I first visited this big beautiful state way back in 1977, and I have returned whenever I re-visit the USA.
The pioneers and early-day Indians would still recognize Montana. The land is largely unchanged by modern civilization. Many people travel to Montana to discover the state's scenery, wildlife, and romantic history. Others seek to experience adventure and excitement.

Although summer, with its warm weather and up to 15 hours of daylight, in Montana's most popular tourist season, the state has something to offer year-round : breathtaking wild flower displays and frolicsome newborn calves and colts in spring ; the rich harvest of autumn set against a flaming backdrop of gold and scarlet foliage ; skiing, sleigh-riding, dog-sledding and snowmobiling in winter on un-crowded trails where wildlife is part of the passing scene.

Montana is home to two national parks : World-famous Yellowstone reaches into southern Montana and three of its five entrances are here, I have used two of the Yellowstone Park entrances and stayed overnight at Gardiner, MT and West Yellowstone, MT.. The Crown Jewel of the Continent, Glacier National Park, is also here, and wow what a beautiful place, I have been into Glacier National Park about three times and the scenery is breathtaking, the title a reflection of the parks sensational mountain scenery.

In between the two national parks, Montana's guests enjoy a variety of activities. The states pre-history, when it was home to dinosaurs, can be relived at many museums which now house those extinct mammoths bones. Ghost towns, history museums, and wagon train vacation take visitors back to the days of the Old West. If you want to look like you fit right in, this is the place to purchase authentic cowboy hats, boots and other western wear along with Indian bead work, clothing and artwork.

Twelve Indian tribes call Montana home and they invite you to join their cultural celebrations (pow-wows). Montana's clear streams, rivers and lakes offer world-class fishing and recreation. Become a cowboy for a day or longer at one of Montana's many guest ranches, some of which offer visitors the chance to participate in calving, cattle drives and farming activities. Prices range from $400 to over $1,000 per week.

This is a seasonal option from June to October. Year-round access follows the Parks southern boundary over Marias Pass. This route offers access to a natural mineral lick right alongside the highway. Mountain goats frequent the area and an interpretive site offers information of this fascinating animal. Whichever route you choose, Glacier National Park is a destination for the soul, one you will want to return to time and time again, as I have in the past, I have been into Glacier National Park three times and it still knocks me out with its beauty.

Glacier National Park, the fourth largest National Park in the U.S. in the lower 48 states, is famous for its majestic alpine scenery, snow-crested peaks, gleaming lakes, sparkling waterfalls, and rich, green forests. It is an unspoiled scenic paradise, nestled within the Rocky Mountains of Montana in the United States. Nicknamed "The Crown Jewel of the Continent" Glacier National Park is comprised of 1.4 million acres of breathtaking beauty and is one of the oldest scenic wonders in the United States. Glacier gets its name from the huge ice age glaciers that carved its rugged scenery. More than half a mile deep, these glaciers covered all but the highest peaks.

Entrance To Glacier Nat Park.

We have traveled between Canada and the USA through Glacier National Park and the adjoining Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta, Canada, and this park is a wilderness of alpine meadows carpeted by yellow columbine and pink harebell, and icy fortresses that for centuries were the hunting ground of ancient Indian tribes. Glacier boasts a thousand miles of trout streams, more than two hundred sparkling lakes, myriad of wild flowers and fifty living glaciers. Wildlife includes deer, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bears (to name a few) in their natural habitat. An adventurer's dream, this inspiring back country has more than seven hundred miles of horse and foot trails to satisfy even the most avid hikers and explorers.

The famous Going-To-The-Sun Road, carved out of solid rock and completed in 1932, is approximately fifty miles long, bisecting the Park east and west. This breathtaking trip to the top of the Continental Divide is one of the most scenic in the world. Back in 1992 when we where at Logan's Pass visitors center I was having a walk around and I saw a mountain goat about 100 yards away from me, so I tried for a photograph, and as I was just getting it into focus it ran away very fast and what did come into focus of my camera was a grizzly bear, a park ranger who was standing near by told me to move back up to the visitor center, what he did was get a rifle with an explosive charge in it, he fired this close to the bear and after it hit the ground there was a loud bang, thus causing the bear to change direction, he did this a couple of times to control where he wanted the bear to go. But as human nature is, when everyone at the visitors center got to know there was a bear out there, instead of staying in a safe area they ran out side to get a better look, the park rangers where not very happy. I don't think people realize at times that these are real wild animals that roam these magnificent parks, not some kind of cartoon animals.

Glacier National Park, located in the northwest corner of Montana in the United States, is adjacent to Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta, Canada. Whether approaching from the Great Plains to the east or the rolling mountains to the west, the parks' peaks state their individuality on first sight. Here, nature's land-shaping forces of ice, water and wind produced more than a million acres of geological drama.

Words cannot describe the splendor of Glacier National Park, known as the "Switzerland of North America". This feeling is enhanced by the historic, Swiss style lodges and chalets located throughout the Park. There are over a thousand miles of hiking trails with views of glaciers, brilliant wild flowers, snowcapped peaks, and clear mountain streams. Varied wildlife inhabit the Park including bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and both black and grizzly bears.

Why did the U.S. government need to go to such extreme measures in forcing the American Indians onto reservations? Essentially, the U.S. government saw the American Indians as a road block to the settling of the West. Thus, the white man's defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn was seen as a sign of weakness. The dream of manifest destiny would now take longer to achieve. In the article, "General George A. Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn" ( 2 ), it states of the U.S. Army's defeat, "it represented a denial of the entire premise of Manifest Destiny. The Northern Plains tribes were challenging the entire religious basis for the settlement of the west." This hunger for Manifest Destiny was so strong that the U.S. government intentionally destroyed the Sioux Indians' entire way of life in order to achieve its dream.

What happened to the Sioux after the battle? Although the Indians won the Battle of the Little Bighorn, it was not a major event in Sioux history. Knowing that there would be severe punishment for their victory, the Indians immediately split up and traveled on so that the U.S. Cavalry would have a difficult time trying to find them. Eventually, they would be forced to live on reservations as their land went into the hands of the U.S. government.