Centennial: Lots of famous people have visited Glacier Park

For a century, Glacier National Park has welcomed travelers from around the world. This includes some very famous visitors, from royalty to presidents to Hollywood actors.

It should be noted that "there are a lot of famous people who vacation in the park that enjoy some anonymity," said Amy Vanderbilt, public affairs officer for Glacier National Park. Visitors to the park should keep an eye out -- a fellow hiker might just be a Hollywood star.

Among the more famous visitors are:

* Lord Lanthom and British Member of Parliament and lawyer Alexander Stavely Hill visited the Waterton area of Glacier in September 1883 for a hunting expedition.

* Great Northern Railway Chairman Louis W. Hill and U.S. Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo watched wranglers ride bucking broncs at Many Glacier Hotel in 1918.

* In 1920, Stephen A. Baker (president of the Bank of Manhattan), H.M. Blackmer (Midwest Oil), R.W. Steward (Standard Oil), Prof. John G. Jacks (Harvard University), H.P. Kelsey (president of the Appalachian Club), Gen. Robert E. Wood (Montgomery Ward) and Charles Bell (president of American Security and Trust Co.) visited Glacier Park and stayed in one of its hotels.

* Humorist Irvin Cobb stayed at the Glacier Hotel (known today as Lake McDonald Lodge) in 1925, and was quoted as saying, "This, to my way of thinking, is one of the best mountain hotels in the whole world. It has every imaginable convenience, including my books on sale in the lobby."

* John D. Rockefeller and family visited the park in 1926 and again in 1930.

* Governors general Lord Willingdon, Sir John Buchan and Viscount Alexander of Tunis visited Waterton in 1928, 1936 and 1951, respectively.

* Film star Clark Gable visited the park sometime between the late 1920s and early 1930s.

* When Ernest T. "Ernie" Pyle, an accomplished author and syndicated newspaper columnist, visited the Glacier Park Chalets he was the first guest to request a bath. Though the chalets had outhouses and limited running water, the obliging chalet staff still provided Pyle with a hot bath -- one jug of boiling water after another until the tub was full.

* While Gloria Vanderbilt did visit the park and stay at one of the Granite Park Chalets, she did not enjoy the trip and left the next day.

* President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his wife Eleanor and their three sons traveled to the park in August 1934, where Eleanor and the boys swam in Two Medicine Lake.

* Norwegian Crown Prince Olav, Crown Princess Martha and their royal entourage took a three-day tour of the park in the early summer of 1939.

* Just after WWII, hero of the 1942 Battle of Midway Admiral Raymond Spruance and his wife stayed at Many Glacier Hotel.

* Hopalong Cassidy and wife Tripalong (actress Grace Bradley) stayed at the Many Glacier Hotel in the 1950s. Wearing cowboy costumes, the pair arrived in a flashy convertible.

* Hollywood actor and future President Ronald Reagan visited the park in 1953 to film "Cattle Queen of Montana."

* Actors Piper Laurie, Victor Mature, Vincent Price, William Bendix, Walter Reed and Dennis Weaver visited the park in July 1953 to film "Dangerous Mission."

* Sidney Poitier and world heavyweight boxing champion Ingemar Johansson starred in "All the Young Men," a film made in Glacier in 1959.

* Television reporter Edward R. Murrow covered the 1960 Governors Conference at the Many Glacier Hotel.

* Clint Eastwood stopped for a drink at the Prince of Wales Hotel bar in 1973.

* While filming "Wild Horse Hank" in September 1978 actress Linda Blair ("The Exorcist") fell ill with a severe cold or the flu. She stayed in a Waterton hotel until she was well enough to resume filming.

* William Shatner, Helen Hunt, David Janssen, Joanna Pettet and Russell Baer visited Waterton in 1973 to film the made-for-television movie, "Pioneer Woman."

* Jeff Bridges and Kris Kristofferson starred in "Heaven's Gate," which was filmed partly in the park in 1979. One of the film's sets was a complete replica of a town built on the shore of Two Medicine Lake. The movie production later lost its permit to film in Glacier.

* Vice President George H. W. Bush (who later became president) traveled to the park in 1983.

* The movie "Beethoven's Second" was filmed in Apgar Village in 1992, starring actors Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt.

* In 1993 Glacier hosted the American Academy of Achievement, an annual retreat for high school seniors. Many luminaries, scientists, athletes, authors, artists, actors and famous leaders attended the event, including General Norman Schwarzkopf, Johnny and June Cash, John Grisham, Kathleen Battle, Tom Selleck, Pat Conroy, the Judds, Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving.

* In 1997 former Vice President Al Gore gave a speech to more than 300 people at Many Glacier Hotel.

* On a break from filming "What Dreams May Come," actor Robin Williams took a red bus tour through the park.

* In July 2004 First Lady Laura Bush went hiking in Glacier with three friends. The group also worked on fundraising for the National Park Service's Junior Ranger Program and the National Parks Foundation.

* Other famous visitors who have been spotted enjoying the park include Jack Hannah, Phil Jackson, Maury Povich, Connie Chung, Jane Fonda, Ted Turner and Dustin Hoffman.

Sources: "Waterton and Glacier in a snap! Fast facts and titillating trivia" by Chris Morrison and Ray Djuff

    Amy Vanderbilt, Public Affairs Officer Glacier National Park