National Res. Champ Youth Reiner

Archaeological artifacts date the Missoula Valley's earliest inhabitants to the end of the last ice age 12,000 years ago with settlements as early as 3500 BCE. From the 1700s until 1850s, it was primarily the Salish, Kootenai, Pend d'Oreille, Blackfeet, and Shoshone who used the land. Located at the confluence of five mountain valleys, the Missoula Valley was heavily traversed by local and distant native tribes that periodically went to the Eastern Montana plains in search of bison, leading to conflict. The narrow valley at Missoula's eastern entrance was so strewn with human bones from repeated ambushes that French fur trappers would later refer to this area as Porte de l'Enfer , translated as " Gate of Hell". Hell Gate would remain the name of the area until it was renamed "Missoula" in 1866.