Living off nature's bounty

I have often wondered what my great-grandparents’ first thoughts were when they looked out on the expanse we now call the Flathead Valley. Imagine gazing at more trees with little or no land that had been manually cleared. A few houses and homesteads were scattered between miles of timber and shrubbery. What roads they found were merely two wagon ruts. Distances to neighbor’s houses or town were measured in hours or days not miles of travel.