310216 - Glacier Park Dance Hall

 

Recording Status:  Recorded, circulating

 This is another example of the circulating recordings of Empire Builders broadcasts for which some (undoubtedly well-meaning) person made up their own title: in this case, “Spike Wants the Girl.” Now, when you listen to the story, it’s certainly understandable why they would invent this name. But it is not the name given to this broadcast by the Great Northern Railway. That name was simply “Glacier Park Dance Hall.” It is also represented in archived corporate papers as “Montana Ghost Town – Altyn.” GN radio advertising expense accounts for the month of February 1931 also mention paying a man named Roger Banning for a story called “Glacier Park.” One source from December of 1920 indicates a police reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press – Roger Banning – left the newspaper for a position as assistant advertising manager of the Tri-State Telephone and Telegraph Company. There may be no connection here; for now, these are merely clues. But this is an example of the kinds of rabbit holes I sometimes have to dive into to put together the pieces.

 

I have not yet located a continuity for this broadcast of Empire Builders, but at least we do have the circulating digitized copy of a 1931 air check recording. The copy circulating on the internet is not very good, but we can make out most of it clearly enough to get the gist of it.

I have located recordings of this broadcast on two different media, cassette tape and reel-to-reel. They are both in the process of being digitized by people with expert equipment and know-how. I still have no idea how the circulating copies came into being, such as when or by whom they were digitized. I am also still working to determine how close to “original” transcription the cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes are. In both cases, it seems the taped versions were created in the late 1980s. It may prove to be very interesting if the taped versions come out cleaner and of better overall quality than the existing, circulating copies currently available on the internet.

This night’s broadcast opened with announcer Ted Pearson welcoming the Old Timer to the microphone. Pearson asked the Old Timer where he was taking the audience for this program. The Old Timer recalled going on a horseback ride near Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park, but before he could launch into an equestrian tale of the Montana Rockies, Pearson stopped him and asked the Old Timer to bring the folks up to speed on how things were progressing for the upcoming Old Timer’s Tour of Glacier Park in July. The Old Timer gave this report:

When I said we’d let some of our radio friends join us, and make up a party of 40, well, I sorta got swamped with letters!

Ted Pearson declared this must be good news – the party of 40 was accounted for. The Old Timer said “Forty? Forty, and then some I guess, Ted.” Pearson challenged the Old Timer on this point, reminding him he said they could only take 40 participants on the tour. The Old Timer then asked, “I can take more than one vacation, can’t I? I don’t aim to disappoint any of my friends, if I can help it. But I tell you Ted, I guess we’ll just have to fix up more than one trip.”

The Old Timer then began to gloat a bit about the volume of letters that had come in, and the number of people who declared they were prepared to spend a ten-day vacation with him in Glacier Park. Then the Old Timer commented on one letter in particular, one he claimed had come in from Mike Shannon, operator of “Mike’s Place” at Glacier Park Station. The Old Timer had Ted Pearson read from Shannon’s letter.

ANNOUNCER:    “Mike’s Place, Glacier Park, Montana. Where the east and the west are one. Open day and night. Dear Old Timer, when you and your friends visit Glacier Park next summer, you can buck your old bear paw snow shoes at the rawhide string on the door of Mike’s Place will be hung on the outside for all you folks. Be sure and let a yell out of you as you come in, and I’ll see what the punchers can do for you. Signed, Mike Shannon.”

Circa 1950s postcard view of Mike's Place at Glacier Park Station (photo by Jim Davis).
Mike Shannon opened his first "Place" in 1917, but it burned down in 1924. He rebuilt it within five years, and the Old Timer took his touring party there in early July of 1931. The unlucky Shannon saw his Place burn to the ground again only weeks later, at the end of July, 1931. He rebuilt once more the following year, and the building still stands.

Program producer Don Bernard came to the microphone and (with mildly feigned indignation) admonished Pearson and the Old Timer about carrying on so much, when there was a show to put on. Pearson explained they had been discussing Mike’s Place, the dance hall at Glacier Park Station. Pearson then hit on the idea that the Old Timer might have a story or two he could share about that popular watering hole, the summer hang-out of Glacier Park Hotel employees, Great Northern railroaders, dude wranglers of the Park Saddle Horse Company, and tourists alike.

Rather than piling on more unpaid advertising for Mike Shannon's operation at Glacier Park Station (today known as East Glacier), the Old Timer instead told a tale of one of the area's ghost towns - the old mining camp of Altyn, which existed for only a short period of time on the east side of the park. Here's a brief synopsis of Altyn from the National Park Service:
"The mining town of Altyn was active from 1898 to 1902 with a peak population of 600-800 people. It provided a store, post office, hotel, cabins, tents, a newspaper, numerous saloons, and other establishments usually found in a boomtown. Much of the former townsite now lies under the west end of Sherburne Reservoir."

The Old Timer conjured up memories of a horseback ride near Many Glacier Hotel with a young couple, and the orchestra provided a musical bridge to take the listeners back to an earlier incident up in the park. An uncredited singer warbled a few bars of “The Cowboy’s Dream” before the conversation picked up between the Old Timer and his companions, Joan and Peter. 

