Ramsey County History – Summer 2010: “‘He Had a Great Flair for the Colorful:’ Louis W. Hill and Glacier Park”

“He Had a Great Flair for the Colorful:” Louis W. Hill and Glacier Park
Authors: Biloine W. Young and Eileen R. McCormack

The article is an excerpt from two chapters of The Dutiful Son: Louis W. Hill; Life in the Shadow of the Empire Builder, James J. Hill, published by the Ramsey County Historical Society. Louis Hill was born in St. Paul in 1872, and, after graduation from Yale in 1888, went to work for his father’s railroad. He was made the president of the Great Northern in 1907. But Hill was more than just a businessman. He was a romantic, a dreamer, a painter, and an outdoorsman. One of his premier projects was the development of Glacier National Park. Working behind the scenes, Hill helped persuade the US Congress to establish Glacier National Park in 1910. Because the Hill family’s Great Northern Railway tracks ran along the southern boundary of the park, Hill knew the railroad could increase passenger traffic if visitors could be encouraged to travel to the park. Hill hoped to entice Easterners to explore the grand vistas in Montana using the slogan “See America First.” Hill supervised almost all of the details of the tourist hotels he constructed. Because a section of the park was also in Canada, alcohol could be legally purchased at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton during Prohibition. As part of the development of Glacier Park, Hill bought some land from the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. Although he was at times patronizing about the Blackfoot, Hill seemed to get along well with the Native American population and gathered Indian artifacts. He hired prominent painters and authors to draw and describe Glacier Park.
PDF of Young & McCormack article