Description
Just north of Eureka, Montana lie the Tobacco Plains, a rolling sea of grass surrounded by forests of Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. Within this sea is a remnant grassy “island” known as Dancing Prairie Preserve. This island contains a complex mosaic of native prairie grasses growing in gravelly soils deposited by receding glaciers. This is one of the last refuges for the rare Spalding’s catchfly.
The Tobacco Valley is sandwiched between the Purcell Mountains and Kootenai River (Lake Koocanusa) to the west, and the Whitefish Range to the east. This valley is part of a larger geologic feature known as the Rocky Mountain Trench, that extends from northern British Columbia south into Montana.
The Tobacco Valley was historically home to the Ksanka band of the Kootenai Tribe. Kootenai traditional territory includes much of northwestern Montana, northern Idaho and southern British Columbia. The Ksanka band now resides on the Flathead Indian Reservation to the south and are members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. As such, they hold significant 1855 Hellgate Treaty rights over their traditional territory in the United States. The Kootenai retell many creation stories from this valley and continue to visit and use the valley and surrounding mountains for traditional uses.