Voice of the Glacier Park Foundation ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ Volume XXVI, No. 1 CENTENNIALA Wild Goose Chase CELEBRATING GLACIER’SPast Wild HUNDREDTH Goose Island

and other Jammer Tales (Photo courtesy of Paul Meierding)

Also In this issue: • Baggage Tales • Hiking Through Glacier in 1947 • The Great Blizzard of 1948 • From Korea to McD in 1954 • More Memories of Sid Couch • Heading North - The Story of Chief Mountain Road • Deadheading: A Wild Goose Chase Past Wild Goose Island • A Jammer’s Journey • Legends Pass From the Glacier Stage

The Inside Trail ◆ Winter 2005 ◆ 1 BULLETIN BOARD A Letter to the Editor many friends. With John to inspire us, HELP PLAN LODGE REUNIONS GPF is shaking off years of procrastina- I am not sure if I am the oldest member tion and assembling an e-mail list-serve Planning is in progress to celebrate the of the Glacier Park Foundation, but I of our members. We’ll use it to forward centennials of Glacier Park Lodge (2013), may be close to it. I celebrated my 95th Park Service press releases and other Lake McDonald Lodge (2014), and birthday last October. And I still feel news of Glacier. If you’d like to be in- Many Glacier Hotel (2015). If you’d like I could drive my old Red Bus, # 99, cluded, please send your e-mail address like to take part, please contact John across Logan Pass, and negotiate every to [email protected]. Dobbertin ([email protected]) or Joe curve without incident … even dead- Blair ([email protected]) for GPL; Janet head from Belton over Marias Pass, with SEND US YOUR STORIES! Eisner Cornish ([email protected]) or a carefully timed stop at the Rocky The frequency with which we publish Mark Hufstetler ([email protected]) Mountain Inn, and arrive at East Gla- The Inside Trail depends in large part for LML; or Beth Beckelhymer Hattox cier at the set scheduled time. It’s easy on submission of stories to us by our ([email protected]) for MGH. to dream and reminisce when you’re 95! members. The more material we get, MEETING SNOWED OUT I send my sincere thanks and gratitude the more quickly we can assemble an to you and your staff for keeping the issue. When you daydream of the Park, The 2010 GPF annual meeting, spirit of Glacier Park alive through all please set down some memories to share scheduled for last December, had to be the many interesting articles published with our 500 members. cancelled because of a 17-inch bliz- in The Inside Trail. Each time I read zard which halted all travel in the Twin We welcome submissions ranging from the experiences of the Glacier alumni it Cities. It was impossible to reschedule single anecdotes to lengthy articles. If brings back wonderful memories of the the meeting before the end of the year. possible, please send submissions by best summers of my life! The meeting will be combined with the Word attachment to [email protected] 2011 annual meeting this fall. Notice John Turner, Gearjammer 1936-41 and [email protected]. Hard of the meeting will be mailed to GPF Send Us Your E-Mail copy also can be submitted at our postal members with our next issue. address below. We welcome photos and VISIT GPF ON FACEBOOK John Turner may be our oldest mem- other illustrations! ber, but he’s one of the most adept at Post a message and interact with other maintaining e-mail contact with his alumni at GPF’s Facebook page. Note the post about the Glacier Park quarter Officers: Glacier Park Foundation recently put into circulation by the U.S. John Hagen, President P.O. Box 15641 Treasury. Minneapolis, MN 55415 Einar Hanson, First Vice President www.glacierparkfoundation.org Carol Dahle, Vice President - Membership [email protected] Mac Willemssen, Secretary Tessie Bundick, Historian Board of Directors: The Inside Trail takes its name Jim Lees, Treasurer Tessie Bundick Laura Chihara, Webmaster from the famous old trail Laura Chihara Rolf Larson, Inside Trail Editor which connected Glacier Janet Eisner Cornish Park Lodge with the vanished Carol Repulski Dahle The Glacier Park Foundation was Joyce Daugaard formed by Glacier Park employees chalets at Two Medicine, Ray Djuff and visitors who have a deep love for Cut Bank, and St. Mary. The this special place. The Foundation is Glenn Elvig commited both to the importance name thus emphasizes the John Hagen of wilderness preservation and to publication’s focus on the Einar Hanson the importance of places like Glacier Paul Hoff as classrooms where people can lore and history of Glacier Mark Hufstetler experience wilderness in intense National Park. We invite meaningful ways, learning not only a Jeff Kuhn submission of historical, love for the land, but also a respect Linda Young Kuhn that nurtures the skills necessary to scientific, or anecdotal ar- Rolf Larson preserve that land. The Foundation ticles, commentary, poetry, Leroy Lott has a special interest in Glacier Park’s Greg Notess history, traditions and visitor facilities. or artwork for publication in Rick Taylor future issues. Mac Willemssen

2 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail Legends Pass from the Glacier Stage

