Chapter II: Part 2

Chalets operated during 1937 will be open from June 15 to September 15, except Sperry and Granite Park, which will open July I and close September 1. Minimum rates are computed on a basis of $4.50 a day per person, special accommodations ranging as high as $7.50. A 10-percent discount is allowed for stays of a week or more at any one chalet group. Tent camp rates are $5 per day, per person, American plan.

The Swiftcurrent auto cabins are located a little more than a mile from Many Glacier Hotel. Here a 2-room cabin for 1 or 2 persons costs $2.50 a day; 3 or 4 persons in a 3-room cabin, $4 a day. Blankets and linen may be rented by the day. The 10 percent discount given at the hotels and chalets also applies to the housekeeping cabins.

SADDLE-HORSE TRIPS

Glacier National Park has the distinction of being the foremost trail park. More saddle horses are used than in any other park or like recreational region in this country. The Glacier Park Saddle Horse Co. has available during the season about 800 saddle animals. There are nearly 900 miles of trails in this park.

At Glacier Park, Many Glacier, and Lake McDonald Hotels, Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, and Goathaunt Tent Camp, horses may be engaged or released for trips in the park, including camping trips. At Two Medicine Chalets horses may be engaged or released for local rides only.

A wonderful 3-day excursion is afforded by the Logan Pass Triangle trip. This trip may be started at either the Many Glacier Hotel and Chalets or Going-to-the-Sun Chalets. Beginning at Many Glacier Hotel, the first day's route follows up Swiftcurrent Pass to Granite Park Chalets, where luncheon is served and the overnight stop made. The second day the Garden Wall Trail to Logan Pass is followed, with a box luncheon on the way, and Going-to-the-Sun Chalets is reached in late afternoon in time for dinner. The return to Many Glacier Hotel is made the third day via Piegan Pass, Grinnell Lake, and Josephine Lake.

The South Circle trip requires 5 days to complete and may be started either from Many Glacier, Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, or Lake McDonald Hotel on Lake McDonald. Three of the principal passes are traversed--Swiftcurrent, Gunsight, and Piegan. The North Circle trip is also a 5-day tour via tent camps, crossing Swiftcurrent Pass, Indian Pass, and Ptarmigan Wall. The trip starts from Many Glacier Hotel, Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, or Lake McDonald Hotel.

There is a 4-day inside trail trip from Glacier Park Hotel via Two Medicine, Cut Bank, and Red Eagle to Sun Camp.

Many delightful specially scheduled trips of 1 and 2 days' duration are also available.

Information about saddle-horse trips may be obtained at any of the hotels or other points of concentration. Practically any type of trip desired can be arranged, from short excursions to special points of interest, such as the half-day trip from Glacier Park Hotel to Forty-Mile Creek for $3.50, to pack trips of unlimited duration; the larger the party, the cheaper the rates. For minimum parties of 3 persons, the average rate for 1-day trips is $5 or $6. For parties of 3 or more, the all-expense Fifty Mountain Trail trip of 3 days is $28.50; the 5-day North Circle trip, $50.50. These are specifically mentioned merely to give an idea of the cost; many other fine trips are available at rates computed on a similar basis.

Special arrangements can be made for private camping parties making a trip of 10 days or more at rates amounting to $11 a day each for groups of 7 or more; $12 a day each for 6 persons; $13 for 5; $15 for 4; $16 for 3; $18 for 2; and $27 for 1 person. A guide and cook, are furnished for a party of one or more persons, and extra helpers are added, if the number of persons require it. Private trips of less than 10 days may also be arranged.

Experienced riders may rent horses for use on the floor of the valleys at $1 an hour, $3 for 4 hours, and $5 for 8 hours.

ALL-EXPENSE TOURS BY BUS

The Glacier Park Transport Co. and the Glacier Park Hotel Co. have jointly arranged some very attractive all-expense tours of 1, 2, 3, and 4 days' duration. These trips are priced reasonably and include auto fare, meals, and hotel lodgings. The trips begin at Glacier Park Station for west-bound passengers and at Belton for east-bound passengers and are made daily during the season.

