A natural beauty at 100
Whitefish, Mont., has come a long way since the swampy lakeside turf officially became a city 100 years ago. As it celebrates the century mark this summer, its leaders reminisce on the best the Northern Rockies community has offered over the years.
It’s hard to deny the stunning beauty of Whitefish Lake, surrounded by snowcapped, forested peaks and laden with wildlife: moose, bald eagles, bears and deer.
Beyond the clichéd descriptions of a mountain resort town, Whitefish offers a summer hideout on mountain bike and hiking trails and waterways. There are Levis-blue lochs and 7-Up-bottle green streams, and celebratory events to fill the evenings.
Realistically, Whitefish is a hundred years young. The vibrant and growing community (population 4,500 a decade ago, now 6,000) ached for a swim center and raised the $1 million-plus to build it. The Whitefish Aquatic Center opened earlier this spring.
The Northwest Montana burg wanted a suitable library to house historic and other works, and built one a decade ago.
And as actors and playwrights filled the middle school’s stage, folks wanted more. The community built a cultural arts center to the envy of other small towns.
In June, celebrants will find free films by hometown girl Dorothy Johnson (1905-1984) at the O’Shaughnessy Cultural Arts Center in the heart of downtown.
As a young woman, Johnson worked as a telephone operator in an era when all phone calls rang through to the operator. She went on to write 52 short stories and 17 books – including “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” and “A Man Called Horse,” her best-known works. They became feature-length movies starring fellow Montanan Gary Cooper, Karl Malden, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin and Richard Harris.
Her writing desk and other memorabilia are on display in the Stumptown Historical Society’s museum along with early photographs of Whitefish, Great Northern Railway items and an almost-famous fur-covered fish – a must-see gag.
Johnson also penned “When You and I Were Young, Whitefish,” and called her town “boisterous and howling and always outgrowing its britches.”
How true. As the “holiday village” attracts more vacationers, the city bulges at the seams. New homes between downtown Whitefish and the Big Mountain Ski and Summer Resort, the town’s northern hem, sprout like dandelions in a meadow.
While some old trails and dirt roads are gone, cyclists have 18 miles of biking trails on Big Mountain. Trail riders can access terrain via the Glacier Chaser Chairlift to the summit at 7,000 feet for a thriller ride down along the eight-mile Summit Trail
Lift passes cost $10 per day ($8 for juniors/seniors) and include bikes on the chairlift.
State and federal lands that surround the town offer a few hundred unpaved miles to ride.
“During the summer we offer a free evening cruiser bike ride around town,” says Lee Stanley, an employee at the local bike shop, Glacier Cyclery, which has good maps and good advice on local trails. “We plan to have kids’ rides again this summer too. People should just stop in to find out day and time.”
Hikers congregate on summer Tuesdays, when a local naturalist leads treks from 9:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. along Big Mountain’s Danny On Memorial Trail. Views include Glacier National Park peaks and the Canadian Rockies.
Whitefish’s earliest inhabitants, Native Americans, camped along the shores of the seven-mile-long lake to fish for native whitefish. They smoked the fish and dried berries for winter’s sustenance.
By the time Europeans arrived in Northwest Montana, much of the West had long ago seen the Corps of Discovery’s Lewis and Clark expedition, gold rushers and fur traders. By 1905, Whitefish was home to just a few hundred settlers who lived off the land, helped build tracks and tunnels for the Great Northern Railway and discovered the beauty and bounty of the area.
Some things haven’t changed, including the wild huckleberries, luscious purple fruit that grows on bushes near town.
Whitefish celebrates the wild berry during the annual Whitefish Huckleberry Days, Aug. 12-14 in downtown Depot Park. An art festival in the park features more than 100 art and food vendors in the three-day juried event. The Grand Finale Centennial Celebrations Concert rocks the Stumptown Ice Pavilion during Huckleberry Days.
Events aside, Whitefish Lake and beach offer relaxing summer days. At City Beach, kids splash on float toys and swim to diving platforms. Ski boats, kayaks and the occasional sailboard explore the lake. Canoeists paddle the shoreline and dip onto the Whitefish River for a longer downstream paddle.
Rental boats, canoes and kayaks are available from local sports shops as are rental mountain bikes.
Summer doesn’t really end with Big Mountain’s Aug. 27 Brewfest of music, food and suds. Golfing, touring nearby Glacier National Park and relaxing at Whitefish’s restaurants and their outdoor patios continue into the fall, when tamaracks lose their needles, nights chill and Whitefish heads toward 101 years young.