Tobacco Root Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Tobacco Root Mountains lie in the northern Rocky Mountains
, between the Jefferson
and Madison
Rivers in southwest Montana. 45°33′16"N 111°58′28"W The highest peak is Hollowtop
at 10604 feet (3,232 m). The range contains 43 peaks rising to elevations greater than 10,000 feet (3048 m).
Much of the central part of the range is within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
, although many, mostly small patented mining claims exist within the forest boundary. The range saw significant gold mining, especially during the 1880s to 1930s.
The high peaks have been extensively glaciated, and most of the larger stream valleys held valley glaciers during the ice age
.
6th Annual Report of the Geological Surveys of the Territories for 1873, in which the name South Bowlder Range is mentioned, a reference to the largest river in the north part of the mountains. Although this usage (usually spelled “South Boulder Range”) is followed in many Geographies and Atlases of the 1890s and early 1900s, the USGS Three Forks Folio labels the mountains “Jefferson Range.”
The earliest known use in print of the name Tobacco Root Mountains is Winchell’s (1914) report on mining districts of the Dillon Quad. The name was also used by Billingsley in a 1918 paper on the Boulder Batholith
, published by the American Institute of Mining Engineers. “Tobacco Root” appears in most subsequent publications, including Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology reports (at least since 1933), National Forest Maps (since 1938), and the Official Montana Highway Maps.
However, a map in Fenneman’s Physiography of Western United States (1931) shows a long Jefferson Range to include what is now called the Tobacco Roots plus the Gravelly Range
. Oil Company highway maps from the late 1960s and early 1970s show “Tobacco Root Mountains” in the north, and “Jefferson Range” in the south (northwest of Ennis
and north of Virginia City
). Preliminary topographic maps of the area (Bureau of Reclamation, Missouri Basin Project) from 1947-48 show Jefferson Range, but on the 1950 15-minute sheet (Harrison Quad) the identical topography is labeled “Tobacco Root Mountains” in the same place as “Jefferson Range” on the maps that were just two years older.
The 1947 Bozeman 1:250,000 shaded relief map has Jefferson Range, but the 1958 (Bozeman 1:250,000) and 1962 (Dillon) regular editions use Tobacco Root Mountains.
.”
The term "tobacco root" is also an old name for species of arnica
; native and European-introduced arnica are wildflowers in Western Montana, including the Tobacco Root Mountains.
Tansley, Shaffer and Hart (1933) attribute the practice of drying a species of mullein and mixing it with kinnikinic (bearberry
) to replace tobacco to John Edwards, a prospector from Flint Creek, in the 1860s. He also gave the name to the hills in which the root was found. Kinnikinic, as the name of a mixture and not the bearberry plant, was a leaf-bark mixture, including sumac
and dogwood
leaves, smoked by Indians and pioneers in the Ohio Valley in the 18th Century. It was probably more or less the same as the “larb” mentioned above.
Other sources have reported the root to be a variety of the bitterroot
, Montana’s protected state flower. Shoshone
Indians reportedly cooked the root and ate it, and it supposedly smelled like tobacco.
, thought to be a satellite pluton
of the Boulder Batholith
. This Late Cretaceous
granitic body intrudes Archean
gneiss
es and schist
s Significant gold deposits appear to be related to the intrusion of the Tobacco Root Batholith and northwest-trending faults in the Pony
area and elsewhere. The northern flank of the Tobacco Roots consists of thrusted
and folded sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks ranging from Proterozoic
Belt Supergroup
strata to Cretaceous
Elkhorn Mountains Volcanics
. Thick sections of Paleozoic
and Mesozoic
strata, including the Flathead sandstone and Madison Limestone
, are present.
grazing and logging
. Land stewardship in the North Tobacco Root Mountains and Foothills area is as follows:
There are 244 terrestrial
vertebrate
species that are found within the
North Tobacco Root Mountains and Foothills including whitetail
and mule deer
, elk
, and black bears
. The area is also habitat to a handful of "Tier I" species (Montana Fish Wildlife and Park's classification of nativie species with greatest need of conservation http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=26526, including the Western Toad
, Flaummulated Owl, Bald Eagle
, Townsend's Big-eared Bat, Grizzly Bear
, and Canada Lynx
, who are all under threat of Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, especially as a result of population growth/development http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=26488.
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, between the Jefferson
Jefferson River
The Jefferson River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Montana. The Jefferson River and the Madison River form the official beginning of the Missouri at Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks...
and Madison
Madison River
The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana form the Missouri River....
Rivers in southwest Montana. 45°33′16"N 111°58′28"W The highest peak is Hollowtop
Mount Jefferson (Montana)
Mount Jefferson is a mountain in the U.S. state of Montana, and is one of the many 10,000+ ft peaks in the Tobacco Root Mountains. The mountain is located in Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest...
at 10604 feet (3,232 m). The range contains 43 peaks rising to elevations greater than 10,000 feet (3048 m).
