The legendary beauty of the Rocky Mountain region: Is it more than skin deep?
✍ Scribed by Terry C. Daniel
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 456 KB
- Volume
- 24
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-5061
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Sunshine, mild dry climate, clean air, blue skies, and unexcelled natural scenic beauty have long been associated with the Rocky Mountain region. This image was fostered by early visitors' journals and by outstanding landscape paintings and photography.
Turn-of-the-century physicians were so impressed by the quality of these environmental characteristics that they advocated migration to the region for its health and therapeutic benefits. Rising public appreciation of the natural environment led to significant pro- tective legislation in the 1970s. A growing body of research now seeks to understand better the psychological and health benefits of these "environmental amenities."
From the days of the conquistadores and the Spanish padres, visitors to the Rocky Mountain region have been impressed by the beauty and grandeur of the natural landscape. These earliest explorers established a pattern that is still followed today; their journals and poetic descriptions created an image that attracted settlers to the region.
No doubt the lure of potential wealth from mineral and other economic resources was always a powerful factor, but the role of intangible aesthetic qualities of the environment as an attraction should not be underestimated.