Ahern, George Patrick, 1959-1940.

George Patrick Ahern was born in New York on December 29, 1859, the son of Patrick Henry Ahern and Ann Dwyer Ahern. He attended Yale University and then graduated from West Point.

As a young lieutenant, he took part in a number of military campaigns against the Sioux and the Blackfeet. On his travels, he observed the deforestation of western forests. In 1890, while stationed at Fort Shaw, he explored the region that later became Glacier National Park. Ahern Pass, Ahern Peak, Ahern Glacier, and Ahern Creek are named for him.

He was one of a number of people proposing forest reserves in Montana, including the Bitterroot and Gallatin forest reserves. He returned east to study law at Yale and wrote a thesis entitled "The necessity for forestry legislation". In 1897 Ahern headed Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts's military department, and incorporated forestry in the curriculums.

With the outbreak of the Spanish American War, Ahern was assigned to the Philippine Bureau of Forestry. He remained there until 1914. He was chief of military intelligence during World War I. He retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel.

George P. Ahern died in Washington DC on May 13, 1940.

From the description of George Ahern scrapbook, 1882-1901. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 310423873