Glacier NP: Throught The Years In Glacier National Park: An Administrative History (Appendix A)
GLACIER Through The Years In Glacier National Park

An Administrative History

Some of the most interesting history of Glacier National Park is connected with the origin of its place names. The majority of the park features were named in the early days when the first exploration and mapping were carried on, between 1880 and 1910. Often these features were named for some noted person or for some event that occurred at that place. George Bird Grinnell and James Willard Schultz are responsible for the predominance of Indian names given to many of the peaks on the eastern side of the park prior to 1900. Dr. George C. Ruhle in 1938 and 1939 also renamed many of the park features with either their original Indian names or names that honored some particular Indian.

The following is by no means the complete list, but includes those names of historical interest and those of which the origin of the name is not readily apparent.

ADAIR RIDGE  Named for W. L. (Billy) Adair, an old timer who settled on a homestead on Adair Ridge and later ran the store at Polebridge, Montana.

AGASSIZ GLACIER (Creek)  Named for the noted Swiss-American zoologist, geologist and scientist, Louis J. R. Agassiz.

AHERN PASS (Creek, Glacier, Peak)  Named for Lieutenant George P. Ahern who, with a detachment of Negro soldiers from the 25th Infantry, crossed this pass in August 1890. This was the first known successful attempt to take pack stock over Ahern Pass.

AKOKALA CREEK (Lake)  Kootenai name meaning "rotten." The creek was formerly known as "Indian Creek," and the lake as "Oil Lake."

ALLEN MOUNTAIN (Creek)  Named for Cornelia Seward Allen, wife of F. T. Allen of New York, granddaughter of Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln.

ALMOST-A-DOG MOUNTAIN  Almost-A-Dog was a Blackfeet Indian, one of the few survivors of the Baker Massacre of January 23, 1870.

ALTYN PEAK  This name was given by the miners in the late 1890's to the mountain we now know as Mt. Wynn. As G. B. Grinnell had previously called the latter "Point Mountain," topographers later transferred the name to the peak to which it is now applied. A U. S. Geological Survey map of 1912 also shows this peak as "McDermott Peak." The name "Altyn" was taken from the little mining town of Altyn that was situated near the head of Sherburne Lake, which, in turn, received its name from Dave Greenwood Altyn, one of the financial backers of the Cracker Lake Mine.

APGAR VILLAGE (Mountain)  Named for Dimon Apgar, one of the early settlers who came to the foot of Lake McDonald prior to 1900 and built a home and cabins at the site of the present village of Apgar.

APPEKUNNY MOUNTAIN (Creek, Falls)  The Indian name for George Willard Schultz, meaning "White-spotted Robe," or "Scabby Robe," that is, one that was badly tanned, leaving hard spots. Schultz was a white who married into the Blackfeet tribe and lived with them for many years. He was a close friend of George Bird Grinnell and wrote stories of Indian life for Grinnell's magazine as well as several books.

APPISTOKI PEAK (Creek, Falls)  Named by R. T. Evans, a topographer who worked on the early map of the park. It is reported that he inquired from his Indian guide what word the Blackfeet used for "looking over something," and the guide, misunderstanding the meaning of his question, gave him the name "Appistoki," for the Indian god who looks over everything and everyone.

ATSINA LAKE (Falls)  The Blackfeet name for their allies, the Gros Ventre tribe.

AURICE LAKE  For Mrs. Aurice Houston, wife of Dr. Roderick Houston, a retired dentist who took up a homestead at the foot of Lake McDonald and operated a cabin camp there until his death in 1950. "Doc" Houston was a noted fishing guide and took fishing parties down the rivers adjacent to the park until just prior to his death.

AVALANCHE LAKE (Creek)  Named by Dr. Lyman B. Sperry in 1895 on his first trip into the area, because of the large avalanche tracks down the walls of the basin surrounding the lake.

BARING CREEK (Falls)  Named for one of the Baring brothers, London bankers who were guided on a hunting trip into the area in the late 1880's by Joe Kipp and James Willard Scultz.

