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The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park, and most of the east side of the range is within Grand Teton National Park.
One theory says the early French voyageurs named the range les trois tétons ("the three breasts") after the breast-like shapes of its peaks. Another theory says the range is named for the Teton Sioux (from Thítȟuŋwaŋ), also known as the Lakota people.Ullrich, Jan. (2008). New Lakota Dictionary. Lakota Language Consortium. It is likely that the local Shoshone people once called the whole range Teewinot, meaning "many pinnacles".
The principal summits of the central massif, sometimes referred to as the Cathedral Group, are Grand Teton (), Mount Owen (), Teewinot (), Middle Teton () and South Teton (). Other peaks in the range include Mount Moran (), Mount Wister (), Buck Mountain () and Static Peak ().
Subsequently, magma was forced up through the cracks in the gneiss to form granite, anywhere from inches to hundreds of feet thick. Other intrusive igneous rocks are noticeable as the black dikes of diabase, visible on the southwest face of Mount Moran and on the Grand Teton. Starting during the Cambrian period, deep deposits of sedimentary rock were deposited in shallow seas over the metamorphic basement rocks. Erosion and uplift have exposed the metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks now visible on the east slope of the range and in the Cathedral Group and the Paleozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks on the west slope. As recently as 2.1 million years ago the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff was deposited along the west slope of the north part of the range.
One reason the Teton Range is famous is because of the dramatic elevation profile visible from the eastern side, which rises sharply from above the valley floor. Unlike most mountain ranges, the east side of the Teton Range lacks significant foothills or lower peaks which might obscure the view. This is due to the presence of the Teton Fault at the base of the east slope as well as the range being too young to have eroded into soft hills. The Snake River flows southward through the valley before turning to the west and entering Idaho.
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