that cuts across the Rocky Mountains. It sits about 7,400 to 7,550 feet high and stretches roughly 35 miles across.
6. Why was South Pass important for pioneers?Pioneers used South Pass as the main gateway to travel west on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails. Its low height and gentle slopes made it easier for wagon trains to cross the Rockies.

Continental Divide: The hydrological boundary separating North American drainage basins that empty into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans.
Westward Expansion: The 19th-century movement of settlers and the U.S. government across North America.
Emigrant Trails: Established routes used by large numbers of people migrating to new territories.
Watershed: An area of land where all the water that falls in it and drains off of it goes to a common outlet.