I couldn’t resist showing you the photograph on the cover.
—Malcolm
Category: Glacier National Park
Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton
Those of us working at the Hotels in Glacier National Park, Montana, enjoyed trips across the border into Alberta for shopping, boating, horseback riding and hiking in Waterton Lakes Park. Our trip wasn’t complete without a visit to the Prince of Wales Hotel that sits above the town of Waterton with a superb view of the lake, and the mountains of Glacier Park beyond.
Early this year, author Ray Djuff (“View with a Room,” “Waterton and Glacier in a Snap”) released a thoroughly researched book about the hotel called “High on a Windy Hill: The Story of the Prince of Wales Hotel” via Rocky Mountain Books.
The title is certainly apt. On that hill, the wind seldom stops. Like the major hotels in Glacier, “The Prince” (or “PW”) as we called it, was built by the Great Northern Railway. The 90-room, 1927, Swiss-style structure is now a historic site. As a hotel employee during the 1970s, the Calgary-based Djuff knows the area well.
The descriptions, historical information and photographs are a nice addition to any Montana/Alberta tourist’s collection.
UPCOMING
December 1 (on Writer’s Notebook): – A Tuesday Teaser for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
December 3: Guest article by author Chelle Cordero
December 8: Interview with author Helen Macie Osterman
Brief Review: ‘Place Names of Glacier National Park’
Place Names of Glacier National Park by Jack Holterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This reference book, in dictionary form, presents an exhaustive list of Glacier National Park’s place names. Included in the commentary for each name are references to where the name came from, alternative (or older) names for lakes and mountains, the Indian names, details about the personages involved, and a lot of other forgotten lore you won’t find on topographical or hiking maps.
If you love the park, this book by the late Jack Holterman, a scholar of the Blackfeet Language and a long-time historian of the area, will take you deeper into the mysteries of the place. The names and commentary are, in many ways, a miniature history of the people who discovered and safe-guarded this popular, yet threatened national park.
I was honored to be one of the editors of the original version of this book published in 1985 by the Glacier Natural History Association (now called the Glacier Association). The book went out of print for a while, so it was especially nice to see it return several years ago. It’s an excellent resource and a very interesting look at the park.
Glacier Park Centennial: Post Card Contest
from NPS Glacier
Glacier National Park’s Education Program and the Glacier Association are again sponsoring a postcard contest for K-12 students. As Glacier approaches its 100th anniverary, the focus for this year’s contest relates to the Centennial themes of “Celebrate, Inspire, and Engage.” In particular, to “engagement” as the next 100 years of Glacier’s future depends on the participation of today’s youth in helping to protect and preserve park resources.
The purpose of the poscard contest is to promote learning and stewardship of Glacier National Park through the creation of messages from local students to future Glacier National Park visitors. First place winning entries in each category will be made into postcards to be given to the visiting public at Glacier Association bookstores throughout the park.
Winners will be announced by the end of November. The first place winning entry in each category will receive a Glacier Association gift certificate for $25 and be made into a free postcard to be handed out at Association sales areas. The second place winner will receive a $15 gift certificate. Third place and honorable mention entries in each category will receive a book from the Association.
The Glacier Association is a non-profit cooperating association of the National Park Service. Glacier Association helps to support Glacier National Park’s educational, interpretive, cultural and scientific program needs.
Deadline is October 31, 2009. Details and entry form here.
–
Many Glacier Hotel Fans: My mountain adventure novel The Sun Singer is set in a fictionalized version of the hotel and Swiftcurrent Vally. The book’s action fits hand-in-glove into the park’s eastern-side environment where I climbed mountains, hiked and worked as a seasonal employee.
Coming Soon, a discussion with author Pat Bertram about gangsters, quests, and her new book Daughter Am I.
West Hollywood Book Fair: Volunteers set up and staffed my publisher’s (Vanilla Heart) booth even though most of the books and promotional items intended for display were stolen by burglars several days before the October 4th fair. See Jock Stewart’s commentary on this contemptible theft, Waking Up in LA.
Fortunately, a few copies of Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire escaped the thieves’ notice and made it to the booth!
To view my “Wonderful Books” FriendFeed posts, click on the icon below.
Guided Tour Along Montana’s Flathead River
from Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC)
The Crown of the Continent Lecture Series, which began with “Two Peoples, Two Countries, Three Voices” on September 15, will continue September 21 with “The Crown Region: Setting the Stage,” presented by Geography Department Chairman Dr. Jim Byrne of the University of Lethbridge. Byrne will establish the broader geographical elements that help define the Crown of the Continent.
On September 26, the series will offer a field trip adventure, “Along the Buffalo Cow Trail: History and Ecology of the Trans Boundary North Fork,” led by Thompson and Geologist and Glacier Institute co-founder Dr. Lex Blood. The trip will involve a hike along the North Fork of the Flathead River on the Kishenehn Trail, the same route the first people took on the 10,000-year-old trail. The cost of the trip is $65 per person and includes transportation. Space is limited, and advance registration is required. Participants also are required to have moderate hiking ability.
The series will resume September 29 with “Defining the Ecology of the Crown of the Continent,” delivered by Dr. Chris Servheen, adjunct research associate professor of wildlife conservation and grizzly bear recovery coordinator at The University of Montana. Servheen will provide an overview of the characteristics that distinguish the Crown of the Continent from neighboring and global ecosystems including the diversity of flora and fauna.
Author Jack Nisbet of “Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson across Western North America” will conclude the series October 6 with his presentation, “Seeing Across the Rockies: Reaching for Montana 1787-1812.” Nisbet will reveal the relationship between Lewis and Clark, David Thompson and Thomas Jefferson and their involvement with the first accurate map of the Crown region.
All lectures are free and open to the public. Each lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in the large community meeting room inside the Arts and Technology Building on the FVCC campus at 777 Grandview Drive in Kalispell.
For more information or to register for the field trip, visit www.fvcc.edu, or contact the FVCC Continuing Education Center at 406-756-3832. This series is a part of the official Glacier National Park Centennial Program.
Glacier National Park is quickly approaching its 100th anniversary. The park has empowered a team of volunteers to help plan and implement a community-based Centennial Program to take place throughout the latter half of 2009 and run through the celebration year of 2010. For more information on the Centennial, please visit http://www.glaciercentennial.org.
To view my “Wonderful Books” FriendFeed posts, click on the icon below.
Reconnecting Children with Nature
WEST GLACIER, MONT. – The education staff at Glacier will offer a free workshop for professionals and others who work with children focused on how to get children outside and engaged with nature. The full-day session will be held on Saturday, April 18 at the West Glacier Community Building from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The workshop is geared toward adults who work with youth in various capacities. Topics to be covered include how to encourage youth to spend time outdoors and fun activities that connect children with nature.
A large portion of the day will be spent outdoors, so participants should come prepared to be outside, regardless of the weather. Lunch and a variety of information resources will be provided.
This workshop is made possible through a grant from the Glacier National Park Fund. Thanks to this generous financial support, all workshop participants will receive a free annual park pass, valid for unlimited visits to Glacier National Park for 12 months plus a copy of Richard Lou’s book ‘Last Child in the Woods – Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.’
“More and more children and adults are becoming disconnected from the natural world. Glacier National Park is hosting this workshop to support goals of the National Park Service Children in Nature effort: To reconnect our youth and their families with the land, create a new generation of stewards, and improve the physical and mental health of our Nation,” noted Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright.
Availability is limited to the first 40 registrants. The registration deadline is Tuesday, April 14. Contact Debby Mensch at debby_mensch@nps.gov or 406-888-7935 to register and/or to ask questions.
Malcolm's Round Table 