Chief Mountain: Glacier's Sacred Peak
Chief Mountain (or in Blackfoot, Ninaistako) is a peak on the border of the Blackfoot Reservation and Glacier National Park. Due to its height and the lay of the surrounding land, it is visible from both Montana and Alberta.
The peak has been sacred to Native-Americans for centuries. The first white men to see it were almost certainly French or Spanish fur trappers in the late 18th century.
White people first ascended the peak in 1892 when a team (including a Blackfoot man) assembled by Henry Stimson managed to make the peak. But when they reached the peak they found many offerings previously left by Natives, including bison skulls. Since then it has remained an irresistible challenge for mountain climbers, and was not scaled again until 1951.
Native-American legends say that a "Great White God" would appear on the mountain at the end of time, heralding the apocalypse. When the god leaves the mountain, they say, it will crumble into dust.
The easiest access to the peak comes from the eastern side, though some have scaled the western as well. For more information, go to the visitor's centers at St. Mary or at Many Glacier (when they're open!)
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