Much of the central part of the range is within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest is the largest of the National Forests in Montana, United States. Covering , the forest is broken into nine separate sections and stretches across eight counties in the southwestern area of the state. President Theodore Roosevelt named the two forests in...
, although many, mostly small patented mining claims exist within the forest boundary. The range saw significant gold mining, especially during the 1880s to 1930s.
The high peaks have been extensively glaciated, and most of the larger stream valleys held valley glaciers during the ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
Discovery and Nomenclature
When Lewis and Clark came through southwest Montana in 1805, they named many rivers — but if they referred to the mountain ranges by name, the names are not recorded. The 1865 DeLacey Map of Montana Territory does not name the Tobacco Roots. The first written reference to the mountains between the Madison and Jefferson Rivers is F.V. Hayden’sFerdinand Vandeveer Hayden
Dr. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Army during the Civil War.-Early life:Ferdinand Hayden was born in Westfield, Massachusetts...
6th Annual Report of the Geological Surveys of the Territories for 1873, in which the name South Bowlder Range is mentioned, a reference to the largest river in the north part of the mountains. Although this usage (usually spelled “South Boulder Range”) is followed in many Geographies and Atlases of the 1890s and early 1900s, the USGS Three Forks Folio labels the mountains “Jefferson Range.”
The earliest known use in print of the name Tobacco Root Mountains is Winchell’s (1914) report on mining districts of the Dillon Quad. The name was also used by Billingsley in a 1918 paper on the Boulder Batholith
Boulder Batholith
The Boulder Batholith is a small batholith in southwest Montana, exposed at the surface as granite and serving as the host rock for rich mineralized deposits at Butte, Montana and other locations....
, published by the American Institute of Mining Engineers. “Tobacco Root” appears in most subsequent publications, including Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology reports (at least since 1933), National Forest Maps (since 1938), and the Official Montana Highway Maps.
However, a map in Fenneman’s Physiography of Western United States (1931) shows a long Jefferson Range to include what is now called the Tobacco Roots plus the Gravelly Range
Gravelly Range
The Gravelly Range, highest peak Black Butte, el. , is a mountain range southwest of Cameron, Montana in Madison County, Montana....
. Oil Company highway maps from the late 1960s and early 1970s show “Tobacco Root Mountains” in the north, and “Jefferson Range” in the south (northwest of Ennis
Ennis, Montana
Ennis is a town in Madison County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 840 at the 2000 census. The elevation of Ennis is above sea level. U.S. Route 287 runs through town, following the Madison River as it descends from West Yellowstone...
and north of Virginia City
Virginia City, Montana
Virginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. In 1961, the town and the surrounding area was designated a National Historic Landmark District, the Virginia City Historic District...
). Preliminary topographic maps of the area (Bureau of Reclamation, Missouri Basin Project) from 1947-48 show Jefferson Range, but on the 1950 15-minute sheet (Harrison Quad) the identical topography is labeled “Tobacco Root Mountains” in the same place as “Jefferson Range” on the maps that were just two years older.
The 1947 Bozeman 1:250,000 shaded relief map has Jefferson Range, but the 1958 (Bozeman 1:250,000) and 1962 (Dillon) regular editions use Tobacco Root Mountains.
Origin of name
The basis for the name Tobacco Root is unclear. John Willard says “Indians and early trappers found a root in these mountains that, when dried and mixed with larb, made a suitable substitute for real tobacco. The root was a species of mulleinMullein
The Mulleins are a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the figwort family . They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.They are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5–3 m tall...
.”
The term "tobacco root" is also an old name for species of arnica
Arnica
Arnica is a genus with about 30 perennial, herbaceous species, belonging to the sunflower family . The genus name Arnica may be derived from the Greek arna, "lamb", in reference to the soft, hairy leaves....
; native and European-introduced arnica are wildflowers in Western Montana, including the Tobacco Root Mountains.
Tansley, Shaffer and Hart (1933) attribute the practice of drying a species of mullein and mixing it with kinnikinic (bearberry
Bearberry
Bearberries are three species of dwarf shrubs in the genus Arctostaphylos. Unlike the other species of Arctostaphylos , they are adapted to Arctic and sub-Arctic climates, and have a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe, one with a small highly disjunctive population...
) to replace tobacco to John Edwards, a prospector from Flint Creek, in the 1860s. He also gave the name to the hills in which the root was found. Kinnikinic, as the name of a mixture and not the bearberry plant, was a leaf-bark mixture, including sumac
Sumac
Sumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America....
and dogwood
Dogwood
The genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen...
leaves, smoked by Indians and pioneers in the Ohio Valley in the 18th Century. It was probably more or less the same as the “larb” mentioned above.
