Saddle Horse Service in Glacier

SADDLE HORSE SERVICE IN GLACIER

Howard H. Hays

There are over a thousand miles of delightful trails in the park and trips may be had from one-half day to a month in duration. There are many delightful side trips to be made from each hotel and chalet, also scheduled trips from one hotel or chalet to another. It is possible to ride from Glacier Park Hotel or Lake McDonald Hotel to Prince of Wales Hotel in Canada over beautiful trails through magnificent high country.

Following is the text of an official statement by Superintendent J. W. Emmert of Glacier National Park regarding the available saddle horse service for the summer of 1948:

"Saddle horse facilities will be provided in the Many Glacier area by Mrs. Berniece Lewis; in the Glacier Park and Two Medicine area by Mr. Bryant Graves, and in the Lake McDonald area by Mr. Roy Wessels.

"Regular daily trips are available in the Many Glacier area to Iceberg Lake, Grinnell Lake, Grinnell Glacier, and Cracker Lake. Special two-day trips will be made to Granite Park Chalets and to Lake McDonald Hotel. Camping trips may be arranged to cover part or all of the North Circle and other park areas.

"Regular daily trips are available from Glacier Park Hotel to Mount Henry, Lower Two Medicine, Two Medicine Chalets and Squaw Mountain. A special two-day trip will be made to Two Medicine Chalets. A special daily trip will be made from Two Medicine Chalets to Upper Two Medicine Lake and return. Camping trips are available.

"Regular daily trips will be made in the Lake McDonald area to Sperry Chalets and Glacier and return. Special two-day trips will be made to Sperry Chalets and Glacier and to Many Glacier Hotel via Granite Park Chalets. Camping trips are available.

"An agreement has been entered into by the above operators providing for the booking of trips by an operator where the origin of the trip is in an area other than his own. All the details are included in the agreement which is designed to provide a maximum of service to the visitors to the park. Special daily trips may be arranged at all points."

For more than twenty-five years, the late Geo. W. Noffsinger and his father owned and operated a romantic enterprise known as the "Park Saddle Horse Company" with a herd of over 600 horses. It was, perhaps, the largest operation of its kind on this continent. In addition to local saddle service from each hotel and chalet, the Company established permanent tent-camps in the northeast section of the park; and provided regular scheduled tours over what was known as the "North Circle". A typical schedule was: first day - from Many Glacier Hotel to Crossley Lake (Belly River country); second day - to Goathaunt Camp (south end of Waterton Lake); third day - to Fifty-Mountain Camp (Flattop Mountain area); fourth day - to Granite Park Chalet; fifth day - to Many Glacier Hotel.

Owing to the heavy operating costs, the Company was seldom if ever able to earn a profit and was usually in debt. This condition was due in large part to the tremendous costs of giving first-class saddle horse service during a short summer season with a herd of horses that must be fed and cared for during twelve months of the year. In early days, these horses were permitted to graze in the park during the summer but later this practice was discontinued, owing to gradual depletion of native grasses. Thereafter, it was necessary to transport hay by truck and pack-horse to the various stations where guests and horses spent the night.

These excessive operating costs apply as well today to the Transport Company for similar reasons. The Transport Company owns and maintains a large fleet of buses and private touring cars equal to the heaviest of mid-season requirements although the peak season lasts only a few weeks. For nine months of the year the fleet is completely idle. During the summer, the flow of passenger travel is not constant but fluctuates from a dearth to a surfeit. On one day, the train arrivals may number twenty, the next day two special trains may arrive bringing two hundred and fifty excursionists. If saddle-horse or bus charges seem high to any of your passengers, a small amount of study will disclose many reasons why short-season service in a remote area cannot be supplied at urban rates. For example, an inter-city bus travels from 100,000 to 200,000 miles per year and often runs in its lifetime a million miles. Transport buses average only about 6,000 "live" miles per year. The 1925-1935 buses became obsolete before running 100,000 miles.