The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-05-03
Account of Scientific Expedition
Through the FIathead Region.
NAMING MONTANA MOUNTAINS
The Peaks in One Range Named
After New York PhiIanthropists by
These Fresh Students, But They
Had No Names for the Unknown
Flora.

AS result Vi inc joint eApGulClOlIo
of the New York botanical garden
and the United States geological sur
vey, several new mountains have
been determined in Montana and
named after New York men, says a
writer in a recent issue of Harpers
Weekly in an article entitled Nam
ing Mountains in Montana" The &C
count may prove of interest, as the
explorations of the party were known
to some Kalispell people, and the
party was under escort of we'll
known guide of this section. We eX-
cept, however, to the sighting man.
ner in which our state university at
Missoula is referred to. These New
Workers don't know a city when they
hear of one or the writer would not
have referred to the summer camp
of Missoula as a biological station
of the university in a small town."
Wouldn't that rasp you?
The explorations covered the most
unknown regions of the Flathead In
dian reservation, which includes the
Kootenai mountain range. The larg-
est and highest mountain, of $500
feet altitude, has been named Dodge
mountain, after William e. Dodge,
of New York, the millionaire philan-
thropist, who pail the expenses of
the botanical expedition. Another
mountain was named after Professor
Daniel T. MacDougal (MacDougal's
peak, director of laboratory at the
garden, and conductor OF the eXpedi-
ton. Of 900 plants secured, it is pre-
sumed that most of them will be de-
termined as new or little known to
science. Although the snow in July
lay from 10 to 40 feet deep on the
KoOtenai range, the flora was found
to be a mixture, terminating the
northern limit of plants of the states
and southern limit of arctic-alpine
forms. The region will require fur
ther exploration, as it is rich in new
forms in every branch of natural
science
The explorations were a combined
effort on the part of the university
of Montana, the botanical garden and
the geological survey. The univer-
sity sent a biological expedition in
charge of Professor M. j. Elrod. A
section of the United States geologi-
cal survey continued its routine work,
which happened to be outlined for
the same vicinity, and confined it's
efforts to the geology and topography
of the region. The main work and
the most important results naturally
fell to the expedition of the New
York botanical garden, as a new re-
gion always presents more that is
unknown to botany than to any other
branch of science. AS the whole col
lection of the university of Montana
amounting to several thousand Mon
tana plants, were unidentified, they
were turned over to the New York
botanical garden people and are now
in the Bronx Park museum, which
will retain the duplicates and SEND
the type specimens labelled to the
university. The botanical people
gave two months to severe eXplora
ton. The main outfit was conveyed
by wagon to the foothills, and fiyinE
trips were made from the camp tt
various localities. The route la.
northward from Missoula along thu
shores of Flathead lake and the foot
hills of Mission and Kootenai noun
tains. In the mountains, terrifl
depths of snow were encountered
through which, in barer spots peepe
many interesting alpine flowers an
plants. Pulsatilla occidentalis thrus
its flowers and buds through the ma
gins of the deep snow drifts, form
ing remarkable spectacles. The sun
NIT of Sin-yale-a-min peak, even
$500 feet altitude, was entirely snow
bound, under an average depth {
25 feet. At Mcdonald lake it snowe
and rained alternately during Jul
and August. At Big Fork, at tn
mouth of Swan river, on Flathea
lake, a providential shelter was foun
in the form of a summer biologic;
station of the university, in a sma
town. The frame building afforde
materials for the preparation of sp
cimens, fixing and hardening form
for morphological study, and faciliti'
for photography, dissecting and n
croscopy. Here were two lar.
steamers. row and sail boats, and
naptha launch, by means of whiC
the lake and it's tributaries were e
plored. On the borders of pleasa
little bay were encamped ninetet
students, of both sexes, of the CT
cago university under DR.. H.
Cowes. They were studying "phy
ographical geology bel
strictly barred. Accents were ma
of all the principal peaks of the Kc
tenai. Red snow, a peculiar and "a
phenomenon, was encountered
Rost and Echo lakes and Sillow
peak. The mineral value of the mou
tains discovered is now being studi