Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Question: What initial label did explorer Stephen H. Long, namesake of Longs Peak, famously give to what is now called the Great Plains?

Answer: In the 1820s, Long labeled the Great Plains on his expedition map as the “Great American Desert,” a term that influenced public opinion and discouraged settlement of the region for about two decades. Long’s report called the plains “unfit for cultivation,” while fellow explorer Zebulon Pike compared them to “the sandy deserts of Africa.”