Brave New World

Hell Gate took its name from the canyon a few miles west. French-Canadian trappers called the narrow pass Porte de l'Enfer, the gate of hell, by the usual account because Blackfeet and other plains war parties ambushed Salish and Nez Perce hunters there on their way to buffalo country. The trading post Worden and Higgins opened in 1860 inherited the name. When the settlement moved to the mouth of Rattlesnake Creek it became Missoula Mills, then Missoula, from the Salish name for the river, nmesuletkʷ, often taken to mean river of ambush; it means something closer to cold water.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• A Carousel for Missoula — 5.3 mi
  A cabinetmaker's promise to the city council: give it a home, and he would carve the horses.
• Fort Missoula — 8.7 mi
  An 1877 Army post that held Italian seamen and Japanese immigrant men behind its fence in World War II.
• Missoula Smokejumper Visitor Center — 10 mi
  The base of the crews descended from the first two men ever to parachute onto a forest fire.
• Travelers' Rest State Park — 13 mi
  The one Lewis and Clark campsite with proof in the ground: hearths, gun lead and a latrine still laced with mercury.

More markers nearby

• Twilight of an Era — steps away
• Many Cultures Forged Strong Communities — steps away
• Homeward Bound on a Risky Shortcut — steps away
• The Lolo Trail — 12 mi