Three legendary figures of Glacier Park Service to leave the Chalet immediately 1970s. One was of the north face of Mt. history died in early 2011. We welcome after dinner. Of course the guests were Cleveland, the other of the north face of Mt. remembrances of them (and of other Park slowly approaching the panic stage when Siyeh, both involving thousands of feet of veterans, both storied and obscure) for I served, yet in my Swiss costume, with exposure on brittle sedimentary rock. These publication in future issues. the customary “formality”, the usual climbs are among the most remarkable feats dinner. What seemed to surprise them in the history of the Park. Millie Jean Perkins was the choice of beverage -- tea? or cof- Roger Stephens Millie Perkins assisted her famous mother, fee? They handled that with control, but Ema “Ma” Perkins, in managing Granite when the tea drinkers were asked, “green Roger Stephens was the assistant manager Park Chalet from 1935 through 1949. or black?” they literally cracked up. That at Many Glacier Hotel and was director of Dick Schwab (Many Glacier 1947-52) was the ice breaker. We left the chalet the Broadway musicals there in the 1960s recalls Millie as follows: about six o’clock, carrying wet blankets. and early ‘70s. He collaborated with We were instructed to leave possessions Ian B. Tippet, Many’s manager and the “I keep thinking of how young she was behind, but a few of our guests (there producer of those shows. Together they when we knew her in the Ma Perkins era were about six) insisted on toting their staged How to Succeed in Business Without and what a handsome-looking lady she backpacks, which the staff ended up car- Really Trying (1967), Fiorello (1968), Three was, slightly older than my group of col- rying because they pooped out. We were Penny Opera (1969), Little Mary Sunshine lege student employees. She was underage, met at midnight at Logan Pass by one of (1970), I Do, I Do! and The Fantasticks I think fifteen, when she came with Ma in the red touring buses.” (1971), You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown their first year at the Chalet, unpaid free and Barefoot in the Park (1972), Fiddler on labor for the Great Northern owners of Jim Kanzler the Roof (1973) and One Hundred and Ten the facility (although the General Manager Jim Kanzler was one of the most ac- in the Shade (1975). had said she could keep her tips!). She was complished mountain climbers in one of the heroines of the hurried exodus Roger was physically imposing. He had Glacier Park history. He was one of a when the great fire of 1936 swept up to been a college football player, and bol- famous climbing family, whose his- the Chalet from the McDonald Valley and stered Many Glacier’s roster in the annual tory was clouded by terrible tragedy. over the Continental Divide, to roar down flag football showdowns with Glacier In 1963, at the age of 15, he climbed to Many Glacier. Park Lodge. He was an actor (playing the Mount St. Nicholas (Glacier’s most husband in I Do! I Do!) and an excellent “Her personality was, of course, eclipsed forbidding peak) with his father Hal vocalist. He directed the Many Glacier by the super nova of Ma Perkins’ character, and his brother Jerry. Jerry and four singers and sang baritone solos on the but without her Ma could never have daily companions were killed by an avalanche Thursday Serenade. He also was a pilot, lit up the whole Granite Park area. Millie attempting to Mt. Cleveland a few days kept a small plane at Babb, and took many was the attractive, quiet pillar of support after Christmas in 1969. employees barnstorming over the Park. always present but in the background -- an Kanzler made a number of remarkable essential facilitator of all the fine experiences Roger had a distinguished career as a profes- first ascents in Glacier Park. In 1965, he the guests had there during that era. She sor at several schools. He was Director of and Dan Cook climbed the sheer south was the major factotum, handling the “room Opera at Northern Michigan, Director of face of Chief Mountain. In 1967, he clerk” function, being the chief waitress and Music at Ohio University, and finally Direc- and his brother Jerry climbed the most a significant part of the cooking operation, tor of the School of Music at the University prominent of the Cathedral Spires, on chamber maid, and water carrier. Among of Tennessee. He died at 67, after battling Porcupine Ridge west of Waterton Lake. other things she was the scribe of the chalet, cancer courageously for seven years. quietly and efficiently recording things and Kanzler and Terry Kennedy made two keeping records. For instance, I found that tremendous technical climbs in the late she had written down the lyrics of many of the songs in my repertoire when I came up, We welcome remembrances of them (and of guitar in tow.” other Park veterans, both storied and obscure) for A letter from Millie to Dick recalls the fire of 1936: “It wasn’t until late in the after- publication in future issues. noon that we got a message from the Park The Inside Trail ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ 3 BAGGAGE TALEs Bellmen’s Adventures in the 1970s

A bellman’s cart fully loaded with 16 “stacker” bags.

By John Hagen (Many Glacier, 1970-1980)

Hotel work is fascinating because of and could be led around like dogs. the ground with a crash. At such the variety of tourists whom you en- times, we would fantasize about bell- Bellmen of my era were very partial counter. This fascination is enhanced men subbing in for the gorillas who to suitcases of a sort we called “stack- by the array of baggage which the smacked and stomped on Samsonite ers.” These bags were hard, sturdy, tourists bring. Ancient, peeling black suitcases in commercials of that era. and square-sided. They could be leather valises that might have come laid flat and propped over the front The luggage of group tours some- off the Mayflowerarrive side-by-side ends of our luggage carts, with other times totaled a couple of hundred with aluminum cases that look like stackers piled on top of them. This bags arriving in the afternoon and they were designed for the set of allowed us to maximize the number going out next day. Moving all those Star Trek. Elegant leather satchels, of bags transported on a cart -- 16 to bags through Many Glacier Hotel’s military duffle bags, battered steamer 18 bags, which was useful when we rambling halls required good team- trunks, bags festooned with colored were working an 80-bag tour. work. This was especially true in the tape, pour out fantastically from the Annex, where there was no elevator luggage compartments of buses and “Stacker” bags had been popular in or freight lift. tourist vehicles. earlier decades, but by the 1970s they were heavily outnumbered by The bellmen would form human In recent years, American luggage Samsonite luggage. Samsonite bags chains to hoist the bags to the up- has emphasized wheels, but the had slick, curved sides, which made per Annex floors. The staircase was Japanese put wheels on their luggage them treacherous to stack. Now and doglegged, with two short flights be- decades ago. In the 1970s, Japanese then, a bellman would stack Sam- tween each floor. The bellmen would tours would come to Glacier with sonite imprudently, and the stack stand one above the other and pass suitcases wheeled in the most amaz- would topple over, sending bags to bags up through the open stairwell. ing fashion -- wheels on the bottom, wheels on the sides, wheels jut- ting out at dramatic angles, wheels Bellmen of my era were very partial to suitcases hinged and swiveled -- wheels, of a sort we called “stackers.” These bags were wheels, wheels! These bags some- hard, sturdy, and square-sided. times had long retractable leashes,

