Swan Range

The Swan Range is a mountain range in western Montana in the United States .^[1] Its peaks typically rise to around 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m). The range is bounded by the South Fork Flathead River to the east, the Flathead River to the north and northwest, the Swan River to the west, and lie to the southwest of Glacier National Park, just south of the U.S.-Canada border. It runs about 99 miles (159 km) from north-northwest to south-southeast. Some major cities near the Swan Range include Kalispell and Bigfork to the northeast, and Seeley Lake on the south.

Etymology

The range shares its name with Swan Lake and the north-flowing, 93-mile (150 km) Swan River on its west side. There are two theories to the origin of this name. One theory is that Swan Lake was once populated with trumpeter swans, but none are found there today. The second is that the river, range and lake were named after Emmett Swan, a long-time resident of the Swan River area.^[2]

Geography

The Swan Range, part of the Kootenay Mountains, is bordered by the Mission Range, a smaller mountain range, to the west, and by the similar-sized Flathead Range to the east and northeast. It is about 99 miles (159 km) north to south and 66 miles (106 km) in breadth. The highest peak is Holland Peak, 9,356 feet (2,852 m) in height. The South Fork Flathead River runs for 98 miles (158 km) northwards along the east side of the range, providing drainage for almost all streams east of the Swan Range's drainage divide. The Hungry Horse Reservoir, formed by Hungry Horse Dam, lies to the northeast and is about 50 miles (80 km) in length. The main Flathead River cuts across the north part of the range, severing it from the Whitefish Range, forming "Bad Rock Canyon".^[3] The range is part of the Pend Oreille River drainage basin, which eventually drains to the Columbia River.^[4]

Flathead Lake, much larger than Hungry Horse Reservoir, adjoins to the south the broad, flat valley that lies to the northeast of the Swan Range. Swan Lake, which is cited by some to be the source of the name of the range, feeds the Swan River which flows into the southwest end and issues from its north end. The Swan River forms much of the western boundary of the range, flowing through a broad valley between the Swan and Mission ranges. The Swan Range's boundary with the Flathead Range slowly diminishes as it progresses south - it is in the middle and north parts that this boundary is clearly distinguished. Many of the valleys dissecting the Swan Range drain into the South Fork of the Flathead - the water divide of the range lies more to the west.^[4]

The range is most commonly stated to top out at 9,000 feet (2,700 m), but the National Geographic Society and some early sources place Swan Peak - the second highest mountain in the range - at 11,000 feet (3,400 m), and state that it is the highest mountain. "The range to the east of [the Swan River valley] is the Swan Range. It is the highest and least broken ridge in the region, the higher peaks rising to ten and eleven thousand feet."^[5]

Listed from north to south, the cities and towns bordering the Swan Range are Columbia Falls, La Salle, Creston, Bigfork, Seeley Lake and Lincoln. While the southern part lies in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the east part is largely undeveloped, the west side parallels an almost continuous agricultural valley and also Montana Highway 83.

Highest peaks

See also

• List of mountain ranges in Montana
• North Fork Flathead River

Notes

Works cited

• Federal Writers' Project (1939). Montana: A State Guide Book. U.S. History Publishers. ISBN 1-60354-025-3.
• National Geographic Society (1902). National Geographic Magazine (Volume 13). Harvard University.

External links

• Swan Range