88 * * * * * "Oh, Ranger!" 



Bird Rattlers, Curly Bear, and Wolf Plume, came to Washington to 

 protest to the Secretary of the Interior against the use of white men's 

 names in Glacier Park. They were promised that henceforth only In 

 dian names or their translations would be used 

 in Glacier National Park, and that policy is 

 still in effect. 



Other Indians in early days occupied the 

 western part of Glacier Park beyond the con 

 tinental divide. These were the Flatheads and 

 \ VT "%^ tne Kootenais, but they were inferior to the 



\ ^SJ Blackfeet. Today they reside at considerable 



distances from the park. The old Flathead reservation southwest of 

 Glacier Park has been opened to settlement and the Indians are seen only 

 if the Sagebrusher explores the byways off the main highways. 



Indians have figured prominently in the history of the Yellowstone. 

 Indirectly, they were the cause of its discovery, and more directly they 

 were responsible for its isolation for almost half a century after the dis 

 covery of the geysers, the hot springs, and the canyon and lake. Trav 

 elers and explorers hesitated to make the trip to Yellowstone for fear of 

 annihilation by hostile Indians. For two generations the territory that is 

 now the park was visited only by intrepid trappers. 



There were four great tribes of Indians living about the Yellowstone 

 territory. They did not live in what is now the Yellowstone, for fear of 

 incurring the wrath of the "Evil Spirit" who was supposed to reside 

 among the geysers and the hot springs, and also because the country 

 was inaccessible and there was better hunting in the valleys below the 

 park region. The Indian name for the Yellowstone was "Burning Moun 

 tains," and it is easy to understand their superstitions. Only when they 

 were pursued and sought refuge to save their lives would parties of 

 Indians come into the Burning Mountains. There are still relics of their 

 tepees along the road from Roosevelt Camp to Mammoth and in the 

 Gallatin section of the park. These tepees were but temporary affairs 

 hidden in the forests and erected no doubt for the purpose of hiding 

 their smoke from their enemies. Yellowstone was somewhat of a battle 

 ground for the four tribes who lived around it, the Crows, the Black- 

 feet, the Bannocks, and the Shoshones. 



The Crows, or Absaroka as they called themselves, lived in the region 

 between the Yellowstone and the Big Horn rivers and in the Big Horn 

 Valley and mountains of that name, east of what is now Yellowstone 

 National Park. They were great nomads and marauders. When the 

 white settlers first came into the Montana area, the Crows stole many 

 horses and such other property as they could carry off under the cover 

 of night. They were expert horsemen and it was almost impossible to 



