Chapter 1: You Live in a Very Special Place

A Land Carved From Water

From its origins on the Yellowstone Plateau, the roof of the North American continent, the Gallatin River splits the twin ranges of the Madison and Gallatin. Descending in a torrent that the Shoshone called “Cut-tuh-o’-gwa” (swift water), the river slices through a canyon rimmed by the fossil remains of a lush tropical valley that existed some 50 million years ago. At the canyon’s mouth, where the river still cuts at the canyon floor, the river bursts into a broad “new” valley. The thin veneer of gravel covering the valley was transported by water and glaciers, like the glaciers that sheared away rock to create high mountain parks, such as Hyalite meadows in the southern Gallatin Range. The valley is bounded to the west by the Horseshoe Hills, ancient mountains filled with the fossils of trilobites, and to the east by the Bridger Mountains, a steep fold of younger sedimentary rock.

Formed by ancient seas and the action of frozen and moving water, the valley continues to be shaped by the Gallatin and its tributaries today. In an average year, the Gallatin’s rivers and streams carry enough water to cover 1,200 square miles, an area the size of Rhode Island, a foot deep in water. Numerous springs are supported from abundant groundwater sources. This water supports lush, water-loving vegetation, which in turn sustains vigorous populations of fish and wildlife.

Abundant wildlife in and along the Gallatin first attracted prehistoric North American people to the region. Later, Blackfeet, Crow, Bannock, Nez Perce, and Shoshone Indians hunted and fought in the valley. In 1806 William Clark, one of the first white men to travel up the Gallatin, wrote:

“a butiful navigable stream. Saw a large Gangue of Elk in the plains and Deer in the river bottoms...I saw several Antelope, common Deer, wolves, beaver, otter, Eagles, hawks, crows, wild gees, does, etc, etc....emence quantities of beaver... I proceeded on about two miles crossing those different channels all of which were dammed with beaver in such a manner as to render the passage impracticable... being swamped as I may say in this bottom of beaver.”

Photo: James Healy

Yesterday’s Promise

Later settlers to the Gallatin Valley not only had to cope with the challenges of removing the abundance of water described by Clark, but also with bringing water to the higher fertile ground. The first diversion of water in the valley is credited to the Penwell brothers northeast of Belgrade in 1864. In 1871, in what is regarded as one of the first mutual ditch-building efforts in Montana, settlers of the Middle Creek area formed the Upper Middle Creek Ditch Company. Other for-profit companies entered the water supply arena in the 1880s and 1890s, building the Farmers Canal and the High Line Canal, which served ranches on both sides of the main stem of the Gallatin. The last large-scale effort to supply agricultural water to the valley was the construction of the Hyalite Reservoir, completed in 1950. Today, the Gallatin River is the source of irrigation water for about three fourths of the irrigated land in the valley.

The Gallatin River has seen other use in the service of industry. At the turn of the century, tie cutters working out of the Taylor’s Fork gathered their logs behind retaining dams. The dams were broken in the spring, floating the logs on a flood of water to mills at Central Park, near Manhattan. This practice was discontinued by 1907. A scheme to dredge mine the Gallatin from West Fork to the Yellowstone Park boundary failed through lack of investment in 1917. Proposals to dam the Gallatin surfaced periodically beginning in the 1930s. The most serious of these proposals was to dam the river at the mouth of Spanish Creek. Strong opposition from recreational interests in the 1950s laid to rest the issue of building a dam on the river. Nonetheless, development of a different kind continues in the canyon and its reaches today.

Log drive on the Gallatin, ca. 1910.
Photo courtesy of Gallatin County Historical Society

Today’s Challenge

In 1864, W.W. Alderson described the Gallatin Valley as “one of the most beautiful and picturesque valleys the eye ever beheld, abounding in springs of clear water.” Others in the late 1800s echoed these sentiments, calling it “The Egypt,” or “The Garden Spot of Montana.” For the most part, these descriptions are fitting today. The valley is still fertile, and in spots, even lush. The water supplying this Eden with its life force is no less appreciated today than in former times. Abundant, renewable water from the Gallatin and its tributaries shapes every aspect of our daily lives, whether it is used for farming, ranching, recreation, or household use.

Today’s challenges for the watershed spring from a multitude of causes. Most notably, rapid and unprecedented growth of residential development is placing increasing demands on our surface and groundwater resources. Population growth in Gallatin County from 1990 to 1997 was 21 percent, or 3 percent per year. Changes in population put new demands on both the quality and quantity of water in the Gallatin Watershed. A growing Gallatin Watershed also means changing land use. As fewer acres remain in farmland, the watershed faces new challenges. Protection of the watershed, both surface and subsurface waters, is critical if we are to have the healthy environment that sustainable communities in the Gallatin Valley require.

Ultimately, the well-being of the Gallatin and its tributaries will depend on people who care enough to become informed, become involved, and make the investment of time and energy to ensure that our water resources are protected. This Sourcebook is your guide to finding where you can make your contribution to sustaining water resources in the Gallatin Watershed.

Changing land use will affect the quality and use of water in the Gallatin.

Source: Montana Department of Commerce 1997, Montana Statistical Abstracts.

Text description of changing land use in Gallatin County. Includes a larger image of the chart.

Actual and projected growth in Gallatin County, 1950-2010.

Sources: Martin and Maegher, 1996 Montana County Statistical Report. Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 1998, Data Pamphlet, Gallatin County, Montana.

Text description of population growth in Gallatin County. Includes a larger image of the graph.

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