In the US state of Montana is Glacier National Park, which receives over 1.8 million visitors annually. With its impressive area of 4,100 km², the Glacier National Park is also one of the largest national parks in America in terms of area. It was founded on May 11, 1910 and has been delighting visitors ever since. See a2zdirectory for tourist attractions in Montana.
History of Glacier National Park
Like many areas of today’s America’s National Park, the area of Glacier National Park was formerly settled by Indians. During excavations, scientists have found evidence of very early colonization. Some of the pieces found could be dated to an age of 8,000 to 10,500 years. The projectile tips found on the Belly River in Glacier National Park are particularly old. These projectile points come from the Clovis culture and are thought to be around 10,500 years old.
At that time the temperatures were still icy, because the Clovis people lived at the end of the last ice age. The Clovis were hunter-gatherers, as was customary at the time, and used the tips to hunt the late Ice Age megafauna, which found plenty of food in what is now Glacier National Park. Around 9,900 years before our time, rapid climate change caused the mountains in what is now the Glacier National Park to become ice-free and the glaciers to begin to thaw. This is how the people of the Lake Linnet culture, who lived here at that time, found the rock argilite. They used it to make stone tools. Just 600 years later, the climate changed again. It was getting drier. As a result, some prairies were created. This is how the bison came into the valley and lived at the foot of the mountains of Glacier National Park.
The following generations also devoted themselves to fishing. Especially in autumn you can find plenty of salmon and trout in the area, which migrate to the upper reaches of the rivers.
Over time, more and more different groups came to the area. There were also cultural differences between the individual ethnic groups.
Finally, in the 16th century, the first Europeans brought horses to Glacier National Park. Spaniards populated the northern areas of the park until the 18th century.
Location of the park and its flora and fauna
Glacier National Park is located in the high mountains of the Rocky Mountains. Accordingly, the typical animals and plants are also represented in this region. Since the park runs across borders and thus Canada and the United States are united, it is also a very special, symbolic park around the world. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In addition to salmon and trout, which cavort with other fish in over 750 lakes, you will mainly find game such as elk and elk. Many fossils of snails, mussels and other invertebrates were also found here. There are over 250 species of birds and more than 70 different species of mammals in the entire park area. A sighting of the grizzly bears should be particularly impressive, because they also live here in the park, but the number of animals is not entirely clear. There are ample opportunities to hide in the numerous forest areas.
