Historic Glacier National Park

Historic Glacier National Park captures the most interesting moments in the park’s history, the slices of life in northwestern Montana that provide an idea of what life was like for those who chose to explore this gloriously beautiful snowy corner of the United States. There’s the presence of Native Americans in nearly every aspect of the park’s history, the significant influence of the Great Northern Railway as a leader as the park gained its footing, and people who made history in this astonishing Rocky Mountain landscape. Once Congress decided to make Glacier a national park, developers created hotels, chalets, campgrounds, residences, and the most spectacularly scenic road in the United States. Historic Glacier National Park provides just enough of this rich history to make the experience of visiting the park better than expected.

Glacier National Park in northern Montana offers visitors the chance to be immersed in a pristine landscape, and an opportunity to experience the Rocky Mountain West in all its unspoiled glory.

Pres. William Howard Taft signed the bill creating Glacier National Park in 1910, and a wilderness paradise in northwestern Montana was born. This book illustrates the park's evolution, from the Great Northern Railroad days, Native American presence, lodges, chalets, and camps, to majestic scenery and wildlife--all in vintage postcards. The opening of Glacier National Park coincided with the popularity of postcards across the nation, and hence this visual documentation of Glacier's many wonders is thorough and encompassing. With the celebration of its centennial in 2010, Glacier National Park continues to provide us with one of the last best places to visit.

Traces creation and use of Great Northern Railway's hotels and chalet colonies in Glacier National Park, and Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton Lakes National Park. Anecdotes, inside correspondence, and park and corporate lore. Covers history of Great Northern in the parks, and histories of: Belton ChaletsCut Bank ChaletsGlacier Park LodgeGoathaunt ChaletGoing-to-the-Sun ChaletsGranite Park ChaletsGunsight ChaletsLake McDonald LodgeMany Glacier HotelPrince of Wales HotelRising Sun Auto CabinsSt. Mary ChaletsSperry ChaletsSwiftcurrent Auto CabinsTwo Medicine ChaletsGenerously illustrated with color photographs of Great Northern promotional materials, and black-and-whites of guests and staff at play and work.

This is a book of stories collected from the Blackfeet Tribe from the Glacier National Park written by a man who had married a Blackfeet, lived among the people from the tribe for many years, and was considered one of them. It gives many places names in Glacier, such as just who was Running Eagle or Pitamakin, familiar to all people who visited this wonderful area. These stories are captured from oral Blackfoot tradition and tell about ancient indigenous cultures, which carry their outstanding actions to our times.

Packed with an administrative history of Glacier National Park from 1910 to 1960, "Through the Years" features 31 historical photographs, including the original Apgar Cabin, Old McCarthyville, the former town of Altyn, the original Snyder Hotel, and the dedication ceremony at Logan Pass for the opening of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Adventures in the wilderness can be dramatic and deadly. Glacier National Park’s death records date back to January 1913, when a man froze to death while snowshoeing between Cut Bank and St. Mary. All told, 260 people have died or are presumed to have died in the park during the first hundred years of its existence. One man fell into a crevasse on East Gunsight Peak while skiing its steep north face, and another died while moonlight biking on the Sun Road. A man left his wife and five children at the Apgar picnic area and disappeared on Lake McDonald. His boat was found halfway up the west shore wedged between rocks with the propeller stuck in gravel. Collected here are some the most gripping accounts in park history of these unfortunate events caused by natural forces or human folly.