St. Mary, Montana | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
State | Montana |
County | Glacier |
Area | |
• Total | 0.75 sq mi (1.95 km2) |
• Land | 0.75 sq mi (1.95 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 54 |
• Density | 71.71/sq mi (27.71/km2) |
FIPS code | 30-65425 |
St. Mary (Blackfeet: Natoaki, "Holy Woman") is an unincorporated community on the western border of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation adjacent to Glacier National Park in Glacier County, Montana, United States. The village is the eastern terminus of the Going-to-the-Sun Road which bisects the park east to west, a distance of 53 mi (85 km).
About 54 people reside in the village year-round; however, the population increases tenfold on a busy summer evening. Several lodges, restaurants and cafés, a small grocery store, two gas stations and campgrounds are located in the village. A large housing area for National Park Service personnel is located adjacent to the village, but within the park.
U.S. Route 89 passes through the village, which lies between Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park and Lower St. Mary Lake on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 54 | — | |
U.S. Decennial Census [2] |
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, St. Mary has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. [3]
Climate data for St Mary, Montana, 1991–2020 normals, 1981-2020 extremes: 4560ft (1340m) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 60 (16) | 63 (17) | 72 (22) | 82 (28) | 93 (34) | 95 (35) | 102 (39) | 99 (37) | 97 (36) | 87 (31) | 72 (22) | 58 (14) | 102 (39) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 51.2 (10.7) | 52.7 (11.5) | 57.3 (14.1) | 68.5 (20.3) | 78.2 (25.7) | 84.8 (29.3) | 91.3 (32.9) | 91.2 (32.9) | 86.0 (30.0) | 73.7 (23.2) | 58.4 (14.7) | 48.8 (9.3) | 93.4 (34.1) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 29.2 (−1.6) | 32.1 (0.1) | 37.9 (3.3) | 46.6 (8.1) | 57.2 (14.0) | 64.4 (18.0) | 75.0 (23.9) | 74.4 (23.6) | 63.2 (17.3) | 48.9 (9.4) | 36.3 (2.4) | 29.4 (−1.4) | 49.5 (9.8) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 20.8 (−6.2) | 22.9 (−5.1) | 28.7 (−1.8) | 36.5 (2.5) | 45.9 (7.7) | 52.5 (11.4) | 60.6 (15.9) | 59.3 (15.2) | 50.6 (10.3) | 39.9 (4.4) | 29.4 (−1.4) | 22.4 (−5.3) | 39.1 (4.0) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 12.3 (−10.9) | 13.7 (−10.2) | 19.6 (−6.9) | 26.3 (−3.2) | 34.6 (1.4) | 40.7 (4.8) | 46.1 (7.8) | 44.2 (6.8) | 37.9 (3.3) | 30.8 (−0.7) | 22.4 (−5.3) | 15.3 (−9.3) | 28.7 (−1.9) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | −16.9 (−27.2) | −10.1 (−23.4) | −4.3 (−20.2) | 9.6 (−12.4) | 22.3 (−5.4) | 30.9 (−0.6) | 36.9 (2.7) | 33.4 (0.8) | 25.6 (−3.6) | 13.2 (−10.4) | −1.1 (−18.4) | −12.6 (−24.8) | −25.0 (−31.7) |
Record low °F (°C) | −36 (−38) | −40 (−40) | −29 (−34) | −11 (−24) | 15 (−9) | 27 (−3) | 29 (−2) | 20 (−7) | 12 (−11) | −8 (−22) | −24 (−31) | −38 (−39) | −40 (−40) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.20 (56) | 1.95 (50) | 1.69 (43) | 1.93 (49) | 2.88 (73) | 3.37 (86) | 1.53 (39) | 1.63 (41) | 2.18 (55) | 2.05 (52) | 2.47 (63) | 2.21 (56) | 26.09 (663) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 15.5 (39) | 18.6 (47) | 15.9 (40) | 13.2 (34) | 4.8 (12) | 1.0 (2.5) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.7 (4.3) | 8.5 (22) | 17.8 (45) | 20.8 (53) | 117.8 (298.8) |
Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 12.8 (33) | 13.0 (33) | 11.6 (29) | 7.1 (18) | 2.7 (6.9) | 0.6 (1.5) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.2 (0.51) | 3.3 (8.4) | 8.8 (22) | 9.7 (25) | 20.4 (52) |
Source 1: NOAA (1981-2010 precip/snowfall) [4] [5] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: XMACIS2 (records, monthly max/mins & 1981-2010 snow depth) [6] |
Glacier County is located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,778. The county is located in northwestern Montana between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, known to the Blackfeet as the "Backbone of the World". The county is geographically and culturally diverse and includes the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Glacier National Park, and Lewis and Clark National Forest. The county is bordered by 75 miles of international boundary with two ports of entry open year-round and one seasonal international border crossing into Alberta, Canada.