_Trip No. 1._--Logan Pass Detour.--Glacier Park Hotel to Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, Lake McDonald Hotel, and Belton, Mont. Leave Glacier Park Hotel at 2:30 p.m.; arrive Belton the next day, 2:05 p.m. All-expense rate, $15.50.

_Trip No. 2._--Glacier Park Hotel to Many Glacier Hotel, Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, Lake McDonald Hotel, and Belton. Leave Glacier Park Hotel 2:30 p.m.; arrive Belton on third day, 2:05 p.m. All-expense rate, $27.75.

_Trip No. 3._--Glacier Park Hotel to Two Medicine Lake, Many Glacier Hotel, Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, Lake McDonald, and Belton. Leave Glacier Park Hotel 2 p.m.; arrive Belton on fourth day, 2:05 p.m. All-expense rate, $38.

_Trip No. 4._--Same as Trip No. 3, except an extra day at Many Glacier Hotel, and the all-expense rate is $44.50.

All west-bound trips are scheduled to arrive at Belton at 2:05 p.m., in time for the Empire Builder, west. The trips east bound all begin at Belton and close at Glacier Park Station, in time for the Empire Builder, east. The rates for these trips are:

No. 1--$16.50 No. 2--$30.25 No. 3--$36.75 No. 4--$45.00.

All trips, both east and west, are routed over the spectacular Going-to-the-Sun Highway and Logan Pass.

TRANSPORTATION

The Glacier Park Transport Co. is operated in the park under franchise from the Department of the Interior. Daily stage service in each direction is maintained between Glacier Park Hotel and St. Mary Chalets, Many Glacier Hotel and Chalets, Waterton, and Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, Lake McDonald Hotel, and Belton Station. A daily bus trip is made from Glacier Park Hotel to Two Medicine Chalets on Two Medicine Lake, allowing sufficient time at the lake to fish or make the launch trip. Regular motorbus service is maintained between Glacier Park Hotel and Belton. On the west side daily bus service is maintained between Belton, the foot of Lake McDonald, and the Lake McDonald Hotel at the head of Lake McDonald, and between this hotel and Logan Pass on the Continental Divide.

The transportation company and launch companies allow each passenger to carry with him 25 pounds of hand baggage without extra charge, which is usually sufficient for shorter trips. Trunks are forwarded at extra expense. Arrangements can be made for caring for trunks left at entrances during tour of park or rechecking them for passengers who enter at one side and leave by the other. Storage charges on baggage at Glacier Park Station and at Belton are waived while tourists are making park trips.

LAUNCHES AND ROWBOATS

The Glacier Park Hotel Co. operates launch service on Waterton Lake between Goathaunt Camp in Glacier Park, and the Waterton Lake townsite in Alberta, Canada, crossing the international boundary line about half-way up the lake. One-way, the fare is 75 cents; round trip, $1.50.

Twilight launch rides on St. Mary and McDonald Lakes are featured during fair weather.

The J. W. Swanson Boat Co. operates launch service on beautiful Two Medicine Lake, at a charge of 75 cents each for four or more passengers. For a smaller number the minimum charge for the trip around the lake is $3. Trips around Josephine and Swiftcurrent Lakes may be made for $1 each. The Swanson Co. also rents rowboats for 50 cents an hour; $2.50 a day, or $15 a week for use on the following lakes: Two Medicine, St. Mary, Swiftcurrent, Josephine, and McDonald. Outboard motors may also be rented.

This booklet is issued once a year and the rates mentioned herein may have changed slightly since issuance, but the latest rates approved by the Secretary of the Interior are on file with the superintendent and the park operators.

ADMINISTRATION

The representative of the National Park Service in immediate charge of the park is the superintendent, E. T. Scoyen, Belton, Mont.

William H. Lindsay is United States commissioner for the park and holds court in all cases involving violations of park regulations.

