Glacier's Historic Hotels & Chalets: View with a Room

by Ray Djuff, Chris Morrison, Louis F. Hill (Foreword by)

This unique book traces the 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 the Great Northern Railway in both parks, in addition to the histories Belton Chalets Cut Bank Chalets Glacier Park Lodge Goathaunt Chalet Going-to-the-Sun Chalets Granite Park Chalets Gunsight Chalets Lake McDonald Lodge Many Glacier Hotel Prince of Wales Hotel Rising Sun Auto Cabins St. Mary Chalets Sperry Chalets Swiftcurrent Auto Cabins Two Medicine Chalets Generously illustrated with color photographs of Great Northern promotional materials, as well as black-and-whites of guests and staff at play and work.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2001

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very interested in this because I lived there in 1960 when my father was the general manager of the hotel/motel company. We also visited in 1958.

I think this book is worth reading for a historical overview but not as a "travel guide." Something about it seems amateurish, too, but that's not surprising, as it probably was a labor of love. The market for this must be small!

[Paul Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glacier National Park's founding was due in large part to the efforts of the Great Northern Railway. As part of their strategy to make GNP the "Switzerland of the United States," the railway constructed a series of hotels and chalets in Glacier. This allowed the Railway and America to compete against Canadian and European resorts and tourist attractions. At that time there was a growing concern about American tourists dollars leaving the country. This was part of the solution. View with a Room does an outstanding job of telling this interesting story.