Evergreen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Flathead County, Montana, United States. Its population was 8,149 at the 2020 census, up from 7,616 at the 2010 census, and 6,215 in 2000.
Browning is a former town in Glacier County, Montana, United States. It is the headquarters for the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and was the only incorporated town on the Reservation. The population was 1,018 at the 2020 census.
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Glacier National Park is an American national park located in northwestern Montana, on the Canada–United States border, adjacent to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada—the two parks are known as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The park encompasses more than 1 million acres (4,000 km2) and includes parts of two mountain ranges, more than 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem," a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 sq mi (41,000 km2).
The Saint Mary River is a cross-border tributary of the Oldman River, itself a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River. The Saint Mary together with the Belly River and Waterton River drains a small portion of Montana, in the United States, to the Hudson Bay watershed in Canada.
The Blackfeet Nation, officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Montana. Tribal members primarily belong to the Piegan Blackfeet band of the larger Blackfoot Confederacy that spans Canada and the United States.
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Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning 2,912 square miles (7,500 km2), the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "island" pockets of forested areas. Here, cattle leases to local ranchers as well as timber harvesting are the norm. The western Rocky Mountain Division, which straddles the Continental divide, is managed chiefly for environmental preservation, as much of the land has been designated as wilderness. Forest headquarters are located in Great Falls, Montana. Local ranger district offices have been established in Choteau, Harlowton, Neihart, Stanford, and White Sulphur Springs.
Going-to-the-Sun Mountain is a 9,647-foot (2,940 m) mountain peak located in Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana. It rises dramatically above St. Mary Valley just north of the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The mountain was named by James Willard Schultz in 1888.
Two Medicine is the collective name of a region located in the southeastern section of Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana. It has a campground alongside Two Medicine Lake. From the period starting in the late 1890s until the completion of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in 1932, Two Medicine was one of the most visited sections of the park. Once part of a larger chalet complex, the Two Medicine Store is located along the shores of Two Medicine Lake and the building is a National Historic Landmark. The region is a starting point for many trails and tourboats take visitors out on Two Medicine Lake, where the steep south face of Rising Wolf Mountain towers above the lake. The region was considered sacred ground by several Native American tribes including the Blackfeet and they performed Vision quests here. Aside from Chief Mountain, the Two Medicine area is the most sacred section of the park to the Blackfeet.
Babb is a small unincorporated farming and ranching community in Glacier County, Montana, United States, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The community experiences a large influx of tourists in the summer months as it is the gateway to the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Babb as a census-designated place (CDP). It had a population of 174 at the 2010 census.
Del Bonita, also known as Port of Del Bonita, is an unincorporated community in Glacier County, Montana, United States. Its elevation is 4,363 feet (1,330 m) and it is located at 48°59′53″N112°47′17″W. It is on the Canada–United States border, south of Del Bonita, Alberta, and is connected to its Canadian counterpart by the Del Bonita Border Crossing.
James Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, was an American writer, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfeet Indians. He operated a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana 47°34′25″N108°22′24″W and lived among the Pikuni tribe during the period 1880-82. He was given the name Apikuni by the Pikuni chief, Running Crane. Apikuni in Blackfeet means "Spotted Robe." Schultz is most noted for his 37 books, most about Blackfoot life, and for his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park.
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48°44′37″N113°25′42″W / 48.7436°N 113.4284°W