Buffalo Cow Trail

The primary trail used by the Kootenay people(the Ktunaxa Nation in Canada and the Kootenai Tribe in the United States) to cross the mountains was known as the Buffalo Cow Trail. Archeologists have documented that people have used this trail for more than 8,000 years. Although primarily residents of the western slopes of the Rockies, the Kootenay (Kutenai) frequently crossed the mountains to hunt buffalo on the eastern plains. Of 22 major passes used to traverse the continental divide, the Buffalo Cow Trail over South Kootenay and Akimina passes was the most heavily used. During their thrice-annual journeys across the mountains, it was by way of this trail that the Kootenay most frequently crossed back and forth across the invisible line that today serves as the U.S.-Canadian border.

Although South Kootenay Pass is a relative high pass at 7,100 feet, its gentle and open slopes were considered ideal for horse travel. The lower Akamina Pass, meanwhile, was preferred by the Kootenay for winter crossings using well-designed snowshoes. The trail, which originates in the Tobacco Plains area near the Canada US border north of Eureka, Montana, traverses the Whitefish/Galton Range including the Wigwam River, crosses the North Fork Flathead River into today’s Glacier National Park, and crosses into Canada along Kishinena Creek. While most of the trail corridor looks much like it has for hundreds or thousands of years, the stretch through British Columbia has been obliterated in many areas by large clearcuts and logging roads. Interest has been expressed by tribal elders in restoring the ancient trail if the Flathead portion in the southeastern corner of British Columbia is one day managed as a protected area.

Fast Facts

This ancient trail stitches together the latter day Glacier and Waterton parks through the area of the proposed Flathead park in British Columbia. This trail has been used for more than 8,000 years. Only in recent decades has this trail gone unused, divided by an international border and fractured by industrial logging. Its restoration could be a cultural centre piece in the Flathead Valley.