4 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail This “chaining” sometimes was a challenge when luggage was cumbersome and heavy. Care was required to be sure that the upper man had a firm grip on the handle before the lower man let go. Once or twice a bag was dropped and went plummeting down the stairwell like an anvil, breaking open in the basement in a shower of underwear. The bellmen engaged in jocular commentary while chaining the heavier bags. “Brace yourself! It’s another sewing machine!” a colleague might grunt from below. The legendary bellman Chris (“Wizard”) Vick was famous for his fantastic remarks about such suitcases and their owners. “Oof! Somebody brought along his own tombstone!” he might indignantly exclaim, or “Somebody brought her chopped-up husband!” This would set the crew laughing so hard that they would almost drop the bag. Unlike the Annex, Many Glacier’s main wing had a freight lift -- a creaking, lurching, ancient cab suspended on greasy metal cables. The lift was run by means of a pushbutton and a crank (which had an “up” position, a “down” position, and a brake to be applied when reaching a floor). Gentleness was required in applying the brake, for sudden braking could throw a cable off the wheels in the shaft. Then the maintenance crew had to remount the cable (a task which they heartily disliked, and might postpone for several days John Hagen and Tim Vadheim handling while the bags had to be run up and down stairs). bags in the Annex, 1973. One morning while I was riding the freight lift, an alarm clock in a suitcase abruptly went off. I initially thought that this sudden jangling was an alarm in the cab itself. I glanced up fearfully at the cables, afraid they might be about to part and drop me down the shaft. A split second’s reflection reassured me that the lift was too old and crude to have any sort of built-in alarm. On another memorable morning, the power failed in the whole hotel as we were transporting a load of bags. The freight lift stopped between two floors. We managed to open the door on the lower floor and pass suitcases out by hand. A tourist inquired: “Did you turn the electricity off on purpose? We thought that maybe you turn it off every morning like they do in Africa.” When tours checked into the hotel, the first order of business was to mark room assignments on baggage tags. Occasionally tags were marked incorrectly, and bags were delivered to the wrong room. When owners called down to complain that their suitcases had not arrived, we would have to go and hunt for the missing bags. Lost bag searches usually were concluded in short order. You’d start by checking for the most probable mistakes. A bag miss- ing from Room 50 likely could be found in Room 150, or in an adjoining room (48 or 52), or in Room 56 (a “0” hastily scrawled “Chaining”luggage: David Manzer on a luggage tag could be mistaken for a “6”). hands off a bag to Steve White in 1973. Sometimes, however, the bag would not turn up in any likely room. Then we would have to run a systematic search of the The Inside Trail ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ 5 Drawing by John Hagen (Many Glacier, 1970-1980) (Continued from previous page) my bag!” as tourists filed off the buses and watched us marking the luggage. Guests were protective of their bags -- a natural tendency that occasionally was carried to extremes. No memoir of baggage in the ‘70s would be complete without recalling the following episode. Colonel and Mrs. Truman (not their real names) were an elderly couple who whole hotel. Many Glacier stopped at Many Glacier for sev- eral days. The Front Office Manager had over 200 guest rooms, so thought that they had overstayed their a search of this sort was gruel- reservation and wanted the room for ing (especially if it occurred at other guests. When the couple could night, when guests had started not be found at midday, he instructed to go to bed). the bellmen to move their luggage out of the room and store it. I remember a couple of harrow- ing after-hours searches of this This was a serious mistake, both as to sort -- going room-by-room the length of the reservation and as down shadowy hallways, tapping to the treatment of the bags. When sheepishly on doors, being peeped the couple returned and found their at suspiciously over door chains, belongings gone from the room, they being snarled at by dogs, request- were irate. (Mr. Tippet, our manager, ing people to check their closets cautioned everyone in the aftermath for a misdelivered bag. On one of that one never moves bags without the these searches we found the bag, owner’s permission.) sitting undiscovered in a closet, in approximately the 199th room. What made this episode distinctive was Another search came to an end that the couple did not calm down. when a surly room clerk told us The colonel must have been a ferocious that “the idjit bellmen at Glacier martinet in his Army days. All through Park Lodge accidentally put the the afternoon and evening, he marched bag on a train.” back and forth from the Front Desk to the bellmen’s desk to the manager’s Fiascos of the latter sort (sending office, bawling people out, in company bags away to St. Paul or Seattle, with his pugnacious wife. The two were when their owners were going to absolutely implacable; no apologies Banff) fortunately almost never could appease them. occurred. But tourists understand- ably lived in fear that their bags Finally they retired for the night. A might wander away. All of us can brief peace descended over the lobby. recall relieved voices piping: “That’s Then a terrible cry rang out. The colonel came tramping down the main staircase, shouting in a thunderous voice Then a terrible cry rang out. The colonel came that must have been heard through- out the hotel: “MRS. … TRUMAN’S tramping down the main staircase, shouting in … YELLOW … BATHROBE … IS a thunderous voice. . . “MRS. … TRUMAN’S … MISSING!!!!” YELLOW … BATHROBE … IS MISSING!!!!” I was so unfortunate as to be the single bellman on duty that evening. My heart

6 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail Drawings by John Hagen (Continued from previous page) (Many Glacier, 1970-1980) sank on hearing the colonel’s voice. I hustled into the bellmen’s closet, and there on a hanger (oh, blessed relief!) was Mrs. Truman’s yellow bathrobe. “Did you turn I handed the bathrobe to the colonel, off the electricity who bawled me out a final time and on purpose? We tramped back up the stairs to his room. thought that I turned to Mr. Tippet, who was stand- maybe you turn it ing manfully nearby. “What a relief!” off every day, like I said. “I was afraid they’d flushed the they do in Africa.” bathrobe down the toilet, just for an excuse to bawl us out.” “I thought the same,” Mr. Tippet said stoically. “I thought that they had destroyed it.” Mercifully, no luggage was destroyed, by indignant tourists or by the bellmen, “Are you go’n’ sue during those long-departed days. I yourself?” a tourist recall with fondness our many colorful lady genially inquires adventures in transporting those thou- of a clumsy bag- sands of bags through the old hotel. handler.