NATURALIST SERVICE

A daily schedule of popular guided trips afield, all-day hikes, boat trips, campfire entertainments, and illustrated lectures is maintained at Many Glacier, Going-to-the-Sun, Two Medicine, Lake McDonald, Sprague Creek, and Avalanche Auto Campgrounds, the leading tourist centers. Naturalists who conduct local field trips and walks to nearby Hidden Lake and Clements Glacier are stationed at Logan Pass daily from 9 to 4.

A small museum dealing with popular local natural history subjects is maintained throughout July and August at Many Glacier Ranger Station. Cut-flower exhibits are installed at various hotels and chalets, and an exhibit of rock specimens is in the lobby of Many Glacier Hotel.

Requests from special parties desiring ranger naturalist assistance are given every consideration. All park visitors are urged to avail themselves of the services of the naturalists who are there to assist them in learning of the untold wonders that abound everywhere in the park. Acceptance of gratuities for this free service is strictly forbidden.

For complete information on naturalist schedules and types of service offered consult the free pamphlet, Ranger-Naturalist Service, Glacier National Park.

AUTOMOBILE CAMPGROUNDS

For the use of the motoring public a system of free automobile campgrounds has been developed on both sides of the park. On the east side, these camps are located at Two Medicine, Cutbank, Roes Creek, and Many Glacier. The west side camps are at Bowman Lake, Fish Creek, Avalanche Creek, and Lake McDonald. Pure water, firewood, cookstoves, and sanitary facilities are available, but campers must bring their own equipment.

POST OFFICES

The United States post offices are located at Glacier Park, Mont., Belton, Mont., Polebridge, Mont., and (during summer season) Lake McDonald, Mont., at Lake McDonald Hotel, and Apgar, at the foot of Lake McDonald. Mail for park visitors should include in the address the name of the stopping place as well as the post office.

MISCELLANEOUS

Telegraph and express service is available at all points of concentration.

Qualified nurses are in attendance at the hotels and both sides of the park, and there is a resident physician at Glacier Park Hotel.

THE PARK'S GEOLOGIC STORY

The mountains of Glacier National Park are made up of many layers of limestone and other rocks formed from sediments deposited under water. The rocks show ripple marks which were made by waves when the rock material was soft sand and mud. Raindrop impressions and sun cracks show that the mud from time to time was exposed to rains and the drying action of the air. These facts indicate that the area now known as "Glacier National Park" was once covered by a shallow sea. At intervals muds were laid down which later became consolidated into rocks known as "shales" and "argillites." Limy or calcareous muds were changed into limestone. The geologist estimates that these depositions were made several hundred million years ago.

In the plains area east of the mountains are other lime and mud formations. These are younger and softer than the rocks which make up the mountains but were undoubtedly formed under much the same conditions. These contain much higher forms of life, such as fish and shells.

When originally laid down all these layers must have been nearly horizontal, just as they are deposited today in bodies of standing water all over the world. Then came a time when the sea slowly but permanently withdrew from the area by an uplift of the land, which since that time has been continuously above sea level. This uplift, one of the greatest in the history of the region, marks the beginning of a long period of erosion which has carved the mountains of Glacier National Park.

The geologist observes that the rock layers are no longer in the horizontal position in which they were laid down. There are folds in the rocks and many breaks or faults cutting across the layers. Furthermore, the oldest rocks in the region are found to be resting on the younger rocks of the adjacent plains. One of the best examples of this is to be seen at Chief Mountain where the ancient limestone rests directly on the young shale below (fig. 1). The same relationship is visible in Cutbank, St. Mary, and Swiftcurrent Valleys. In these areas, however, the exact contact is not always so easy to locate principally because of the debris of weathered rocks that have buried them. What has happened? How did this peculiar relationship come about? The answers to these questions unravel one of the grandest stories in earth history. Forces deep in the earth slowly gathered energy until finally the stress became so great that the rocky crust began to move.

