The Glass Mountains (also known as Gloss Mountains or Gloss Hills) are not actually mountains, but a series of

mesas A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

and

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

s that are part of the Blaine Escarpment that extends from the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

red beds Red beds (or redbeds) are sedimentary rocks, typically consisting of sandstone, siltstone, and shale, that are predominantly red in color due to the presence of ferric oxides. Frequently, these red-colored sedimentary strata locally contain ...

of northwestern Oklahoma in Major County. The Glass Mountains rise to above the surface of the plains, and the highest elevation in the formation is about above sea level. The Glass Mountains stretch west along

U.S. Route 412 U.S. Route 412 is an east–west United States highway, first commissioned in 1982. U.S. 412 overlaps expressway-grade Cimarron Turnpike from Tulsa west to Interstate 35 and the Cherokee Turnpike from east of Chouteau, Oklahoma, to west of the ...

from Orienta south of the Cimarron River.McPhail, Melanie L. and Richard A. Marston. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Glass Mountains."
Retrieved March 5, 2015. The name comes from the sparkling

selenite Selenite may refer to: Substances containing selenium *A selenium-containing anion or ionic compound with the SeO32− anion: **Selenite (ion), anion is a selenium oxoanion with the chemical formula SeO32− ***Selenous acid, the conjugate acid, w ...

crystals on the slopes and tops of the mesas.

Geology

During the Quaternary Period, the most recent one million years, Pleistocene terraces were laid down along the major rivers in this area of the United States, with Holocene

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

that are at least thick and contain sand, gravel, silt, clay and volcanic ash. The next layer was formed during the

Permian Period The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleozo ...

, which occurred 230 to 270 million years ago. This consists of red sandstone and shale which is to thick, with gypsum on the outcroppings. The Permian "redbeds" are subdivided into the Cimarronian Series (2850 feet) at the base, overlain by the Custerian Series (400 feet, top eroded). Deposits of Flowerpot shale ( to ) that consists mainly of red-brown illitic-chloritic shale, are found at this area.

History

The first American explorers referred to this feature as the "Shining Mountains," when they saw the formation in 1821. The name Glass Mountains has been attributed to an explorer named Thomas James.Benjamin Propelka. "Scenic USA - Oklahoma: Gloss Mountains State Park." 2012.
Accessed February 22, 2016. James visited this area during 1821, while on a trading expedition along the Cimarron River.Thomas, Phillip Drennan. "James, Thomas (1782-1847)." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed February 22, 2016. In 1875, a transcription error by a mapmaker resulted in the name ''Gloss Mountains'' which is still a somewhat common name for the mountains. The region became part of the Cherokee Outlet during the 19th Century. In 1891, botanist George Walter Stevens, started collecting specimens in the Glass Mountains domain for his dissertation. The University of Oklahoma Bebb Herbarium holds 4,500 samples that Stevens collected statewide. Two cacti he may have collected in the Glass Mountains area are ''Echinocereus caespitosus'' and ''Opuntia phaecantha''.

State park

The state of Oklahoma operates the Glass Mountain State Park, west of Orienta on a mesa along Highway 412. The park allows climbers to hike to the top of the mesa via a path and stairs. Picnic tables and an informational kiosk have been installed, and a pond known as Rattlesnake Lake is nearby.Zane, Matt. "If You’re From Oklahoma, These Mountains Will Make Your Jaw Drop." January 18, 2016.
Accessed February 24, 2016

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