Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The northern town of Kalispell (population 20,008, elevation 2,954 feet) exists because of
James Hill's Great Northern Railway and survives in spite of it. Freight and mercantile bar-
on Charles Conrad, who made his fortune in Fort Benton and planned to move to Spokane,
Washington, before falling in love with the Flathead Valley on his way west, essentially
founded the town of Kalispell when he convinced his friend Hill to run the railroad through
it in 1891. By 1904, two years after Conrad's death, the Great Northern abandoned its Kal-
ispell route in favor of the more geographically amenable Whitefish line just 15 miles to the
north. The people of Kalispell were furious, but the town's economy survived due to Con-
rad's National Bank and the booming timber industry that saw 40 sawmills built in Kalispell
alone. Today it is still rather industrial compared to Whitefish's resort-like atmosphere—a
nuts-and-bolts kind of town that serves as a natural supply and shopping center and has
some wonderful museums, parks, and an ideal location between Flathead Lake and Glacier
National Park.
Given a great boost when the train was rerouted from Kalispell in 1904, Whitefish (pop-
ulation 6,384, elevation 3,036 feet) grew up around Big Mountain and the sport of skiing,
and today is Montana's largest year-round resort community. The economy bumped along
thanks to the train and the timber industry, but when locals started skiing on Big Moun-
tain in the 1930s, an idea was born. At the request of local science teacher Lloyd “Mully”
Muldoon, Great Falls skiers George Prentice and Edward Schenck came to town, studied
the mountain, and put up $20,000 of their own money to develop the ski area. Whitefish's
chamber of commerce raised the rest of the money locally by selling stock. The work was
done largely by volunteers in 1947 and 1948. The following year, Big Mountain hosted the
national championship downhill, slalom, and combined races. Since then, it has gained an
excellent reputation, and the town basks in its glory. And although Whitefish is clearly a ski
town, it is also an art town, a gateway to Glacier, a summer hot spot, and a great place to
find gourmet cuisine.
The Conrad Mansion National Historic Site
Just a block from Woodland Park sits the palatial historic home of Charles Conrad, the
founder of the city of Kalispell. The
Conrad Mansion
(330 Woodland Ave., Kalispell,
406/755-2166,
10am-5pm
Wed.-Sun.
mid-May-mid-June,
