Archives West Finding Aid

These images were made between the years 1912 and 1915, when the Great Northern Railway was encouraging tourism through the "See America First- Great Northern Railway - National Park Route" promotional campaign. Louis W. Hill, President of the Great Northern, was eager to promote tourism in the newly created Glacier National Park, primarily because his was the only rail line servicing the area. As part of this effort, he created an extensive promotional campaign that attached the Great Northern Railway logo and branding to the "See America First" slogan first espoused by Stanford Harris of Salt Lake City from 1905-1909.

Harris argued that many easterners "simply do not know - they are not educated about our throbbing West." In his conception, while the frontier had dwindled, touring the West offered an opportunity to encounter the wellspring of the American character: democracy, freedom, nature, and economic opportunity. Additional benefits included economic development in tourist destinations and a strengthened national awareness. Harris held annual "See America First League" conferences starting in 1906, where the message of western promotion was honed and refined. This approach certainly was successful for gaining some attention: the New York Times has articles from both 1906 and 1908 on the "See America First" conferences and proposals.

The slogan and program also gained support within centers of economic power: On the eve of his retirement, James J. Hill sent a letter of endorsement to the See America First Convention, citing his "hearty sympathy with ... the economic and patriotic ideas that have inspired it." His son, Louis W. Hill's, use of this phrase broadened the exposure the slogan received and gave it a different usage. Hill assumed control of the Great Northern in 1907. In the wake of Stanford Harris' death, Louis Hill adopted the 'See America First' slogan that Harris had used as a banner, incorporating the phrase into the company's logo, its mission, and all its advertising and public relations. Under Louis Hill's supervision, the phrase "See America First" became a part of the Great Northern's logo Hill had appropriated the boosterist slogan and used it to support a new business direction for the Great Northern: Tourism. He also formed a new subsidiary for this purpose, the Glacier Park Hotel Company.

Promotional activities ranged through a spectrum of events. A key element to the constructed "See America First" narrative was the opportunity to 'see' native peoples. In this case, the Piegan had developed a relationship with the national park and with the tourist concessions therein. It is important to note that while portions of Glacier National Park were within the original Blackfoot reservation as defined by treaty, the Piegan did not traditionally inhabit the area near the Glacier Park Hotel. Rather, they were semi-nomadic, high plains buffalo hunters claiming use of a large territory that encompasses portions of what we know as Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alberta. One result of the relationship that developed between the Great Northern Railway, the Glacier Park Hotel Company, and the Piegan was the emergence of a coterie of recognized performers who maintained 'camps' near several lodges, performed 'traditional' dances and ceremonies for visitors to the park, and generally rubbed shoulders with hotel guests.

The images in this collection have served multiple purposes: They were used as promotional images by the Great Northern Railway for advertising; by the Glacier Park Hotel Company for souvenirs; and by authors for illustration in topical books. In all cases, though, one thing remains constant: these images are part of an economically motivated romanticization of the situation and reality of native Americans' lives. As such, all these images were carefully posed and created to support a narrative for potential and actual visitors to Glacier National Park.