Friday, September 21, 2012

The Face on Rising Wolf Mountain

Last summer, while sitting atop Pitamakan Pass, I noticed a face staring at me. It wasn't a hungry hiker eye-balling my sandwich after realizing he forgot to pack his own snacks. No, this was a face in the mountain staring at me from across the valley. If you look closely, right in the middle of Rising Wolf Mountain, you'll see a clearly outlined face:

Here's a closer look:

According to Through The Years In Glacier National Park: An Administrative History, the 9513-foot Rising Wolf Mountain "was the Indian name for Hugh Monroe, the first white man to live with the Blackfeet Indians. The name is said to have been suggested by Monroe's habit of getting out of bed in the morning on his hands and knees. "

Wikipedia sheds a little more light on the name. According to the online encyclopedia, the Blackfeet name for the peak, "Mahkuyi-opuahsin", meaning, "the way the wolf gets up", was later translated to the current name of the mountain. After Hugh Monroe's death, his close friend and author James Willard Schultz, named the peak after Monroe.

I wonder if the face in anyway inspired the Blackfeet in naming the mountain. Did they think the geological oddity resembled Monroe in anyway?

One other thing about the photo at the top. Check out those clouds - they looked like a weave that day. It reminded me of the cover of the Tommy album by The Who.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com

6 comments:

Shelly said...

Thank you for this info. I am doing a research on Hugh Monroe. Just getting started.

The Smoky Mountain Hiker said...

Good luck, Shelly! That's about all I know about the man.

Jeff

Unknown said...

This is a great photo!Rising Wolf is my Great Grandfather, I would love to share any info I have!

The Smoky Mountain Hiker said...

Yvonne - thank you!

Do you know if that "face" in the mountain is by any chance associated with Hugh (source of name)?

kimbilyn said...

I would be interested in info and family History as I am also a decendant, thanks!

The Grandy's said...

Yvonne! I really need your help! I have been looking for a book for my dad that he said he read several years ago about Hugh Monroe and doesn't remember the name. He said he thought it was called "50 years on the plain" or something like that. Do you by any chance have a list of biography's that were written about your grandfather? Please, please help me find this! Thank you! You can email me at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com or maybe reply here?