There's actually a whole page devoted to the Hot Spot flamewar (it's as big and nasty as academic debates get, really interesting.)
http://www.mantleplumes.org/
It turns out that a lot of what were believed to be hot spots really aren't, that a lot of "hot spots" actually don't extend all the way to the mantle, and most interestingly, a lot of hot spots seem not to be fixed with respect to the plates passing over them...they wander themselves.
Origin of the Rockies is interesting in that it's a bit more complicated than most mountain ranges....they're pretty far inland. I think the most current theory is a VERY shallow subduction of the Farallon plate.
Pretty cool. :-)
Thanks for the info. I OTHO, was the black sheep of the family. I did not continue the tradition of studying the Earth, but popped over to the space side of things. :-)