It would be a few weeks before Marc Williams, the “Cowboy Crooner,” would be announced as a new feature on Empire Builders, so I’m pretty sure this was not Williams singing on the broadcast. However, you can listen to a reasonably good quality copy of Williams’ 1928 studio recording of “The Cowboy’s Dream” and make your own opinion. Even given the disappointing quality of the radio recording, I think the style and pitch are so divergent that it must be another performer than Marc Williams. But remember that name. I’ll be writing more about the Cowboy Crooner in the near future.

 

The Old Timer launched into a yarn about a dance hall girl named Jenny Fitzgerald, who was a featured performer at the Buffalo Horn Saloon. The audio in circulation is very poor in this section of the story, so it’s difficult to pick out all the detail. It seems Jenny was chatting with the one-legged piano player named Charlie about her discouraging circumstances, and he shared his opinion that she ought to clear out and get a fresh start somewhere else. Jenny said she didn’t dare. The saloon owner, Spike, had threatened to kill her the last time she spoke of leaving.

As they continued their conversation, Jenny admitted that she had surprised herself by falling for Buck Brewster, a man being chased by the law for holding up a pack train. Jenny let on how she had been in touch with Buck, and that they’d be seeing each other again soon. But Charlie warned Jenny about the reward – a big one – that was out for Buck’s capture. Jenny divulged to Charlie that she and Buck had plans to run off together that very night. She added that the sheriff would be out of town for a couple of days, so there’d be no trouble for Buck to show himself and rendezvous with her for their escape.

Jenny added that Spike was the only hombre in town low-down enough to try to take Buck in for the reward, and that Spike had gone down into the valley for the day. She believed there would be no danger at all for Buck.

Just then, Spike himself appeared, barking and hollering at Charlie for lounging around and not playing piano, like he was paid to do. Spike demonstrated his rough and mean character, dismissing Charlie as a “peg-legged cripple.”

After Spike chased good ole Charlie back to the ivories, he laid into Jenny about her clandestine plans to meet Buck Brewster (it seems Spike had some good sources to keep him informed – most low-life frontier saloon owners did, I’ve always heard). Spike eventually let on as to what was eating him – the notion that Buck might run off with “the only gal I got in the place that can get these bums around here to spend any money.”

Once Spike made clear his plans to turn Buck over to the law and get the reward, he shared his ulterior motive – he planned to make Jenny his wife, whether she liked it or not (and she most decidedly did not). At that point, Spike’s intentions became somewhat more clear. It was blackmail. Either Jenny stayed and married Spike (and he would let Buck slip away), or Spike would make sure the sheriff caught up with Buck and jailed him. Jenny expressed her disinclination to acquiesce to his request with the elegantly phrased retort, “you go to hell!” Spike was a real romantic, though. He promised he’d use some of the reward money to buy Jenny some nice jewelry to wear to Buck’s funeral.

Jenny was a tough western dance hall girl, but she had her limits. Spike finally broke her down, and she tearfully agreed to rebuff Buck when he appeared at the saloon that night, but she beseeched Spike to let her say good-bye to her beau.

Later that night, a spirited crowd filled Spike’s Buffalo Horn Saloon. With a roar of appreciation from the half-drunk revelers, Charlie accompanied Jenny as she sang the chorus of “Break the News to Mother,” a sad tune from the days of the Spanish-American war.
 

Jenny took a break from singing and had a seat at a table. She suddenly realized Buck was by her side. He asked, “will you sing like that to me tonight, when we’re out there on the trail?” Jenny couldn’t find the words to respond. Buck asked her what was wrong. She played it coy, and then Buck suggested they stop wasting time and hit the trail. He knew he could be in danger at the saloon, and preferred to skedaddle before any trouble started. But then Jenny dropped the bomb on him.

JENNY:  That’s just it, Buck. I ain’t goin’.

BUCK:    You, you ain’t goin’? Aw, come on, Jen, cut out the kidding. We gotta be on the way.

JENNY:  I ain’t goin’.

BUCK:    Why, what’s up? Didn’t you send a note by the kid just yesterday, tellin’ me you loved me, and you wanted me to come and getchya?

JENNY:  Oh, that, that was yesterday Buck – I – I’ve changed my mind!

BUCK:    You… changed your mind?!

JENNY:  Yes, I – I’m going to stick here. I don’t want to go traipsing off God knows where.

BUCK:    Say, listen – what do you mean, anyway?

JENNY:  Just what I said – I, I don’t love you, Buck.

BUCK:    What? Why … you don’t love me?

JENNY:  I’ve been fooling myself, and you I guess. I can’t go through with it.

Well, it turns out that Buck was one stubborn hombre. He simply didn’t care that Jenny claimed not to love him anymore. He was skipping out on the trail anyway, and as far as he was concerned, she was coming with him. If her mind had changed and she didn’t love him anymore, then he would simply change it back again. It seems Jenny’s plan to chase Buck off with claims of unrequited love just weren’t going to have any effect.

