“Land of Many Stories” celebrates Glacier Park’s legacy

Published: November 2, 2009

Image of Glacier's peaks, looking south from Piegan Pass was taken by Fred H. Kiser.
(From the Montana Historical Society Research Center Photography Archives)

The Montana Historical Society Museum’s new “Land of Many Stories: The People and History of Glacier National Park” is designed so that visitors actually have the experience of finding their way through it, as though they were on a hike. It isn’t exactly a maze, but the designers joked that they were going to test it by having mice find their way through it.

Livingston author Tim Cahill, a founder of Outside magazine, gives opening remarks during the reception, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Capitol Rotunda. The exhibit continues through Feb. 26, 2011.

The park will be celebrating its centennial in 2010, and the exhibit honors the role it has played in the history of the state with historic photos from the society collection, artwork and artifacts.

“Land of Many Stories” also highlights the important people in the park’s history, including George Bird Grinnell, who first came to the area in 1885. “No words can describe the grandeur and majesty of these mountains, and even photographs seem hopelessly to dwarf and belittle the most impressive peaks … the region is a wonderful attraction for the lover of nature,” Bird wrote.

Others not so famous, like Elizabeth Collins (called the “Cattle Queen of Montana”), are also featured. Collins mined with meager luck for three years along a creek in the park now named in her honor.

The exhibit takes museum-goers from the days when Native Americans honored and used the land now known as Glacier, all the way up to modern times as it explores the pressures on America’s last wild areas and looks at issues such as bear management, forest fires, the environment and how people have used the park over the years.

For more information, call 406-444-2694 or visit www.his.state.mt.us.