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[Unknown compiler]; T. J. Hileman, postcard photographer, et al.

[Glacier National Park photo album].

[Glacier National Park, ca. 1920]. Small 4to (10.5” x 13.25”), flexible black cloth, black lace tie at spine, applied illustrated label reading “Great Northern” on upper cover. 2 mounted color printed maps, 8.5” x 11” and 8” 13.5”, misc. mounted railroad ephemera both clipped and intact, 216 silver print photos, approx. 3.5” x 5.5”, including 16 real photo postcards; 3 b&w photomechanical postcards, 27 color postcards, numerous pressed flowers; many photos captioned on mount in white crayon.

An impressive Glacier National Park photo album, apparently compiled by a woman during a visit in the 1920s, providing ample documentation of the park’s extraordinary natural beauty and early buildings, as well as the compiler’s peregrinations, various companions, people encountered along the way, etc.

Mounted at the beginning of the album are a number of pieces of railroad ephemera demonstrating that the compiler and companion(s) began their trip on the Pennsylvania Rail Road and were thus easterners. A Great Northern Railway ticket advertises the Oriental Limited, the railroad’s primary passenger train from 1905 to 1931, and the means by which the compiler reached the park. A photo of the Oriental Limited rounding a curve below Marias Pass appears early in the album and was apparently taken from the back of the train as they were arriving in the Glacier Park region. Also among the preliminary items are two maps, one entitled Map of Glacier National Park and the other (mounted underneath the former), Aero Plane Map[,] Glacier National Park.

The subjects of the photos include: scenes on the Northern Pacific; Lake McDonald; “Charlie Russell’s cabin at Lake MacDonald” (famed western artist Charles Russell spent some twenty summers on the lake); views on the trail to Sperry Glacier; a cowgirl described “a waitress at Sperry”; various chalets and lodges (Granite Park Chalets, Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier Park Hotel, etc.); Grinnell Mountain and falls, and numerous other mountains, lakes, etc.; a series of images of an unidentified woman in jodhpurs who is seen frequently throughout the album (and was likely the compiler); the “new road to Logan Pass”; a group standing around a fire identified as “Mrs. Bull & Son, Mr. Singleton, Mr. Cook and WAH at Gunsight”; John Clark’s curio shop; the saddle horse corral at many Glacier; and more. Pressed flowers appear throughout.

Most of the photographs were taken by the compiler or a companion, but a number are real photo postcards made by T. J. Hileman, as are quite a few of the color postcards, while a few are credited to Fred Kiser and some are uncredited. Closely associated with Glacier National Park, T. J. Hileman (1882–1945) produced and sold numerous photographs from his commercial shop in Montana over the course of many years. In addition to capturing scenic images, he also documented visits of notables to the area. In 1911 he moved to Kalispell and opened his own portrait studio, and in 1913 married Alice Georgeson in Glacier Park—the first couple ever to get married there. Hileman began his association with the Great Northern Railway soon after arriving in Montana. Carrying his bulky camera equipment via packhorse, he soon became one of Glacier National Park’s most prolific photographers, his work widely reproduced in postcards, newspapers, ephemera, and books. In 1926, he opened photo-finishing labs in Glacier Park Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel, developing photos taken by tourists.

Following the construction of the Great Northern Railway through Marias Pass and the conservation efforts of George Bird Grinnell, Glacier National Park was established in 1910, as the nation’s tenth national park. In order to promote tourism, the Great Northern constructed a number of lodges and chalets in the park. Most of those constructed in the teens are pictured in the album. The Prince of Wales Hotel, built in 1926-27, is not pictured, suggesting that the album precedes its construction.

An ample and thematically strong photo album documenting a tour of Glacier National Park, likely within a decade or so of its being established.

REFERENCES: Hockaday Museum of Art, T. J. Hileman (1882–1945) via frameref.com; Park History: Glacier National Parks at nationalparkstraveler.org

CONDITION: Covers good; photos generally very good, light wear.

Item #7062

Price: $2,250.00