Get ready for some gorgeous untouched scenery created millenniums ago when the icy waters of Glacier Lake Missoula flowed out to the Pacific Ocean. The rushing water gouged deep valleys, scraped soil off craggy rocks, lifted volcanic rock to new heights, and created new rivers and deep lakes. The water left behind the Crown of the Continent and its outrageously beautiful Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Yet, in this age-old place, life thrived even before the ice age. Oral traditions coinciding with geological findings indicate that ancient cultures lived here more than 40,000 years ago. Europeans arrived in the late 1700s when the Hudson Bay Company surveyed the land. Lewis and Clark brought back details of lands rich in resources and ready for settlement. Mining expeditions arrived in the 1850s, followed by the Pacific Railway Expedition and the Royal Geographical Society Palliser Expedition in 1857. Soon, Jesuit missionaries arrived to build a series of missions, and the railroad brought settlers and visitors. Main Street in Kalispell was established in 1884 and for generations, large steamships served as the main transportation on Flathead Lake, until the road encircling the lake was completed. Flourishing small towns kept attracting people who kept coming, but the landscape was so rugged that the majestic scenic beauty, the beautiful snow-capped peaks, alpine lakes, lush forests and serene landscapes, did not change. And thank heavens they didn’t, leaving untouched the scenic beauty you can enjoy today!