Wheeler Cabin Restoration Nears Completion on Glacier’s Lake McDonald
Built in 1942 by U.S. Sen. Burton K. Wheeler and his wife, Lulu, the cabin will be preserved for public use after the Glacier National Park Conservancy raised nearly $1 million to fix it
By Butch Larcombe
Almost seven years after narrowly escaping a raging wildfire, the historic Wheeler Cabin on the shores of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park is finding new life as a roughly $1 million restoration project nears completion.
While the long-term plan is for the cabin to be open to the public and serve as a day-use retreat center, the timing of an official unveiling remains undetermined. “The restoration portion of this cabin project will be done this year,” said Doug Mitchell, executive director of the Glacier National Park Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that has raised money for the project.
While the park is working out details for future use of the cabin, officials view the restored property as a valuable addition to Glacier.
“The best way to care for something is to be there using it,” Dave Roemer, Glacier’s superintendent, said this week. “We foresee continuing to work with the Glacier National Park Conservancy and to use this space to support the vision of a center for peace, where people can come together to work on issues of international conservation and cooperation.”
The restoration work has been broad: a new well, water and sewer, upgraded plumbing and electrical, along with some minor interior renovation and added accessibility features. Future projects, including window reglazing and repairs to log chinking, will likely be done by volunteers.
Another part of the project involved the razing and removal of several guest cabins and outbuildings near the Wheeler Cabin that were heavily damaged in the Howe Ridge Fire in 2018. Working to save the main cabin, Mitchell said quick-witted fire crews used a home fire extinguisher to douse flames in the cabin’s eaves and saved the structure from extensive damage. Charred trees rest on the ground just a few yards from the cabin, serving as stark reminders of its narrow escape.
A big chunk of the money for the cabin project came from a 2023 state historic preservation grant for $500,000. Needing more money to complete the work, the Glacier conservancy worked to raise at least another $300,000.
“We’ve had contributions ranging from $25 to $100,000,” Mitchell said. The donations have come from what he describes as “a coalition of the willing” that includes members of the extended Wheeler family and friends, historic preservation advocates and foundations. Along with repairs and preservation work intended to restore the cabin’s “historic patina,” the money will also pay for interpretive signs and other materials outlining the structure’s historical significance for visitors.
Helena-based Dick Anderson Construction is doing much of the restoration work, while A&E Design is overseeing architectural aspects. The expected total cost of the project? “All in, it’s going to be somewhere between $900,000 and a million,” Mitchell said.
The cabin, modest by modern standards, was built in 1942 by U.S. Senator Burton K. Wheeler and his wife Lulu as a replacement for a more primitive cabin that couple had owned since 1916. That first cabin, located on property leased from the National Park Service, burned in 1941.
The cabins served as a summer home for the multiple generations of the Wheeler family for nearly a century, starting when Wheeler served as U.S. District Attorney in Butte. When he and his family lived in the Washington, D.C. area, they would make the long cross-country journey to the shores of Lake McDonald, often staying for the entire summer.
While Burton Wheeler died in 1975, the lakeside cabin was used by family members for nearly four more decades. As part of a 1942 deal that smoothed the way for the construction of the current cabin, the Wheelers agreed to turn over the structure sitting on leased land to the National Park Service after the death of the last of their six children. The transfer occurred in 2014.
The Wheeler Cabin was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The nomination form notes that the one-and-a-half-story log-walled cabin, largely designed by Lulu Wheeler, maintains the rustic style of the original version that burned.
The complex political career of her husband also adds to the historical significance of the cabin, the nomination notes. A Democrat who served in the U.S. Senate from 1923 to 1947, Wheeler played a sizable role in the investigation of the Teapot Dome oil scandal and later was a key supporter of the New Deal. Wheeler later became a frequent critic of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, largely due to his opposition to FDR’s “court-packing” proposal, which sought to add judges to the nine-member U.S. Supreme Court.
While details about the future use of the Wheeler cabin are still being developed, general discussion among Glacier officials has focused on creating a spot for meaningful gatherings in what Mitchell describes as “an incredibly powerful landscape,” adding “when I’m there, I feel very peaceful.”
Butch Larcombe worked for three decades as a newspaper editor and reporter, as well as editor of Montana Magazine. His books include “Historic Takes of Flathead Lake” and “Montana Disasters: True Stories of Treasure State Tragedies and Triumphs.” He lives near Woods Bay.