The Lake McDonald area in what is now Glacier National Park was a tourist destination long before the national park was created. In 1895, George Snyder constructed his Snyder Hotel on the shore of the lake. Since there were no roads along the lake, tourists would travel to Apgar at the foot of the lake and then by steamboat to the hotel.
In 1906, George Snyder sold his Glacier House hotel on Lake McDonald to John E. and Olive Lewis who owned the Gaylord Hotel in nearby Columbia Falls, Montana as well as the J.E. Lewis Fur Company which traded with local trappers and Indians. There are a number of different stories about the transfer of the deed. According to one version, Snyder had gotten drunk and lost the hotel to Lewis in a poker game. In another version, Snyder had simply gotten tired of the isolation of Lake McDonald and had sold the facility to Lewis for $1,500. The Lewises renamed the facility the Glacier Hotel.
In 1910, Glacier National Park was created which included Lake McDonald. The Great Northern Railway, which had advocated the formation of the park, created a subsidiary company, the Glacier Park Hotel Company, to build an extensive network of hotels and chalets in the Park. This meant that the Lewises’ rather austere Glacier Hotel would have to compete against the new hotels operated by the railway. In order to compete, they hired a prominent architect from Spokane, Washington, Kirtland Cutter, to design a new, Swiss-inspired hotel. One hundred years ago, on June 14, 1914, the Lake McDonald Lodge opened with a gala event attended by 500 people.
Originally, guests arrived at the Lodge by boat, but with the opening of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in 1932, guests began arriving at the backdoor. The architect had intended the rear of the hotel to be used as a staff entrance and so the Lewises added balconies on the back and changed the lobby to accommodate the automobile tourists.
The Lewises eventually sold the hotel and the surrounding property to another subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway in 1930 for $275,000. The railway then sold the hotel and property to the National Park Service for half of their purchase price and a twenty-year lease on the property.
The photos shown below were taken on March 31, 2017.
Third EPIC Glacier National Park Meetup
Enjoy vistas beyond words, hike with friends through gorgeous Alpine forests along rushing streams, take a bus ride with still more friends up Going-to-the-Sun Road, have a hike led by famous Daily Kos Glacier & Native American Information Expert Ojibwa, chat over a BBQ and campfire, learn why it is referred to as the “Crown of the Continent”, and find quiet contemplative solitude among the endless peaks, lakes, and streams. Also, no telling what Dkos luminairies and/or Dkos nefarious characters will attend! :)
The date of the meet-up is… Friday, June 30th, July 1st, and July 2nd. There will be a welcoming BBQ on Thursday evening, June 29th, in Coram, MT.
More information is found here