Visitors to the former bank vault at Glacier Discovery Square in Columbia Falls now are greeted with a life-sized photo of Bob Marshall, the namesake of the more than 1 million-acre wilderness complex along the Continental Divide and founder of the original Wilderness Society.

The exhibit features a series of historic photos of old-timers constructing trails in “The Bob.” 

They include building one of the early bridges over the South Fork of the Flathead River at Meadow Creek Gorge and using a horse-drawn plow and grader to construct trails.

The historic photos are balanced with those of current foundation crews working in the wilderness doing trail maintenance, weed eradication and historic preservation.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a reconstruction of an original trail camp complete with tools used to build trails in the wilderness in the early days.

The exhibit also provides a brief history of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, recognizes its many partners, and explains how people can get involved with wilderness work.

The exhibit will remain at Discovery Square for a year. The display may then move to the Museum at Central School in Kalispell for another year, as past Discovery Square displays have done.

The exhibit was put together by three foundation board members — Al Koss, Ralph Hopkins and Fred Flint — with help from Stu Sorensen. Gil Jordan, executive director of the Museum at Central School, provided technical advice and support.

Funding for the project was provided by the foundation with help from the Flathead National Forest and the Museum at Central School.

The foundation is a nonprofit organization that assists in maintaining and restoring the trail system of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex with national organizations, youth groups and individual volunteers. The foundation fosters wilderness stewardship skills and education through volunteer opportunities in Montana’s premier wilderness areas and surrounding wild lands.