Buffalo Cow Trail Adventure Map
by Catherine Haug
(Map image from The Globe and Mail (6))
The Buffalo Cow Trail near the British Columbia/Montana border is an ancient trail (at least 8000 years old) crossing the Rocky Mountains from the home territory of the Kootenai/Ktunaxa tribes near Eureka, to the eastern prairies that were home to the once-thriving buffalo herds. Of all the ancient trails traversing the continental divide, is was the most heavily used.(1) That is, until the great buffalo herds were decimated on the Great American Plains.
The path of the trail roughly follows what is now recognized as the border between Canada and the US, the 49th parallel. This path is also known as Boundary Pass, South Kootenay Pass, and the Grave Creek Trail.(2)
Tribal elders express interest in restoring this ancient trail when the North Fork of the Flathead is managed as a protected area, and included in the Crown of the Continent World Heritage Site.(3)
Headwaters Montana
Headwaters Montana (4) is an organization working to protect the trans-boundary North Fork of the Flathead, most recently from the threat of Canadian mining. Two of their recent newsletters featured the Buffalo Cow Trail:
“The Buffalo Cow Trail led the Ktanaxa / Kootenai People from their homeland in the Tobacco Plains (near Eureka, Montana) to the great buffalo herds on the east side of the Continental Divide.
The People made the trek in winter, including women and children. The trail is so ancient it predates – by thousands of years – the arrival of the horse, which made packing the valuable buffalo meat so much easier. Prior to the horse, the People carried their harvest on their backs to their homeland.
The People abandoned the trail more than 150 years ago, following the decimation of the great herds. Time has mostly erased a trail that, in places, cut more than two feet into the earth.”
Bruce Kirkby wrote a 2-part Adventure Diary of a recent 5-day trek by three experienced backcountry backpackers along this trail. You can find this diary on the Globe and Mail website (6):
- Part 1: Could Flathead Valley be Canada’s next national park? (April 16, 2010)
- Part 2: Flathead valley: a wild thoroughfare (April 23, 2010)
If you would like to be added to Headwaters Montana email list, contact Dave Hadden info@headwatersmontana.org, or see the organization’s Contact Us page.
Sources, and for More Information:
- Flathead Wild: Buffalo Cow Trail
- Crown of the Continent Magazine, Issue 2 (available online: issuu.com/crown_of_the_continent/docs/winter2009)
- SummitPost.com: Whitefish Range MT/BC; scroll down to ‘Buffalo Cow Trail’
- Headwaters Montana
- Rangelands, Vol. 24, No. 6 (Dec., 2002), pp. 17-20: “Plant Succession in the Rocky Mountain Trench: Influence of Historical Factors” by Brian M. Wikeem and Timothy J. Ross (view first page, or order article online: www.jstor.org/pss/4001675
- The Globe and Mail: Could Flathead Valley be Canada’s next national park? (April 16, 2010) and Flathead valley: a wild thoroughfare (April 23, 2010)