Arcadia Publishing - Images of America: Beartooth Mountains

For over 20 years Arcadia Publishing has reconnected people to their community, their neighbors, and their past by offering a curbside view of hometown history and often forgotten aspects of American life. The name Beartooth suggests strength, rawness, and force. Indeed, the Beartooth Mountains are a power and are unsurpassed in splendor and beauty. The voluminous masses are said to compromise one of the largest contiguous areas in North America. Early natives came in search of game in both the high country and rich valleys, especially the Crows, who used the area frequently. Later, miners appeared in search of precious metals and developed gold, chrome, and platinum mines. Geographers came and scaled mountain peaks, defining, naming, and mapping. Cattle and sheepmen were also lured to the lush mountain pastures. Eventually, trails became roads, and the Beartooth Plateau was easily accessible upon the completion of the Beartooth Highway. With the creation of the US Forest Service, forestlands were surveyed and protected by wilderness status. Soon, dudes were upon the landscape, and an industry was created amongst the peaks and prairies of the Beartooths.