Historical Briefs

HISTORICAL BRIEFS

Geo. C. Ruhle

Until mapped by the Geological Survey, the country of Glacier National Park was but slightly known. To its mountain fastness came first the trapper and trader; the explorer, game hunter, and pioneer followed; the prospector, miner, and trader took their places in the nineties, with the construction engineer and railway worker busied along the south boundary. Today the Park beckons to the lover of the outdoors and the searcher for beauty. From the Lewis and Clark Expedition on, it has appealed to the scientist by its outstanding wonders. A chronological narrative of important historical events follows:

1670--On May 2, King Charles II of England granted a charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, a corporation formed for the purpose of importing to Great Britain furs and skins from British North America. The charter describes the company as "the governor and advonturers of England trading into Hudson's Bay", and consisted of Prince Rupert and seventeen noblemen. It invested complete lordship, including executive, legislative, and judicial powers, as well as exclusive trading rights. Its territory was defined as all lands watered by streams flowing into Hudson's Bay. Thus by royal decree the territory northeast of Triple Divide Peak became the southwestern corner of the grant.

1743--Pierre de la Verendrye traveling from the east reached the foothills of the Rockies in northern Montana, probably south of the Park, and called them "The Shining Mountains".

1750--Circa. Fragmentary evidence indicates that a Spaniard, shipwrecked near the mouth of the Columbia River, may have worked his way to the lake states via Marias Pass.

1803--Louisiana Purchase. That part of the Park east of the Continental Divide was the northwestern corner of the area acquired by the United States.

1804-6--Lewis and Clark Expedition. In July 1806 Captain Meriwether Lewis with only three men followed up the Marias River, and thence up the Cutbank to ascertain how far north that stream had its source. On July 22 he reached a point at which the river bent to the southwest, "about ten miles", he writes, "from the foot of the Rockies". In reality they were 25 miles away. They made camp on the south side of the river and remained two days for observation. This was the most northerly point reached by the Expedition, about six or seven miles northwest of the Great Northern right-of-way. At the nearest point on the railroad, two miles west of the station of Meriwether, a sandstone monument now commemorates this event. Because the weather was overcast, desired astronomical and other observations could not be taken. The party broke camp on the morning of July 26, calling it Camp Disappointment. If favorable, they would have been able to see Marias Pass. Had they crossed it on their route west instead of continuing up the Missouri, they would have had a far easier way across the mountains. After breaking camp they had an encounter with eight Gros Ventres, "Minatarees of the North". The Indians tried to steal their horses and guns and in the ensuing scuffle R. Fields stabbed one Indian through the heart with his knife. This was the only open conflict with Indians during the entire expedition.

1810--July. One hundred and fifty Flathead men accompanied by Finan McDonald, Michael Bourdeaux, and Baptiste Buche crossed the mountains "by a wide defile of easy passage eastward of Selish (Flathead) Lake, to hunt buffalo and make dried provisions". This was Marias Pass, known to the Indians, but not then in general use by the plateau tribes because of the strength of the Piegans, and the ease with which a party might be waylaid in it. Historian Genevieve Murray declares "these are the first white men known to have passed through Marias Pass". The party was attacked by one hundred and seventy Piegans in a pitched battlefield on Bear Creek, in the flat below the railroad station of Skyland, a site marked by the bones of those who fought there. The Flatheads were successful in this battle. Murray received her information from the narratives of David Thompson, Alexander Ross, and Ross Cox.

1830--Pitamakan, or Running Eagle, a Blackfeet woman, led warriors on successful raids into the Selish and Kutenai country west of the Divide, (J. W. Schultz). Her trails were up Cutbank Creek and over Pitamakan Pass. It was while riding home over this trail that she refused the hand of Falling Bear, a Blood Chief, because he was not brave enough to steal into the enemy camp and capture more horses than she, unaided, had stolen from them. It was over this trail that she led a war party, never to return to her home. According to Schultz in "Running Eagle the Warrior Girl", Pitamakan was the only woman of the Piegan tribe ever to be given a man's name.

1846--Hugh Monroe (Rising Wolf) visited St. Mary Lakes. It is believed that he was accompanied by the Belgian Jesuit priest, Pierre deSmet, and that the lakes were then given their name of today.

