The perimeter of the Archean Wyoming province can be generally defined. A Proterozoic metamorphic belt surrounds the province and separates it from the Archean Superior province to the east. The western margin lies under the western overthrust belt but the province extends at least as far west as southwestern Montana and southeastern Idaho. The province is bounded on the north by a regionally extensive terrane composed of Archean rocks that were apparently remobilized by Proterozoic tectonic events. The southern mobile belt does not appear to contain rocks as old as Archean. The tectonic response of these Precambrian lithostructural terranes to vertical and horizontal tectonic stress fields has influenced Phanerozoic stratigraphic facies distributions. An analysis of the ajor unconformities in the stratigraphic record in light of the Precambrian lithostructural history of the region discloses new evidence concerning the stratigraphy of the Rocky Mountain region. The sedimentation patterns appear to have been influenced by differential and recurrent uplift of the terranes making up the ancient substructure. A correlation between the tectonic terranes and the localization of regional hydrocarbon accumulations has been observed. A model is discussed that has been useful in basin analyses and trend mapping for petroleum exploration.