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Through Glacier Park in 1915
A delightful travelogue by one of the most popular and prolific writers of this century.
102 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1995
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104 people want to read
About the author
Mary Roberts Rinehart
547 books430 followersMysteries of the well-known American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart include
The Circular Staircase
(1908) and
The Door
(1930).
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 29, 2024
Rinehart was primarily an early-mid twentieth century mystery writer, but she was obviously a good writer however she made her money. In the case of this book and another, Tenting To-Night, she was writing travel books, maybe for magazines. The two books describe two different trips she made to Glacier National Park not long after it was opened to modern tourism. The area was the last truly wild place in the lower 48 states. Railroads made tourism possible and fashionable in the early 20th century. Of course it had been known and lived in by native Americans long before the 20th century and she tries to give them recognition here.
The first book I read of hers was Tenting To-Night (actually her second book on Glacier Park trips).
It differs from this book in that it was a more primitive family trip with few amenities on unprepared trails. In this book the pack trip is led by Howard Eaton whose name is now on modern features such as mountains and in current history books on the park. Rinehart also mentions Charles Russell, the famous Western artist, as a member of this trip. There are 42 clients in all and Rinehart usually focuses on the women because they are a novelty here. There are hired wranglers and cooks to take care of all these dudes—a cowgirl’s dream.
Rinehart does mention some ideas which go contrary to modern nature management but were certainly of her time. She believes in full on suppression of wildfires and makes no objection to the fact that coyotes are poisoned to “protect “ wildlife. This trip was so noisy that the tourists saw few animals. Read her other book for the bears, mountain goats etc. The author recommends this kind of trip over railways or automobiles which were just being introduced to a few areas in the park. “The old West is almost gone. Now is the time to see it—not from a train window; not, if you can help it, from an automobile, but afoot or on horseback… .” Considering all the rough and scary trails she rode, my favorite sentence from the book…I rode back “with my left foot dangling over eternity.”
The first book I read of hers was Tenting To-Night (actually her second book on Glacier Park trips).
It differs from this book in that it was a more primitive family trip with few amenities on unprepared trails. In this book the pack trip is led by Howard Eaton whose name is now on modern features such as mountains and in current history books on the park. Rinehart also mentions Charles Russell, the famous Western artist, as a member of this trip. There are 42 clients in all and Rinehart usually focuses on the women because they are a novelty here. There are hired wranglers and cooks to take care of all these dudes—a cowgirl’s dream.
Rinehart does mention some ideas which go contrary to modern nature management but were certainly of her time. She believes in full on suppression of wildfires and makes no objection to the fact that coyotes are poisoned to “protect “ wildlife. This trip was so noisy that the tourists saw few animals. Read her other book for the bears, mountain goats etc. The author recommends this kind of trip over railways or automobiles which were just being introduced to a few areas in the park. “The old West is almost gone. Now is the time to see it—not from a train window; not, if you can help it, from an automobile, but afoot or on horseback… .” Considering all the rough and scary trails she rode, my favorite sentence from the book…I rode back “with my left foot dangling over eternity.”
July 10, 2020
To travel, then, is to do, not only to see. To travel best is to be of the sportsmen of the road. To take a chance, and win; to feel the glow of muscles too long unused; to sleep on the ground at night and find it soft; to eat, not because it is time to eat, but because one's body is clamoring for food; to drink where every stream and river is pure and cold; to get close to the earth and see the stars–this is travel.
Mary Roberts Rinehart is best known for her pioneering and very successful mystery novels, but she also wrote some nonfiction, including a pair of travel books about trips she took in Glacier National Park. This is the first, the account of her 1915 journey across the park by horseback as a member of a party of 42, led by outfitter and dude rancher Howard Eaton.
She enjoys the natural beauty and physical challenges of the ride and is also a great observer of the foibles of the adventurers, including herself: I cannot cast for trout. I do it, but my technique sets the boat to rocking and fishermen to grinding their teeth. There are some interesting cameos, as Eaton was a friend and North Dakota neighbor of Theodore Roosevelt, and famed Western artist Charlie Russell was one of Rinehart's fellow travelers on this trip.
She occasionally steps back and comments on the Park in the big picture: Now and then the United States Government does a very wicked thing. Its treatment of the Indians, for instance, and especially of the Blackfeet, in Montana. But that's another story. The point is that, to offset these lapses, there are occasional Government idealisms. Our National Parks are the expression of such an ideal.
