Little Chief Mountain () is located in the
Lewis Range
The Lewis Range is a mountain range located in the Rocky Mountains of northern Montana, United States and extreme southern Alberta, Canada. It was formed as a result of the Lewis Overthrust, a geologic thrust fault resulted in the overlying of ...
,
Glacier National Park in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
.
Going-to-the-Sun Road
Going-to-the-Sun Road is a scenic mountain road in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States, in Glacier National Park in Montana. The Sun Road, as it is sometimes abbreviated in National Park Service documents, is the only road that trave ...
, rising to the south of Saint Mary Lake
Saint Mary Lake is the second-largest lake in Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana.
Located on the east side of the park, Going-to-the-Sun Road parallels the lake along its north shore. At an elevation of , Saint Mary Lake's wate ...
. Little Chief Mountain was named in 1887 by George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell (September 20, 1849 – April 11, 1938) was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880 ...
for his friend, Frank North
Frank Joshua North (10 March 1840 – 15 March 1885), was an American interpreter, United States Army officer and politician. He is most well known for organizing and leading the Pawnee Scouts from 1865 to 1877. His brother Luther H. North also le ...
, U.S. Army.Through The Years In Glacier National Park An Administrative History, NPS.gov
/ref> "Little Chief" was his Pawnee name, given to him by his Pawnee Scouts
Pawnee Scouts were employed by the United States Army in the latter half of the 19th century. Like other groups of Indian scouts, Pawnee men were recruited in large numbers to aid in the ongoing conflicts between settlers and the Native Americans ...
.
Climate
Based on the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, Little Chief Mountain is located in a subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
zone characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers.
Geology
Like other mountains in Glacier National Park, Little Chief Mountain is composed of sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
laid down during the Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
to Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
periods. Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was initially uplifted beginning 170 million years ago when the Lewis Overthrust The Lewis Overthrust is a geologic thrust fault structure of the Rocky Mountains found within the bordering national parks of Glacier in Montana, United States and Waterton Lakes in Alberta, Canada. The structure was created due to the collision o ...
fault pushed an enormous slab of precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
rocks thick, wide and long over younger rock of the cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
period.
Gallery
File:Little Chief Mountain, ne.jpg, Northeast aspect of Little Chief Mountain.
(Mahtotopa Mountain to left).
File:Little Chief Mountain, northwest aspect.jpg, Little Chief, northwest aspect
File:Photograph of Little Chief Mountain, Blackfoot Mountain, and Citadel Mountain from Goat Mountain. - NARA - 282360.tif, Little Chief Mountain, Blackfoot Mountain, and Citadel Mountain, viewed from Goat Mountain
See also
*
* Geology of the Rocky Mountains
The geology of the Rocky Mountains is that of a discontinuous series of mountain ranges with distinct geological origins. Collectively these make up the Rocky Mountains, a mountain system that stretches from Northern British Columbia through cen ...
References
External links
* National Park Service web site
Glacier National Park
* Little Chief Mountain weather
Mountain Forecast
Little Chief Mountain
Mountains of Glacier National Park (U.S.)
Lewis Range
Mountains of Montana
{{GlacierCountyMT-geo-stub