Buck hoisted Jenny up over his shoulder and started to pack her off, but she demanded that he put her down. Buck implored with her that he wasn’t such a bad fellow, and that she’d learn to like him. Jenny couldn’t help herself (especially seeing as how her first ruse had failed so miserably) – she admitted to Buck that she did in fact love him – never stopped. Jenny spilled the beans. Every one of them. She explained all about what Spike was up to, and how it was the blackmail of that dirty skunk that had her trying to dump good ole Buck.

Naturally, that he-man Buck reacted by declaring that he was going after Spike (that dirty skunk), but Jenny tried in desperation to get Buck to just leave, alone. She promised to slip away later and meet up with him, leaving Spike to believe his blackmail had worked (at least long enough for her and Buck to both make their safe escapes). Buck wasn’t too keen about this plan. No, Buck was a man’s man, and as such he felt he had an obligation to face Spike (that dirty skunk) head-on. But Jenny’s insistent pleading, and the affirmation of her true affection for him, caused Buck to agree to her plan. She walked him to the door to say farewell.

Suddenly, Spike (that dirty skunk) appeared from out of the crowd, and began to drawl a self-satisfied taunting of Buck. Jenny and Buck both tried to get Spike (that dirty skunk) to step aside and let Buck depart. Spike had no intention of doing that – never did. He had three sheriff’s deputies with him, and he was intent on collecting the $1,000 reward for Buck’s capture. Did I mention Spike was a dirty skunk?

Jenny exploded at Spike’s double-cross, and lunged at him, fingernails first. Spike fired his gun, and the tragic figure of his best saloon girl lay lifeless on the floor.

Buck was enraged, and only because some of the boys were holding him back did Buck fail to lunge at Spike himself. With Buck sufficiently subdued, Spike shot Buck. Twice. And then Spike began to roar with laughter, like only a dirty skunk can.

It seems there were a few folks in the crowd who kind of liked Buck, and certainly had a shine for Jenny. They watched as Spike gunned them both down, and were particularly incensed by the manner in which Spike shot Buck, while he was being restrained. Spike tried to calm them all down by declaring the first drink was on the house, and there’d be a second free drink when he got his reward money. This did not seem to be quite adequate. Charlie, the piano player, was caught up in the drama, and had stopped playing. Spike yelled at him to get back at it, once again calling him a peg-leg as he demanded that he play. Charlie cried “I’ll play for your funeral, you dirty skunk!” (see, I’m not the only one who thinks that)

A great commotion erupted as the enraged crowd descended upon Spike and ripped away his gun. Then they strung him up.

The orchestra came up again, and as the music faded out, the Old Timer ruminated on the sad tale of Jenny and Buck. “Nobody would ever know they lived, or what Spike did” declared the Old Timer, “but those sticks mark their graves. It’s all that’s left of Altyn. And nobody knows where Spike’s buried. Romance … tragedy … hmm."

The orchestra once more carried us back from the story-telling and to a closing conversation between Ted Pearson and the Old Timer.

ANNOUNCER:    Can you really see where they’re buried, Old Timer?

PIONEER:            You sure can, Ted. The site of old Altyn is just a little ways from Many Glacier Hotel. Why, all the guides know the way. We’ll see it when we go out there this summer on our vacation.

ANNOUNCER:    Say, Old Timer – have you got our vacation all figured out yet?

PIONEER:            (chuckles) Well, every one of the days is all figured out in black and white, Ted, right here.

ANNOUNCER:    And you’re going to take another party of forty – that’s fine!  And that means that some of your radio friends that couldn’t have gone with you otherwise can go, doesn’t it?

PIONEER:            Yes, that’s the idea, Ted. So all of my friends, who want to go, have to do to find out about this vacation trip is to write me, care of the Great Northern Railway, a hundred and thirteen, south Park Street, Chicago. Then I’ll write back and tell ‘em all about it.

ANNOUCNER:    That’s fine! So folks, if you want to join the Old Timer on a glorious ten-day vacation in Glacier National Park this summer, drop him a line, care of the Great Northern Railway, one-one-three south Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois. It’ll be a never-to-be-forgotten vacation, with camping trips, nights along the mountain trail, fishing, launch excursions, automobile journeys, hiking, and other nights at the luxurious hotel, for which Glacier National Park is noted, with dancing, sports, and a wide variety of entertainment. It’s an all-expense vacation, personally conducted by the Old Timer himself. Let me repeat the Old Timer’s address: care of Great Northern Railway, one-one-three south Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois.

 

                              Tonight’s Empire Builders playlet again presented Harvey Hays as the Old Timer, Jenny was Miss Lucille Husting, Buck Brewster was Don Ameche, and Spike was John Daly.

 

                              This is Ted Pearson speaking. Empire Builders, a presentation of the Great Northern Railway, comes to you each Monday evening at this time, from the NBC studios in Chicago.

 

Until next week, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!