290617 - [Topic]: Opening of the Summer Season at Glacier National Park

The grand inauguration of the new Empire Builder train was an ambitious and in some ways taxing event. Commemoration of this new passenger service between Chicago and the coastal cities of the Pacific Northwest occurred during the one-hour special broadcast on June 10, 1929. During the ceremonies captured on that program, the Old Timer (actor Harvey Hays) actually boarded the Empire Builder train and rode it out to Seattle. This must have been a real hoot for fellow passengers, if they realized who he was. If they did, it probably would have been because they recognized his voice rather than his face.

Press photo taken at Spokane, Washington, on June 12, 1929. Bess Mullen is stepping out of the old-time stage coach, as the Old Timer (Harvey Hays) assists her.  Author's collection

Also traveling on that train were some other dignitaries and representatives of the east, including Miss Chicago Commerce (Miss Bess Mullen). Stops were made at significant stations along the route and brief photo ops were exploited.

In Seattle, both Hays and Mullen (and a few select GN officials) met with members of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Hays and Mullen even participated on the air in Seattle, on a 30-minute program aired on the NBC affiliate KOMO.

Harvey Hays and Bess Mullen on the press relations junket to the coast. Author's collection

The following day, Mullen thought she was free of appearance obligations, so she went shopping in Portland. To her dismay, she missed an event at which she was expected, and it made it into the newspaper that she had “gone missing.” Ooops.

No doubt things settled down quickly after that slight scheduling mishap. Hays and Mullen soon returned to Chicago. Hays performed narrator duties at the microphone on Monday, June 17, when Empire Builders aired from the Chicago studios of NBC. Most of the broadcasts of this first season were historical dramas. On this night, however, the program was more focused on showcasing the season opening of Glacier National Park, and Glacier Park Lodge, just two days before.

 

Poet Vachel Lindsay, circa 1921.  Author's collection.

 

One of the country’s noted poets at that time was a man named Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931), and he served as a guest on the June 17, 1929, broadcast of Empire Builders. He was loosely but not distantly related to Abraham Lincoln (by marriage), and grew up in Springfield, Illinois, only a few blocks away from the home Lincoln lived in before becoming President of the United States. It was well documented that Lincoln had spent many a pleasant evening in the front parlor of the home Lindsay grew up in.

Over the years, Vachel (pronounced “VAY-chull”) Lindsay developed a special interest in Glacier National Park, and published many poems with the park as the theme. One collection of such poems was titled “Candle in the Cabin.” These poems were inspired by Lindsay's 1925 camping trip to Glacier Park.

Another collection was titled “Going-to-the-Sun,” a name synonymous with the geography and romance of Glacier Park. Here’s a tiny sample his work, the title poem of the latter publication.

Vintage postcard of Going-to-the-Sun Mountain in Glacier National Park.

 

Going-to-the-Sun

The mountain peak called “Going-to-the-Sun,”

In Glacier Park,

Is the most gorgeous one,

And when the sun comes down to it, it glows

With emerald and rose.

                        Vachel Lindsay, 1923

 

Vintage gummed label (luggage sticker or large envelope seal). Author's collection

 

Also appearing in this evening’s eclectic presentation out of Chicago was the well-recognized Blackfeet Indian elder, Two Guns White Calf. Translating over the air for Two Guns was his nearly constant companion for such events, interpreter and fellow Blackfeet, Owen Heavy Breast.

Dad Pickard serenades the Old Timer and his faithful hound, January. Author's collection

Obed “Dad” Pickard was still in town (not coincidentally, either, I’m sure) and he appeared on the show to sing a couple of numbers, described as “a unique selection of typical old-time songs.”

A couple of other songs were performed by vocalists simply listed on an NBC press release as “Choristers.” One of those was a song listed as “Rosita,” or probably “La Rosita,” written by Paul Dupont. Although not from the Empire Builders broadcast, here’s a rendition of that song, recorded in 1931, that you can listen to for the flavor of the music heard on the show:

La Rosita on YouTube