Quite unlike the east,the western United States has almost no coastal plain,and the mountains along the pacific coast drop right into the sea. This western country is also varied. It contains some of the highest mountains in North America,a vast area of valleys,plateaus,and mountain ranges. Taken together,America's mountainous west is a unique place--a land of impressive beauty,considerable environmental variety,and great mineral wealth. It is hardly sorprising that much of this western country was settled by adventurous people in search of quick riehes,or freedom from the customs and traditions of the crowded,long-settled East. Its picturesque scenery and history have causedany ericans to see the West as a wild kind of place-a view supported by novelists,artists,newspaper writers and filmmakers who have painted the American West in bright,complicated colors.