1853--Isaac I. Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, led an expedition into the Northwest, being commissioned by the government to explore a northern railroad route to the Pacific. He dispatched a party from Fort Benton late in September to hunt for a pass (Marias) described to him by the great Blackfeet Chief, Little Dog. The weather was stormy and the party returned unsuccessful. Stevens continued up the Missouri, crossing the range via Cadotte's Pass. He set up a winter encampment in the Bitterroot, but finding the weather congenial, dispatched on October 7 one of his most dependable engineers, A. W. Tinkham, with a Flathead guide to find Marias Pass. Tinkham followed up the Flathead, and up the Middle Fork. But his Flathead guide misled him up Nyack Creek and over Pitamakan Pass, the route generally used by the plateau Indians in going to the Plains. The mistake occurred for one or more of several reasons: (1) the Indian was afraid to lead him over the Marias Pass because of the Blackfeet bogie; the most probable reason; (2) he did not know the route over Marias; (3) not knowing exactly what Mr. Tinkham wanted, nor what are the topographic requirements for railroad construction, he led him naturally over the traveled route; (4) he deliberately misled him to impede rather than to help the cause of the white man. The party camped near the pass on October 19, and Tinkham made the first accurately recorded journey through what now is the Park. From the pass he made his way quickly down to Fort Benton.

1854--James R. Doty was left by Governor Stevens to winter at Fort Benton for further search for the pass described by Little Dog. In May he ascended the Sun River to the front range of the Rockies, thence up the old North Trail beyond St. Mary Lakes, called by him Bow (St. Mary) Lake and Chief Mountain (Lower St. Mary) Lake, which he described as "well known". On the return, he followed up the Marias (now South Fork of Two Medicine River) almost to its source. Climbing a high hill he observed the pass, the valley hilly and densely wooded, the mountains on either side high, bare, and covered with snow, and no mountains obstructing the view to the southwest. He definitely states that this is the true pass of Little Dog, and that Tinkham could not have seen nor passed over it. The trail he had followed continued up the valley and a deserted camp of only the previous summer showed it was still in some use. Doty was forced to turn back without further investigation, since Stevens had ordered him to return to Fort Benton not later than the last of June. The pass described by Little Dog had been found, careful maps were prepared, and plans made to continue the survey which never materialized, being countermanded by Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War.

1855--Governor Stevens assembled the Indians of plains and plateau for the great treaty of peace. The council assembled at the mouth of the Judith River in October.

1858--William T. Hamilton was sent with a companion, Alex. McKay, as a government scout or informer among the Piegans. They camped with Little Dog and were well treated. The son of Little Dog, Fringe, informed them about a band of friendly Kutenais encamped below Curley Bear Mountain (old name, Kutenai Mountain from this fact) in case help were needed. Forced to kill several attacking Piegans, they sought refuge in this camp. The next day the Kutenais broke camp and retired up Red Eagle valley. The Piegans attacked, but no real fighting occurred until the next morning at the head of the valley below the bench on which Red Eagle Glacier rests. Women and children fought along side the men, until the attackers were repulsed. The Kutenais and whites fled to safety over Red Eagle Pass and down Nyack Valley to the Flathead.

1858--An expedition under John W. Palliser was sent by the British Government to explore the western country for a route to the Pacific. Under Lieut. T. W. Blakiston, exploration was made of the Waterton region and a map prepared locating and naming Waterton Lake. A stone monument was erected on the Continental Divide west of Cameron Lake to mark the International Boundary. This is now the common point of British Columbia, Alberta, and Montana.

1874--The International Boundary Survey westward from Lake of the Woods (Minnesota) to the Pacific determined what later became the northern boundary of the Park.

1882--Professor Raphael Pumpelly, scientist, tried to cross the range from Cutbank Creek via Pitamakan Pass. He was turned back by deep snow. With him was W. L. Logan, long with the Indian Service, and later first superintendent of the Park.

1883--Pumpelly succeeded in traveling up Two Medicine Valley and crossing the range.

1885--For over a decade before this the Park region was becoming better known through prospectors and trappers. W. A. Stiles, a newspaper writer of renown, had been with Pumpelly. So George Bird Grinnell of the staff of Forest and Stream Magazine went there on a hunting trip. He traveled via the new Northern Pacific Railroad to Helena, by stage, 116 miles, to Fort Benton, and by wagon over the 90 miles to the old Piegan Agency on Badger Creek, not far below its crossing by Highway U.S. 89 of today. He traveled to St. Mary Lake and hunted with Blackfeet and with Kutenais. He reported that a kill by his party in eight days consisted of two or three moose, two or three elk, many bighorn and goats, and seventy-five or eighty beaver.

