Trails of the Past: Historical Overview of the Flathead National Forest, Montana, 1800-1960

Kathryn L. McKay was the project historian and principal investigator for the project. She holds an M. A. from the University of Delaware in American History, specializing in the History of Technology. She has extensive prior research experience in the project area through the following projects: National Register nominations for four historic districts and 50 individually eligible properties in Kalispell, Montana; three seasons working as an archaeological technician on the Flathead National Forest; teaching classes on the history of the North Fork of the Flathead for Glacier Institute and Elderhostel; and miscellaneous smaller research projects on Flathead Valley history.

The project historian conducted research at a wide variety of repositories. Sources consulted included books, articles, government documents, unpublished manuscripts, oral history tapes and transcripts, maps, and photographs. All sources used in the overview have been compiled into an annotated bibliography included with the overview. The repositories of sources that are relatively difficult to find are noted in the bibliography.

The project historian visited the following libraries and archives:

Forest Service

Libraries

Photograph Collections

Sources such as newspapers could not be researched in depth because of time constraints, although local newspapers were searched under specific dates in order to learn more about certain events. Some historic themes have not been covered much in the existing literature, so there is less material available on these subjects (for example, grazing and trapping on the Flathead National Forest, or strikes at Flathead Valley sawmills other than IWW-led strikes). This document is an overview; uneven treatment of the various subjects is likely to exist. This can be remedied by more intensive research at a later date.

No fieldwork was conducted for the overview. The author, however, is familiar with the historic sites on the Forest; this knowledge supplemented the written documentation available from reports, site files, and other research materials.

The research and writing of the overview were done by the project historian between October 1993 and June 1994. It took approximately 200 person-days to prepare the overview.