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1938 Map of Chief Mountain

Name: 1938 Topographic Map of Chief Mountain
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

Glacier National Park and the adjacent Blackfeet Indian Reservation are shown here as they appeared in the late 1930s, documenting a landscape defined by its ice fields and early tourist infrastructure. The engineering of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway is a central feature, winding past Heavens Pk and the Sperry Glacier. This era of the park’s history is preserved through the locations of backcountry outposts like Goat Haunt Camp, Kellys Camp, and the high-altitude Sperry Chalet.

Around Lake McDonald, the settlement at Apgar and the trailhead at West Glacier mark the primary gateways for visitors. To the east, the Blackfeet Highway skirts the reservation boundary near Rising Sun, providing a record of the transition between protected parklands and tribal territory. The map serves as a vital record of massive ice bodies like the Blackfoot Glacier and Pumpelly Glacier before decades of retreat.