BELLY RIVER  The origin of this name is quite debatable, and several sources of it have been presented. The "Glacier National Park Drivers Manual" presents the most complete story of these varied origins: "The origin of the name is in dispute although the Belly River the Gros Ventre Indians, and the Big Belly Buttes upon the river between Cardston and MacLeod (Alberta) are connected. One belief is as follows: The Blackfeet people had a custom of apportioning the anatomy of Napi all over the landscape. His elbow was the Bow River at Calgary. His knees were the Teton Buttes. Midway lay his stomach, and what more appropriate than the aforementioned buttes, which to the Indian resembled the contorted manifold of a buffalo. Hence, they became Mokowanis, or Big Belly Buttes. The river that flowed at their base became Mokowanis River, and later, when Indians from Algonquin nations of the southeast drifted into the region, and established themselves along the river, these too, became Mokowanis or, simply translated into French, the 'Gros Ventres.' Another version has it that the Gros Ventres were so called because they 'eat much and have big paunches.' Certainly their alternative name, Atsina, or Gut People, gives this interpretation support. The river which flowed through their country simply took its name from them. The Arrowsmith map of 1802 called this river Moo-coo-wans, by which name it was sometimes referred to later. On David Thompson's map of 1814, it was marked Stec-muk-ske-picken, signifying Bullhead. The Palliser map of 1865 labeled it Oldman River. The reconnaissance maps of the United States Northern Boundary Commission, 1872-76, labeled it Belly River, which name has been officially adopted by both the United States and Canada."

BELTON  Believed to have been named "Bell's Town," or "Belton" for Daniel Webster Bell, who took up a claim near the townsite at the time of the construction of the Great Northern Railway and cut ties for the railroad, He was a Civil War veteran and served as cook for the location parties of the Great Northern in 1890.

BLACKFOOT GLACIER (Mountain)  This glacier was discovered and named for the Blackfeet Indians by George Bird Grinnell on a trip to the head of the St. Mary Valley in 1891. This glacier was called "Old Man Ice," by the Kootenai Indians, Red Eagle Glacier was "Old Woman Ice," Sperry Glacier was "Son Ice," and Pumpelly Glacier was "Daughter Ice."

BOWMAN LAKE (Creek)  Believed to have been named for Fred Bowman, a trapper who came to Montana from Wyoming in 1885 and started to trap on the North Fork of the Flathead, in the area surrounding Bowman Lake.

BROWN, MT.  Named for William Brown of Chicago, then Solicitor General for the Chicago and Alton Railroad, by some members of his party on a camping and fishing trip to the area around Lake McDonald in 1894. The companions, Charles H. Russell (not the artist) and Frank A. Johnson, climbed this mountain that arose back of their camp, and so named it.

BROWN PASS  Named for John George (Kootenai) Brown, the first superintendent of Waterton Lakes National Park, who is reported to have used this pass on his first trip into the Waterton Lakes area from California.

CALF ROBE MOUNTAIN  Named for a Blackfeet Indian, who, legend relates, had a weird and unusual experience with a grizzly bear. Calf Robe was deserted by his fellow warriors in enemy country and left to die; but he was soon rescued by a large grizzly bear, who brought him food and carried him to help near Fort Benton. This incident is supposed to have happened about 1870.

CAMERON LAKE  Named for D. R. Cameron, British Commissioner with the International Boundary Commission.

CAMPBELL MOUNTAIN  Some sources state that Campbell was a member of the Boundary Survey party, but James Willard Schultz attributes the name to Supt. F. C. Campbell, of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

CANNON, MT.  Named for a young couple who spent their honeymoon in this region and climbed this mountain, Dr. L. B. Sperry originally named it "Goat Mountain" in 1894.

CAPER PEAK  Named by Surveyor R. T. Evans, who is reported to have counted over 30 goats "capering" on this peak.

CARCAJOU LAKE  Named for a mythical being of the Cree Indians, meaning "hungry," or "eats a lot," and from which the English word "carcajou," for wolverine, is derived.

CARTER GLACIER (Mountain)  For Senator T. H. Carter of Montana, who introduced into the United States Senate the bill that established Glacier National Park.

CATTLE QUEEN CREEK  Mrs. Nat Collins, a woman known as the "Cattle Queen of Montana" ran a cattle ranch near the present town of Choteau, Montana, prior to 1900, and had a mining claim along this creek which she worked for several years.

CHANEY GLACIER  Named after Professor L. W. Chancy of Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, by Dr. Lyman B. Sperry. Dr. Chaney was a geologist on one of Dr. Sperry's parties into the McDonald Valley in 1895, on which trip they penetrated this wilderness to the summit of the Garden Wall and actually went out upon this glacier.

CHAPMAN PEAK  Named for Robert H. Chapman, of the Geological Survey, one of the topographers who worked on the mapping of the park between 1900 and 1904.

CHIEF MOUNTAIN  This geological oddity, standing as it does on the plains east of the main range, has attracted the attention of explorers and mapmakers from the earliest times. Its existence was first noted on the Arrowsmith maps, published in England in 1795 or 1796, upon which it was called "King Mountain." Peter Fidler, who supplied the information for these maps, visited this area in 1792, and was the first white man to record having seen this landmark. Captain Meriwether Lewis is also believed to have seen the mountain on his trip up the Marias in 1806 and called it "Tower Mountain." James Doty, who explored the eastern front of the range in 1854 for Governor Stevens, reports it as "The Chief or King Mountain." We judge from this that he was referring to it also by the Indian name of "The Chief." There are two records of the origin of another name for this peak  "Kaiser Peak"  by which it was known for some time. Some say it was so-named by early German geographers, but the most authentic story comes from Eli Guardipee, a member of the Blackfeet tribe, who stated that it was so named for a "Bull-whacker" (oxen freighter) named Lee Kaiser, who accidently shot himself near the present town of Cardston, Alberta, in 1872. For him the creek where this happened was known as "Lee Creek," and the mountain at its headwaters was called "Kaiser Peak."

