User:C12schulz

History of the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness
The Gates of the Rocky Mountains were named by Lewis and Clark. Captain Lewis wrote on July 19, 1805, “this evening we entered much the most remarkable clifts that we have yet seen. these clifts rise from the waters edge on either side perpendicularly to the hight of 1200 feet. ... the river appears to have forced its way through this immense body of solid rock for the distance of 5-3/4 Miles ... I called it the gates of the rocky mountains."

Lewis and Clark:
A military expedition in July 1804 led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark was instructed by President Thomas Jefferson, to travel through and map an area purchased from France, the Louisiana Purchase. While on the expedition, the group came upon the Gates of the Mountains in what is now Montana. “In 1800, the Rocky Mountain region of North America was a land whose vast expanse and physical geography were known only to the Native American peoples inhabiting the area ."

Exploration and Discovery:
The expedition traveled through the gates and camped within the five and a half mile long canyon from July 17 to July 21 of 1805. The start of exploration into the gates was started by none other than Nicholas Biddle. Biddle, with Isaac Stevens, explored the area on a railroad survey expedition during the 1860’s (Gates, Discovering). Starting near a decade later, through the 1870’s and 1880’s, there was mining for gold and sapphires at the opening of the gates in Last Chance Gulch.

Tour Business:
In 1886, a man named Nicholas Hilger ordered a steamboat from Iowa to be shipped to Montana for sightseeing along the Missouri River. Hilger was a well known, respected Judge, Justice of the Peace, and a rancher. The ship arrived in May of 1887 and was named “Rose of Helena.” Rose of Helena carried people for the next 19 years from Hilger’s ranch near the Gates of the Mountains to Great Falls on a 40 hour ride. Hilger’s son continued the boating business to tours of the Gates of the Mountains which is still owned by his family today. The tours today are only two hours long leading from the base of the gates on the Missouri River through to Holter Lake.

Holter Dam:
The touring business slowed in 1918 when a man named Anton M. Holter, built the Holter Dam after receiving Congressional authorization. Holter Dam changed the Missouri River by causing the water to rise near 30 feet causing harsh erosion on the walls. Holter was a business man, Republican state senator, and mayor of Helena. He established many businesses within his life. Holter’s business’s included mining companies, lumber production, wholesale, and retail, railroads, and hydroelectric developments. Overall, 46 companies were founded by Holter ranging as from the Montana territory as Idaho and British Columbia .Holter would be sure to be mentioned to one taking part in a tour of the Gates of the Mountains.

Mann Gulch Fire:
An individual taking the tour today would be sure to hear about the Mann Gulch forest fire. In August of 1949, Mann Gulch forest fire spread through to the gates burning anything within its path without delay. The fire burned uncontrolled for five days burning 4,500 acres. The fire gained its unfortunate fame by chasing sixteen firefighters into the Gates of the Mountains and only three survived.

Government Management:
Not long after Mann Gulch fire, Congress passed the Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act of 1964 placed the Gates of the Mountains into the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness with 28,562 acres of wilderness land under federal protection. Near the Gates of the Mountains, is Beartooth Wildlife Management Area, also known as WMA. The WMA was a non-huntable home to elk, deer, bighorn sheep, with many other animals. WMA was acquired by Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, or MT FWP, in 1970. Since the area was purchased by MT FW&P, it can be hunted, fished, or accessed for camping, hiking and wildlife viewing from May 15 through November 30.