Author takes readers on time travel through Glacier Park

Sharon Randolph found inspiration for a series of four books in an unlikely place - filing cabinets containing old reports from past Glacier National Park superintendents.

The results of 15 years of research have culminated in "Connecting Us to the Sun," four volumes that Randolph says give "an unparalleled historical exploration honoring the connections travelers have on their journey as they build two states, small communities and a national park."

The first two books recently rolled off the press at Scott Publishing in Kalispell, and Randolph intends to use proceeds from the sale of the first two books to finance printing of the remaining two volumes, which are already written and ready to go.

Randolph, the student development coordinator at Flathead Valley Community College, became enamored with Glacier Park at an early age. She visited the park with her family for the first time in 1958, when she was 4.

"The many future camping visits with my family in the 1960s and in 1973 as a high school graduate at Lake McDonald Lodge led to a yearning to return to an area that was fondly remembered for the beauty," Randolph wrote in a chapter called "Author's Journey."

She and her husband, Gerry, vacationed in Glacier Park and the Flathead Valley for a decade before they moved from Duluth, Minn., to West Glacier in 1991. During the five years they spent in West Glacier, Randolph began writing and researching and tapped the library at Glacier Park headquarters.

"I found myself drawn to towns and places that don't exist anymore," she said.

Randolph found information on 50 such past communities - places like Altyn, McCarthyville and Old Town (now St. Mary) - as she pored over park superintendent reports.

"I really had to scour those superintendent reports," she recalled. "Some of them, the paper was so thin."

The first two volumes of "Connecting Us to the Sun" show the strong relationship Montana and Glacier Park have to Minnesota. Randolph sought historical data in Minnesota, too, using an 1881 history book from the Hennepin County Historical Society among other sources.

The books take readers "through a lot of Minnesota history," she said. "I want people to read and discover the treasures of why Minnesotans came out here.

"It honors the people who came before us."

Randolph wrote the books as a time traveler, putting herself in the story.

In the first volume, "Trails Leading to Montana," she follows travelers from the East who "follow the lay of the land by horse, walking, wagon train and the railroad to journey into unknown country."

Volume Two, "A Nation's Attention to the Northern Rockies," focuses on the time between 1900 and the end of World War II in 1945, a dramatic time in Glacier's history when Going-to-the-Sun Road was constructed and the park would establish itself as a destination for travelers.

The third book deals with the west side of the Northern Rockies, touching on the rich history of Apgar, Belton, Polebridge and other communities. The final volume takes a look at east-side development and communities such as Essex, East Glacier, St. Mary and Babb.

"Communities [sprang up] in areas where people depend on their own survival techniques to endure harsh winters and great distances to other communities," she said.

Randolph is circumspect about giving away too many details about the first two volumes now in circulation. She wants readers to discover the books' gems for themselves.

"People will see why I included things in volumes one and two when three and four come out," she said.

Randolph already has ideas for a sequel.

Her desire to write stories developed during childhood. History - especially women's history - also has been a strong lifelong interest.

"I realized how much I missed [writing] a few years ago," she said. "For so long [these books] were notes on a card. Then people began telling me, 'You should write a book.'"

Randolph got a lot of support for her book project from her husband, who teaches special education at Columbia Falls High School and works at Sportsman & Ski Haus during the summers.

"He's been very helpful," she said, adding that he's taken on the role of director of business and marketing for the project.

The couple spends much of their summers in Polebridge and live at Bay Point on Whitefish Lake during the school year. Both places provide the kind of quiet reflection Randolph needs for writing.

"These books are all about the connections people have; travelers on their journeys," she said. "They honor the people who came before us, and I'm hoping it creates a dialog.

"It's been such a journey for me."

The books coincide with Minnesota's 150th anniversary of statehood this year and will provide a historical footprint of Glacier as the park gears up for its centennial in 2010.

The first two volumes of "Connecting Us to the Sun" are for sale at Books West in Kalispell; Sportsman & Ski Haus, Haines Drug, Crystal Winters and Bookworks in Whitefish; and Bad Rock Books in Columbia Falls.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com