496 
FOREST AND STREAM 
The Throne of the 
By Robert Page Lincoln. 
Mighty 
Glacier National Park of Montana is coming 
more and more into the notice of the people as 
each new year is added to the old. With an 
exceptional beauty, a charm that is lasting, this 
preserve must become more famous, annually, 
as greater attention is directed toward it. The 
information has gone the rounds that Glacier 
National Park is being tamed, but let anyone 
believing this but go and see for himself, and 
an entirely new opinion will be held. To tame 
such a mighty region as this would be a ponder¬ 
ous performance, indeed, an da whole lot goes 
with what one means by “taming” a region. 
Surely, as far as a devastating civilization is 
concerned, here, it cannot he found to have 
accomplished any inroads, greatly noticeable, 
save a new automobile highway. Accommoda¬ 
tions are as ever of the best, and better. The 
region remains, the most notable in North Ameri¬ 
ca, for sheer mightiness, as an example of stu¬ 
pendous craftsmanship—at the hands of a master 
artist. Here there will always be a welcome 
hand to those people who wish to enter a moun¬ 
tainous country, and view the eternal hills in all 
their respectable grandeur. Wildness and beauty, 
are still there to be found, as when the Creator 
left it at the end of bis appreciable work, with 
wonderfully transparent lakes, giant peaks, gla¬ 
ciers, and skies of matchless blue above, to lend 
equality and rareness to all things. The Glacier 
National Park contains 915,000 acres of terri¬ 
tory, with something like 80 glaciers; Blackfoot 
Glacier alo.ne contains 5 square miles, and a few 
acres, in area. In this region there is found 
over 250 lakes, set in surroundings of natural 
perfection, the beauty of which will always re¬ 
main graven on one’s consciousness. The Park 
is bounded on the west by the Flathead River. 
The valley of this river may be entered by 
means of a rough wagon or pack trail. In this 
region, to the westward, are found many enhanc¬ 
ingly beautiful lakes, principal among them be¬ 
ing the Logging, Quartz, Bowman and Kintla. 
From Bowmans Lake, a trail crosses the moun¬ 
tains, through Brown’s Pass, and thus Waterton 
Lake is reached, or one may return southeasterly 
to one of the principal lakes in the Park region : 
Lake McDonald. The above-mentioned region 
is most suitable to camping parties, or such peo¬ 
ple who wish to rough it in a style of their 
own, according to the prescribed wilderness 
rules. This region has not been laid out yet; 
no stopping places have been located. Water- 
ton Lake, and the Little Kootenai Valley to the 
northern border of the Park, are points where 
the rough seeking are assured of all that comes 
with an attractive interior. But to those who 
desire entrance into the park proper, they will 
find all that is demanded, and a lot more added. 
There are so many points of attraction through¬ 
out this whole region that to dwell upon any 
special one is needless. At Cut Bank Camp 
there is found very good trout fishing. The 
trout range from two to four pounds in weight. 
There is an abundance of good fishing in the 
park. The icy coldness, in temperature, of these 
mountain waters make them the natural home 
of trout. In such fish are found a vim, and 
pugnaciousness, identified among the leaders. 
Practically every stream and lake in the region 
has some fish in it. Among these are the fa¬ 
mous Dolly Varden trout, the Rainbow trout, 
the Bull trout, and the Cut Throat trout. This 
latter fish grows to a large size, in this region, 
some having been taken in the past years weigh¬ 
ing as high as eighteen pounds. Everything in 
this region combines to make it ideal as an out¬ 
ing place for the angler, who may here pursue 
his pastime without molestation, if he desires, 
by going out along the less known and traveled 
streams. The hard thing to make fishermen 
understand is this: the Park has good fishing. 
The railroad folders have spoken little or noth¬ 
ing about it, in a way that is deserving. It has 
not been over-fished. The waters are constantly 
ke^rt stocked, making it perfect from every view¬ 
point. Two Medicine Lake, one of the most 
beautiful sheets of water in the region is said to 
be three hundred feet in depth. It is yearly 
stocked with something like nineteen thousand 
trout, making it unrivalled for piscatorial oppor¬ 
tunities. The Two Medicine River has very good 
fishing, also, but Red Eagle Lake has the reputa¬ 
tion of having the best fishing in the park. In 
a former article I called attention to this de¬ 
tail, as will be seen by a review of same. Fishing 
at Red Eagle Falls is thus described by one man: 
“Few anglers—a very few—had ever cast a 
line here. In its mad dash down the almost per¬ 
pendicular cliffs, the water from Red Eagle 
Glacier, two miles higher up, had eaten its way 
back into the massive rocks, until only the lower 
end of the pool, thus formed, was approachable 
from the trail- The falls themselves were fifty, 
or sixty feet high, and on either side the walls 
were of equal height. In size the pool was ap¬ 
proximately seventy-five feet long, by forty wide, 
and the tumbling water churned it to a white 
foam, directly beneath the falls, and then whirled 
out through the natural outlet like a miniature 
royal gorge. It did not seem possible that even 
the gamey cut throat trout, native to the Ameri¬ 
can and Canadian Rockies, with their mile-a- 
minute glacier torrents, would survive, directly 
at the foot of the waterfall. Standing on the 
slanting, slippery rocks, it was a physical impos¬ 
sibility to cast the full distance. Flinging the 
bait over the crest of rock, it was quickly caught 
by the water, and carried down with the impetus 
of a thunderbolt. There was a flash of white 
and pink, and a trout was hooked. Around and 
around he swung with the current, fighting 
savagely, yet in harmony, as it were, with the 
mad roar of the waterfall, and the insane gyra¬ 
tions of the water itself. The seventy feet of 
line sang, and snapped alternately, as the big 
fellow, a six-pounder, darted with lightning 
rapidity from one side of the pool, to the other, 
or leaped, in frenzy, a foot or more out of the 
air. It was a game for a master hand, and few, 
if any, had ever played it just that way. His 
weight and the terrific drop, combined with the 
whirling water, gave the trout the handicap on 
over the angler which few fish enjoy at that 
stage of the game. In the end of our day it 
diid n.ot take much urging to disjoint our tackle, 
and begin the trip back to camp. The game had 
been worth the candle after all, and we looked 
with disdain across the royal blue waters of Red 
Eagle Lake, as we skirted its shoreline home¬ 
ward. We had thirty-nine pounds of mountain 
trout, in our possession. The following days 
furnished just as good sport with rod and reel.” 
It is noted here that Red Eagle Lake, in all 
its brilliant beauty, is from two hundred to five 
hundred feet in depth. Deep green, in color, it 
is mysterious, and awe-inspiring. Around it 
some half-score mountain peaks stand everlast¬ 
ing guard. 
