Land of Glorious Adversity: Some two hundred and thirty years ago, when this range was first seen, adventurers were prompted to call this the "Land of Shining Mountains." Today, this area could be called "Land of Glorious Adversity, for contemporary scientists tell us that the park was born of fire, quenched by torrential rains, inundated by vast seas, forced upward by internal pressures, and then gouged by great continental ice sheets that came and went on at least four occasions. From this heritage, mountains were molded that reach up to touch the sky and cradle more than 200 lakes. Such is the legacy the eons left for some 60 mammals, 200 birds, and 1,200 plants that now inhabit the 1,538 square miles of Glacier National Park.