Editing Endless Mountains

{{Short description|Mountainous region in northeast Pennsylvania}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2016}}
[[Image:Map of PA Endless Mountains.gif|thumb|Counties (in red) in the Endless Mountains region of [[Northeastern Pennsylvania]]]]
The '''Endless Mountains''' is a geographical, geological, and cultural region in [[Northeastern Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Gateway to the Endless Mountains|url=http://www.visitpa.com/pa-road-trips/gateway-endless-mountains|website=Visitpa.com}}</ref> The Endless Mountains region includes [[Bradford County, Pennsylvania|Bradford]], [[Sullivan County, Pennsylvania|Sullivan]], [[Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Susquehanna]], and [[Wyoming County, Pennsylvania|Wyoming]] counties. The highest peak in the region is the [[Elk Hill (Pennsylvania)|North Knob of Elk Mountain]] at {{convert|2693|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}. The [[dissected plateau]] is a [[List of subranges of the Appalachian Mountains|subrange]] of the [[Appalachian Mountains]].

==Geography==
{{See also|Geography of Pennsylvania}}
[[File:Elkmountaintop.JPG|thumb|The Endless Mountains seen from [[Elk Mountain Ski Area]] in [[Herrick Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Herrick Township]]]]
Part of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] chain, the region does not consist of true mountains, [[geology|geologically]] speaking, but instead a [[dissected plateau]] that is part of the [[Allegheny Plateau]]. The [[Catskill Mountains]] are the highest expression of the plateau, located to the east of the Endless Mountains, and separated from them by the [[Delaware River]].

The current geography was slightly modified during the last [[ice age]] by the [[Wisconsin Glacier]] about 15,000 years ago. [[Glacial striation]]s can be found on the [[rock (geology)|rocks]] of some of the high ridges, but the area was at the margin of the ice sheet, and the impact was much less than in [[New York (state)|New York]] just to the north.

The mountains are made up of [[sedimentary rock]]s (mostly [[sandstone]] and [[shale]]s, with a little [[conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]]) that were part of a lowland that collected sediments [[erosion|eroded]] from mountains to the southeast in [[Mississippian age|Mississippian]] and [[Pennsylvanian (geology)|Pennsylvanian]] geologic time. The area has been uplifted and lowered several times. The highest points are all nearly the same elevation, establishing that the area had once been eroded into a nearly level [[peneplain]], which has since been uplifted. The present [[Susquehanna River]] established its [[meander]]ing course during that time, when it was a mature stream on a topography of very low relief. When the area was uplifted, the river's bends were preserved as [[incised meander]]s. The large river cut a deep valley and established a low baseline for its [[tributary|tributaries]], which then cut the plateau into the rugged hills of the present day.

==History==
{{See also|History of Pennsylvania}}
[[File:Endless Mountains 1756 map.jpg|thumb|A 1756 map of the Endless Mountains on display at the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Museum of American History]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Autumn View From Elk Mountain.jpg|thumb|An autumn view from [[Elk Mountain Ski Resort]] in the Endless Mountains]]
Several Native American bands settled the area in prehistoric times. By the early colonial period, [[Munsee]]-[[Lenape]], [[Susquehannock]], and [[Iroquois]] peoples were the principal occupants of the region. The majority of the local place names were derived from the Munsee-Lenape, however; places like ''Lock-ah Hanna'' ([[Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania|Lackawanna]] or Sand River), ''Tunk Hanna Unk'' ([[Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania|Tunkhannock]] or Bend River Place), ''Why-ohm Ing'' ([[Wyoming Valley|Wyoming]] or Food Place), ''Min Nees Unk'' ([[Minisink]]), ''Toe-be Hanna'' ([[Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania|Tobyhanna]] or Cool River), ''Mesh-op Ing'' ([[Meshoppen Township, Pennsylvania|Meshoppen]]), ''Why-ah-loose Ing'' ([[Wyalusing Township, Pennsylvania|Wyalusing]]), ''Schick-shin Ing'' ([[Shickshinny, Pennsylvania|Shickshinny]]), and ''Mawsch Unk'' (Bear Place, present-day [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania|Jim Thorpe]]) are examples. The Munsee and other native peoples like the Shawnee, Nanticoke, Conoy, and Tutelo were evicted by the terms of the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, which was between the Iroquois League and the British Crown.

After 1768, hundreds of British, Irish, and German families flooded in from New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to occupy lands purchased from the Susquehanna and Connecticut Land companies of Connecticut. These settlements eventually led to armed conflict with the Penn proprietors (William Penn's sons, Richard and Thomas, and his grandson, John), who also claimed the land. (See [[Pennamite Wars]]). During the [[American Revolution]] in 1778, a combined British, Tory, Iroquois, Munsee, and Lenape force attacked the [[Wyoming Valley]] settlers on the eastern edge of this region, and [[Wyoming Massacre|killed]] many of the settlers. Washington sent Major General [[John Sullivan (general)|John Sullivan]] on a campaign to destroy the Iroquois threat by a "[[scorched earth]]" drive up the Susquehanna and [[Chemung River]]s into central and western New York.

The region's economy was formerly based on [[mining]], [[lumbering]] (especially of [[Tsuga|hemlock]] for [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]]) and [[Industrial sector|industry]] but is now largely [[agriculture|agricultural]] with [[forestry]] and [[tourism]] contributing to the economic base. Much of the land is steep, but there are a few good farms on rolling hilltops or valley bottoms; many of these farms have been occupied by [[Mennonite]] and [[Amish]] people who have migrated northward as their traditional homelands became developed.

[[Quarry]]ing remains an important local industry with the region's high quality [[Blue stone (US)|blue stone]] being particularly valuable. The area is on the edge of Pennsylvania's [[Coal Region]], with some minor veins of coal extending into the area.

==Popular culture==
[[Camptown, Pennsylvania]] in the Endless Mountains is featured in the lyrics of "[[Camptown Races]]", an 1850 song by [[Stephen Foster]].

==See also==
*[[Elk Mountain Ski Area]]
*[[List of subranges of the Appalachian Mountains]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.endlessmountains.org/ Tourism website]
*[http://www.endlessmountainsheritage.org/ History and information]

{{Coord|41.6218|-76.0521|type:mountain_globe:earth_region:PA|display=title}}

{{Mountains of Pennsylvania}}
{{Pennsylvania}}
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[[Category:Endless Mountains| ]]
[[Category:Landforms of Bradford County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Landforms of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Landforms of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Landforms of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Northeastern Pennsylvania]]