Lake McDonald, West Glacier, MT, circa 1930

About this postcard

A view across Lake McDonald toward the surrounding mountains, with evergreens framing the near shore and the peaks and sky reflected in the calm water. The lake is the largest in Glacier National Park, a long basin carved by glaciers and fed by snowmelt, and its clear water is known for revealing colored stones in the shallows. By the time this photograph was made, the Great Northern Railway had spent decades bringing visitors to the park's hotels and chalets, and Lake McDonald was the usual first stop on the tour. The scene shows the park as tourists came to know it: water, timbered slopes, and bare rock ridges in a single frame.