Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
These new mountains were eventually buried under ice and water during several ice
ages—the last one starting roughly 20,000 years ago—that carved out many of the details
of today's landscape. The remnants of these glaciers can still be seen throughout the high
country of Montana and Wyoming, particularly in Glacier National Park, Grand Teton Na-
tional Park, and the Wind River Mountains.
Prehistoric Residents
Dinosaurs played an important role in the region's early history. Some of the most recent
and important fossil discoveries have been made here, including the largest known skull of
a
Tyrannosaurus rex.
Well-known paleontologist Jack Horner—consultant on the popular
Jurassic Park
movies—resides at Bozeman's Museum of the Rockies, where an excellent
exhibit highlights Montana's prominent role in dinosaur discovery.
Because of the region's geologic history, it has made a perfect laboratory for finding
fossils from the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods. As the dinosaurs were dying off, the form-
ation of the mountains caused sediment to slough off the rising peaks to form a layer over
their remains. Receding glaciers then scoured the land and removed many of the layers,
leaving behind fossils that can be found at or near the surface. And since much of the region
remains undeveloped, most fossils have been undisturbed by humans.
The first humans most likely appeared 10,000-30,000 years ago, when Asiatic people
came to North America across the Bering Strait land bridge. These people traveled south
from Alaska to the Great North Trail, which ran along the eastern slopes of the Rockies.
Some wandered all the way to South America. Those who stayed in the north hunted big
game, including the extinct mammoth, and used tools made of chipped stone. They lived
on the plains and foothills until a climatic change around 5000 BC turned the plains into a
desert, and the people and animals all but disappeared.
As the climate slowly became more moderate, people returned from the south and north-
west, bringing with them new techniques and cultural ideals. Buffalo roamed the land,
providing a much-needed food source. These last prehistoric migrants are thought to be the
direct ancestors of today's Native Americans. Evidence of their culture can be found in the
tipi rings, pictographs (rock paintings), and petroglyphs (rock carvings) that still adorn the
landscape. Buffalo jumps (also called
pishkuns
) were used during this period; entire herds
were stampeded off rocky cliffs and then slaughtered for their meat and hides. Two of the
most remarkable buffalo jumps can be seen at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park near
Great Falls and Madison Buffalo Jump State Park outside Three Forks.
