At one time (and may continue today) there was an old Swiss custom of placing bells on mountain tops and passes in order to allow hikers and horseback riders to ring loud bells in the mountains. During the early years of the park, Glacier National Park was promoted as the answer to Americans leaving the country to vacation in the Swiss Alps. In addition to building several Swiss style chalets around the park, the Great Northern Railway and the Glacier Park Hotel Company requested permission to place locomotive bells on the summits of several passes in Glacier. In September of 1926 the request was finally granted to place bells at
Swiftcurrent Pass,
Piegan Pass and
Siyeh Pass. Three years later a fourth bell was added at
Scenic Point. The bells remained in place until the fall of 1943, at which point they were removed by the hotel company and donated to a World War II scrap metal drive. Today, each of those four passes remain as some of the best hiking destinations in the park.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
