Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 2 78 the rights that they were originally promised. Once the rush was on, the main focus was copper. Some of the pros- pectors who had sneaked into the east side before it had opened up had found traces of copper ore. Soon, the Swiftcurrent area became the epicenter, and the town of Altyn sprang at the head of Sherbourne Lake on what is known as Cracker Flats. Altyn grew to a population of about 1,000 and featured a post office, a store, several saloons and dance halls (of course), and a two-story hotel. In the end, there were three major mines in the Many Glacier area: the Bull Head Mine on the slopes of Mt. Wil- bur by Bullhead Lake, the Van Pelt Mine above Slide Lake and the Cracker Mine on the shores of Cracker Lake direct- ly above Altyn. No commercially viable deposits were ever found, and by 1903-1904 most mining activity was coming to a close. The Cracker Mine was the largest and most ambitious of the mines. A mine adit (horizontal shaft) about 1,300 feet long had been dug into the mountainside in search of the "mother lode." During the spring, a 16,000-pound stamp mill had been transported the 29 miles from Ft. Browning to Altyn and up Canyon Creek over the snow by block and tackle to the head of Cracker Lake. However, it was never installed and never turned a wheel. Not one pound of commercial ore was ever produced. The rusting hulk of the stamp mill remains there to- day—a curiosity for hikers coming from Many Glacier to investigate. About the same time as the copper "boom" was going on at Swiftcurrent, oil was observed seeping into the head of Kint- la Lake. By 1901 a rough road from Lake McDonald to Kint- la was cut, and machinery was being hauled in. Excitement for a big oil boom was in the air. In a 1986 article by Patricia Bick, "Homesteading on the North Fork in Glacier National Park," a quote from a magazine writer in 1901 summed up the excitement over the Kintla oil field: "Perhaps there is no more beautiful region in the whole Northwest than this vir- gin wilderness, which the enterprise of man will soon convert into a populous and busy territory with all of the industries of a great oil field in full blast." What a difference a century makes in the perceived value of unspoiled wilderness! Van Pelt cabin Kintla Lake oil well ONCE THE RUSH WAS ON, THE MAIN FOCUS WAS COPPER.

• Cover