Photo courtesy of John Hagen Bellmen kick off another season of manhandling tour luggage in 1979. (Many Glacier, 1970-1980)

The Inside Trail ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ 7 Hiking Through Glacier in 1947 By David Bossler (Gearjammer 1948) David Bossler in Glacier, circa In 1947, a college friend and I decided 1947 (photo courtesy of Karla to spend our summer on a hike through Bossler Hart) Glacier National Park. It would top off was headed straight down! I couldn’t the end of my junior year and my friend stop or even slow down. I was headed Bill’s senior year of pre-med at Montana towards a massive rock pile that ran for State University. Decades have since sepa- about a mile parallel to the ridge we had rated me from that summer, but many of climbed and was 20 to 30 feet across. those adventures remain sharply etched in I was sliding fast! I tried digging into my memory. the snow with my heels and hands, but Preparations were simpler back then: a nothing slowed me down. map, a tent, down-filled sleeping bags, I finally focused on the monstrous pile wool socks and coats, cooking gear, and and picked out the flattest rock I could dehydrated food. It was before the age find that was facing me. I hit it with of GPS, portable gas stoves, Gortex and both feet and jumped with all my power. fleece fabrics, bear spray or even sunscreen. I miraculously landed on my belly on My family lived in Kalispell, Montana, so the downhill side of the rocks, slid for we decided to start our trip in the north- another three or four hundred feet, and west corner of the park. My dad, a tele- gradually slowed to a stop as the slope Mom’s home cooking. That night was graph operator for Western Union, drove was no longer so steep. Bill had wisely stormy and thunderous, and we were us to the beautiful Lower Kintla Lake. missed the rock pile by climbing a bit grateful for four walls and a roof instead We hiked the seven wooded miles along further north past it before heading of the perpetually soaked-through tent. the lake’s north shore, then a couple more down. I remember thinking it was the The next day, my dad drove us to Logan miles east along Kintla Creek, which closest I’d come to meeting St. Peter Pass on the park’s Going-to-the-Sun drains the smaller Upper Kintla Lake into since coming face to face with a German Road. From there we hiked along the the lower lake. I still remember feeling machine gun in the recent World War II. Garden Wall to Granite Park Chalet. so free and fine with another college year Continuing east, we eventually reached The previous night’s storm had left a behind and the wonders and adventures the southern end of Waterton Lake and medium-sized pine tree burning along of Glacier ahead of us. the ranger station. The ranger filled us in the trail. I cut down the tree and put Having so far hiked only about 12 miles on the latest goings-on in the area. Top- out most of the fire with water from our to Upper Kintla Lake, Bill and I planned ping the list was the boisterous Calgary canteens and mud from the area. At the to continue heading east toward Upper Stampede across the border in Alberta, Chalet, we called to report the fire and Waterton Lake but couldn’t locate the Canada. Young and reckless, we were they sent out a ranger to check on it. trail. Today the trail through Boulder easily swayed to trade in the sedate gran- From Granite Park, we hiked down Pass and Brown Pass, then along Olson deur of nature for the prospect of wild to Many Glacier which I found to be Creek to Waterton Lake is well marked; rodeo adventures. We hopped aboard the one of the most spectacular areas of but if it was there in 1947, we couldn’t next tour boat heading north to Water- the park. The Swiss chalet style Many find it. East of Upper Kintla, there was a ton Village and then thumbed our way Glacier Hotel sits on the shore of very steep mountain slope we headed for. through the park and across Alberta to Swiftcurrent Lake and offers the traveler On finally reaching the ridge, we found Calgary. I remember spending one night awe-inspiring panoramic views. another steep slope on the other side in an open church. We spent three in- that was snow-packed and went almost trepid days in Calgary, most of it blurred We spent a couple days exploring the straight down. beyond recognition in my memory, then Many Glacier area, including the popu- thumbed it back to Waterton. lar four and a half mile hike to Iceberg We debated awhile, and finally agreed to Lake which I remember being full of carefully head down rather than retrace From Waterton, we hiked south to Lake large chunks of floating ice. From Many our steps and start over somewhere McDonald and then thumbed the 60 Glacier, Bill and I thumbed it south to else. One step onto this snow, and I miles back to Kalispell where we spent East Glacier. a day cleaning up and filling up on my

8 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail (Continued from previous page) Chalets for a night before continu- The next summer I found myself back in Glacier. ing west to Lake McDonald. Here we ended our Glacier Park trip. This time, I was a “gear-jammer” and ferried tourists through the park on red bus number 104. Bill’s home was east of Glacier Park on a wheat ranch near Choteau. We arrived there just in time for the harvest. Bill On the southern end of East Glacier Peak flows into Lake McDonald, then drove the combine and I drove the grain was a shale-covered mountain with a down the Flathead and Columbia Riv- trucks to the railroad station east of the rock column in its center. According to ers and eventually helps fill the Pacific ranch. The harvest kept us busy for an- an Indian legend, this was the chief’s Ocean. Rain falling to the northeast other two or three weeks. Then summer daughter who had been sent with orders fills St. Mary Lake then flows into the was over and Bill went on to medical to stay until she sighted buffalo. She is St. Mary and Saskatchewan Rivers and school and I returned to Montana State still looking! eventually empties into Hudson Bay and University for my senior year of pre-med. the Arctic Ocean. Rain on the southeast The next summer I found myself back in At East Glacier, we met a doctor from slopes feed Atlantic Creek and eventually Glacier. This time, I was a “gear-jammer” the East Coast who was touring with his helps fill the Missouri and Mississippi and ferried tourists through the park on daughter, also a physician. They drove Rivers before flowing into the Gulf of red bus number 104. I was able to color us to Two Medicine and from there we Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. hiked north to St. Mary Lake. The hike my tour bus guide stories with firsthand took several days and included pass- On reaching St. Mary Lake, we contin- accounts from that memorable previous ing Triple Divide Peak, the only place ued hiking west along Gunsight Pass summer on foot through the park. It on Earth where rain waters feed three Trail. We headed for Sperry Glacier on was an adventure I’ll never forget. oceans. Rain falling to the west of the a fork in the trail and camped at Sperry The Great Blizzard of July 1948 By Dick Schwab (Many Glacier 1947-52) off together so that we could hitchhike peared. Driving in it was a honeymoon from Many Glacier to Lake McDon- couple who had got onto the road Tom Westbrook was more imaginative ald Lodge, then hike to Sperry Chalet before it was closed and had tarried than any other hiker and scrambler I for an overnight stay. At the outset somewhere along the way until the snow knew among the employees of 1947 of the trip the weather did not look started. Because they had reservations and 1948. He was forever cooking up too unpromising, but we soon found for the night at Lake McDonald they some new scheme, and that is one of the ourselves marooned half way up the had decided to push on over the Pass. things I liked best about him. So far as Going-to-Sun Road in a freezing rain They saw us standing along the road all I could see he was absolutely fearless. which quickly turned into a treacher- heaped with wet snow and knew that if Whenever I was involved in a hike or ous snowstorm. We understood from they did not pick us up we might freeze climb with him something adventurous, inquiries later that the rangers by that to death. Somehow they crowded all or sometimes nearly calamitous, would time had already closed the road on the four of us in with them. occur. I liked the uncertainty about St. Mary side, and no cars were coming what might happen next when he was a The front seat was just wide enough for through from the other direction either. part of an expedition. four people tightly squeezed together: Our prospects were looking somewhat the groom, the bride, and me with one The episode of the great blizzard of grim when out the haze of the thick of the girls sitting on my lap. Westy July 28, 1948, is typical. Tom and I snowfall an old-fashioned coupe ap- and the other girl managed to crouch and two girls managed to arrange days in the compartment behind us. It was already becoming a Big Adventure. We Whenever I was involved in a hike or climb with kept apologizing for dripping melted him something adventurous, or sometimes nearly snow all over the couple and their car, calamitous, would occur. but they were very cheerful about it all and told us not to worry. They were more concerned about getting the whole

