Shoemaker's treks in the Mission Mountains

If you were to look at a map of the Mission Mountains 100 years ago, you would see a lot of blank space. Except for verbal descriptions and sketches shared by the early-day Native people, priests, trappers, hunters, and prospectors, the Mission Mountains were, for the most part, uncharted at that time. McDonald Peak was one of the few mountains named on the early maps. Most of the mountains, lakes, streams, and other features were not shown.

Many of the place names on the present-day maps of the Mission Mountains came from the efforts of Theodore Shoemaker, Asahel Curtis, and the Montana Mount...