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Coordinates: 48°12.5′N 109°31.05′W / 48.2083°N 109.51750°W / 48.2083; -109.51750
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{{short description|Mountain range in Montana, United States}}
{{Infobox mountain range
{{Infobox mountain
| name=Bears Paw Mountains
| name=Bears Paw Mountains
| photo=Bearpaws.jp.jpg
| photo=Bearpaws.jp.jpg
| photo_caption=Bears Paw Mountains as seen from near Virgelle, Montana
| photo_caption=Bears Paw Mountains as seen from near Virgelle, Montana
⚫
| highest=Baldy Mountain
⚫
| elevation_ft=6916
| elevation_ref=<ref name=gnis_baldy/>
| country=United States
| country=United States
| state=Montana
| state=Montana
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| length_mi=| length_orientation=
| length_mi=| length_orientation=
| width_mi= | width_orientation=
| width_mi= | width_orientation=
⚫
| range_coordinates = {{coord|48|12.5|N|109|31.05|W|type:mountain_scale:300000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
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| highest=Baldy Mountain
⚫
| coordinates =
⚫
| elevation_ft=6916
⚫
|range_coordinates = {{coord|48|12.5|N|109|31.05|W|type:mountain_scale:300000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
⚫
|coordinates =
| map_image=Little Belts.PNG
| map_image=Little Belts.PNG
| map_caption=
| map_caption=
}}
}}


The '''Bears Paw Mountains''' ('''Bear Paw Mountains''', '''Bear's Paw Mountains''' or '''Bearpaw Mountains''')<ref>[http://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=136:3:0::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:767915,Bears%20Paw%20Mountains U.S. Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)]</ref> are an insular-montane [[island range]] in North-Central [[Montana]], [[United States|USA]], located approximately 10 miles south of [[Havre, Montana]]. Baldy Mountain, which rises 6,916 feet (2,108 meters) above [[sea level]], is the highest peak in the range.
The '''Bears Paw Mountains''' ('''Bear Paw Mountains''', '''Bear's Paw Mountains''' or '''Bearpaw Mountains''')<ref name=gnis/> are an insular-montane [[island range]] in the [[Central Montana Alkalic Province]] in north-central [[Montana]], [[United States]], located approximately 10 miles south of [[Havre, Montana]]. Baldy Mountain, which rises {{convert|6916|ft|m|0}} above [[sea level]], is the highest peak in the range. The Bears Paw Mountains extend in a 45-mile arc between the [[Missouri River]] and [[Rocky Boy Indian Reservation]] south of Havre.


==Name==
The Bears Paw Mountains extend in a 45-mile arc between the [[Missouri River]] and [[Rocky Boy Indian Reservation]] south of Havre.
⚫
[[File:Eagle Butte, Bearpaw Mountains.jpg|thumb|left|McCann Butte in the Bearpaws, view to the west across glacial moraine. 1920 USGS photograph.]]
⚫
Locals refer to the range as the Bearpaws.<ref>[http://mtplacenames.org/ Montana Place Names Companion Website] Aarstad, Rich, Ellie Arguimbau, Ellen Baumler, Charlene Porsild, and Brian Shovers. Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman. Montana Historical Society Press</ref> Indigenous names include {{lang-asb|Waną́be|lit=bear paws}},<ref>{{Cite web | title = AISRI Dictionary Database Search--prototype version. Assiniboine. "Montana" | accessdate = 2012-05-26 | url = http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/cgi-bin/testengltoxsrchNP.pl?host=zia&pass=&hasfont=0&srchlang=English&srchstring=mountain&database=assin&srchtype=AND&sortlang=English&sndformat=ra&maxhits=200&find=Run_Search
}}</ref> {{lang-cro|Daxpitcheeischikáate|lit=bear's little hand}},<ref name=lbhc/> and {{lang-ats|ʔɔɔwɔ́hʔoouh|lit=there are many buttes}}.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Cowell, A.|author2=Taylor, A.|author3=Brockie, T.|title=Gros Ventre ethnogeography and place names: A diachronic perspective|journal=Anthropological Linguistics|volume=58|number=2|pages=132–170|doi=10.1353/anl.2016.0025}}</ref>


While highway signs designate the range as the Bears Paw Mountains, historically, the names Bearpaw Mountains and Bear Paw Mountains also have been used, including on early state maps of the region. The U.S. Geological Survey continues to use Bearpaw Mountains on publications..
While highway signs designate the range as the Bears Paw Mountains, historically, the names Bearpaw Mountains and Bear Paw Mountains also have been used, including on early state maps of the region. The U.S. Geological Survey continues to use Bearpaw Mountains on publications.