The Inside Trail ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ 9 (Continued from previous page) carload of us through the blinding hotel room. When the road was finally zard of July 28th. What could be a snowstorm to safety. cleared we got back to our jobs, having more delightful and unique experience had one more unforgettable adventure. than to be snowbound in the warmth As we crawled up toward the Pass the of Granite Park Chalet with Ma and her storm became worse and worse so that People elsewhere in the Park also had daughter Millie and the other employ- it was almost impossible to see the some memorable adventures in this ees? It had all the color of a Dickensian road, and the heavy snow was piling up summer blizzard. John Mauff was Christmas at the end of July. Everyone rapidly. We were relieved to make it snowbound with other guests up at who was there is to be envied. A lady to the summit, but the descent on the Sperry, and Mrs. Russell broke out from Massachusetts wrote this poem to other side into the worsening blizzard a turkey for a great and elegant feast commemorate the adventure: was downright frightening. For some there, with John doing the carving. time we had realized we were in the only My, my, what a strange combination, Mrs. Martha Russell, who managed car on the highway, which meant that Sperry, was a character in her own right. We came here for a July sensation roadblocks must have been put up on She prided herself on running a far both sides of us. When the groom tried Of hot feet and sticky perspiration, more formal establishment than Granite to put on the brakes, the car would just Park Chalet, complete with teas and the slide for some distance in the thick slush And the usual midsummer prostration. like. Her manner was rather austere, that was rapidly turning to ice. For and she was not as much interested in And what did we get? those of us who knew there were sheer fun as she was in the genteel proprieties. drops of hundreds and hundreds of feet No one could have differed more from on the left side of the road it was turn- Ma Perkins, with her great, expansive We awakened in great perturbation. ing into a truly spine-chilling thriller. humanity and mischievousness. Mrs. This must be a Christmas vacation. With a good deal of blind luck we made Russell had a fierce sense of competition it to Lake McDonald Lodge all right, with Ma Perkins, and it is said noth- Much SNOW with its white inspiration. and then another specter presented ing enraged her more than someone Our heartiest recommendation itself. The blizzard was so heavy by that accidentally calling her “Ma” Russell. time that we had to scratch any idea Anyone who knew her could see that For the best place we’ve visited yet. of slogging up to Sperry. The word just would not do. Mrs. Russell made -- Harriet E. Roe, Worcester, Mass. was out that the road would be closed her own contribution to the colorful indefinitely, which meant we might not mix of characters in Glacier, but all of us One of the guests built an inspired get back on time to our jobs at Many liked Ma Perkins the best, of course. comic snowman in the back compound Glacier. of the chalet, and Ma assumed a very The grateful comments in the “Black dignified air as she posed for a humor- After worrying for a few hours about Book” from Granite Park tell the story ous picture of her leaning her arm on its the consequences of that we decided of what went on there during the bliz- shoulder. to throw ourselves on the mercy of the manager of McDonald Lodge, a colorful woman named Mrs. Bea Frase. She was a formidable lady with the usual heart After worrying for a few hours about the of gold, who assured us she would see consequences of that we decided to throw to it we would not get fired. Then she magnanimously offered to feed us in the ourselves on the mercy of the manager of employee cafeteria and put us up until McDonald Lodge, a colorful woman named Mrs. the roads were cleared enough so that Bea Frase. She was a formidable lady with the we could get back to Many. She put usual heart of gold, who assured us she would see Westy and me in one of the unoccupied bridal suite rooms and sequestered the to it we would not get fired. two girls in the dormitory. Thus the whole misadventure turned out quite splendidly, and at least two of us got to enjoy the luxury of actually staying in a