The probable results of the movement in the crust of the earth are shown in the diagram (fig. 2). Section A represents a cross section of the Glacier Park region, as it most likely appeared, immediately following the long period of sedimentation. The rock strata are horizontal. Section B shows the same region after the rock layers have been slightly wrinkled due to the forces from the southwest, which, although slightly relieved by the bending, still persisted and the folds were greatly enlarged as shown in section C. At this stage the folds reached their breaking limit, and the strata broke in a number of places as indicated by dotted lines in the diagram. As a result of this fracturing, the rocks on the west side of the folds were pushed upward and over the rocks on the east, as shown in section D. The mountain rocks (represented by patterns of cross lines) were shoved over the rocks of the plains (represented in white), producing what is known as an "overthrust fault." It has been estimated that the rocks have moved a distance of at least 15 miles.

As the rocks were thrust northeastward and upward they made a greatly elevated region, but did not, however, at any time project into the air, as indicated in section D, because as the rocky mass was being uplifted, streams were wearing it away and cutting deep canyons in its upland portion. The rocks of the mountains, owing to their resistant character, are not worn away as rapidly as the plains formations with the result that great thicknesses of limestone and argillite tower above the plains. Where the older, more massive strata overlie the soft rocks the mountains are terminated by precipitous walls as shown in section E. This explains the absence of foothills that is so conspicuous a feature of this mountain front and one in which it differs from most other ranges.

While the region now known as "Glacier National Park" was being uplifted and faulted, the streams were continually at work. The sand and other abrasive material being swept along on the beds of the streams slowly wore away much of the rock. The uplifting gave the streams life and they consequently cut deep valleys into the mountain area. They cut farther and farther back into the mountain mass until they dissected it, leaving instead of an upland plateau a region of ridges and sharp peaks. This erosional process which has carved the mountains of Glacier Park has produced most of the mountains of the world.

Following their early erosional history, there came a period of much colder climate during which time heavy snows fell and large ice fields were formed throughout the mountain region. At the same time huge continental ice sheets formed in Canada and also in northern Europe. This period, during which glaciers, sometimes over a mile thick, covered many parts of the world including all of Canada and New England and much of North Central United States, is known as the "Ice Age." Such a tremendous covering of ice had an enduring and pronounced effect upon the relief of the country.

In Glacier National Park some of the ice still remains in the higher portions of the valleys and a study of these ice fields helps in interpreting the history of the park during the Ice Age. It is evident that ice did not cover the entire range, but that the higher peaks stood out above the ice, which probably never reached a thickness of over 3,000 feet in this region. The V-shaped valleys which had been produced by stream erosion were filled with glaciers which moved slowly down the valleys. The ice froze onto all loose rock material and carried it forward, using it as abrasive to gouge out the rock, the valley bottoms, and sides. Gradually the valleys were molded until they had acquired a smooth U-shaped character (fig. 3). There are excellent examples of this work of ice in the park, among which are Two Medicine, Cut Bank, St. Mary, Swiftcurrent, and Belly River Valleys.

In addition to smoothing the valley down which they moved, the glaciers produced many rock basins called cirques. These are the result of ice plucking in the regions where the glaciers formed. Alternate freezing and thawing cause the rock to break and the resulting fragments are carried away by the moving ice mass. In the majority of cases the cirques have lakes on their floors. The park is dotted with these beautiful little lakes scattered throughout the high mountain country.

The valley lakes are usually larger than the cirque lakes and have a different origin. As the glaciers melted they deposited huge loads of sand, mud, and boulders in the valley bottoms called moraines. Debris of this nature has helped to hold in the waters of St. Mary, Lower Two Medicine, McDonald, Bowman, and numerous other lakes in the park.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Glacier National Park is exceptionally rich in many kinds of wildlife. Its rugged wilderness character, enhanced by numerous lakes and almost unlimited natural alpine gardens, combine to offer an unexcelled opportunity to enjoy and study nature.

Glacier is noted for its brilliant floral display which is most striking in early July. Above timber line hardy plants such as mosses and lichens, together with the delicately colored alpine flowers, are found. Lower on the mountains are heather, gentians, wild heliotrope, and stunted trees of alpine fir, white-barked pine, and alpine larch. The valleys on the east bear Engelmann spruce, alpine fir, lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, and limber pine.

