Finding Our Place in the Sun -the West Side 112 Pages.
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Our initial travels take us to the community of Belton.
The first travelers to journey here are following tote roads, and many of us are deciding to settle by homesteading in the area. Belton is the starting point for the northward crossing of the Big River and journey into the Northern Rockies. The Great Northern Railroad passenger train begins bringing travelers to the Northern Rockies in 1893. Accommodations are needed for these new arrivals.
Ed Dow settles in Belton and builds a hotel. “In the 1890’s, Edward Dow’s Belton facilities consisted of a two-story frame hotel, a small store, a dining room, and a post office; all were primitive in both appearance and services offered.”9 Dow runs the Belton Mercantile and Saloon called the “Bucket of Blood.” These are the only businesses travelers are seeing until the long three mile trek into the Apgar area is completed. In 1893, local residents cooperate by hacking a crude wagon road through the forest to the Lake. Ed Dow expands his business in 1894 by using the wagon road to start a stage line from Belton to the Lake. Travelers walk a quarter mile from the railroad station to Big River where we are ferried across in a row boat provided by homesteaders Frank Kelly, Milo Apgar, and Charlie Howe. A rough ride is then had by all in Dow’s buckboard “stagecoach” from the riverbank through the cedar forests to the dock at the foot of the Lake. For travelers arriving from St. Paul, the venture takes almost two days by passenger train to Belton covering 1177 miles while the journey takes half that time to go from Ed Dow’s Hotel to the head of the Lake. Dow begins losing business in the Belton area as travelers are starting to become accustomed to seeing the Lake area and services available there along with the increased publicity for the Northern Rockies. Travelers prefer the lakeside cottages due to the scenery of the Lake. Edward Dow finds his future wife, Miss McCree. She was born in Canada, moves to Havre and finally to Belton. Mrs. Dow is half Cree and half Scotch.
Gonhild Tollefson is born December 30, 1894 in Norway. She will move to Belton and contribute in a number of ways to the life in the community.
A Paradise for All - 1895 to 1899
Dimon Apgar first hears a train whistle from back at Nyack. Then, he gets out the lantern to flag the train. The train always seems to arrive and depart from Belton in the middle of the night. Train passengers arriving at Belton have ridden in the caboose experiencing hard benches on both sides of a coal burning heating stove in the middle of the train car.10
Railroad stations stand at the center of a town serving as a connection with the outside world. Travelers and freight move constantly through the entrance.
We continue on the west side by traveling up Lake McDonald further into Paradise
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In 1902 and 1903, Dr. Lyman B. Sperry arranges with James Hill to provide transportation for Minnesota University students to work on the Gunsight Pass trail in the Northern Rockies.
John McVay is postmaster from 1903 to 1905.15 In 1904, Olive and John Lewis obtain title to the Snyder Hotel. Between 1904 and 1909, eleven guest cabins and a first aid-laundry building are added to the complex making this the largest accommodation in the region. These single story cabins, constructed of saddle-notched cedar logs and cedar shingles are taken from the adjacent forest.16 There are additional versions as to how John Lewis is able to obtain the Snyder Hotel. Lewis wins the Snyder homestead and hotel in a poker game. Lewis proceeds to move the Snyder Hotel back up on the terrace and turns this into a general store. Herb Chatterton is proprietor and post master.17 Another resource states Snyder sells the hotel to Lewis in 1906 and Lewis immediately starts building a larger hotel.18 The purchase amount is about $1500. Snyder builds a small hotel on the northern banks of the Big River. Commencing at the Lewis Hotel, the trail to Sperry Glacier is completed in 1905 opening up a hiker’s wonderland for all travelers on their journey through the Northern Rockies.
Shortly after graduation from the University of Michigan Law School in 1905, Burton K. Wheeler arrives in Butte, Montana. The Emeline is built in 1905 and named for Mrs. Kelly. This is a 35 foot long gasoline motored boat and is known to have bathroom facilities. Frank Kelly starts his boat operation on the Lake in 1906 with Orville Denny also having boats on the Lake.
Up to 1907, most of the timber being harvested on the Flathead National Forest is on land in the Northern Rockies area. The timber is mainly used for fuel and building homes in the Lake area. Also, outfitters are guiding horse trips from the Lewis Hotel. Wilford ‘Bill’ Bose works for John Lewis in 1908 and begins operating boats for Kelly and Lewis. In the fall of 1908, Lewis installs the first phone line along the east shore of the Lake.19 The community name is changed to Glacier in 1909.
The Walsh family purchases the property near the Lake’s ranger station in 1909 followed in 1910 with Eddie Cruger building their first house on this site.
This is the house nearest the Lake. Frank Liebig decides rather than becoming a Glacier National Park ranger he will remain with the Forest Service and continues to do so until 1930. |
