|
Back at the Prince of Wales and the Windsor Lounge for lunch. Love a good Bloody Caesa and Wendy was drinking an Elderberry Martini. We stopped by the gift shop too.
An interesting story I found about the Lodge and rather ironic in lieu of the Kenow Fire: The bustling community of Waterton Park got a shock when the Great Northern didn’t open the Prince of Wales Hotel in 1933, with the railway citing the downturn in economic conditions caused by the Great Depression. The railway said it would not reopen the hotel until a more direct route was built between Waterton and Glacier, versus all bus traffic having to go via Cardston. Construction of Chief Mountain International Highway was undertaken as a work relief project and completed in 1936, when the railway kept its promise and reopened the hotel.
The new route between the parks was shorter and more scenic. During the period the hotel was closed, Waterton townsite faced the threat of a forest fire. The blaze started in August 1935 near Boundary Bay on Upper Waterton Lake and blew north toward the town. Great Northern sent its chief engineer, Ray Sleeger, and other staff to Waterton to protect the hotel. The fire was snuffed out before it reached the town, and despite not having a hand in battling the blaze, the wily Sleeger sent a telegram to his bosses saying: “I saved the hotel.” Great Northern president W.P. Kenney famously replied: “Why?” By then Prohibition had ended in the United States so there was no need for the hotel, and given the financial times, the purpose for keeping the hotel was dubious.
glacierparkfoundati ... .pdf
An interesting story I found about the Lodge and rather ironic in lieu of the Kenow Fire: The bustling community of Waterton Park got a shock when the Great Northern didn’t open the Prince of Wales Hotel in 1933, with the railway citing the downturn in economic conditions caused by the Great Depression. The railway said it would not reopen the hotel until a more direct route was built between Waterton and Glacier, versus all bus traffic having to go via Cardston. Construction of Chief Mountain International Highway was undertaken as a work relief project and completed in 1936, when the railway kept its promise and reopened the hotel.
The new route between the parks was shorter and more scenic. During the period the hotel was closed, Waterton townsite faced the threat of a forest fire. The blaze started in August 1935 near Boundary Bay on Upper Waterton Lake and blew north toward the town. Great Northern sent its chief engineer, Ray Sleeger, and other staff to Waterton to protect the hotel. The fire was snuffed out before it reached the town, and despite not having a hand in battling the blaze, the wily Sleeger sent a telegram to his bosses saying: “I saved the hotel.” Great Northern president W.P. Kenney famously replied: “Why?” By then Prohibition had ended in the United States so there was no need for the hotel, and given the financial times, the purpose for keeping the hotel was dubious.
glacierparkfoundati ... .pdf
Aug 13 2017