~ ~ I Z" . Bo Dam. completed in l951. 'marks the son ern margin of the east-west t' ing Owl Creek Mountains and the Wind River Canyon. Drained by the north fl ing Wind River. the canyon is 14 miles lon . 1.3-2 miles wide and 2,400 feet deep where it crosses the axis of the mountain range. north of here. canyon walls display rocks of the Precambrian and Paleozoic eras ranging in age from several billion to 235 million years. The Wind River originally flowed across flat terrain beneath which lay the buried Owl Creek Mountains. These mountains formed 50 million years ago. as an upward fold in the earth's crust. and were subsequently covered by younger sediment. About 4 million years ago a broad regional uplift of the earth's crust resulted in the incision of the Wind River's channel onto the rising crust, creating the canyon which cuts across the Owl Creek Mountains at a right angle. Rivers usually flow around or parallel to mountains. rather than across them. Sedi ment covering the Owl Creek Mountains was removed via erosion. resulting in development of the landscape you now View. The process continues. Portions of the Can yon highway follow an ancient trail used by Native Americans. early tur trappers. traders. . and US. Military expeditions. Particularly the Shoshone. used this tra Thermopolis. William Ashley. Steep Native Americans. il to reach the hot springs in present-day "general" of the fur trade. floated a valuable car 0 of pelts through the Canyon in 1825 on his way back to St. Louis. The Canyon was also a well known escape route for Native American warriors in the l800s. Wind River Canyon is s late acred to contemporary Native American tribes in the region.