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SEE IT FOR YOURSELF
Every day at 4 p.m. during the summer, a Glacier National Park ranger leads visi- tors on a free historic tour of the Many Glacier Hotel. The tour takes about an hour and starts inside the hotel lobby. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/glac.
President Franklin Roosevelt visited the hotel for lunch in 1934. COURTESY GLACIER NATIONAL PARK
THE MANY GLACIER HOTEL THROUGH THE YEARS
1910: President Taft signs legislation creating Glacier National Park.
1911: The Great Northern Railway erects a teepee tent camp on the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake, then known as McDermott Lake.
1912: The railway builds a group of chalets to house more guests.
1913: A sawmill is built at Many Glacier to help construct the proposed hotel.
1914: Construction begins on the Many Glacier Hotel.
1915: Many Glacier Hotel opens on July 4. Nearly half of the park’s 13,000 visitors stay at Many Glacier that year.
1917: The railway expands the hotel making it the largest in Montana.
1925: National Park Service Director Stephen Mather comes to Many Glacier and personally blows up the sawmill that was used to build the hotel because he thought it was an eyesore. He tells guests the explosion was a birthday surprise for his daughter but the railroad is furious.
1934: President Franklin D. Roosevelt comes to Many Glacier for lunch as part of his tour of Glacier National Park.
1936: The Heavens Peak Fire nearly burns down the hotel but employees work through the night to save it.
1943 – 1945: The Many Glacier Hotel and other lodges in the park are closed during World War II. 1960: The National Governor’s Conference is held in Many Glacier. To deal with the influx of guests, the hotel orders an extra 106 cases of liquor.
1964: The first floor of the hotel is inundated with water during the Flood of 1964.
1987: The Many Glacier Hotel is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
1997: Robin Williams comes to Many Glacier to film a scene for “What Dreams May Come.”
2000: Faced with millions of dollars worth of repairs, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt tells the U.S. Senate he can take care of the hotel “with a can of gasoline and a match.”
2001: The National Park Service begins extensive renovations to protect the hotel.
ABOVE: Many Glacier Hotel with groups of tourists waiting to board touring buses, circa 1920. COURTESY GLACIER NATIONAL PARK.
LEFT: People sitting on the Many Glacier Hotel porch. COURTESY T.J. HILEMAN, GLACIER NATIONAL PARK
Historic Landmark. In the 15 years since, the Park Service has continued to make improvements to the structure so that it will last for years to come. The Park Ser- vice is also partnering with the Glacier National Park Conservancy and private donors to restore some of the building’s “character-defining features,” includ- ing an iconic spiral staircase that was removed in the 1950s and Oriental light- ing that was a prominent fixture in the lobby in the 1910s.
The hotel’s current operator, Xan- terra Parks and Resorts, is also making efforts to bring back some of the tra- ditions that made the hotel so special, including musical performances put on by the employees. From the 1960s to the 1980s, hotel managers recruited drama and music students from around the country to work at Many Glacier. Diane Sine was hired in 1980 as a singing wait- ress and said that employees performed or practiced seven nights a week. At the end of every summer, they would put on a Broadway musical for guests.
Djuff, the Calgary-based historian who has helped produce nine books on Glacier and its historic hotels, said it is amazing the Many Glacier Hotel has withstood the test of time. He said it is a testament to the work of people like Hill and others who helped develop the park.
“These facilities are as loved today as they were 100 years ago and that is an amazing legacy,” Djuff said. “That’s a leg- acy that Louis Hill would be proud off.”
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JULY 8, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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