There are many legends regarding this mountain, the most popular being that of the young Flathead Indian brave who spent several days upon the top of the peak searching for his "medicine vision," and using a bison skull for a pillow. When Henry L. Stimson, later Secretary of State, and his companions first climbed to the top of this mountain in 1892, they were probably the first white men to do so. There they found an ancient bison skull almost entirely decomposed, giving considerable authenticity to this popular legend.

The present name was taken from the Blackfeet Indian name "Old Chief," or "The Mountain-of-the-Chief," by which it was known to the Blackfeet, probably because of the above-mentioned legend.

CLEMENTS MOUNTAIN  Named by Ross Carter for Walter M. Clements, one of the commissioners who, along with George Bird Grinnell, negotiated with the Blackfeet and consummated the treaty that enabled the Federal Government to purchase the "Ceded Strip" of land that included all of what is now Glacier National Park east of the Continental Divide.

CLEVELAND, MT.  Named by George Bird Grinnell for former President Cleveland. Grinnell first saw it in 1898 from the summit of Blackfoot Mountain, and so named it.

COONSA CREEK  Named for the Indian guide that accompanied John F. Stevens on his exploration into Marias Pass in December, 1889.

CRACKER LAKE  In 1897 two prospectors, L. S. Emmons and Hank Norris, were following a mineral lead through the mountains and stopped on the shore of Cracker Lake (then known as "Blue Lake") for lunch. When they resumed their journey they put their crackers and cheese beneath some rocks, intending to return later and pick them up, which they never did. Thereafter they referred to the mineral lead that they were following as the "lead where we left the crackers," and later as the "Cracker Lead." As this lead passed under the lake, it naturally followed that soon the lake became known as "Cracker Lake."

CROSSLEY LAKE (Ridge)  Named for Joe Cosley (erroneously called Crossley), a half-breed hunter and trapper who often trapped in this area and later served for some time as a park ranger. This lake, along with Glenns Lake, is shown on George Bird Grinnell's 1892 map as "Lansing Lakes."

CUSTER, MT.  Probably named for General George A. Custer, who was killed in the famous Custer Massacre.

CUT BANK CREEK (Pass)  Named for the cutbanks of white clay along the creek east of Browning. The old Indian name means "Cuts-into-the-white-clay-bank-river."

DAWN MIST FALLS  Probably named for the Indian girl who was the lover of "White Quiver," in the Indian novel by H. F. Sanders. Original name of the falls was "Morning Dew."

DAWSON PASS  Named for Thomas Dawson, an old-time guide in this area, and son of Andrew Dawson, last factor of the American Fur Company at Fort Benton.

DIXON GLACIER  Named for United States Senator Joseph M. Dixon, of Montana, who supported the passage of the bill creating Glacier National Park.

DOODY, MT.  Named for Dan Doody, who trapped on Nyack and Coal Creek before the area was made a park, and was one of the first park rangers after the park was established in 1910.

ELIZABETH LAKE  Lakes Helen and Elizabeth were named by one of the surveyors with the U. S. Geological Survey when the area was first mapped, after his two daughters. This is shown as "Lake Jean" on a map made by Lt. George P. Ahern in 1891.

ELLEN WILSON, LAKE  Named by Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane for the wife of former President Woodrow Wilson. This lake was often called "Lake Louise" by the old timers in the area.

ELLSWORTH, MT.  Named for "Billy" Ellsworth, an oldtimer who packed for the U. S. Geological Survey and who also worked on the Sperry Trail with Dr. Sperry's crew around the turn of the century.

EVANGELINE LAKE  Named by members of R. H. Sargent's survey party, 1900 to 1904, in honor of the poet Longfellow, author of the poem "Evangeline." The lake is on the slopes of Longfellow Peak.

FISHERCAP LAKE  Fishercap was the name given to George Bird Grinnell by the Blackfeet Indians.

FRANCES LAKE  Named for the wife of a member of the Northern Boundary Survey.

FUSILLADE MOUNTAIN  Named by George Bird Grinnell in 1891 as a satirical gesture at W. H. Seward and Henry L. Stimson for firing a futile volley at a group of goats on the side of this mountain.