Other sources have reported the root to be a variety of the bitterroot
Bitterroot
Bitterroot is a small, low plant with a pink to white flower. It is the state flower of Montana, United States....
, Montana’s protected state flower. Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
Indians reportedly cooked the root and ate it, and it supposedly smelled like tobacco.
Geology
The center of the range is occupied by the Tobacco Root BatholithBatholith
A batholith is a large emplacement of igneous intrusive rock that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust...
, thought to be a satellite pluton
Pluton
A pluton in geology is a body of intrusive igneous rock that crystallized from magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Plutons include batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, lopoliths, and other igneous bodies...
of the Boulder Batholith
Boulder Batholith
The Boulder Batholith is a small batholith in southwest Montana, exposed at the surface as granite and serving as the host rock for rich mineralized deposits at Butte, Montana and other locations....
. This Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
granitic body intrudes Archean
Archean
The Archean , also spelled Archeozoic or Archæozoic) is a geologic eon before the Paleoproterozoic Era of the Proterozoic Eon, before 2.5 Ga ago. Instead of being based on stratigraphy, this date is defined chronometrically...
gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
es and schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
s Significant gold deposits appear to be related to the intrusion of the Tobacco Root Batholith and northwest-trending faults in the Pony
Pony, Montana
Pony is an unincorporated community in northeastern Madison County, Montana, United States on the eastern edge of the Tobacco Root Mountains.In the late nineteenth century, Pony was a prosperous gold-mining community with at least 5,000 residents. A number of historic buildings from Pony's boom era...
area and elsewhere. The northern flank of the Tobacco Roots consists of thrusted
Sevier orogeny
The Sevier orogeny was a mountain-building event that affected western North America from Canada to the north to Mexico to the south. This orogeny was the result of convergent boundary tectonic activity between approximately 140 million years ago and 50 Ma. The Sevier River area of central Utah...
and folded sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks ranging from Proterozoic
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...
Belt Supergroup
Belt Supergroup
The Belt Supergroup, is an assemblage of Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks which outcrop chiefly in western Montana, but also exposed in Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, and British Columbia. It is most famous as the formation that makes up Glacier National Park in northwest Montana...
strata to Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
Elkhorn Mountains Volcanics
Elkhorn Mountains
The Elkhorn Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Montana, part of the Rocky Mountains and are roughly 300,000 acres in size. It is an inactive volcanic mountain range with the highest point being Crow Peak at , right next to Elkhorn Peak,...
. Thick sections of Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
and Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
strata, including the Flathead sandstone and Madison Limestone
Madison Limestone
The Madison Limestone is a thick sequence of mostly carbonate rocks of Mississippian age in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains areas of western United States. The rocks serve as an important aquifer as well as an oil reservoir in places...
, are present.
Land Characteristics and Habitats
The land is used mostly in livestockLivestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
grazing and logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
. Land stewardship in the North Tobacco Root Mountains and Foothills area is as follows:
- U.S. Federal Agencies: 32309 acres (130.7 km²), or 14.4% of total area, which include:
- BLM: 17544 acres (71 km²), or 7.8% of total area
- USFS: 14765 acres (59.8 km²), or 6.6% of total area
- State Agencies: 20695 acres (83.7 km²), or 9.2% of total area
- Private: 171985 acres (696 km²), or 76.4% of total area http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=26488
There are 244 terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...
vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
species that are found within the
North Tobacco Root Mountains and Foothills including whitetail
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
and mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, and black bears
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
. The area is also habitat to a handful of "Tier I" species (Montana Fish Wildlife and Park's classification of nativie species with greatest need of conservation http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=26526, including the Western Toad
Western toad
The Western toad more commonly known as is a large toad species, between 5.6 and 13 cm long, of western North America. It has a white or cream dorsal stripe, and is dusky gray or greenish dorsally with skin glands concentrated within the dark blotches...
, Flaummulated Owl, Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
, Townsend's Big-eared Bat, Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
, and Canada Lynx
Canada Lynx
The Canada lynx or Canadian lynx is a North American mammal of the cat family, Felidae. It is a close relative of the Eurasian Lynx . Some authorities regard both as conspecific. However, in some characteristics the Canada lynx is more like the bobcat than the Eurasian Lynx...
, who are all under threat of Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, especially as a result of population growth/development http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=26488.
External links
- Tobacco Root Geological Society
- Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
- Lewis and Clark Expedition's journal involving the Tobacco Roots
- http://www.ponymontana.com/Events and information in and around Pony, MTPony, MontanaPony is an unincorporated community in northeastern Madison County, Montana, United States on the eastern edge of the Tobacco Root Mountains.In the late nineteenth century, Pony was a prosperous gold-mining community with at least 5,000 residents. A number of historic buildings from Pony's boom era...
]