The valleys of the west side are within an entirely different plant life zone, typified by dense climax forests. For the most part these forests consist of red cedar and hemlock, with intermediate forests of larch, fir, spruce, and white pine. There are also younger stands of larch and lodgepole pine. Some of the white pines in McDonald Valley have reached huge dimensions. The deficiency of wild flowers found there is in part made up by the presence of sphagnum bogs with a typical fauna and flora of their own.

On the east, at lower elevations, representatives of the Great Plains flora are found, such as the passion flower, carpet pink, shooting star, scarlet paintbrush, red and white geraniums, bronze agoseris, the gaillardia, wild hollyhock, asters, and many other composites. The bear grass is one of the most characteristic plants of Glacier.

Of equal interest is the abundant animal life, including both the larger and smaller forms. Bighorn, mountain goats, moose, wapiti, grizzly and black bear, and western white-tailed and Rocky Mountain mule deer exist in as natural a condition as is possible in an area also utilized by man. Mountain caribou are occasional visitors to the park. Mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes are present, although the first have been reduced greatly from their original numbers. The beaver, marmot, otter, marten, cony, and a host of smaller mammals are interesting and important members of the fauna. Among the birds, those that attract the greatest interest are the osprey, water ouzel, ptarmigan, Clark nutcracker, thrushes, and sparrows.

IDEAL PLACE TO SEE AMERICAN INDIANS

With the exception of the Kootenais, few Indians ventured into the fastness of the park mountains before the coming of the white men. Yet so frequently did a large number of tribes use its trails for hunting and warfare, or camp in midsummer along its lakes and streams on the edge of the plains, that the park has an Indian story intertwined with its own that is unsurpassed in interest. Except for a few plateau Indians who had strong plains' characteristics because they once lived on the plains, all tribes were of that most interesting of Indian types, the plains Indian.

The earliest peoples inhabiting the northern Montana plains of which we have any record were apparently Snake Indians of Shoshonean stock. Later Nez Perces, Flatheads, and Kootenais pushed eastward through passes from the headwaters of the Columbia River system. Then came horses and firearms, and the whites themselves to set up an entirely different state of affairs in their hitherto relatively peaceful existence. First, a growing and expounding Siouan race, pressed forward also by an expanding irresistible Algonkian stock, occupied the high plains and pushed back its peoples behind the wall of mountains. These were the Crows from the south, the Assiniboins to the east. Lastly, armed with strategy and Hudson's Bay Co. firearms, and given speed and range with horses, the dauntless Blackfeet came forth from their forests to become the terror of the north. They grew strong on the abundance of food and game on the Great Plains, and pushed the Crows beyond the Yellowstone River, until met by the forces of white soldiery and the tide of civilization.

Today the Blackfeet on the reservation adjoining the park on the east remain a pitiful but picturesque remnant of their former pride and glory. They have laid aside their former intense hostility to the whites and have reconciled themselves to the fate of irrepressible civilization. Dressed in colorful native costume, a few families of braves greet the park visitor at Glacier Park Station and Hotel. Here they sing, dance, and tell stories of their former greatness. In these are reflected in a measure the dignity, the nobility, the haughtiness, and the savagery of one of the highest and most interesting of aboriginal American peoples.

REFERENCES

ALBRIGHT, HORACE M., and TAYLOR, FRANK J. Oh, Ranger! About the
national parks.

BOWMAN, I. Forest Physiography. New York, 1911. Illustrated; maps.

EATON, WALTER PRITCHARD. Boy Scouts in Glacier Park. 1918. 336 pages.

---- Sky-line Camps. 1922. 268 pp., illustrated. A record of wanderings
in the Northwestern Mountains from Glacier National Park to Crater
Lake National Park in Oregon.

ELROD, Dr. MORTON J. Complete Guide to Glacier National Park. 1924.
208 pp.

FARIS, JOHN T. Roaming the Rockies. 1930. 333 pp., illustrated. Farrar
& Rinehart, New York City, Glacier National Park on pp. 42 to 80.

