Robert Marshall, a foremost figure in wilderness preservation, worked for the National Forest Service, and in the 1930s succeeded in setting aside over 5 million acres of wilderness. He is reputed to have often covered more than 70 miles of backcountry travel in a day and considered 35 mile day trips as routine. His goal was to set aside areas where a person could "spend at least a week or two of travel... without crossing his own tracks." Two years after his death in 1939, three wilderness areas were combined and commemorated into this area. Later in the 1970s, the addition of the contiguous Great Bear and Scapegoat Wildernesses created a roadless area ranking among the largest and finest in the world and generally referred to as "Bob Marshall Country."
Over 100 trails criss-cross the wilderness area, making planning vital, and if your trip includes a fording of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, you are cautioned to carry extra food -- you may have to wait several days before the river can be safely crossed.
The Trail Guide to Bob Marshall Country by Erik Molvar: Falcon Press, Helena, MT; 1994; 292 pages.
see June, 1996 Backpacker magazine, page 54 for info on the Chinese Wall hike (75 mile loop)