10 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail From Korea to McDonald Gearjamming in 1954 By Don Perry (Gearjammer 1954-59) It took almost the entire first sum- that we all drive up the road in their mer for me to start calling him Sid car to look for it. Howie had a new I got my job as a gearjammer instead of Mr. Couch, as I had been 35mm camera (the state of the art in through one of my former high doing since the tenth grade. He those days) and we both were eager school teachers. His name was Sid kept after me to call him Sid. to go. Couch. He worked as the Transport Agent at Many Glacier Hotel for On our new drivers’ tour in 1954, We left right away and drove up many years. we left East on a beautiful morning, the road with Howie and me in the driven by Howie Wilson, a second- back seat. We drove slowly, and sure When the Korean War ended in year driver. We drove straight to the enough, we spotted the moose to mid-1953, I was discharged from the Prince of Wales Hotel. We all had the left of the road, still eating. Ino Navy and returned to my home in lunch at the Tourist Cafe, which stopped on the right side of the road, the Los Angeles area. I visited Sid most jammers did not care for. (A but kept the motor running. Howie for advice on what college to attend. few summers later, our General and I got out and walked slowly He guided me and we became very Manager, Howard Noble, changed across the road to approach the good friends. Near the end of my to patronizing Franks Cafe, which moose. When we got within about first year in college, he asked me most of the jammers greatly pre- five feet (with me behind Howie, what I had planned for that summer. ferred). We then drove to Many, of course), we stopped and Howie I said that I had no plans yet, and he where Sid greeted and talked to us. started taking numerous photos. invited me to go with him to Glacier and drive a bus. We continued over the Pass and ar- The moose glanced over at us every rived at Lake McDonald Lodge just once in awhile, but did not slow Sid was about 5’ 8.” He had a small before dinner time. The weather was down his eating. Eventually he paunch and required very thick great all day. Just a mile or so before walked away from us for a few feet, glasses. He told me that he damaged arriving at the Lodge, Howie point- stopped and began eating foliage his eyes driving guests from Many ed out to us a large male moose, again, but would glance up at us to Babb to escape the big forest fire with huge antlers, eating the foliage periodically. This went on several in 1936. They wet down the bus about 20 feet off the road. It was a times – the moose walking away, blankets to cover the passengers, but great sight for us all. continuing to eat, but glancing up at Sid was unable to cover his head us. Finally Howie said he that had because he needed to see where he When we arrived at McD, Ino enough photos, and we headed back was driving. Belsaas, the Transport Agent, was to the car. waiting to greet us. He spoke to us Sid – God rest his soul – was fun to briefly (as he always did with ev- On the way back to the Lodge, Ino be with in those days, but oh what eryone) and then told us where the remarked that more people were an experience to ride with him! He mess hall was and pointed out our treed by moose than by any other had a very bad case of tunnel vision. tent quarters for the night. animal, including bears. Howie and I was amazed for years that they kept I were bemused to be to be given renewing his driver’s license. When After dinner, Ino invited Howie and such a caution at that late point! he was driving in traffic and I was me to his trailer to meet his wife. on the passenger side, we would just When we got to the trailer, Howie This adventure occurred on my first be inches from the parked cars on mentioned that we had all seen a day inside the Park (the East Glacier the right. Half the time I would just moose just a mile up the road. That Transport Company complex was hold my breath. In 1954 we drove greatly interested Ino and his wife not inside the Park boundaries). I to Glacier in his car; in 1955 we (a charming lady). He suggested imagined that this sort of encounter drove in my car. would be frequent during the course

The Inside Trail ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ 11 of my great new job. Dreamer me! time that I ever have had to use an ground in Korea. Many vets can In six summers in Glacier, I never outhouse on a regular basis. remember the difficulty of trying to saw another moose – let alone one at get some sleep with gunfire going all I remember sleeping that first night. only five feet away. night long. As I thought of that, I It was less than a year since the end closed my eyes and listened to the The jammer facilities at McD in of the Korean War. One of the other slowly running stream just a foot or 1954 were rustic – a large canvas first-year drivers, Al Hartman, had so outside the tent, I fell asleep and tent with wooden sides, next to a been in the Marines, and remarked had one of the most restful nights of slow running stream. It had 8 or 10 that he found the accommodations sleep I have ever had. comfortable cots. In back were the very nice compared to the hard shaving and showering facilities. But to relieve yourself, you had to walk out the back door (in any kind of Dreamer me! In six summers in Glacier, I weather) and continue slightly uphill never saw another moose – let alone one at about fifty feet to a very old wooden only five feet away. outhouse. It was the one and only

More Memories of Sid Couch By Dick Schwab (Many Glacier 1947- with glasses so thick they made his a bad mood or was irritated he could 52) eyes look huge and frog-like. It was be formidable. I was on his good side, rumored that they were ruined when and he never gave me any difficulty, The most unique sound to be heard he was fighting in the smoke to save but rather treated me very well. regularly in the Lobby at Many the hotel during the 1936 forest fire. I Sid was a confirmed bachelor and was Glacier Hotel was the loud and high- think he had on dark glasses a good legally blind, which doubtless contrib- pitched voice of Sid Couch announc- share of the time. He always wore a uted to his irritability. Amazingly, he ing the departure of the red tour buses suit and the kind of brimmed fedora reported that he actually drove in the of the Glacier Transport Company. hat common in the thirties. There is no way of characterizing terrible traffic in Los Angeles where in prose the peculiar timbre of Sid’s Although he was often affable, his he taught school. He could never have voice. It was more than simply high- personality was the prickliest in the passed an eye test for a driver’s li- pitched; it had a sharp, almost tinny Lobby, and his fussiness was always cense, but he said he had a way to find overtone which I have never heard there ready to rise to the surface. He out what the letters projected on the from anyone else. ruled the gear jammers with an iron wall were at his Department of Motor hand up in their dormitory behind the Vehicles office so that he could always Sid Couch was a middle-aged school- parking lot, having some favorites memorize them and get through the teacher from California, and his and showing a quite punitive attitude test. special domain included scheduling toward the ones he took a dislike to. In spite of his tendency to be abrasive the gear jammers and the buses and Therefore, there was a good deal of Sid was often cheerful and friendly; everything else that had to do with the bad feeling toward him by those who and I admired his conscientious and arrival and departure of the buses. He were on his wrong side or reacted exacting dedication to the operation was very competent at this and spent a angrily to his sometimes nagging of the complex mechanism of the good deal of time at the transportation and spikey ill temper. Because we transportation system. Sometimes desk and on the entry porch. Even bellhops carried bags to and from his now when I am in the Lobby it occurs when he was not making an an- buses we crossed his path often in the to me that I would like to hear that nouncement, his conversational voice Lobby and the entry porch where he curious piping voice ring out again. It had a penetrating and strange sound. met and dispatched the buses, and he was part of a scene about which I have He was a small, round-faced man, had strong likes and dislikes for dif- very good memories. ferent bellhops too. When he was in

