THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK IN MONTANA HISTORY

The establishment of Glacier National Park in 1910 represented a watershed moment in Montana history, marking the intersection of indigenous dispossession, conservation ideology, railroad expansion, and the emerging American conservation movement. This northwestern Montana preserve, encompassing more than one million acres of pristine wilderness straddling the Continental Divide, emerged from complex negotiations among competing interests: the Blackfeet Nation's ancestral claims, corporate railroad ambitions, and the nascent environmental advocacy that would define twentieth-century land management policy. The park's creation and subsequent development fundamentally altered Montana's economic trajectory, cultural identity, and relationship with its natural resources.

Indigenous Dispossession and the 1895 Agreement

The land that became Glacier National Park maintained profound spiritual and material significance for the Blackfeet Nation long before European contact. The Blackfeet referred to this mountainous region as the "Backbone of the World," viewing the peaks as living entities integral to their cosmology and traditional practices. According to tribal oral history, the Blackfeet people inhabited this territory for approximately ten thousand years, utilizing the mountain valleys for hunting, plant gathering, and spiritual ceremonies (Thompson et al. 2015).

The 1895 Agreement fundamentally transformed Blackfeet territorial control. Following devastating starvation winters precipitated by the systematic extermination of buffalo herds and government failure to provide treaty-promised rations, the Blackfeet faced desperate circumstances. Between 1883 and 1884 alone, an estimated 600 to 700 Blackfeet perished from starvation. Faced with immediate survival needs, tribal leaders negotiated the sale of 800,000 acres of mountainous land on their reservation's western boundary to the United States government for $1.5 million—half the tribe's initial asking price. During these negotiations, Piikani Chief White Calf protested the loss of sacred mountain territory, characterizing it as his people's "last refuge" (Patterson 2019).

The agreement stipulated that the Blackfeet would retain hunting, fishing, wood-cutting, and plant-gathering rights on the ceded lands so long as they remained publicly owned. However, when Congress established Glacier National Park in 1910, these reserved rights faced judicial extinguishment. In 1932, a United States District Court determined that the park designation had effectively nullified Blackfeet subsistence rights, ruling that the tribe had failed to adequately demonstrate their use of these privileges between 1895 and 1910. This legal interpretation represented a significant reinterpretation of the original agreement's terms, severing Blackfeet traditional access to lands they had occupied for millennia.

The Conservation Campaign of George Bird Grinnell

George Bird Grinnell emerged as the principal architect of the movement to establish Glacier as a national park. A Yale-educated naturalist, anthropologist, and editor of the influential periodical Forest and Stream, Grinnell first visited the region in 1885 on a hunting expedition guided by James Willard Schultz. The landscape's magnificence profoundly affected Grinnell, who dubbed the area the "Crown of the Continent" in 1901, a designation that endures in contemporary park literature.

Grinnell's advocacy extended across nearly two decades of persistent effort. He leveraged his editorial platform at Forest and Stream to publish numerous articles glorifying the region's scenic splendor, attempting to generate public enthusiasm for preservation. His strategy encompassed multiple dimensions: journalistic promotion, political lobbying, and mobilization of influential conservation organizations. As co-founder of the Boone and Crockett Club alongside Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, Grinnell possessed direct access to powerful political networks. The club's membership included senators, congressmen, and other influential figures whom Grinnell methodically cultivated as advocates for the park proposal.

The campaign faced substantial opposition. Montana residents expressed concern about removing productive lands from economic use. Mining, timber, and oil interests viewed park designation as an impediment to resource extraction. Congressional skeptics questioned the wisdom of preserving land merely for aesthetic purposes. Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon of Georgia challenged the necessity of creating another national park, prompting Montana Senator Thomas Carter to defend the proposal by noting that Americans spent two million dollars annually visiting Switzerland's mountains. Carter's argument reframed park establishment as economic nationalism—creating domestic alternatives to European tourism (Boone and Crockett Club).

President Calvin Coolidge later acknowledged Grinnell's monumental contributions to American conservation, stating in 1925 that "The Glacier National Park is particularly your monument." The park's features bear testament to Grinnell's influence: Mount Grinnell and Grinnell Glacier commemorate his decades of advocacy. President William Howard Taft signed the legislation establishing Glacier National Park on May 11, 1910, designating it as America's tenth national park.

The Great Northern Railway and Tourist Infrastructure

The Great Northern Railway played an indispensable role in both advocating for the park's creation and developing its tourist infrastructure. When the railway crossed the Continental Divide at Marias Pass in 1891—following engineer John F. Stevens' successful route identification—company executives recognized the commercial potential of the adjacent wilderness. The railway's line ran directly along what would become the park's southern boundary, positioning the company to benefit substantially from increased tourism.

Louis W. Hill, who assumed the Great Northern Railway presidency in 1907, orchestrated an ambitious marketing campaign to transform Glacier into a premier tourist destination. Hill launched the "See America First" campaign, explicitly designed to redirect affluent American tourists from European destinations, particularly the Swiss Alps, toward domestic attractions. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 effectively halted European travel for many Americans, significantly amplifying the campaign's effectiveness. Hill branded the Montana Rockies as "America's Alps" and selected Swiss chalet architectural styles for park structures, creating deliberate associations with European alpine tourism while emphasizing unique American characteristics through rustic Western design elements and indigenous motifs.

