Rich in history and native culture, the small town of St. Ignatius on the Flathead Indian Reservation offers beautiful views of the Mission Valley. You'll find Native American crafts, artifacts and antiques here. The St. Ignatius Mission features 58 interior murals painted by Brother Joseph Carignano. Year-round, the National Bison Range offers the opportunity to view 500 bison roaming on natural grassland, along with elk, bighorn sheep, antelope and deer on self-guided auto tours.

It was named for and is the site of the St. Ignatius Mission, established by Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Belgian Jesuit Catholic missionary who worked for his entire career in the American Midwest and West. The mission is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In July 1919 the town was all but wiped out by raging forest fire. Only a bank, one store and a hotel, remained standing.