GARDEN WALL  This long, knife-edged ridge, forming that section of the Continental Divide between Logan and Swiftcurrent Passes, was so named by one of George Bird Grinnell's parties which was camped at Grinnell Lake in the late 1890's. One evening, around a campfire, they were singing the currently popular song, "Over the Garden Wall," when one of the party remarked, "There is one wall we cannot get over," and the name was immediately applied to the ridge.

GEDUHN, MT.  Named for an early pioneer, Frank Geduhn who had cabins for visitors at the head of Lake McDonald prior to 1900 and who guided the Sperry parties on some of their trips into the area.

GLENNS LAKE  Named for T. C. Glenns, who was born on an Indian reservation and who became station assistant and recorder to Mr. Sargent, U. S. Geological Survey topographer. G. B. Grinnell's map of 1892 shows this lake, along with Crossley Lake as "Lansing Lakes."

GOING-TO-THE-SUN MOUNTAIN  The mountain was named by James Willard Schultz for what he claimed was an old Indian legend, in which Napi, the Old Man, came down from his home in the sun to help his people, the Blackfeet, out of their difficulties. When his work was done, he returned to his home in the sun, up the slopes of this mountain. This legend however, was probably invented by the white men, and may have originated within Schultz, who was not above flowering up his stories to make them have more reader appeal.

GOULD, MT.  For G. R. Gould of Santa Barbara, California, a hunting companion of G. B. Grinnell,

GRINNELL GLACIER (Falls, Lake, Mt., Point)  In 1887 George Bird Grinnell, the man who was primarily responsible for the creation of Glacier National Park, made his second trip into the area on a hunting and exploration journey. On this trip he traveled up the Swiftcurrent Valley to what is now Swiftcurrent Lake, where he camped. There he noted the immense glaciers at the heads of the valleys and set out to explore them. On the trip to Grinnell Glacier he was accompanied by Lt. J. H. Beacon and James Willard Schultz, time first white men to set foot upon this immense body of ice, and while there Beacon named the glacier for him. The other features were later named to correspond. Grinnell Point was at one time known as Stark Peak, for Parley Stark, an early day miner who had a claim on the side of the mountain.

GUNSIGHT PASS (Mountain, Lake)  Named in 1891 by G. B. Grinnell for its resemblance to the rear sight of a rifle, with the peak of a distant mountain showing through it like the front sight. On F. E. Matthes' first maps for the Geological Survey, this peak was called Mt. Comeau, probably for Denny Comeau, an early settler at the head of Lake McDonald.

HEAVENS PEAK  A descriptive name that first appears on a map prepared by Lt. George P. Ahern of the 25th Infantry, from reconnaissance maps prepared by him in 1888-1890.

HEAVY RUNNER PEAK  Named for the Blackfeet Indian Chief who was massacred along with most of his encampment by Col. Eugene M. Baker's detachment on the Marias River on January 23, 1870.

HELEN LAKE (Mountain)  There are two sources given for this name. James Willard Schultz states that it was named for Miss Helen Clark, a Montana schoolteacher and eldest daughter of Malcolm Clark who was killed at his ranch near Helena by Blackfeet Indians in 1868. The other source, the Glacier Park Transport Company Manual, states that Helen and Elizabeth were daughters of a Geological Survey engineer that worked in the area when the park was first mapped. (See Elizabeth Lake)

HENKEL, MT.  Named for an early day settler on Lower St. Mary Lake, locally called "Joe Butch."

HOWE LAKE (Creek, Ridge)  Named for Charley Howe, the first homesteader at the foot of Lake McDonald, in 1892.

IPASHA PEAK (Falls, Glacier, Lake)  Named for Ipasha, Good Spotted Tail, the Mandan Indian mother of Joseph Kipp, an oldtimer in the park.

ISABEL LAKE  Named for the wife of Thomas Dawson, part-Indian guide in the early days of the park.

JACKSON, MT. (Glacier)  Named for William Jackson, famous scout and grandson of Hugh Monroe. Jackson was quarter-breed Piegan and was a scout with Captain Reno at the time of the Custer Battle, on the Little Big Horn. Named by G. B. Grinnell.

JANET LAKE  Named for the wife of a member of the Northern Boundary Survey party.

JEFFERSON PASS  Thomas "Uncle Jeff" Jefferson, for whom this pass was named, was an interesting old character who drifted into the Lake McDonald region in the early days and did packing and other odd jobs. He was a big man, about 6'6" tall, with a long white beard which he used to hide his big meersehaum pipe, letting the smoke curl up through it in a very startling manner.

JOHN F. STEVENS CANYON  Named for the Great Northern Railway Company civil engineer who located the Marias Pass for the construction of the railroad in December 1889.

