Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 63, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1912 — Uncle Sam Opens Another National Playground [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Uncle Sam Opens Another National Playground

THREE years ago congress passed a law setting aside a tract of 1,575 square miles in northwestern Montana of the wildest country on this continent to be kept as a national park and playground and game preserve. The park has now just been opened for the season, and it will remain open for visitors until October 15. For eight months of the year it is practically inaccessible, as 1 snow blocks the mountain passes. There are as yet but few roads, and tourists have to do most of their traveling on horseback over rude trails. Glacier National park Is so named from the fact that within its borders there are upwards of sixty living glaciers. These glaciers feed numer-

ou streams which go plunging through gorges of the wildest grandeur. There are nearly 300 lakes, the largest of which is Lake McDonald, covering over ten square miles and being over 3,000 feet above sea level. Mount Cleveland is the highest mountain — 10,435 feet —but there are scores of other peaks of huge size, many of which are very grotesque in shape. One of the most curious is a great cliff which has been dubbed “Hpaven’s Fold.” Here the strata of rock formation have been doubled and crushed in a very striking way, and the height from the valley is over 200 feet. White goats are numerous in the region. They have worn trails around cliffs which rise vertically from the valleys, and they tread these precarious paths with apparently no idea of fear. Travelers who like to try their mountain-climbing abilities will have plenty of work before them here. It will take years to explore the whole region, and every party that goes through reports Interesting new discoveries.