Trapper Peak

Trapper Peak. . (Two panels make up this marker.) , At 10,157 feet in elevation, magnificent Trapper Peak rises higher than any other peak in the 200 mile-long Bitterroot Mountain Range that extends along the Idaho-Montana border from the Snake River Valley in Idaho to the Clark Fork River in Montana. The Range included howling wilderness, yawning canyons, and towering mountains covered with a heavy growth of pine and fir. Huge sheets of ice carved the granite mountain and left glacial landforms known as horns, cirques, moraines and aretes. These give the massive mountain its jagged form and distinctive profile. , , Historical Events . , Trapper Peak has witnessed human activity in the Bitterroot Valley for at least 8,000 years. Earliest Valley occupants were prehistoric hunters and gatherers. The Bitterroot Salish Native Americans thrived in the Valley until 1891, when they were moved to the Flathead Indian Reservation. In 1805, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed here; followed by traders, trappers, and missionaries. In an attempt to flee from the U.S. Army in 1877, the non-treaty Nez Perce Native Americans passed peacefully through the Valley on their way east. Mining, agriculture, and logging brought settlers -- and in 1876 the mountain was named by Granville Lee Shook, a surveyor for the Anaconda Mining Company, for its trapping success. Trapper Peak's tiimeless and sturdy form represents history; from the historic travelers of the past to the modern-day traveler of tomorrow.