JOSEPHINE LAKE  The original source of the name "Josephine" is not known, but the lake evidently received its name from the Josephine Mine, on the slopes of Grinnell Point immediately above the lake. In the early days of the park it was often referred to as "Lake Louise," and James Willard Schultz states that the Blackfeet Indians called it "Jealous Woman's Lake."

KAINA CREEK (Lake, Mountain)  Named for the Kaina, or Blood Indians, of the Blackfeet Nation. The work "Kaina" is Blackfeet for "Many Chiefs."

KAKITOS MOUNTAIN  Kakitos is the Blackfeet name for star. The mountain often resembles a three-pointed star.

KENNEDY CREEK  Named for John Kennedy, an Indian trader who built a trading post near the mouth of this creek in 1874. Shown on Lt. Robertson's map of 1887 and also on one of G. B. Grinnell's maps as "Joe's Creek," probably for Joe Kipp.

KINTLA LAKE (Creek, Glacier, Peak)  The only explanation for this name is found in a reported legend of the Kootenai Indians, to whom the word "Kintla" means "sack." It is reported by the older Indians that in the olden days in their hunting, camping and visiting trips they would cross the mountains near this point, but would never go near the water because it had been reported that one of the Indians had gone to this lake and had fallen in and disappeared, meaning that he was drowned and his body did not come back to the surface. They stated that the lake was like a sack  after you got in you could not get out.

KIPP CREEK (Mt.)  Presumed to have been named for Joe Kipp, a half-breed Indian trapper and hunter of the early days. Joe's father was Captain James Kipp, who built the trading post at Fort Piegan, at the mouth of the Marias River in 1831.

KISHENEHN CREEK  Kishenehn is the Kootenai word for "no good," but history does not record their reason for so naming this stream.

KOOTENAI PASS (Peak)  Believed to have been named for Kootenai Brown, the first ranger in charge of Waterton Lakes National Park, who is reported to have first entered the Waterton Valley over Kootenai Pass.

LEE CREEK (Ridge)  Believed to have been named for Lee Kaiser, an early day "bull whacker" who accidently shot himself near the stream. (See "Chief Mountain")

LENA LAKE  It appears that the early day topographers, when first mapping this country, had a habit of naming hitherto unnamed features for their wives, sweethearts, or daughters. Topographer Evans, of the Geological Survey, is reported to have named this lake for his wife.

LEWIS RANGE  Named for Captain Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who traveled up the Marias River almost to the park in 1806.

LINCOLN PEAK (Pass, Lake, Falls)  Eddie Cruger, who packed "dude" parties out from the Lake McDonald area around the turn of the century, relates how he named Lincoln Peak for Mrs. Anna T. Lincoln, matron of a girls' college in Northfield, Minnesota, who came out during the summer of 1899. Eddie guided the party to the Sperry area, where they hiked and climbed most of the peaks in the vicinity. Mrs. Lincoln could not hike or climb with the remainder of the party, so Eddie took her to Lincoln Pass, from where they made the easy ascent of Lincoln Peak. There Eddie named the peak for her. The other adjacent features evidently derived their names from the peak. Lincoln Lake was at one time called "Little St. Mary Lake," and Lincoln Falls was changed to "Beaver Chief Falls" in 1939 or 1940.

LITTLE CHIEF MOUNTAIN  Named by G. B. Grinnell in 1887 in honor of Major Frank North (Little Chief), Chief of the Pawnee Scouts in Nebraska during the 1860's.

LITTLE DOG MOUNTAIN  Named by G. B. Grinnell for "Little Dog," the Blackfeet Indian Chief who, in 1853, told Isaac Stevens, the new Governor of the Washington Territory, of the existence of Marias Pass, and started the search for it that lasted until its exploration by John F. Stevens in 1889.

LOGAN PASS (Creek, Mountain)  Named for Major Wm. R. Logan, first superintendent of Glacier National Park, from 1910 to 1912.

LOGGING CREEK (Lake, Mountain, Ridge)  So named because of extensive logging operations along the lower reaches of the creek prior to the time the area was made into a park. Early records indicate that a man by the name of Chisholm cut out a large number of yellow pine logs in the area in 1891 or 1892, and decked them in a dry wash near the river, expecting high water to take them out and down the river. Evidently the river never came this high, for the remains of these log decks may still be seen, not far from the Logging Ranger Station.

LONEMAN MOUNTAIN  Named by James Willard Schultz for a noted member of the Blackfeet Indian tribe. The name was given to the mountain on a trip up the Nyack Valley in 1902, accompanied by Joseph Kipp, Wm. Jackson and the noted writer, Emerson Hough.

LONE WALKER MOUNTAIN  Named for Lone Walker, a great Blackfeet chief and father-in-law of Hugh Monroe, to whose band Monroe first attached himself when coming into the Blackfeet country.

