Montana

Did you know that there are 25 active glaciers remaining in Glacier National Park? No words can describe the beauty of these mountains..

For my 26th birthday my mother and I decided to take a road trip out to Glacier in the northwest tip of Montana. Evidence of human use in this area dates back to over 10,000 years. The Blackfeet Indians controlled the vast prairies east of the mountains, while the Salish and Kootenai Indians lived in the western valleys, traveling over the mountains in search of game and to hunt the great herds of buffalo on the eastern plains.

Explorations to the area by white trappers as early as the 1700s opened the area, and the future Glacier National Park, to trading among European settlers and tribal communities. As resources were depleted, the tribes eventually signed treaties that would increasingly confine native people to reservations and leave them dependent on the U.S. government.

Today, the 1.5-million acre Blackfeet Indian Reservation, which shares Glacier’s eastern border, is home to about 8,600 members of the Blackfeet Nation, the largest tribe in Montana.

During my trip I witnessed wooly mountain goats, rode western horseback, and kayaked in Lake McDonald. I still can't believe Glacier National Park is a place that exists on Earth. I am forever grateful. This one was for the ancestors!