The Fabulous Flathead

The Fabulous Flathead by Jesse Fay McAlear, as told to Sharon Bergman, is an extensive local history of the Flathead Indian Reservation, which is located in western Montana on the Flathead River. It is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes—also known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The reservation was created through the July 16, 1855, Treaty of Hellgate.


In addition to detailing the story of Montana's Native Americans, who have lived there for more than 14,000 years, The Fabulous Flathead summarizes the anthropological information on the Confederated Tribes; treats the history of the tribes before the opening of the reservation; discusses cattle and buffalo on the reservation; and sketches transportation, economic development, the irrigation system, as well as other topics in Flathead history.