THR NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 139 
ridge north of the station and extends from St. Ignatius to Flathead 
Lake. A large part of this area is to be irrigated by the United States 
Reclamation Service." 
St. Ignatius, 4 or 5 miles northeast of Ravalli, is one of the Catholic 
missions early established in this region.? It was originally located far- 
ther down Clark Fork, but in 1854 was removed by Father Hoecken to 
its present position, on a fertile plain at the foot of the Mission Range, 
which affords an abundant supply of good water for household use 
and for irrigation. 
Half a mile north of Ravalli is the southeast corner of the Montana 
National Bison Range, which is surrounded by a specially woven 
wire fence that can be seen for several miles north of the track. The 
range, which is under the management of the Biological Survey of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, includes both prairie and 
mountains and is over 30 square miles in extent. The buffalo herd 
now numbers 75, besides which there are a few antelope, deer, and 
other large game animals. 
Just beyond Ravalli, at milepost 31, the traveler can obtain a 
charming view of the rugged tops of the Mission Range on the right 
(northeast). This view includes the highest peaks of the range and 
is the most nearly alpine scenery to be found along the Northern 
Pacific Railway in the Rocky Mountains. 
shore line within the reservation, are 
being subdivided by the Government 
into summer-resort tracts of 2} to 5 acres 
and will be sold at some future date. 
This valley undoubtedly has a great 
ture as a residential section. It is 
1 Nestling between the towering peaks 
of two ranges of the Rocky Mountains, the 
Flathead Indian Reservation ies 
one of the world’s most beautiful valleys. 
A few years ago the allotment of land to 
the Indians was completed, and the re- 
maining agricultural lands were opened to 
white settlement and nearly all filed on. 
The Reclamation Service is building an 
irrigation system to cover about 150,000 
acres of land in this region. The average 
,000 feet ab level, and | larch, and pine trees; the glaciers on 
the temperature ranges from 30° below | their summits sparkle in the sunshine, 
- zero to 100° above zero. The soil is clay, | and at their bases lakes of emerald and 
gravelly loam, and forest loam, and fair | sapphire delight the eye and provide the 
crops of hay, grain, and fruits are ire- angler with his favorite sport. : 
quently produced on it withouti igation, first Catholic mission in this 
the average annual rainfall being about 16 | region was established in 1841 at St. 
olowation ic 2 
inches. With irrigation, alfalfa, all kinds 
of grain, vegetables, and fruits in 
variety suited to this elevation and lati- 
tude are produced in abundance. 
Th e tf 4 W lj Ml 
ts, y also be 
purchased from white settlers at fair 
prices. The lands bordering Flathead 
Lake, which has more than 50 miles of 
SE Sigal 1.¢ oe 
Marys, in Bitterroot Valley. The next 
was the Coeur d’Alene mission, found 
in 1842 in the Coeur d’Alene Valley, some 
100 milestothe west. St. '3 mission 
suffered severely from the raids of the 
Blackfeet Indians, and in 1850 the 
property was sold and the mission aban- 
doned. The next mission to be estab- 
lished was that at St. Ignatius. 