LONGFELLOW PEAK (Creek)  Named by R. H. Sargent, topographer for the Geological Survey in the early day mapping of the park, in honor of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Evangeline Lake is on the slopes of this peak.

McCLINTOCK PEAK  Named for Walter McClintock, author of "The Old North Trail," a story of early life with the Blackfeet.

McDONALD, LAKE (Creek, Falls)  In about the year 1878, Duncan McDonald, son of a Hudson's Bay Company factor, Angus McDonald, visited this lake, which was then known as "Terry Lake," for General Terry, an outstanding Indian fighter of the west. Duncan, who had the job of freighting a large amount of supplies to Canada, had intended to go up the North Fork of the Flathead, probably over the present Kishenehn trail route, but, upon finding his way blocked by a band of unfriendly Indians, he swung eastward and started up the next adjacent valley paralleling the North Fork. At the close of day, accompanied by a group of Flathead Indians, he came to the shores of this lake and camped there overnight. While in camp that evening he carved his name upon the bark of a birch tree. The next day he continued his journey, reaching Canada safely. The tree bearing his name remained for many years near the present village of Apgar. People who saw the name on the tree gradually began to call it "McDonald's Lake," and so the name became fixed.

McPARTLAND MOUNTAIN  Believed to have been named for Frank McPartland, of eastern Montana, who worked around Lake McDonald for two seasons and was drowned in a boating accident on the lake in the 1890's.

MARIAS (Muh-RYE-us) PASS (Pass, River)  This pass derived its name from the Marias River, one branch of which heads in the pass. The river, in turn, was so-named in 1805 by Captain Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, in honor of Miss Maria Wood, cousin of Captain Clark. The Flathead Indians called it "Eneas Pass," for Chief Eneas, but the Blackfeet called it the "Big Gap."

MATAHPI PEAK  The name, meaning "Face Mountain," was the old Blackfeet name for Going-to-the-Sun Mountain, because of the snow field that resembles the head of an Indian Chief near the eastern summit of the latter peak, when viewed from the east at certain times of the year. The name was erroneously applied by white men to the small peak immediately north of Going-to-the-Sun Mountain.

MEDICINE GRIZZLY LAKE  Named for the legendary "Medicine Grizzly" which inhabited Cut Bank Valley, and whose story is told in McClintock's "Old North Trail." This grizzly was reported killed by Chance Beebe, U. S. Biological Survey hunter from Columbia Falls, Montana.

MERRITT, MT.  Named for General Wesley Merritt, U. S. Army.

MICHE WABUN LAKE (Falls, Glacier, Peak)  Named from the Cree Indian name of the Great White Rabbit, once the great sun god of the Crees.

MORNING STAR LAKE  Named for an Indian princess whose story is told in McClintock's "Old North Trail."

NORRIS MOUNTAIN  Named by G. B. Grinnell for Hank Norris, a squaw man who became a member of the Blackfeet tribe, and was a noted mountaineer and hunter. Norris was reported to have owned all the allotment between the two St. Mary Lakes before the park was created, and was one of the men responsible for the naming of Cracker Lake.

NYACK CREEK  Origin of this name is unknown, although used for this stream prior to 1910. It has also been called "Mud Creek" (Major Logan) and "Gibbon Creek" (F. E. Mathes).

OBERLIN, MT. (Falls)  Named by Dr. L. B. Sperry for Oberlin College. Oberlin Falls was later re-named "Birdwoman Falls."

OLD SUN GLACIER  Named for Old Sun, or Ntas, great sun priest of the Blackfeet. This name was suggested by J. W. Schultz for Mt. Merritt, upon whose flank this glacier rests.

OTATSO CREEK (Lake)  "Otatso" is the Blackfeet word for "Walking Stooped," the Indian name for John Kennedy, who built a trading post at the mouth of Kennedy Creek. For many years this creek was known as "Kennedy Creek" or the "North Fork of Kennedy Creek."

OTOKOMI MOUNTAIN (Lake)  Named by G. B. Grinnell for Otokomi (Yellowfish), a part Blackfeet Indian who accompanied Grinnell on his early expeditions into this region. Otokomi's English name was Rose, so Roes Basin and Roes Creek nearby resulted from a misspelling of his name. Early topographers sometimes called this mountain "Whitefish" Mountain probably an erroneous translation of "Otokomi."

PARKE PEAK (Creek, Ridge)  Named for John G. Parke, chief astronomer for the International Boundary Survey party.

PIEGAN MOUNTAIN (Falls, Glacier, Pass)  Named by James Willard Schultz in 1885 for the Piegan tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Nation.

PINCHOT, MT. (Creek)  Named for Gifford Pinchot, forester and first chief of the United States Forest Service.

