Belton Chalet

Between 1909 and 1913, under the direction of Great Northern Railway chairman of the board Louis Hill, the Great Northern Railway constructed the Belton Chalet complex as the first of its sprawling hotels to serve Glacier National Park, created in 1910, marking the beginning of tourism in the park. Hill, who dubbed Glacier’s rugged mountains “America’s Alps,” drew upon Chalet and American Rustic styles to harmonize his hotels with the natural landscape and shape visitors’ perceptions of a “controlled wilderness,” even costuming employees throughout Glacier Park to fit the theme. Waitresses in alpine dress, cowboy guides, and local Blackfeet Indians helped create a true theme park preceding Walt Disney. Belton Chalet is the most traditional and purely Swiss of Glacier’s hotels, with front-facing gable ends, wide eaves with heavy braces, balconies, and ornamental fretwork. Inside, taxidermy, American Indian motifs, and a large oil landscape of Glacier Park by artist John Fery complemented rustic wood timbers, while guest rooms featured rustic rockers, porcelain washbasins, Arts and Crafts style dressers, Hudson’s Bay style blankets, metal bedsteads, and Swiss style curtains. After many years of closure and a complete restoration under private ownership, Belton Chalet remains one of six original park hotels, and the buildings as a group, designated a National Historic Landmark, remain unaltered as a unique example of a Swiss theme park in America’s Alps.

West Glacier, Montana · United States