ter Root
River, and with the range serving as an effective background, is Fort
Missoula, a pleasantly located military post. Several interpretations of
the meaning of the word "Missoula" are given. Father Guidi, a priest of
long residence in the country, gave me what he considers the true one,
which also indicates the manner in which the Hell Gate Canon and River
were christened. The spot where Missoula is located was once the scene
of conflict between the various tribes of Indians. The "Flatheads" and
"Blackfeet" were deadly enemies, and, presumably, may have fought over
this lovely spot. At any rate, the ground just at the mouth of the Hell
Gate Canon was covered long ago with skulls and human bones.

These Flathead Indians are noted for the fact that they have never
adopted a hostile attitude towards white people. They are advanced in
civilization, as readers of Chapter IX and its accompanying illustration
will have noted. Tradition states that their religion demands that the
head of every infant must be flattened by means of a board before the
bones harden sufficiently to assume a shape. However this may be, none
of the surviving members of the tribe have particularly flat heads, and
all deny emphatically the statement that nature is ever interfered with
in the manner stated. These Indians call themselves "Selish," a name
apparently without reason or derivation. The Flathead Reservation was
formed about forty years ago. On three sides it is walled in by high
mountains, and it consists of about 2,240 square miles of territory. The
railway station, Arlee, is so named after the last war chief of the
Flatheads. Passengers are often amused by the gaudily decked Indians who
are seen at this station, which is quite near the reservation.

An interesting story attaches to the Jocko River and Reservation. It is
stated that an Irishman named Jacob Finley established a ranch on the
river early in the present century. The French Canadians who settled in
the neighborhood and intermarried with the Indians, called Finley by his
Christian name with a peculiar French pronunciation, which made it sound
very like much Jaco or Jocko--the latter name gradually becoming
generally adopted. It was quite natural to call the river and the valley
after the ranch owner, and the name finally became generally accepted as
correct. This man Finley left behind him a family of seventeen, and
before he had been dead many years his direct descendants n