I enjoyed the free LibriVox audiobook read by Laura Victoria and probably will listen to the later Tenting To-Night; A Chronicle Of Sport And Adventure In Glacier Park And The Cascade Mountains, also.
Mary Roberts Rinehart is best known for her pioneering and very successful mystery novels, but she also wrote some nonfiction, including a pair of travel books about trips she took in Glacier National Park. This is the first, the account of her 1915 journey across the park by horseback as a member of a party of 42, led by outfitter and dude rancher Howard Eaton.
She enjoys the natural beauty and physical challenges of the ride and is also a great observer of the foibles of the adventurers, including herself: I cannot cast for trout. I do it, but my technique sets the boat to rocking and fishermen to grinding their teeth. There are some interesting cameos, as Eaton was a friend and North Dakota neighbor of Theodore Roosevelt, and famed Western artist Charlie Russell was one of Rinehart's fellow travelers on this trip.
She occasionally steps back and comments on the Park in the big picture: Now and then the United States Government does a very wicked thing. Its treatment of the Indians, for instance, and especially of the Blackfeet, in Montana. But that's another story. The point is that, to offset these lapses, there are occasional Government idealisms. Our National Parks are the expression of such an ideal.
I enjoyed the free LibriVox audiobook read by Laura Victoria and probably will listen to the later Tenting To-Night; A Chronicle Of Sport And Adventure In Glacier Park And The Cascade Mountains, also.
January 10, 2016
Having just finished Tenting Tonight, Rinehart's 1918 book about a trip she made through Glacier National Park, I had to read this book, written a couple of years earlier about her first trip through the park in 1915. The Park was created in 1910, so these were very much the early years of wilderness tourism, but it seems there were still busloads of tourists at the main hotel near the entrance to the park. But, as Rinehart says, the only way to see Glacier Park is by horseback and away from the trappings of civilization.
In Tenting, Rinehart was part of a group made up mostly of family and friends. But in this book, she joins 41 other people in a tour group led by Howard Eaton, who was a guide and outfitter. (There are now trails named for him in Yellowstone Park, but other than that, I could not find any info about him.) Rinehart sang his praises throughout the book, and I got the feeling that he was one of those outdoorsmen who can handle anything and make you believe you can too. Just the ticket for such a diverse group of tourists, some who had never been outside a city before in their lives.
But still, 42 people!? That is a pretty big group, and I'm not sure I would enjoy it as much as I would with a smaller crowd. Anyway, this being Rinehart's first trip to the area, she seemed more like she was acting as a reporter than as a happy participant the way she was in Tenting. I should not compare the two books for that reason, but I can't help it. Here she discovers the appeal of the mountains, in Tenting she glories in it.
Although there are some scenes here that hint at her style in her other book. For example, at first she had a wonderful horse named Golden Dollar, but when she left the group on a side trip for some reason, she had to give him up. And the horse she was given when she got back with the group was not nearly so wonderful. Here she is with the story:
He was a white horse, and he was a pack-horse. Now, the way of a pack-horse is on the edge of the grave. Because of his pack he walks always at the outer side of the trail. If his pack should happen to hit the rocky wall, many unpleasant things would follow, including buzzards. So this beast, this creature, this steed of death, walked on the edge of the precipice. He counted that moment lost that saw not two feet dangling blithely over the verge. Now and then the verge crumbled. We dislodged large stones that fell for a mile or two, with a sickening thud. Once we crossed a snow-field which was tilted. He kept one foot on the trail and gave the other three a chance to take a slide. There was a man riding behind me. When it was all over, he shook my hand.
When the back country part of her trip is over, Rinehart scolds the government for a bit about not budgeting enough funds for proper forest ranger facilities and various other pertinent topics. She wanted the area to be developed properly so that everyone could enjoy it. That thought was okay, except that of course the more people that are in a wilderness, the less wild it becomes. (The black bears had already learned to eat at the garbage dump a few hundred yards behind the hotel!) In Tenting I think she had started thinking along these lines herself, since she mentioned a couple of times that by talking about the area she and others had probably ruined it.
One excellent point Rinehart makes in this book is how the original Native American names for the natural features in the Park were being replaced. This made her quite angry, and in truth it is a sorry shame. Here are some of her thoughts on this topic:
....why is it that, with the most poetic nomenclature in the world,—the Indian-, one by one the historic names of peaks, lakes, and rivers of Glacier Park are being replaced by the names of obscure Government officials, professors in small universities, unimportant people who go out there to the West and memorialize themselves on Government maps? Each year sees some new absurdity. What names in the world are more beautiful than Going-to-the-Sun and Rising-Wolf? Here are Almost-a-Dog Mountain, Two-Medicine Lake, Red Eagle—a few that have survived.
