The Kootenai lived in the area for more than 14,000 years, inhabiting the mountainous terrain west of the Continental Divide, and traveled east of the divide for occasional buffalo hunts. Long before the first Europeans came to Whitefish, native American tribes inhabited the area, most notably the Kootenai, the Pend d'Oreilles, and the Bitterroot Salish.
According to the 2020 United States Census, there were 7,751 people in the city. Whitefish ( Salish: epɫx̣ʷy̓u, 'has whitefish' ) is a city in Flathead County, Montana, United States.
