The first human beings to live in the Great
Falls area were Paleo-Indians who migrated into the region between 9,500 BCE
and 8,270 BCE. The earliest inhabitants of North America entered Montana east
of the Continental Divide between the mountains and the Laurentide ice sheet.
The area remained only sparsely inhabited, however. Salish Indians would often
hunt bison in the region on a seasonal basis, but no permanent settlements
existed at or near Great Falls for much of prehistory. Around 1600, Piegan
Blackfoot Indians, migrating west, entered the area, pushing the Salish back
into the Rocky