12 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail Heading North: Story of Chief Mountain International Highway By Tessie Bundick (Many Glacier 1972- need for a new short cut and he put a highway at Kennedy Creek, turn west 82) plan into motion. In January of 1934, and follow up the north fork of Chief Secretary Ickes approved the sum of Mountain, which it skirts, turn north W.P. Kenny, of the Great Northern $113,000 to build the much desired along Lee Creek and Belly River to con- Railway, saw the need, in 1931, for a route. The funds came from the Public nect with the existing Cardston/Water- quicker way to get to the Railway’s new Works Administration to aid unemploy- ton Highway. Prince of Wales Hotel, up north, in Wa- ment. He also saw that money was pro- terton, Canada, from Glacier National The Canadian part of the road was be- vided for the improvement of existing Park. He appealed to Horace Albright, gun in 1933, also as a part of an unem- park roads. In those days, almost all of the current director of the National Park ployment relief program. The American the byways in the area were oiled. That Service, and stated that tourist travel project got off to a slower start, but is, the surfaces were covered with a mix- in the region of Waterton Lakes had would commence, weather permitting, ture of gravel and oil. Otherwise, the diminished and he felt that a route as- in 1934. By the fall of 1934, the sec- dust kicked up by the cars and wagons suring a faster and more scenic trip from tion from Kennedy Creek to the Park would make travel almost impossible. the American side would be just the boundary was completed. Work was right answer to the problem. In Great The new road would cross the extreme started in the summer of 1935 to build Northern circles, it was believed that northeast corner of Glacier Park for a the road to the Canadian boundary, to the new road, called the Kennedy Creek distance of about 2 to 3 miles, and join be finished by the fall. By May of 1936, Cut Off, was as important as the Going the Blackfoot Highway on the American the major thing needed for completion to the Sun Highway. These two high side. The route would follow Kennedy was a temporary bridge at Lee Creek, standard routes would allow the tourist and Lee Creeks. To the east and north, and the construction on the short part to travel freely through the Park and at a traveler would see prairies, while to the of the route, actually in the boundaries the same time view stunning scenery. south, west and northwest, one could of Glacier National Park, still needed view the magnificent Rocky Mountains, attention. Because work seasons were This being the era of the Great Depres- climaxed by the dramatic sight of Chief limited in northern Montana by the sion, construction funds were hard to Mountain rising up 9056 feet. There climate, building was still going on in come by. If, however, there could be an would also be many wondrous lakes, the summer of 1937, especially on the waterfalls and forests to behold. This 2 to 3 miles in the Park, but the Ken- nedy Creek Cut Off was deemed quite passable and considered to have a fair Fortunately, Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of surface. the Interior, had taken a keen interest in the During 1936, Glacier Park Superinten- roads of Glacier National Park. He could dent E.T. Scoyen, suggested that the plainly see the urgent need for a new short cut new road be called “The Chief Moun- tain Highway.” Scoyen declared Chief and he put a plan into motion. Mountain to be “one of the most inspir- ing mountain views to be found in the entire country.” In 1937, the Kennedy allotment made for unemployment re- new distance would be about 46 miles Creek Cut Off was officially named lief, then building a new highway would from the Many Glacier area to the “The Chief Mountain International be just the ticket for both the Canadians Prince of Wales Hotel, cutting off about Highway.” and the Americans. 30 miles. This lovely route is still being used and Fortunately, Harold L. Ickes, the Sec- The old way swung out on the prairies enjoyed today. It is a beautiful way to retary of the Interior, had taken a keen northeasterly to Cardston, Alberta, and savor the scenic splendors of this great interest in the roads of Glacier National then westerly to Waterton Lakes. The recreational region. Park. He could plainly see the urgent new cut off would leave the present

The Inside Trail ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ 13 DEADHEADING: A Wild Goose Chase Past Wild Goose Island By Mike Buck (Gearjammer 1960-67, As this group had begun their day in On my return to Rising Sun, a 2000-07) Banff, 300 miles away, we knew that front desk person ran out to inform they would likely be “toured out” by us that the escort was taking his In the Fall 2010 Inside Trail, gear- the time they got aboard our buses. charges to Lake McDonald aboard jammer Don Perry told a story of We were cautioned to make the jour- the charter bus, via Browning, East having to “deadhead” (drive his bus ney memorable, but quick. Glacier Park and Belton. As time without any passengers) from East was getting short, the escort had de- Glacier to St. Mary, over Logan Pass As we passed through St. Mary and termined that he wanted the visitors to Belton, and then back over the the Park’s eastern entrance, we saw to be taken only to Logan Pass and Pass and northward to the Prince of the tour bus in the parking lot. We returned to Lake McDonald Lodge. Wales Hotel. Don concluded: “I felt assumed that the group was enjoying fairly certain that no driver in Park an early lunch, prior to meeting us There were no extra buses to load the history deadheaded more miles in at Rising Sun. Everything seemed to tour group at Lake McDonald, so one day … If someone did, I sure be in order. It appeared like a pretty Joe and I were told to deadhead to McD. As the tour bus had quite a head start, we went over the pass to “Jammer Joe” Kendall and I were assigned to “Lake” in record time. tour, westbound, over Logan Pass. It was a Upon our arrival at Lake McDonald, fantastic summer’s day. The sun was out, darting we checked in at the transportation desk and received an update. They among the billowy clouds. The dispatch indicted said that the escort had had second that we were to deadhead to Rising Sun Motor thoughts with regard to his itinerary, Inn to pick up passengers from a charter bus. and had now brought the charter bus back to St. Mary! Only later did we learn, through the jammer grape- vine, that the escort had been faced would like to know the circumstanc- simple and straightforward assign- with a mutiny if his people were not es.” Ruefully, I must report that I ment, right? Wrong! allowed to take Going-to-the-Sun had a longer deadheading day than Upon arriving at Rising Sun, we Road. Don. Here is the story of that day. phoned, as instructed, back to the You guessed it. Joe and I beat it “Jammer Joe” Kendall and I were transportation office at East Glacier, back across the Pass, eastbound to assigned to tour, westbound, over to confirm our timely arrival. We St. Mary. Other drivers had seen us Logan Pass. It was a fantastic sum- then waited … and waited … and speed by twice without any pas- mer’s day. The sun was out, dart- waited. Every thirty minutes we sengers, on what seemed a frivolous ing among the billowy clouds. The checked back with the transporta- joyride. We made a quick stop at dispatch indicted that we were to tion office for further orders. They Rising Sun for the mandatory call- deadhead to Rising Sun Motor Inn finally suggested that one of us in. Now we were informed that two to pick up passengers from a charter proceed back to the eastern entrance buses from Many Glacier had been bus (which was too big to go over to make sure that the tour escort was sent to St. Mary to handle the tour. the Pass). We would take them to not expecting the pickup to occur Moreover, we were told that a glut Lake McDonald Lodge, where the at St. Mary. I shot down there and charter bus would pick them up and found no bus! take them on to Kalispell. (Continued on page 16)

14 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail A JAMMER’S JOURNEY

In those days, Gordon drove the “new” buses and was frequently asked by his Dad, “How are the new buses?” Of course, the “new” buses were then 30 plus years old!