PITAMAKAN PASS (Lake)  Named for Running Eagle (Pitamakan), the Blackfeet Joan of Arc. Running Eagle was a warrior girl that led war parties on many highly successful raids and was the only woman in the Blackfeet tribe ever to do so or to be given a man's name. Pitamakan Pass was originally named Cut Bank Pass, but the latter name was given to the pass between Mt. Morgan and Flinsch Peak.

POLLOCK MOUNTAIN  Named by Ross Carter for W. C. Pollack, a member of the Indian Commission appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to buy from the Indians the strip of land along the eastern side of the Rockies.

PUMPELLY GLACIER (Pillar)  Named for Raphael Pumpelly of Newport, R. I., leader of the Northern Transcontinental Railway Survey party that crossed Pitamakan Pass in 1883. On this trip was Major Logan, who later became the first superintendent of Glacier National Park.

RED EAGLE MOUNTAIN (Creek, Glacier, Lake, Pass)  James Willard Schultz states that the name was given to the mountain by his Indian wife in 1887, for her uncle, Red Eagle, who had saved their son's life with his prayers to the Sun.

REUTER PEAK  Probably named for Jack Reuter, an old-timer who settled on Big Prairie, on the North Fork not far from the foot of this peak.

REYNOLDS MOUNTAIN (Creek)  Named by George Bird Grinnell for a member of his "Forest and Stream" staff.

RISING WOLF MOUNTAIN  Rising Wolf was the Indian name for Hugh Monroe, the first white man to live with the Blackfeet Indians. The name is said to have been suggested by Monroe's habit of getting out of bed in the morning on his hands and knees.

ROES BASIN (Creek)  Named for Otokomi (Yellowfish), a part Blackfeet Indian who accompanied G. B. Grinnell on his early expeditions into this region. Otokomi's English name was Rose, but early cartographers misspelled it as Roes, and Roes Creek and Roes Basin were the result. Roes Lake was later renamed Otokomi.

RUGER LAKE  Named for Thomas H. Ruger, a Civil War general who commanded a large part of the Dakota and Montana territory around 1890.

ST. MARY LAKE (Falls, River)  There is much controversy over the origin of this name as applied to St. Mary Lakes. J. W. Schultz states that Father Pierre DeSmet, the Belgian Missionary named the lakes, but DeSmet's papers and records do not indicate that he ever reached the lake. Other accounts state that the name was given to the St. Mary River by the International Boundary Survey party in 1870. It is more probable that the name was given by Hugh Monroe, the first white man to live with the Blackfeet Indians, probably shortly after first arriving in the country in 1814.

The Piegan Indians called these lakes the "Walled-in Lakes," while the Kootenais called them "Old Woman Lakes." Mr. James Doty, one of Governor Stevens exploration party chiefs who explored and mapped much of the eastern front of the range, camped on the Lower St. Mary Lake in May 1854. He called the upper lake "Bow Lake" and the lower one "Chief Mountain Lake." Later maps of the International Boundary Commission erroneously applied the latter name to the present Waterton Lake, despite the fact that Doty specifically stated in his reports that his survey showed the lake and its environs to be wholly within American territory and more than ten miles south of the boundary. He gives the exact location. The outlet of St. Mary Lakes, now called the St. Mary River, was called Mo-Ko-Un, or "Belly River," by the Blackfeet a name now applied to the stream farther north.

SCALPLOCK MOUNTAIN  Named for a small tuft of trees resembling an Indian's scalplock that remained on its summit following the fire that destroyed the remaining timber.

SEWARD MOUNTAIN  Named by George Bird Grinnell for William H. Seward, Secretary of State under President Lincoln. The name was originally applied to the entire ridge from Seward Mountain, which is north and east, to Chief Mountain, previously known as "Seward's Ridge."

SHEPARD GLACIER  Named for E. R. Shepard, a photographer for the Chaney-Sperry party.

SHERBURNE LAKE (Peak)  Named for J. J. Sherburne, a secretary-treasurer of the Swiftcurrent Oil, Land and Power Co., which drilled for oil near the site of the present Sherburne Dam in 1904.

SHIELDS CREEK (Mountain)  Named for an old timer, Mr. Shields, a polished idler from Virginia whose wife ran a store at Essex, Montana.

SINGLESHOT MOUNTAIN  So named by James Willard Schultz because G. B. Grinnell is reported to have killed a running bighorn sheep there with a single shot.

SINOPAH MOUNTAIN  Sinopah, meaning "kit fox" in Blackfeet, was the Indian wife of Hugh Monroe (Rising Wolf) and daughter of Lone Walker, a powerful Blackfeet chief.

SIYEH, MT. (Creek, Glacier, Pass)  Named by G. B. Grinnell for a Blackfeet Indian, "Sai-yeh," in Blackfeet means Crazy Dog, or Mad Wolf.