Rinehart wrote mostly mystery novels, but also tons of short stories and plays. I have read The Circular Staircase but until these two travel books I had not read anything
else of hers. I'm going to try a few other titles Someday and see if they are as much fun as these trip journals have been.
In Tenting, Rinehart was part of a group made up mostly of family and friends. But in this book, she joins 41 other people in a tour group led by Howard Eaton, who was a guide and outfitter. (There are now trails named for him in Yellowstone Park, but other than that, I could not find any info about him.) Rinehart sang his praises throughout the book, and I got the feeling that he was one of those outdoorsmen who can handle anything and make you believe you can too. Just the ticket for such a diverse group of tourists, some who had never been outside a city before in their lives.
But still, 42 people!? That is a pretty big group, and I'm not sure I would enjoy it as much as I would with a smaller crowd. Anyway, this being Rinehart's first trip to the area, she seemed more like she was acting as a reporter than as a happy participant the way she was in Tenting. I should not compare the two books for that reason, but I can't help it. Here she discovers the appeal of the mountains, in Tenting she glories in it.
Although there are some scenes here that hint at her style in her other book. For example, at first she had a wonderful horse named Golden Dollar, but when she left the group on a side trip for some reason, she had to give him up. And the horse she was given when she got back with the group was not nearly so wonderful. Here she is with the story:
He was a white horse, and he was a pack-horse. Now, the way of a pack-horse is on the edge of the grave. Because of his pack he walks always at the outer side of the trail. If his pack should happen to hit the rocky wall, many unpleasant things would follow, including buzzards. So this beast, this creature, this steed of death, walked on the edge of the precipice. He counted that moment lost that saw not two feet dangling blithely over the verge. Now and then the verge crumbled. We dislodged large stones that fell for a mile or two, with a sickening thud. Once we crossed a snow-field which was tilted. He kept one foot on the trail and gave the other three a chance to take a slide. There was a man riding behind me. When it was all over, he shook my hand.
When the back country part of her trip is over, Rinehart scolds the government for a bit about not budgeting enough funds for proper forest ranger facilities and various other pertinent topics. She wanted the area to be developed properly so that everyone could enjoy it. That thought was okay, except that of course the more people that are in a wilderness, the less wild it becomes. (The black bears had already learned to eat at the garbage dump a few hundred yards behind the hotel!) In Tenting I think she had started thinking along these lines herself, since she mentioned a couple of times that by talking about the area she and others had probably ruined it.
One excellent point Rinehart makes in this book is how the original Native American names for the natural features in the Park were being replaced. This made her quite angry, and in truth it is a sorry shame. Here are some of her thoughts on this topic:
....why is it that, with the most poetic nomenclature in the world,—the Indian-, one by one the historic names of peaks, lakes, and rivers of Glacier Park are being replaced by the names of obscure Government officials, professors in small universities, unimportant people who go out there to the West and memorialize themselves on Government maps? Each year sees some new absurdity. What names in the world are more beautiful than Going-to-the-Sun and Rising-Wolf? Here are Almost-a-Dog Mountain, Two-Medicine Lake, Red Eagle—a few that have survived.
Rinehart wrote mostly mystery novels, but also tons of short stories and plays. I have read The Circular Staircase but until these two travel books I had not read anything
else of hers. I'm going to try a few other titles Someday and see if they are as much fun as these trip journals have been.
September 2, 2025
Sometimes I wish I could experience travel as they did many years ago. Before the internet & modern cameras in your pocket, the only way to truly experience the wonder of a place was with your own eyes…not 1000s of pictures online. That goes for discovering less trodden trails and places where thousands before you haven’t gone and shared the pictures to prove it. In Mary Rinehart’s time they did have cameras, but only those that could produce good images in the hand of at least experienced hobbyists. The quality of the pictures shared in this book were excellent.
I loved this book because not only is Rinehart an entertaining writer, but she shares firsthand knowledge of a park and west she knew would undergo rapid transformation. I also love how she seemed to be an early Luddite…eschewing “phones” and other busy trappings that seemed to pale in comparison to the call of the mountains by foot or horseback.
This book delivered everything I expected and more. Who knew I’d hear an impassioned plea to quit replacing Native American names for mountains with those of random white men. Her reference to at least seven “Goat Mountains” was on target.
