Chief of the Mountains is grim, rugged, and majestic. Indeed, these are very good reasons for the Blackfeet Indians to have named the awesome peak, Chief Mountain. It is located in Montana, in the northeastern corner of Glacier National Park.
Chief Mountain (also called Old Chief Mountain) is located in the U.S. state of Montana on the eastern border of Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The mountain is one of the most prominent peaks and rock formations along the Rocky Mountain Front, a 200 mi (320 km) long overthrust fault, known as the Lewis Overthrust, which extends from central Montana into southern Alberta, Canada.
Chief Mountain has been a sacred mountain to Native American tribes for hundreds of years. The Blackfoot name for the mountain is Ninastiko.
The mountain was seen by white explorers in the late 18th century and was known as "Kings Peak" on maps produced in the United Kingdom in 1795.
Meriwether Lewis, coleader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, saw the mountain in 1805 and called it "Tower Mountain".
The name was changed in the late 19th century in reflection of Blackfeet naming of the mountain which was "Great Chief".
When Glacier National Park was created in 1910, the summit and most prominent eastern slopes of the mountain were located within the park, leaving only the lower slopes within Blackfeet jurisdiction
Chief Mountain on the right
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