Rez Rivers (Part 2)

Rez Rivers (part 2)

The more important perennial streams entering Cut Bank Creek from the south are the South Fork of Cut Bank Creek, and Spring Creek. The former heads on the eastern slopes of the continental divide and flows east through a wide morainie basin between Cut Bank and Two Medicine ridges.

Willow Creek rises on the eastern slope of Two Medicine Ridge and flows northeast through a gravelly glacial lake basin, below high morainie ridges. It enters Cut Bank Creek a few miles northwest of the old townsite of Bombay. [There’s still a sign on the railroad track.] West of Blackfoot is a large swamp extending west and north of Browning.

Spring Creek heads in a gap south of the Seville bench and flows east through a wide heavy alkaline basin, entering Cut Bank Creek south of Cut Bank. It is a small perennial stream draining a wide basin below the bench on the north and a broken escarpment lying north of a high rolling drift-covered area on the south.

Two Medicine Creek is also one of the larger streams on the reservation. It heads on the continental divide in the southwestern reservation and flows northeast through several finger lakes, such as Upper and Lower Two Medicine. After emerging from the lakes its course is to the southeast and east through a deep canyon bordered by shaly breaks for 6 or 7 miles east of East Glacier. In the south-central Blackfeet Reservation its course is again to the northeast and east through a deep narrow valley locally bordered with sandstone breaks below the stony hummocky drift-covered uplands. Below the mouth of Little Badger Creek its valley is from one-fourth to one-third mile wide, and east of Family [Holy Family Mission] for 4 to 5 miles is about 2 miles wide. A low terrace or island extends east of Family for about 4 miles and is bordered on the north by a poorly drained bottom one-half mile wide. The valley again closes up to the east along the county line and is bordered by high sandstone breaks and bad lands on the north. Locally, below the breaks, the valley widens out and its rolliing terraced bottom is quite stony.

Summit Creek is a small perennial stream flowing through a deep canyon and entering Two Medicine Creek south of East Glacier. The South Fork of Two Medicine Creek is a large stream draining a large tract on the eastern slopes of the continental divide. It also flows through a deep canyon below a stony bench and joins Two Medicine Creek 6 miles east of East Glacier. Little Badger Creek rises in a morainie area on the eastern slopes of the continental divide and enters Two Medicine Creek in the south-central reservation through a deep valley. Flat Creek heads in a gap northeast of Family. It is an intermittent stream draining a sharply rolling drift-covered area above the breaks of the gap.

Badger Creek carries about the same volume of water as Two Medicine Creek. It heads on the continental divide in Pondera County and flows northeast through a rolling to sharply rolling drift-covered area, entering Two Medicine Creek west of the county line. The stream is enclosed in a deep canyon on the slopes of the mountaiins, but in the south-central part of the reservation its valley widens out to one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile and is bordered locally by sandstone and shaly breaks. Gravelly terraces rise above the stream and its first bottom is largely river wash. Blacktail Creek is a perennial stream entering Badger Creek through a deep valley in the north-central portion of the reservation. It drains a rolling drift-covered area.

Birch Creek forms the south and southeastern boundaries of the Blackfeet Reservation. It flows through a narrow valley bordered by high sandstone breaks. It is a large perennial stream that unites with Cut Bank Creek to form the Marias River.


At this time, no comprehensive study of ground water on the Blackfeet Reservation has been made. Generally speaking, however, the valleys of the major streams such as the Two Medicine, Milk and Cut Bank contains variable amounts of unconsolidated clay, sand and gravel. The beds of sand and gravel are generally water-bearing and will yield water in sufficient quantity for average farm and domestic needs and in places for municipal or industrial requirements. In the stream or river valleys, water often maybe obtained at a depth of 50 feet or less. Elsewhere, depths of 500 to 1000 are not uncommon. In some locations the water is of not too good quality, being alkaline in nature. [Just west of Browning on the “Methodist ranch,” the water is too loaded with iron to wash clothes in -- at least if you want the whites to be white instead of orange.]
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As it turned out, Browning was founded in one of the few watersheds where there is not enough good water for a town. Particularly crucial has been water of good enough quality to support dialysis, which requires very high standards. When Browning was founded no one understood diabetes and dialysis was strictly “sci-fi.” The present solution has been a huge water piping project that begins in Two Medicine inside Glacier Park.

There is much irony, not the mineral kind, in this water project. One factor is that the Rocky Mountains have been getting so much less snowpack that the glaciers that feed all the reservation creeks are shrinking and will disappear, sooner or later. Another is that even after being built, the water pipe will be a point of vulnerability and on-going maintenance expense. A third is that irrigation on the reservation, though it has been for crops, has not gone well and turned out to be a financial burden to the tribe for a century -- even without maintenance, which has been spotty. And the fourth irony, of course, is the Milk River Irrigation project, now in expensive disrepair though several communities depend upon it.