HOLTZ, MATHILDE EDITH, and BEMIS, KATHERINE ISABEL. Glacier National
Park, Its Trails and Treasures. 1917. 262 pp., illustrated.

JEFFERS, Le ROY. The Call of the Mountains. 1922. 282 pp., illustrated.
Dodd, Mead & Co. Glacier National Park on pp. 35-39.

JOHNSON, C. Highways of Rocky Mountains. Mountains and Valleys in
Montana, pp. 194-215. Illustrated.

KANE, J. F. Picturesque America. 1935. 256 pp., illustrated. Frederick
Gumbrecht, Brooklyn, N. Y. Glacier National Park on pp. 147-169.

LAUT, AGNES C. The Blazed Trail of the Old Frontier. Robt. M. McBride &
Co., New York, 1926.

---- Enchanted Trails of Glacier Park. Robt. M. McBride & Co., New
York. 1926.

MARSHALL, L. Seeing America. Philadelphia, 1916. Illustrated. Map.
Chapter XXIII, Among the American Alps, Glacier National Park,
pp. 193-200.

McCLINTOCK, W. The Old North Trail. 539 pp., illustrated, maps.
Macmillan Co. 1920.

---- Old Indian Trails, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1923.

MILLS, ENOS A. Your National Parks. 532 pp., illustrated. Houghton
Mifflin Co. 1917. Glacier National Park on pp. 148-160, 475-487.

RINEHART, MARY ROBERTS. Through Glacier Park. The Log of a Trip with
Howard Eaton. 1916. 92 pp., illustrated.

---- My Country 'Tis of Thee.

Rolfe, Mary A. Our National Parks, Book Two. A supplementary reader on
the national parks for fifth- and sixth-grade students. Benj. H.
Sanborn & Co., Chicago. 1928. Glacier National Park on pp. 197-242.

SANDERS, H. F. Trails Through Western Woods. 1910. 310 pp., illustrated.

---- History of Montana, vol. 1, 1913. 847 pp. Glacier National Park on
pp. 685-689.

---- The White Quiver. 344 pp., illustrated, Duffield & Co., New York.
1913.

SCHULTZE, JAMES WILLARD. Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park. 1916.
242 pp., illustrated.

STEELE, DAVID M. Going Abroad Overland. 1917. 198 pp., illustrated.
Glacier National Park on pp. 92-101.

STIMSON, HENRY L. The Ascent of Chief Mountain. In Hunting in Many
Lands, edited by Theodore Roosevelt and George B. Grinnell, 1895,
pp. 220-237.

YARD, ROBERT STERLING. The Book of the National Parks. Scribner's,
1926, 444 pp., 74 illustrations, 14 maps and diagrams. Glacier
National Park on pp. 251-283.

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

=Glimpses of Our National Parks.= Brief descriptions of national parks. Address Director, National Park Service, Washington, D. C. Free.

=Recreational map.= Shows Federal and State recreational areas throughout the United States and gives brief descriptions of principal ones. Address as above. Free.

Illustrated booklets about the following national parks may be obtained free of charge by writing to the Director, National Park Service:

Acadia, Maine.
Carlsbad Caverns, N. Mex.
Crater Lake, Oreg.
General Grant, Calif.
Grand Canyon, Ariz.
Grand Teton, Wyo.
Great Smoky Mountains, N. C.-Tenn.
Hawaii, Hawaii.
Hot Springs, Ark.
Lassen Volcanic, Calif.
Mesa Verde, Colo.
Mount McKinley, Alaska.
Mount Rainier, Wash.
National Capital Parks, Washington, D. C.
Platt, Okla.
Rocky Mountain, Colo.
Sequoia, Calif.
Wind Cave, S. Dak.
Yellowstone, Wyo.-Mont.-Idaho.
Yosemite, Calif.
Zion and Bryce Canyon, Utah.

* * * * *

_Publications for sale in Glacier National Park_

Wild Animals of Glacier National Park $1.00
Plants of Glacier National Park .50
Origin of Scenic Features of Glacier .20
Geological Survey map of Glacier .25
Fauna of the National Parks .20
National Parks Portfolio 1.50

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