The Flathead Reservation can be grouped into the following three 

 physiographic areas: 



1 . The Mission Mountains on the east and the Cabinet Mountains on the west 

 and south form forest covered ramparts for the valleys. 



2. The area between the Mission Range and the Flathead River and the Jocko 

 Valley are nearly level to rolling in topography. 



3. The area between the Flathead and the Cabinet Range is mostly rolling 

 with a lesser area of arable land. 



Elevation varies from about 2,500 feet along the lower Flathead River 

 to over 10,000 feet in the surrounding mountains. Most of the valley is 

 about 3,000 feet in elevation. Annual precipitation also varies considerably 

 from about 10 inches at Lone Pine to over 40 inches at the higher elevations. 

 The east side of the valley receives an average of about 15 inches per year. 

 The climate is under the continental influences and produces warm summers, 

 cold winters and unreliable and low precipitation. 



The lands in the lower Flathead Valley were formed primarily by 

 glacial action and modified by drained lakes, wind action, and to a lesser 

 extent, by stream deposition. This valley area is separated into the larger 

 Mission Valley and smaller Jocko, Little Bitterroot and Camas Valleys. 



Soils developed from the glacial materials are generally heavy 

 textured with restricted permeability in the sub soils. The soils originating 

 from wind actions are generally course textured, loose, and of low moisture- 

 retaining capacity. The soils formed from lake beds have the best texture and 

 permeability but some are saline or alkaline. Variations are from dark 

 colored soils developed under higher rainfall and grassland vegetation to 

 wery light colored soils around the Lone Pine area. The soils on lands 

 devoted to grazing are frequently gravelly or rocky or the topography is too 

 dissected or too steep for farming. 



(2) 



