Customer Reviews

Indian trails of the Northern Rockies

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This is a wonderful book for regional studies of the landscape and native trails in the Northern Rockies of Montana, Idaho, Washington, Alberta and British Columbia. It focuses on the mountain homelands of the Kutenai (or Kootenay, Kootenai), the Blackfeet or Blackfoot (Piegan, Blood, Siksika), Sarcee, Cree, Stony, and Salish (including the Flathead, Kalispel, and Pend d' Oreille).

The chapters are titled: The Kutenai Homeland,The Grave Creek Trail, The Palliser Expedition Discovers The Grave Creek Trail, William Hamilton's Escape, The Northwest Exploring Expedition, The Boundary, The Naming, Englishman Alex Stavely Hill, and Conclusion. But the real stars of every chapter are the trails, the mountain passes, and the Kutenai people themselves. There are engrossing discussions of the Kutenai connections to Glacier National Park (even more than the Blackfeet), battles, the Kutenai "Buffalo Trail", over 22 passes over the Continental Divide, and traditional trail markers and landmarks. We learn that in general, most trails ran along the north-south oriented river valleys between the towering mountain ranges, with occasional passes connecting the valleys.

This is a unique and wonderful work, valuable for those residing in the northern Rockies and interested in the cultural landscapes, trails and Native peoples of the area. There is not much published and available about the Kutenai, and this book helps fill that need.

This was a fascinating and interesting collection of information concerning early Indian trails in the Kootenai regions and others. This was very helpful in a project of mine.