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Here we are at Marias Pass 5,213 feet the lowest Pass in the Rockies. At the other side of Calf Robe is Firebrand Pass, a hike I want to do from Two Medicine. The pass forms the southern limit of the Continental Ranges, a major grouping of the Rocky Mountains. This is a pano I put together.
The Pass: John Stevens, engineer, discovered the Pass in 1890. He almost died in the finding. Trapped on the pass by a brutal Montana blizzard, he kept himself alive by hiking and re-hiking a one hundred yard track he cut through the snow, playing mental word games to keep himself awake and moving and alive.
By 1891 –one year later!– trains were chugging over the pass, at a grade of a mere 1%.
Stevens went on to greater success and fame. He was called upon by Theodore Roosevelt to rescue the Panama Canal. He designed the lock system which made it a success, and did so without sacrificing his workers: he insisted upon the immunization program which controlled yellow fever. There is a statue here honoring him; well deserved I'd say.
The Pass: John Stevens, engineer, discovered the Pass in 1890. He almost died in the finding. Trapped on the pass by a brutal Montana blizzard, he kept himself alive by hiking and re-hiking a one hundred yard track he cut through the snow, playing mental word games to keep himself awake and moving and alive.
By 1891 –one year later!– trains were chugging over the pass, at a grade of a mere 1%.
Stevens went on to greater success and fame. He was called upon by Theodore Roosevelt to rescue the Panama Canal. He designed the lock system which made it a success, and did so without sacrificing his workers: he insisted upon the immunization program which controlled yellow fever. There is a statue here honoring him; well deserved I'd say.