The Glacier Park Connection
Robert L. Smith Jr., his brother Lloyd and the Lee sisters (Edna and Irene) spanned most of Glacier Park in the early-to-mid 1920s, from East Glacier Hotel, to Many Glacier Hotel and Lake Mcdonald on the west side. Their story and its developments, involving multi-generational Glacier Park meetings and subsequent marriages is related in the pages below. Linking to the pages is accomplished by clicking on the underlined paragraph leaders.
- The Twenties - The hotels were new and Going-to-the- Sun Road had just been statrted. Still, in many ways, things have not changed that much since the early days. Some uncommon old photographs capture the times and tell the story of Bob and Irene.
- The Fifties - The depression and World War II were in the past. A decade of rising incomes produced a steady stream of visitors to all parts of Glacier and the many other National Parks and Monuments. Yet another generation of summer employees discovered the same timeless truths their predessors had. Before the 50s passed, however, the Glacier Park Hotel system management philosophy had undergone many changes.
- The Eighties - Time for these "old grads" to return to their origins. The place where, for them, it had all begun so long before. So many years, yet seemingly barely yesterday. Many changes, but the important things still intact. A different perspective now....no longer racing against the end of summer, trying to pack as much experience and life as possible into the last all-too-brief weeks and days....followed by departure, separation and the uneasy hope for "rebirth" the following summer. Long since, these old grads had reconciled with the loss of paradise. A reconciliatioin attainable, primarily, only by way of the ultimate keepsake/memento - a spouse who shared the experince; and even better, another generation in the family with the same history.
FRIENDLY LINKS
Tony Newlin is a professional photographer specializing in national parks and monuments.
The Glacier Park Foundation website is a grear source for both current and historical information.
An extensive and entertaining history of Many Glacier Hotel (from the GPF website).