History of Kalispell
The Salish-Kootenai Tribe were the native people to the Flathead Valley. They thrived on collecting root vegetables, specifically Camas root, in the spring and supplementing their diet with a variety of berries and fish throughout the year. In the fall, men would go out on hunting excursions for deer and elk, and the women would prepare for winter by drying meats and making clothes. These tribes shared a strong bond of community through cultural traditions, and a common belief in the interconnection of the world around them.
The Native Americans that inhabited the north end of the valley referred to themselves as Q'lispe or in plain English Kalispel. This tribe was part of the greater Pen d'Oreille Tribe to the west. In the 1850s, Jesuit missionaries began to arrive in the Flathead Valley and established St. Ignatius Mission on the south end of the valley. On July 16th, 1855, the Treaty of Hellgate was signed and changed the course of the native lands and the development of western Montana.
As development continued, the Great Northern Railway allowed Kalispell to grow into modest railroad town in the spring of 1891. Similar to most railroad towns, people sought Kalispell for job opportunity, new beginnings, and a better life; however, in 1904, a mere 13 years after the town was founded, Great Northern Railway relocated its main line from Kalispell to Whitefish. In a town where the railway created industry and shaped its young economy, hard times could be expected to followed. In fact, similar shifts in industry had been known to eliminate whole towns with America's rapid expansion west (i.e. Demersville, Montana and Bannack, Montana), yet Kalispell remained.
Kalispell had already cemented itself on Montana's map. The town was chosen for a county seat in 1893 and variety of services and infrastructure (originally built to support railway workers and families) transformed the former river valley into a steadfast, American town. Some of these services included a hospital, numerous churches, office of city, county and federal government agencies, schools, banks, hotels, an opera house, lodge halls, a library, a brewery, and several flour mills. Despite the railway moving to Whitefish, Kalispell was growing and relatively self-sustaining with all of these services.
Industries such as lumber and farming aided Kalispell's economic shift from the railway and supported the services and infrastructure comprising the town. Land was readily available for lumber and there was enough fertile, farmable plots to successfully shift the economy toward these industries. Additionally, it was not long before Kalispell became even more accessible with the completion of a highway at Maria's Pass over the Continental Divide in 1930. The highway also formally connected Kalispell and Glacier National Park, which led to Kalispell being advertised and known as the "Gateway to Glacier."
Today, Kalispell remains a town of growth. Lumber, farming, and tourism remain integral to the local economy and the continued development of quality services within the town are a recipe for the town's longevity and overall success.
Fun Facts:
Population: 26,503 (estimated as of April 2022)
Land area in square miles: 11.64
Population per square mile: 2,207
County: Flathead
Elevation: 2,956
Distance to (via car):
Flathead Lake- 15 miles.
Glacier National Park- 34 miles.
Helena, MT- 194 miles.
Yellowstone National Park- 415 miles.
Seattle, WA- 515 miles.
Mississippi River (in MN)- 1,120 miles
Mexico Border (TX)- 1,490 miles
New York, NY- 2,406 miles.