Opening paragraphs..........(taking the long view)

A hundred and twenty million years ago, before time began, the entire middle of what is now the United States of America was covered by the vast Niobrara Sea.  For aeons flying reptiles swept over it and swimming ones dwelt in its waters.  But eventually this sea dried up and a huge chalky plain developed in the remains of its basin.  The name Niobrara now is attached to a small river wending its way east from Wyoming though Nebraska and into the Missouri River.  But the alkaline alluvial plans remain, stretching eastward for hundreds of miles from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River.
-Vincent Curcio,  Chrysler:  The Life and Times of an Automotive Genius