This was a delightful 1-day read. If you have a nostalgia for travel as it was you’ll love this book.
I loved this book because not only is Rinehart an entertaining writer, but she shares firsthand knowledge of a park and west she knew would undergo rapid transformation. I also love how she seemed to be an early Luddite…eschewing “phones” and other busy trappings that seemed to pale in comparison to the call of the mountains by foot or horseback.
This book delivered everything I expected and more. Who knew I’d hear an impassioned plea to quit replacing Native American names for mountains with those of random white men. Her reference to at least seven “Goat Mountains” was on target.
This was a delightful 1-day read. If you have a nostalgia for travel as it was you’ll love this book.
September 1, 2021
Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote enthusiastically about her horse trip through Glacier Park in 1915. Her guide was Howard Eaton, described as ‘a hunting companion of Teddy Roosevelt’. Western artist and raconteur, Charles M (Charlie) Russell was also part of the forty two person trip.
She went by train to the Glacier Park Lodge on the eastern side of the Park. From there, they covered three hundred miles, and crossed six mountain passes, ending at Lake McDonald.
She was ecstatic over the scenery, the adventure, the company and the wildlife. Probably her recent trip to the France and the battlefields of WWI made her especially mindful of the beauty of this trip. There are great photographs, and a bit of early park history.
There is also a short description of the plight of the Blackfeet Indians living along the eastern edge of Glacier Park. After meeting them firsthand, Mrs. Rinehart became a passionate supporter of more just conditions for the Blackfeet.
She went by train to the Glacier Park Lodge on the eastern side of the Park. From there, they covered three hundred miles, and crossed six mountain passes, ending at Lake McDonald.
She was ecstatic over the scenery, the adventure, the company and the wildlife. Probably her recent trip to the France and the battlefields of WWI made her especially mindful of the beauty of this trip. There are great photographs, and a bit of early park history.
There is also a short description of the plight of the Blackfeet Indians living along the eastern edge of Glacier Park. After meeting them firsthand, Mrs. Rinehart became a passionate supporter of more just conditions for the Blackfeet.
January 27, 2018
Absolutely brilliant. I don't think I've read a book that speaks more to the sense of being called by the Rockies that buried itself deep in my heart.
"For the lure of the high places is in your blood. The call of the mountains is a real call. The veneer, after all, is so thin. Throw off all the impediments of civilization, the telephones, the silly conventions, the lies that pass for truth. Go out to the West. Ride slowly, not to startle the wild things. Throw out your chest and breathe; look across green valleys to wild peaks where mountain sheep stand impassive on the edge of space. Let the summer rains fall on your upturned face and wash away the memory of all that is false and petty and cruel. Then the mountains will get you. You will go back. The call is a real call."
God.
"For the lure of the high places is in your blood. The call of the mountains is a real call. The veneer, after all, is so thin. Throw off all the impediments of civilization, the telephones, the silly conventions, the lies that pass for truth. Go out to the West. Ride slowly, not to startle the wild things. Throw out your chest and breathe; look across green valleys to wild peaks where mountain sheep stand impassive on the edge of space. Let the summer rains fall on your upturned face and wash away the memory of all that is false and petty and cruel. Then the mountains will get you. You will go back. The call is a real call."
God.
September 23, 2018
Great little read about Glacier National Park in the early days!
March 22, 2014
Great, inspiring book. Between Rinehart, Ansel Adams and my parents, I developed a lifelong love of travel and most especially nature. Camping is my friend. The adventures of Rinehart were scary and exciting and Glacier Park one of the scariest. It was wilderness for her and for me but oh so different! I now visit with a road to drive and an inflatable mattress! Beauty, everywhere...
July 25, 2016
I purchased a copy of this at St. Mary's Lodge the other day while visiting Glacier National Park. I read most of it that night in a tent near Coram, MT. Reading of a trip through the park 100 years before was fascinating.
This part of NW Montana is awesome and reading this little book gives clear voice to the awe that the park continues to elicit from visitors.
This part of NW Montana is awesome and reading this little book gives clear voice to the awe that the park continues to elicit from visitors.
Want to read
August 6, 2013Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
September 13, 2020
I enjoy adventure stories very much. This one was good. But way way to short :)
August 9, 2021
Short book about her horse trip thru Glacier in 1915. 'Ride thru the Rockies and save your soul.'
Beautiful, with a sense of humor. Love the women's lib without once calling it women's lib.
Beautiful, with a sense of humor. Love the women's lib without once calling it women's lib.
May 25, 2018
Charming.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews