GLACIER NATIONAL PARK 



2502 



GLACIER NATIONAL PARK 



it has been well said that "there is more geog- 

 raphy to the square mile than can be found in 

 any other equal area anywhere else on this 

 round earth." It is situated in Northern Mon- 

 tana ; on the north is the international boundary 

 line between the United States and Canada, on 

 the east is the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, on 

 the west is Flathead River, and the southern 

 limits are marked by the line of the -Great 

 Northern Railway. Adjoining the park on the 

 north is the great Canadian forest and game 

 preserve, the Rocky Mountains National Park. 



The area included in the park, about 1,400 

 square miles, was once set aside by the gov- 

 ernment as a part of the Blackfeet Indian Res- 

 ervation. Later it was taken from the Indians, 

 with their consent, because it was believed that 

 further explorations might disclose valuable 

 mineral deposits. This hope, however, was not 

 realized, and finally by act of Congress in Feb- 

 ruary, 1910, it was set aside as a national 

 recreation ground. 



The Glaciers. The park takes its name from 

 the glaciers, about sixty in number, which vary 

 in size from a few acres to several miles square. 

 Blackfeet Glacier, nearly five miles square, is 

 the largest, and is said to be the most beautiful 

 glacier in the United States. It is spread out, 

 at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, on the 

 north slope of Mount Jackson (10,023 feet) and 

 Blackfoot Mountain (9,597 feet) ; on the south 

 slopes of these mountains are the Harrison 

 and Pumpelly glaciers. These glaciers are now 

 separated by the Continental Divide, but ages 

 ago they were a part of a vast ice-sheet which 

 covered the entire region. About six miles to 

 the west of Blackfeet Glacier is the Sperry 

 Glacier, which discharges its melting waters 

 over steep, almost vertical and rocky walls into 

 Avalanche Basin. These are only the most 

 notable of the glaciers; Rainbow, Grinnell, Sex- 

 ton and Red Eagle are worthy of mention. 



Mountains. The main range of the Rocky 

 Mountains extends from north to south almost 

 directly through the center of the park. The 

 Continental Divide here has an average alti- 

 tude of 7,000 feet, but many of the peaks reach 

 9,000 or 10,000 feet. Many of them have never 

 been climbed by man. The loftiest peak is 

 Mount Cleveland (10,438 feet), in the northern 

 part of the park. Mount Jackson, Mount 

 Siyeh and Stimson Mountain also have alti- 

 tudes of more than 10,000 feet, while Mount 

 James, Rising Wolf Mountain, Flinch Peak, 

 Pinchot Mountain, Chief Mountain, Little 

 Chief Mountain, Gould Mountain and a dozen 



others exceed 9,000 feet. Squaw Mountain, one 

 of the smaller peaks, is so named because the 

 rocky outline of a squaw is distinctly visible 

 on its southern slope. Triple Divide Mountain 

 (8,001 feet) is called the "roof of the Conti- 

 nent;" from its summit waters flow in three di- 

 rections northward through Saint Mary's Lake 

 and River to Hudson Bay; westward through 

 the Flathead River into the Columbia River 

 and thence to the Pacific Ocean ; and southward 

 through the Cutbank, Missouri and Mississippi 

 rivers into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. 

 One of the most impressive peaks is Going- 

 to-the-Sun Mountain, whose summit towers a 

 mile above the western end of Upper Saint 

 Mary's Lake. The Indian name of this moun- 

 tain is Mah-tah-pee O-stook-sis Meh-stuck, 



LOCATION MAP 



Glacier National Park is in Northwestern Mon- 

 tana. The star, across the international bound- 

 ary, marks the location of Rocky Mountains 

 National Park. 



which means "The face of Sour Spirit, who 

 went to the sun after his work was done." 

 According to the legend Sour Spirit was a 

 messenger sent by the Great Sun to the Black- 

 feet Indians. He taught them how to tan 

 hides and build tepees and canoes, and in- 

 structed them in all the arts of Indian life. 

 When he had finished his work, he returned 

 to the Lodge of the Sun-God. As proof of the 

 truth of this story the Indians point to the 

 great stone face on the side of the mountain, 

 left there by the Sour Spirit when he returned 

 to the Sun, so that all men might see and 

 believe. 



Lakes. Of all the 250 lakes in the park 

 perhaps the most beautiful is the Upper Saint 

 Mary's, from whose western shore rises Going- 

 to-the-Sun Mountain. It lies at an altitude 

 .of 4,500 feet, is about ten miles long, and is 

 completely surrounded by mountains except at 

 the point where the Saint Mary's River carries 

 its surplus waters into the Lower Saint Mary's 

 Lake. The Saint Mary's Lakes are on the east 

 slope of the Continental Divide, but the largest 

 lake, Lake McDonald, is on the west slope. It 

 is eleven miles long, and has an average width 



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