If you wanna brushen up on your North American geology, and how it has influenced Man and the Natural world.
A Paleontology excerpt regarding western Dakota's palm trees and sandy beaches (though watch out for dromaeosars!):
The Hell Creek beds contain dinosaur remains that have been extensively collected. The Hell Creek Formation, exposed in the southern portion of the Little Missouri badlands, was deposited at the end of the Cretaceous and contains remains of the last species of dinosaurs that existed on Earth. North Dakota Geological Survey geologists studying the Hell Creek have identified fossils of 14 species of dinosaurs, including Triceratops, duck-billed dinosaurs (hadrosaurs), Tyrannosaurus rex, pachycephalosaurs, the small raptor-like predators called dromaeosaurs and several others. Triceratops seems to be the most common of the dinosaurs in North Dakota. Fish, turtles, crocodiles, alligators, champsosaurs, lizards, amphibians, birds, and small mammals are other vertebrates represented by fossils associated with the dinosaur remains. Freshwater snails, mussels, pill clams and insects are also found in the Hell Creek Formation. Many species of exotic plants represented by leaf fossils, seeds, and pollen are found, including broad-leafed trees, cycads, palm trees, and ground ferns. These plants and animals inhabited a vast subtropical, coastal plain delta that covered western North Dakota during latest Cretaceous time.
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