SNYDER CREEK (Ridge, Lake)  George Snyder was an early settler near the head of Lake McDonald, who built the first hotel there in 1895, at the site of the present Lake McDonald Lodge. He also put the first power boat on the lake, a steamboat which he used to carry passengers to his hotel.

SPERRY GLACIER  Named for Dr. Lyman B. Sperry of Oberlin College, Ohio, the "Gentleman Explorer," who led the first party to reach the glacier in 1896, and who later was responsible for the building of the first trail to this glacier over approximately the same route as the present one.

SQUAW MOUNTAIN  A descriptive name given because of a high block of stone that stands on the eastern slope of the mountain, the "Old Squaw," resembling an Indian woman wearing a shawl or blanket. Tom Dawson states that the old Indian legend tells how the squaws went up on high points to serve as lookouts and signal when the men were on a buffalo hunt, and the rock of Squaw Mountain is symbolic of the Blackfeet woman waiting with infinite patience for the return of the buffalo.

STANTON MOUNTAIN  Named for Lottie Stanton, a pioneer woman who followed the construction camps during the railroad building days.

STIMSON, MT. (Creek)  Named by G. B. Grinnell for Henry L. Stimson, later Secretary of State, who was a member of one of Grinnell's parties in 1891. The name was originally applied to the present Mt. Logan, the present Mt. Stimson then being called Mt. James. The change to the present names was probably made by the topographers when the park was mapped.

STONEY INDIAN LAKE (Pass, Peaks)  Named for the Stoney Indians, a branch of the Assiniboine Sioux.

SWIFTCURRENT CREEK (Falls, Glacier, Lake, Mountain, Pass, Ridge)  This name was originally applied to the stream by G. B. Grinnell in 1885 or 1886 after the Indian name, "Swift Flowing River." Swiftcurrent Lake was also named by Grinnell but was later changed to Lake McDermott after a local lumberman in the late 1890's, then officially changed back to Swiftcurrent in 1928. Swiftcurrent Pass was once known as Horsethief Pass, for the Blackfeet horses that were reported to have been driven over it after horse-stealing raids.

THUNDERBIRD FALLS (Glacier, Mountain)  Named for the Thunder Bird, common in the Indian myths of this region.

TINKHAM MOUNTAIN  Lieutenant A. W. Tinkham was an Army engineer sent by Governor Isaac Stevens to look for Marias Pass and who, in the fall of 1853, crossed Pitamakan Pass, thinking it was the Marias. His was the first recorded journal of the crossing of a pass in the park by a white man.

TRIPLE DIVIDE PEAK (Pass)  The waters from this peak flow into three major drainages: the Hudson's Bay, through the St. Mary and Saskatchewan; the Pacific, through the Flathead and Columbia; and the Gulf of Mexico, through the Missouri-Mississippi.

TWO MEDICINE CREEK (Lakes, Pass)  This name is reported to have been derived from the name "Two Medicine Lodge Creek," so called because at one time there were two "medicine lodges" located on either side of the creek.

VAUGHT, MT.  Named for L. O. Vaught, of Jacksonville, Illinois, who spent his summers in the park for many years.

WALTON CREEK (Mountain)  Named for the patron saint of fishermen, Izaak Walton, because of the good fishing in the area.

WATERTON LAKES (River, Valley)  These lakes were first visited by a party from the British Palliser Expedition in 1858, led by Captain T. W. Blakiston. While encamped upon the shores of the lakes, Blakiston named them for Charles Waterton, an eminent English naturalist.

WHITE CALF MOUNTAIN  Named for the last head of the Piegan Blackfeet, by the surveyors of the strip of land ceded to the U. S. Government by the Blackfeet in 1896.

WHITE QUIVER FALLS  Name suggested by H. A. Noble of the Glacier Hotel Company, after "White Quiver," the hero in a novel written by H. F. Sanders. Formerly known as "Washboard Falls."

WILBUR, MT. (Creek)  Named by G. B. Grinnell in 1885, for E. R. Wilbur, one of Grinnell's partners in the Forest and Stream Publishing Company.

WINDMAKER LAKE  Wind Maker was a mythical being of Blackfeet mythology, whose home was in the waters of this lake at the head of the Swiftcurrent Valley, and who caused the wind to blow so furiously from the mountains.

WYNN, MT.  Named for Frank B. Wynn, physician and scientist who was killed in an attempt to climb Mt. Siyeh on July 27, 1927. This mountain was originally named "Point Mountain" by George Bird Grinnell on his map of 1885-92. Later the miners from the mining town of Altyn, near the head of Sherburne Lake, named it Altyn, after their town, and in 1927 topographers transferred this name to a mountain overlooking Swiftcurrent where it remained, and renamed the former mountain, "Mt. Wynn."