Work implies that the name did not originate with him, but with American fur trappers who had been using the area extensively to hunt beaver for the previous two decades.

[3] The course of the upper of the Little Blackfoot river (above Dog Creek) was established some time before the start of the Wisconsin glaciation (approximately 85,000 years ago) when a glacier on Thunderbolt Mountain deepened the valley floor.

[3] Water flow in the river also varies considerably, with a peak in May due to snowmelt and heavy spring rains.

[12] U.S. Route 12 parallels the river beginning about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Elliston to the stream's discharge at Garrison.

[15] At least 20 inactive or abandoned mines were identified by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in 1995 as capable of having a significant potential impact on the watershed, and 15 of these are considered to be of high concern.

[c][18] The 21.6-mile (34.8 km)[19] upper Little Blackfoot River (headwaters to Dog Creek) are only partially able to support aquatic life or a viable fishery, but otherwise may be safely used for agriculture, drinking water, industry, and recreation.

It, too, is only partially able to support aquatic life or a viable fishery, and caution should be used when utilizing the river for drinking water or recreation.

[22] On the upper Little Blackfoot, cadmium, copper, cyanide, and lead exceeded by at least 10 percent the limit in which chronic impairment occurs in aquatic life.

[24] Although the fishery is generally healthy, westslope cutthroat trout have been listed as a "species of concern" by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks due to declining numbers and loss of habitat.

Bull trout, as a "threatened" species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,[24] have been extirpated from the watershed.

[25] Trampling of vegetation, largely by grazing cattle, has left the upper Little Blackfoot River prone to silting, with few deep pools or snags to provide habitat for fish.

Between Elliston and North Trout Creek, lack of vegetation (due to cattle grazing and haying) has created significant erosion and sedimentation.

From Homestead Gulch to Beck Hill Road, the lower Little Blackfoot had numerous segments of excellent to severely degraded riparian conditions.