==Geology==
==Geology==
⚫
[[File:Eagle Butte, Bearpaw Mountains.jpg|thumb|left|McCann Butte in the Bearpaws, view to the west across glacial moraine. 1920 USGS photograph.]]
[[File:Bearpaw Mtns.jpg|thumb|left|Bearpaw Mountains. View south near Clear Creek, Blaine County, Montana. July 31, 1920.]]
[[File:Bearpaw Mtns.jpg|thumb|left|Bearpaw Mountains. View south near Clear Creek, Blaine County, Montana. July 31, 1920.]]
⚫
The [[Cretaceous]] [[Bearpaw Formation]] outcrops in these mountains, and is named for the range.


The core of the Bearpaws are composed of extensive [[Eocene]] aged igneous intrusions left over from one of the largest eruptive centers in the Central Montana Alkaline Province. Shonkinite, latite, & tinguatite are among the most common igneous rock compositions found in the Bearpaws.
⚫
==Native American legend==
⚫
Native oral history ties the name to a lone hunter in search of deer to feed his clan. He killed a deer but, while returning to the prairie, encountered a bear. The bear held the hunter to the ground, and the hunter appealed to the Great Spirit to release him. The Great Spirit filled the heavens with lightning and thunder, striking the bear dead and severing its paw to release the hunter. Looking at Box Elder Butte, one can see the paw, and Centennial Mountain to the south resembles a reclining bear.<ref name=MDT>[http://mathscience.mt.gov/files/RoadSignPDF/IslandOnPlains.pdf ''An Island on the Plains: the Bears Paw Mountains'' Montana Department of Transportation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620193848/http://mathscience.mt.gov/files/RoadSignPDF/IslandOnPlains.pdf |date=June 20, 2010 }}</ref>


⚫
The [[Cretaceous]] [[Bearpaw Formation]] outcrops in these mountains, and is named for the range.
⚫
Locals refer to the range as the Bearpaws<ref>[http://mtplacenames.org/ Montana Place Names Companion Website] Aarstad, Rich, Ellie Arguimbau, Ellen Baumler, Charlene Porsild, and Brian Shovers. Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman. Montana Historical Society Press</ref> ([[Assiniboine language|Assiniboine]]: ''Waną́be'';<ref>{{Cite web
| title = AISRI Dictionary Database Search--prototype version. Assiniboine. "Montana"
| accessdate = 2012-05-26
| url = http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/cgi-bin/testengltoxsrchNP.pl?host=zia&pass=&hasfont=0&srchlang=English&srchstring=mountain&database=assin&srchtype=AND&sortlang=English&sndformat=ra&maxhits=200&find=Run_Search
}}</ref> [[Crow language|Apsáalooke]]: ''Daxpitcheeischikáate'', "Bear's little hand"<ref>{{Cite web
⚫
|title=Little Big Horn College Library
|accessdate=2012-06-05
|url=http://lib.lbhc.edu/placenames.php?q=bearpaw&d=&s=Montana&submit=Go
}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>).


==History==
[[Chief Joseph]] of the [[Nez Perce people|Nez Perce]] surrendered to Col. [[Nelson Miles]] in the foothills of the Bear's Paw Mountains in October 1877 after the [[Battle of Bear Paw]].
[[Chief Joseph]] of the [[Nez Perce people|Nez Perce]] surrendered to Col. [[Nelson Miles]] in the foothills of the Bear's Paw Mountains in October 1877 after the [[Battle of Bear Paw]].<ref name=greene13/>

⚫
==Native American legend==
⚫
Native oral history ties the name to a lone hunter in search of deer to feed his clan. He killed a deer but, while returning to the prairie, encountered a bear. The bear held the hunter to the ground, and the hunter appealed to the Great Spirit to release him. The Great Spirit filled the heavens with lightning and thunder, striking the bear dead and severing its paw to release the hunter. Looking at Box Elder Butte, one can see the paw, and Centennial Mountain to the south resembles a reclining bear.<ref name=MDT/>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 47: Line 45:


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=gnis>{{cite gnis|id=767915|name=Bears Paw Mountains|accessdate=2019-05-17}}</ref>
<ref name=gnis_baldy>{{cite gnis|id=798958|name=Baldy Mountain|accessdate=2019-05-17}}</ref>
<ref name=greene13>
{{cite book|last=Greene |first=Jerome A. |title=Nez Perce Summer 1877: The U.S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poo Crisis
| publisher=Montana Historical Society Press|location=Helena, MT|chapter=13 |year=2000
| url=http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/biho/greene/chap13a.htm|isbn=0-917298-68-3}}</ref>
<ref name=lbhc>
{{cite web | url= http://lib.lbhc.edu/index.php?q=node/200&amp;a=D | accessdate=2019-05-17
⚫
| title = Apsáalooke Place Names Database |publisher=Little Big Horn College Library }}</ref>
<ref name=MDT>
{{cite web | url = http://mathscience.mt.gov/files/RoadSignPDF/IslandOnPlains.pdf | url-status = dead
| title = An Island on the Plains: the Bears Paw Mountains | publisher = Montana Department of Transportation
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100620193848/http://mathscience.mt.gov/files/RoadSignPDF/IslandOnPlains.pdf
| archive-date=June 20, 2010 }}</ref>
}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://mhs.mt.gov.html Montana Historical Society]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://mhs.mt.gov/ Montana Historical Society]
* {{commons category-inline|Bears Paw mountains}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Bears Paw mountains}}


