page_title: Southwest Territory (Six Flags Great America)
section_title: The Great Southwest
hierarchical_section_title: Southwest Territory (Six Flags Great America) / History / The Great Southwest
caption_attribution_description: English: Drop Tower at Six Flags Great America, Illinois, United States.
context_page_description: Southwest Territory is a Wild West themed land at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. The roughly sixteen-acre area opened in 1996 for the park's 20th anniversary, and was the largest expansion since its opening in 1976. It is exclusive to Great America in Gurnee, though a similarly-themed land of the same name could once be found at Six Flags America.
context_section_description: During the initial planning of Marriott's Great America in Gurnee, a seventh themed land, The Great Southwest, was intended to be added the park as its first major expansion after opening. The land was planned to open in 1979, but the plans never materialized. Early signs of another land came in 1977, the park's second season, with the addition of the Southern Cross Skyride. Manufactured by the Swiss firm Von Roll, the Southern Cross was one of the tallest and longest gondola rides that the company ever produced for an amusement park, at 125 feet in the air. The reason for the height was that the Southern Cross intersected perpendicularly and also passed over the Delta Flyer/Eagle's Flight skyride. The Southern Cross was a round trip to the future plot of The Great Southwest, which was just a large pile of dirt. After the park missed its intended 1979 opening for the land, the Southern Cross operated for just three more seasons before being removed after the 1982 season.
caption: The Giant Drop, one of the attractions in Southwest Territory
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