By 1915 Granite Park Chalets and the Many Glacier Hotel were completed and opened for business; this completed and put into operation the major portion of the Great Northern Hotels in the park. These, along with the private hotels and cabins on Lake McDonald, could now furnish sumptuous quarters and living for as many visitors as the railroad could bring into the area. In 1917 the newly-formed "Glacier Park Hotel Company," charged with operating these hotels and chalets, signed its first twenty-year operation contract with the Department of the Interior. Entrepreneurs like railroaders James J. Hill and son Louis reached into the West and capitalized on the qualities of the frontier landscape that would lure both American tourists and homesteaders. The arrival of the Great Northern Railway into the area was the key to making travel and settlement possible. The construction of a passenger depot and, later, a hotel at the western portal to the park, were only some of the initial steps taken to capitalize on the opportunities that a national park could offer those ready to take advantage. Louis Hill assumed the presidency of the Great Northern in 1907. Just like many other railroads with national park connections, the Great Northern Railways successfully linked travel on its rail lines to the great parks of the West. The Park Service welcomed the development provided by the Great Northern, as there was sparse federal funding available for infrastructure projects aimed at providing services for the visitor.

Credits and Sources:

Donald H. Robinson, Through the Years in Glacier National Park: an Administrative History,Glacier Natural History Association, Inc. In cooperation with the National Park Service, May 1960.

Land of Many Stories: The People and History of Glacier National Park, National Park Service, Montana Hisotrical Society, Glacier Naitonal Park Fund, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation, http://www.nps.gov/features/glac/LMSeTour/centennial_eTour.html, Accessed June 10, 2015.