GLACIER NATIONAL PARK 



2503 



GLADIATORS 



of one and a half miles. Like Upper Saint 

 Mary's Lake, it lies in a depression surrounded 

 by great peaks rising 3,000 to 5,000 feet above 

 its surface. 



Lake McDermott, though one of the smallest 

 lakes in the park, is also one of the most 

 famous, for it is in the heart of a region of 

 great beauty. In its waters are reflected the 

 outlines of Gould Mountain and other peaks, 

 and issuing from its southern end are the lovely 

 McDermott Falls. Near the falls is a perma- 

 nent camp, which is the headquarters for side- 

 trips to Iceberg Lake, Grinnell Glacier and 

 other points of interest. 



Iceberg Lake is the only lake of its kind in 

 North America. It is only one-half mile long, 

 but it is one of the scenic features of the 

 park. At one end is a small glacier, from 

 which great blocks of ice, several hundred feet 

 high and weighing thousands of tons, frequently 

 break off and slide into the water. The alti- 

 tude (6,000 feet) is so high that even on the 

 warmest summer days there are always ice- 

 bergs, large and small, floating in the lake, 

 for the water never gets warm enough to 

 melt the ice completely. Glacier National 

 Park was once the "happy hunting grounds" 

 of the Blackfeet Indians, but Iceberg Lake 

 was thought to be the home of lost souls and 

 troubled spirits. 



Avalanche Lake, not far from Lake Mc- 

 Donald, is another beautiful, though small, 

 body of water. The trail leading to it seems 

 to emerge through a hole in the mountains, 

 and discloses to the astonished traveler a 

 green-bordered little lake, into whose quiet 

 waters four streams tumble noisily. These 

 streams, carrying the waters from Sperry Gla- 

 cier, plunge almost headlong over a rocky 

 precipice 2,000 feet high. 



Animal Life. The animals of the park are 

 protected by law, and killing, wounding or 

 capturing any bird or wild animal is an offense 

 punishable by heavy fines. For this reason 

 the Rocky Mountain goats and sheep roam in 

 peace, and many bears have become so tame 

 that they wait on the outskirts of the camps 

 to be fed. A few moose and elk also frequent 

 the park, and deer are common. Antelopes, 

 coyotes, wolves and lynxes abound, and geese, 

 ducks and other game birds are sometimes 

 seen in the lower altitudes. The streams and 

 lakes are well stocked with fish, and the park 

 deserves its name of "Fisherman's Paradise." 

 One of the greatest fishing trips in the world 

 may be taken from Belton, the western en- 



trance to the park, down the Flathead River 

 to Columbia Falls, a distance of twenty miles. 

 Trout are found here probably in greater 

 numbers than in any other waters in North 

 America. The small, flat trout are caught 

 everywhere in the park, and the large Mack- 

 inaw and bull trout are found mostly in Saint 

 Mary's Lake. The gamest fighter of them all, 

 and the delight of the angler, is the cutthroat 

 trout. During June, July and August fly- 

 fishing is the rule, but grasshoppers are some- 

 times used when the trout refuse to rise to a 

 fly. In September, spinners are mostly used. 

 All persons desiring to fish must first obtain a 

 state license. 



Transportation and Accommodations. There 

 are two entrances to the park, the eastern at 

 Glacier Park station, the western at Belton, 

 both on the main line of the Great Northern 

 Railway. Within the park trips may be taken 

 on foot, on horseback, by stage-coach or by 

 automobiles. There are many excellent roads, 

 but the higher and remoter points are accessible 

 only to pedestrians or horsemen. Launches 

 are operated on Lake McDonald and Upper 

 Saint Mary's Lake. 



The accommodations for visitors are excel- 

 lent, and suit all tastes and purses. A large 

 modern hotel is located at the Glacier Park 

 station, and dotting the entire area is a series 

 of camps convenient to the points of scenic 

 interest. These camps, which are placed not 

 over a day's walk^apart, are groups of small 

 log buildings of the Swiss chalet type. Horses 

 and camping equipment may be rented or pur- 

 chased, and guides are available at all times. 

 The charges for hotel accommodations and all 

 other services are regulated by the United 

 States government through the Secretary of the 

 Interior, who has immediate control of all 

 national parks. W.F.Z. 



GLADIATORS, glad' i a tor z, men of cour- 

 age and strength, who, armed only with small 

 shields and short steel swords, fought and 

 killed each other, or placed themselves at the 

 mercy of hungry wild beasts, in the days of 

 ancient Rome. At first these contests were 

 held in honor of heroes who died in battle, 

 the earliest exhibition recorded being in 264 

 B.C., at the funeral of the father of Marcus 

 and Decimus Brutus. There, prisoners, slaves 

 or condemned criminals were sacrificed. At a 

 later period freemen also fought in the arena, 

 for hire or merely from choice; and still later 

 men of senatorial rank, and even women, 

 fought, and all to gratify the brutal passion 