The railway company invested substantial capital in constructing hotels, chalets, and trail networks throughout the park. Between 1910 and 1915, the Great Northern Railway erected an extensive system of accommodations, including the Glacier Park Lodge (1913), the Many Glacier Hotel (1915), and numerous backcountry chalets such as Sperry and Granite Park. These structures were designed by architect Thomas McMahon and built with enormous unpeeled log pillars and massive stone fireplaces, creating dramatic spaces that merged European sophistication with frontier aesthetics. The buildings employed Swiss chalet design principles—prominent gable ends, wide eaves supported by corbels, extensive balconies, and decorative fretwork—while incorporating Native American decorative elements and rustic materials.

The Great Northern Railway's promotional efforts extended beyond physical infrastructure. The company commissioned professional photographers and artists to document the park's scenery, distributing these images through postcards, calendars, and advertising materials nationwide. The railway also employed Blackfeet tribal members as "ambassadors," positioning them at hotels and train stations to provide visitors with indigenous cultural experiences. These arrangements generated complex dynamics: while providing economic opportunities for some Blackfeet individuals, the presentations often reinforced romanticized stereotypes and obscured the recent dispossession of tribal lands.

Engineering the Going-to-the-Sun Road

The construction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road between 1921 and 1933 represented one of the most ambitious civil engineering projects in National Park Service history. When Glacier was established, only a few miles of primitive wagon trails existed within park boundaries. The park's first superintendent, William Logan, recognized that a transmountain road would dramatically increase accessibility, transforming Glacier from an exclusive preserve for wealthy railway passengers into a destination accessible to middle-class automobile owners.

Initial planning commenced in 1918 when National Park Service engineer George Goodwin proposed a route requiring fifteen switchbacks to ascend Logan Creek to the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. Landscape architect Thomas Chalmers Vint challenged this design, proposing an alternative route along the Garden Wall escarpment that would require only one switchback. In 1924, National Park Service Director Stephen Mather, accompanied by Goodwin, Vint, and park superintendent Charles Kraebel, inspected the competing routes. After extended debate, Mather endorsed Vint's proposal, recognizing its reduced environmental impact despite increased construction costs and engineering challenges.

Frank Kittredge of the Bureau of Public Roads directed the 1924 survey expedition, leading teams that climbed up to 3,000 vertical feet daily merely to reach work sites. The grueling conditions produced turnover rates approaching 300 percent among survey crews. Construction began at both ends of the proposed route in 1921, with Congress initially appropriating $100,000 annually. In 1924, appropriations increased to $1 million for a three-year intensive construction program.

The engineering challenges defied conventional road-building techniques. Workers confronted sheer cliff faces, short construction seasons limited by sixty-foot snowdrifts, and the necessity of carving roadway directly into solid rock. National Park Service policy prohibited large explosive blasts that would scar the landscape, mandating careful, time-intensive blasting methods using small charges. Skilled stonemasons constructed bridges, retaining walls, and guardrails from native stone quarried on-site, creating structures that harmonized with the natural environment. The Triple Arches section exemplified this approach, with three massive stone arches supporting sixty feet of roadway across a precipitous gap.

Three workers died during construction, and countless others resigned due to vertigo-inducing working conditions. The completed road stretched fifty-two miles from West Glacier to St. Mary, reaching its highest elevation of 6,646 feet at Logan Pass on the Continental Divide. The project consumed twelve years and $2.5 million. Though construction finished in 1932, the road was not fully paved until 1952. Glacier National Park formally dedicated the Going-to-the-Sun Road on July 15, 1933, in a ceremony attended by over 4,000 people at Logan Pass. The dedication featured speeches from Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and National Park Service Director Horace Albright, musical performances by the Blackfeet Tribal Band, and ceremonial peace proceedings among Blackfeet, Flathead, and Kootenai representatives.

The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

In 1932, the United States and Canada established the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, creating the world's first transboundary protected area explicitly dedicated to symbolizing international cooperation and goodwill. The initiative originated at the grassroots level through Rotary International chapters in Alberta and Montana. On July 4-5, 1931, approximately one hundred Rotarians from clubs in Cardston, Lethbridge, and Calgary, Alberta, and Great Falls, Kalispell, and Missoula, Montana, convened at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. Reverend Canon S.H. Middleton of Cardston introduced a resolution calling upon both nations' governments to unite Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park as an international peace park.

The proposal received legislative support from Canadian Member of Parliament Brigadier-General John Smith Stewart and Montana Congressman Scott Leavitt. The 72nd United States Congress passed enabling legislation on December 8, 1931, which the Senate approved in March 1932. Canadian Parliament subsequently passed parallel legislation, receiving royal assent on May 26, 1932. The formal dedication ceremony occurred on June 18, 1932, at Glacier Park Lodge, with Sir Charles Arthur Mander, 2nd Baronet, delivering the dedication address. The Canadian dedication ceremony, delayed by Great Depression economic constraints, finally took place in July 1936.

