Hungry Horse

The country later called Hungry Horse lies at the junction of the Flathead River and its South Fork in northwestern Montana. Before the dam and its settlement existed, these mountain valleys formed part of a wider Indigenous landscape used by Salish, Pend d'Oreille and Kootenai peoples. The rivers, mountain crossings and hunting grounds belonged to networks extending beyond the immediate confluence.

Around 1700, Salish and Pend d'Oreille communities acquired horses through neighbouring peoples. Horses enlarged the seasonal round, increased visits and intermarriage with allies, and made journeys to buffalo country easier. They also intensified raiding and conflict. Fire helped maintain the grasslands needed by growing horse herds. In the early nineteenth century, the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company entered the Flathead Valley and established trading posts north of Flathead Lake. Their commerce added a new demand for furs to existing regional connections. The name Hungry Horse arose much later; the history of this place before 1837 centres on Indigenous travel, land use and the arrival of the fur trade.