George Bird Grinnell was a loyal and helpful friend to the Yellowstone
National Park during its trying years. He also rendered the public the
distinguished service of originating the Glacier National Park idea
and helping to bring about its realization. In 1885, accompanied by
James Willard Schultz, he visited a number of its now famous lakes and
glaciers. On his return he published a series of articles entitled "To
the Walled-in Lakes." A peak, a glacier, and a lake have been named in
his honor. Year after year he returned to this region to enjoy the
scenery and to study the language and customs of the Blackfeet Indian.
In 1891, accompanied by Harry L. Stimpson, he discovered the Blackfoot
Glacier, the largest in the Park, and a little later he wrote an
article concerning it. In an article entitled "The Crown of the
Continent" he gave a good account of the region.
James Willard Schultz lived for years with the Blackfeet Indians and
spent a number of years with them in this territory. He says that Hugh
Monroe was the first white man to see the Glacier National Park
region. This was in 1815. Grinnell states that James Doty visited it
in 1853. The same year, apparently, A. W. Tinkham, a government
engineer, crossed through Cut Bank Pass. The American and British
boundary-line survey commissioners visited the region in 1861.
I had a few weeks in the region in the autumn of 1896. For most other
National Parks I have recommended enlargements, feeling that some
adjacent and important scenic territory had been left outside the Park
lines. But with the vast Glacier National Park no additions appear to
be needed.