{{Montana|collapsed_state=collapsed}}
{{Montana||collapse_state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Mountain ranges of Montana]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Montana]]
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[[Category:Landforms of Hill County, Montana]]
[[Category:Landforms of Hill County, Montana]]
[[Category:Landforms of Blaine County, Montana]]
[[Category:Landforms of Blaine County, Montana]]
[[Category:Volcanism of Montana]]
[[Category:Eocene volcanoes]]

Latest revision as of 06:34, 24 August 2024

Bears Paw Mountains
Bears Paw Mountains as seen from near Virgelle, Montana
Highest point
PeakBaldy Mountain
Elevation6,916 ft (2,108 m)[1]
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateMontana
Range coordinates48°12.5′N 109°31.05′W / 48.2083°N 109.51750°W / 48.2083; -109.51750
Geology
Age of rockLate Cretaceous

The Bears Paw Mountains (Bear Paw Mountains, Bear's Paw Mountains or Bearpaw Mountains)[2] are an insular-montane island range in the Central Montana Alkalic Province in north-central Montana, United States, located approximately 10 miles south of Havre, Montana. Baldy Mountain, which rises 6,916 feet (2,108 m) above sea level, is the highest peak in the range. The Bears Paw Mountains extend in a 45-mile arc between the Missouri River and Rocky Boy Indian Reservation south of Havre.

Name

[edit]
McCann Butte in the Bearpaws, view to the west across glacial moraine. 1920 USGS photograph.

Locals refer to the range as the Bearpaws.[3] Indigenous names include Assiniboine: Waną́be, lit. 'bear paws',[4] Crow: Daxpitcheeischikáate, lit. 'bear's little hand',[5] and Gros Ventre: ʔɔɔwɔ́hʔoouh, lit. 'there are many buttes'.[6]

While highway signs designate the range as the Bears Paw Mountains, historically, the names Bearpaw Mountains and Bear Paw Mountains also have been used, including on early state maps of the region. The U.S. Geological Survey continues to use Bearpaw Mountains on publications.

Geology

[edit]
Bearpaw Mountains. View south near Clear Creek, Blaine County, Montana. July 31, 1920.

The core of the Bearpaws are composed of extensive Eocene aged igneous intrusions left over from one of the largest eruptive centers in the Central Montana Alkaline Province. Shonkinite, latite, & tinguatite are among the most common igneous rock compositions found in the Bearpaws.

The Cretaceous Bearpaw Formation outcrops in these mountains, and is named for the range.

History

[edit]

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce surrendered to Col. Nelson Miles in the foothills of the Bear's Paw Mountains in October 1877 after the Battle of Bear Paw.[7]

Native American legend

[edit]

Native oral history ties the name to a lone hunter in search of deer to feed his clan. He killed a deer but, while returning to the prairie, encountered a bear. The bear held the hunter to the ground, and the hunter appealed to the Great Spirit to release him. The Great Spirit filled the heavens with lightning and thunder, striking the bear dead and severing its paw to release the hunter. Looking at Box Elder Butte, one can see the paw, and Centennial Mountain to the south resembles a reclining bear.[8]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Baldy Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  2. ^ "Bears Paw Mountains". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  3. ^ Montana Place Names Companion Website Aarstad, Rich, Ellie Arguimbau, Ellen Baumler, Charlene Porsild, and Brian Shovers. Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman. Montana Historical Society Press
  4. ^ "AISRI Dictionary Database Search--prototype version. Assiniboine. "Montana"". Retrieved 2012-05-26.
  5. ^ "Apsáalooke Place Names Database". Little Big Horn College Library. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  6. ^ Cowell, A.; Taylor, A.; Brockie, T. "Gros Ventre ethnogeography and place names: A diachronic perspective". Anthropological Linguistics. 58 (2): 132–170. doi:10.1353/anl.2016.0025.
  7. ^ Greene, Jerome A. (2000). "13". Nez Perce Summer 1877: The U.S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poo Crisis. Helena, MT: Montana Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-917298-68-3.
  8. ^ "An Island on the Plains: the Bears Paw Mountains" (PDF). Montana Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2010.
[edit]
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