(Photo courtesy of Sabra Hester Doggett)

By Sabra Hester Doggett (Glacier Park Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other room hostess. My boyfriend, jam- Lodge 1968-69) national officials. mer Gordon Doggett, was the original attraction -- even before the shining In the 1930s, E. G. (Ennard Gordon) E. G. Doggett Jr. -- Gordon -- came mountains! My salary was $243 a Doggett Sr. piled into a Model T with to Glacier Park as a jammer and month, which, after room and board (Dr.) Bob Wise and some other guys transport agent in 1966 and worked was deducted, left little to take home at from the University of Texas and head- four summers from 1966-1969. In the end of the season. As a reservation ed to Montana. All were members of those days, Gordon drove the “new” clerk, I answered phones, “booked” the Tejas Club, whose purpose was to buses and was frequently asked by reservations manually in a large book, find summer jobs for UT students. his Dad, “How are the new buses?” mailed confirmations and filed. In The club is still in operation today, Of course, the “new” buses were those days, a room for two with a bath after more than 75 years of assisting then 30 plus years old! at Swiftcurrent Motel cost $13. students with summer employment. The salary in those days was $293 After days of driving, the young men My job as a dining room hostess the per month plus tips. Tips could stopped in Browning to clean up be- next summer included checking out range from $25-$100 dollars in a fore completing the long journey and customers and balancing tickets and day’s trip. There were many special beginning a summer of driving and cash at the end of the day. When work- memories that went with “jam- touring as Glacier “gearjammers.” ing in Glacier in the ‘60s, we all had ming” in the ‘60s: Christmas in July, to comply with a number of limita- Ennard spent a number of summers washing buses, Pow-Wows, a girl in tions listed in the contract signed at the in Glacier driving the “old” buses, as every port (hotel), the Night of the beginning of the season -- no overnight well as the “new” buses (the present Grizzlies, lasting friendships with trips without parental permission, no fleet, acquired from 1935-37). He both “emps” and “peeps,” hiking, cars, no use of the lobby or any guest also served as a transport agent. The hitchhiking, the 1967 Fire, and of facilities and no molesting wild animals. fare in 1938 was $11.25 for a trip course the musicals at Many Glacier (I’m not sure who they thought would from Lake McDonald to the Going- (Gordon was the drunken minister molest the animals in the ‘60s!) to-the-Sun Chalets. Ennard was one in Three Penny Opera). of the drivers who made the historic Gordon and I married and started I came to Glacier Park in 1968 as trip across the Going-to-the-Sun careers in education in 1970, which a reservation clerk at Glacier Park Highway transporting President Lodge and again in ‘69 as a dining The Inside Trail ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ 15 (Chase continued from page 14) (Doggett Continued from of sightseers at Lake McDonald had the tour. I, on the other hand (hav- page 15) created a tremendous need for buses ing had enough of the Loop and the ended Gordon’s official “jamming” there. Once again, we were told Triple Arches) deadheaded back to days. However, frequent vacation to deadhead, back again westward my home base at East Glacier Park trips back to the park led us to over the Pass. We were told to make on Highway 2. My accumulated purchase two cabins on the border of no stops along the route (if mother deadheading mileage for the day was Glacier in the early ‘90s. This began nature called, we were to take “cre- as follows: a new era of “jamming” for Gor- ative alternatives!”). By this time we GPL to Rising Sun ……. 37 mi. don and me and family and friends. were certain that our propane fuel Summers were spent at the cabin was getting low, and that we more Rising Sun to St. Mary …. 6 mi. along with a steady stream of friends. than likely would have to switch to Back to Rising Sun …….. 6 mi. Soon Gordon was “touring” friends gasoline … so much for saving the in the Suburban complete with the planet! Rising Sun to McD …… 35 mi. standard Jammer Jokes. (Have you Upon our arrival at Lake McDon- McD to Rising Sun …… 35 mi. heard the one about the Jammer and ald, we were told that only one of us two others that show up at the Pearly Rising Sun to McD …… 35 mi. was needed to take guests to Logan Gates? It seems the Jammer had a Pass. Joe was taking care of press- McD to GPL ………….. 69 mi. quick pass to Heaven due to all the ing matters in the restroom, so I people he has “scared the hell out Total Deadheading ….. 223 mi. made a managerial decision that he of” on trips across the Sun Road!) would be the lucky one to handle In almost 20 years of spending sum- mer months in the mountain cabins, Gordon “toured” more than 40 visit- By this time we were certain that our ing families, sharing a love for Gla- propane fuel was getting low, and that we cier and the red buses that began in the ‘30s with his dad, a college stu- more than likely would have to switch to dent from Texas. Gordon Doggett, gasoline … so much for saving the planet! Glacier Jammer ‘66,’67,’68,’69, completed his journey and passed from this life in January of 2010.

JOIN THE GLACIER PARK FOUNDATION All friends of Glacier Park are invited to join the Glacier Park Foundation. Membership includes a subscription to The Inside Trail and the right to vote for directors. Please download a membership form from our Web Site (www.glacier- parkfoundation.org) or send your name, address, phone number, and park experience to Glacier Park Foundation, Box 15641, Minneapolis, MN 55415. An annual membership in the Foundation costs $10. A “Friend of the Park” membership costs $25 annually, cumulat- ing to a Lifetime membership in five installments. A Lifetime membership paid in one installment costs $100. The Glacier Park Foundation is a § 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent per- mitted by law. (Panorama by Christine Baker)

16 ☐ Summer 2011 ☐ The Inside Trail