The peace park designation carried practical and symbolic significance. While both parks maintained separate administrations, budgets, and entrance fees, the designation encouraged collaborative management of shared ecosystems. Wildlife populations, particularly the celebrated elk herd that migrates annually between summer mountain habitat in Glacier and winter prairie ranges in Waterton, traverse the international boundary without regard to political divisions. The parks cooperate on research initiatives, visitor education programs, and resource management strategies that acknowledge ecological continuity across political borders.

UNESCO recognized this transnational collaboration by designating Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park as a World Heritage Site in 1995, acknowledging both its exceptional natural features and its significance as a model of international environmental cooperation. The designation identified the parks' superlative mountain scenery, glacial landforms, and remarkable biodiversity. In 2017, the International Dark-Sky Association further designated the peace park as an International Dark Sky Park, marking the first such recognition to span an international border.

Economic and Cultural Impact on Montana

Glacier National Park fundamentally reshaped Montana's economy and cultural identity throughout the twentieth century. The park catalyzed tourism infrastructure development across northwestern Montana, generating employment in hospitality, guiding, transportation, and related service sectors. Gateway communities including Whitefish, Columbia Falls, West Glacier, St. Mary, and East Glacier Park developed economic models centered on seasonal tourist influxes. The park attracted approximately three million annual visitors by 2019, generating an estimated $275 million in spending within gateway communities.

However, this economic transformation produced uneven benefits. Communities on the park's western boundary, particularly those in Flathead County, captured substantially greater tourism revenues compared to communities on the eastern boundary adjacent to the Blackfeet Reservation. According to the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, non-resident spending in Flathead County totaled $505.5 million in 2016, contrasting sharply with the $92.7 million spent in Glacier County, where the Blackfeet Reservation is located. This economic disparity reflects historical patterns of resource control and infrastructure investment that systematically disadvantaged indigenous communities.

The park's creation also influenced Montana's cultural self-conception and external reputation. Glacier became emblematic of Montana's identity as "Big Sky Country," a place where dramatic landscapes define regional character. The park's iconic imagery—jagged peaks reflected in alpine lakes, bighorn sheep navigating precipitous slopes, Going-to-the-Sun Road carved into cliff faces—appeared in countless promotional materials, establishing visual shorthand for Montana's wilderness character. This branding attracted not only tourists but also new residents seeking proximity to preserved landscapes, contributing to demographic and economic changes across northwestern Montana.

Conclusion

Glacier National Park's establishment and development illuminate the complex forces that shaped twentieth-century Montana. The park emerged from the convergence of indigenous dispossession, conservation ideology, corporate railroad interests, and evolving American attitudes toward wilderness preservation. The 1895 Agreement that transferred Blackfeet lands to federal control, George Bird Grinnell's decades of advocacy, the Great Northern Railway's infrastructure investments, and the monumental engineering achievement of the Going-to-the-Sun Road collectively transformed an indigenous homeland into a national preserve.

The park's history reflects broader tensions in American environmental history: between resource extraction and preservation, between indigenous sovereignty and federal control, between exclusive tourism and democratic access. The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park designation demonstrated that protected landscapes could transcend political boundaries, offering models for transnational environmental cooperation that remain relevant amid contemporary challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

For Montana specifically, Glacier National Park represents both achievement and ambiguity. The park preserved spectacular landscapes that might otherwise have succumbed to extractive industries, providing recreational opportunities and economic benefits for millions of visitors. Simultaneously, the park's creation dispossessed the Blackfeet Nation of sacred territories, institutionalized unequal access to natural resources, and established patterns of economic distribution that continue to disadvantage indigenous communities. Understanding this multifaceted history remains essential for contemporary discussions about public land management, indigenous rights, and the complex legacies of American conservation.

Works Cited

Boone and Crockett Club. "Grinnell's Glacier National Park – B&C Impact Series." Boone and Crockett Club, https://www.boone-crockett.org/grinnells-glacier-national-park-bc-impact-series. Accessed 15 February 2026.

"Building Going-to-the-Sun Road." Montana History Portal, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/119552. Accessed 15 February 2026.

"Going-to-the-Sun Road - National Historic Landmark." Historic Montana, https://historicmt.org/items/show/2850. Accessed 15 February 2026.

"Great Northern Railway Buildings, Glacier National Park - National Historic Landmark." Historic Montana, https://historicmt.org/items/show/3238. Accessed 15 February 2026.

Patterson, Allie. "Blackfeet Removal from Glacier National Park." Intermountain Histories, 24 September 2019, https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/341. Accessed 15 February 2026.

Thompson, Sally N., Kootenai Culture Committee, and Pikunni Traditional Association. People Before the Park: The Kootenai and Blackfeet Before Glacier National Park. Montana Historical Society Press, 2015.

"Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park." UNESCO World Heritage Centre, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/354/. Accessed 15 February 2026.

"Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and the International." Intermountain Histories, https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/891. Accessed 15 February 2026.