1889--December 11, Marias Pass explored by John F. Stevens, then principal assistant engineer of the Great Northern Railway. Mr. Stevens had started from Fort Assiniboin, seven miles southwest of Havre, to search for a practical westerly route for the railroad, then constructed southwesterly from Havre as far as Helena; that is, he resumed the search for the pass long ago described by Little Dog. At Piegan Agency, he picked up a shiftless Flathead guide, Coonsah, who agreed to lead him to the pass. It was very cold. At the place now known as False Summit, one-quarter mile south of Lubec Lake near the present creek crossing of U.S. Highway No. 2, Coonsah declared that he was unable to proceed further, and Stevens went on alone until he reached the Pass, crossed it, and continued on a short distance but sufficiently far to make certain he was in western drainage. He was forced to bivouac for the night, and being unable to start a fire because of the deep snow, he paced up and down all night, a long one in this region, to keep from freezing. At Agency, the thermometer had dropped to almost forty below zero during the night. Next morning found Coonsah almost dead, for he had left his fire go out during the night. From the facts, in 1930 Park Naturalist Ruhle petitioned the establishment of additional place names in the area of Summit commemorating the events woven around the search for the pass. The name Little Dog was taken from an obscure peak up Ole Creek, and transferred to the southwesterly unnamed mountains of two commanding on the Continental Divide north of the Pass. The northeasterly is called Summit Mountain. This change had been discussed with Mr. R. T. Evans who had given the name to the mountain on Ole Creek. He admitted lack of knowledge of the great historical significance of Little Dog and agreed that the transfer was appropriate. The 8510 foot peak was three miles northwest of the present Little Dog Mountain and across Ole Creek from it is now Brave Dog Mountain after the Blackfeet society called Brave Dogs (Crazy Dogs). The request that the creek on which Coonsah waited be named after him was also granted by the National Board of Geographic Names, tho the spelling "Coonsa" was adopted.

1891--Great Northern Railway built through Marias Pass. McCartyville, Belton, and other railroad construction camps flourished.

1895--Under pressure of prospectors and mining concerns, the lands of the present Park east of the Continental Divide were purchased from the Blackfeet for $1,500,000 and thrown open to them. The Indians retained rights to hunt, fish, and cut timber, unless, in the wisdom of the great State of Montana, restrictions should be enacted for the welfare of the area. With the establishment of the Park, rights including regulation were passed over to the Federal Government that imposes the restrictions necessary for proper administration to carry out the policies and achieve the goals of the Park Service. These demand prohibition of hunting and indiscriminate removal and disturbing of any plants and animals.

1901--Road constructed up the North Fork to further prospecting and search for oil.

1901--Summer. Dr. Bailey Willis, geologist, George I. Finlay, assistant, and Stuart Weller, paleontologist, of the U.S. Geological Survey made a geological survey of the area. Mr. F. Matthes who mapped in the area and Dr. Willis both suggested its establishment as a National Park. Dr. Willis described and named the Lewis Overthrust.

1901--September. George Bird Grinnell published a celebrated article in Century Magazine, "The Crown of the Continent" describing the exceptional grandeur of the region, and pleaded the need for its conservation.

1907--December 11. Bill introduced by Senator Thomas Carter to set up the National Park. It was reintroduced in 1908 and 1909. Grazing and lumber interests showed little attention. Mining interests, at low ebb, paid little heed to the bill. Homesteaders and settlers dreamed of easy riches. Local groups cried that it was a scheme of the Great Northern to prevent other railways from entry through the region. Most resistance came from legislators who asserted that it was not a function of the government to dabble in recreation.

1910--May 11. Bill signed by President Taft establishing the Park.

1910--Summer. The great fire year throughout the northwest. There was no firefighting organization, few roads and trails, meager equipment in the Park; over 100,000 acres burned including 23,000 acres below Kintla Lake, 8,000 acres on Bowman Creek, 19,000 acres on Dutch, Camas, and Anaconda Creeks, 7,600 acres above Nyack, 4,000 acres at Red Eagle, and fires "of unknown extent" from Coal Creek to Glacier Park. Although detection systems, organization, equipment, and transportation always lag the need, the severe drouth of 1934, worst since 1910, had thirty-seven fires, but only 232 acres were burned.

1911--Construction of Great Northern hotels and chalets began. Road construction of the predecessor to the Blackfeet Highway was carried out by the Great Northern.

1914-1916--Stage coach and bus service established.

1921--Work begun on the Going-to-the-Sun Highway. The name was suggested by the Park Naturalist in 1929 to replace Transmountain Road and Logan Pass Highway.

1922--Ranger naturalist services began in the Park.

1927--Opening of the Prince of Wales Hotel.

1932--Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park dedicated. (Described elsewhere.)

1933--Going-to-the-Sun Highway completed, and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on Logan Pass in which 250 Indians of the Blackfeet, Flathead, and Kutenai tribes, Canadian and American officials, "mounties" and rangers, and over 5,000 spectators took part.

1934--Visit of President Roosevelt to the Park.

1935--Celebration of the silver anniversary of the Park.

1935--Completion of the Chief Mountain International Highway.

1943-1944-1945--Hotel and transportation service suspended on account of World War II.