Montana Geographic Names Advisor
Geographic Name Change Request
Liebig Creek
Flathead County, Montana
Status =
Withdrawn
| Description |
Stream,
2.6 miles long,
heads 3.9 miles SW of Ashley Mountain |
| Location |
48°14’41”N, 114°46’35”W, |
| PLSS Location |
Sections 15, 22, and 27, Township 29 North, Range 25 West |
| Proposal |
new commemorative name for an unnamed feature |
| Proponent |
Ema Braunberger, Flathead National Forest |
| Administrative area |
Flathead National Forest |
| Previous BGN Action |
None |
| See also |
|
| GNIS ID |
0
|
| Local Usage |
None found
|
| Published |
None found
|
This 2.6-mile long unnamed stream proposed to be named Liebig Creek is located in the Tally Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest. The stream flows into Squaw Meadows Creek, the name of which is proposed to be changed to Kakqukpayli'it Aknuxu'nuk. The latter name was proposed by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes in 2010, but is awaiting further action pending the need for further research.
The proposed name Liebig Creek is intended to honor Frank L. Liebig (1872-1950), an early forest ranger who served as the first district ranger on the Tally Lake Ranger District. Mr. Liebig moved to the Flathead area around 1901 after working as a foreman on a cattle ranch in eastern Montana. He was educated in forestry in Germany, but left Europe to escape military service. According to the National Park Service (Man in the Glacier: Chapter Three: Explorers and Exploiters, Glacier National Park Historical Collections): "He was given the area from Belton to the Canadian border and from the North Fork eastward to the Blackfeet Reservation (the entire area now designated as Glacier National Park). He was told to look for fires, to keep the main trails open, to prevent the stealing of timber, to keep squatters and game violators out, and to turn in his daily reports at the end of each month in order to get paid. Then his supervisor gave him a double-bitted axe, a one-man crosscut saw, and a box of ammunition and told him to "Go to it and good luck." In addition "he watched sawmill operations in the [valleys of the] Swiftcurrent [Creek] and St. Mary valleys, rescued an ungrateful lady from a crevasse in Sperry Glacier, and during numerous escapades came close to being burned, drowned, and frozen." After the Park was designated in 1910, Liebig then worked for the Flathead National Forest until he retired in 1935. Liebig was also well-known for his skill as a taxidermist, with many of his specimens now in the Glacier National Park Collection.
GNIS lists one other feature in Montana with "Liebig" in its name; a summit in Flathead County, 48 miles east of the stream in question, is named Mount Liebig.
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| Montana Geographic Names Advisor Recommendation -
None
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