Video
Driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road: 1930s
Descriptive Transcript
DRIVING THE GTSR 1930s – DESCRIPTIVE TRANSCRIPT
Title card: Driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road: 1930s
Title card: In the late fall of 1932, after three decades of construction in the mountains, the first automobile drove the entirety of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Title card: These clips from 1933-1935 show early vehicles, including Glacier Park Transport Company buses, on the newly-built road.
Title card: Note the lack of guardrails in some sections, and the unpaved surface of the road. Paving efforts began in 1938 and wouldn’t be completed until 1952. Before paving, roads were oiled to cut down on dust.
Black-and-white footage of 1930s-era cars driving a gravel road with mountains looming behind.
Two cars round a curve in a road flanked by steep snowdrifts on the upslope and steep rocky cliffs on the downslope.
A car barrels down the road, kicking up a cloud of dust.
A bus rounds a sharp corner, with dust billowing behind.
Buses carrying tourists wind around narrow curves in the road, with rocky cliffs on one side and small rock wall guardrails on the other.
People mill around at a scenic overlook under a tunnel. Prominent mountains loom behind.
Title card: Park visitation statistics: 1931: 63,497; 1932: 53,202; 1933: 76,715; 1934: 116,965; 1935: 143,230.
Black-and-white footage with date label ‘1935’. Passengers in a convertible bus wave as the bus departs a lodge.
Passengers in the bus wave their caps and smile for the camera.
Overhead view of car traveling the gravel road cut into the mountainside.
A snow-covered landscape with pine trees laden in snow, a wooden sign, and clouds rolling through.
Title card: By the time these clips were shot in 1937, over 90 percent of park visitors arrived by private automobile.
A car passes by a rock wall with a spray of water cascading down.
A car enters a tunnel along the road. A prominent mountain stands in the distance, dotted with snow patches.
A car drives alongside a rock wall, where melting snowdrifts still stand 30 feet tall.
Cars exit a rustic tunnel cut into the rocky mountainside.
Two women stand at a scenic viewpoint under the tunnel, looking out at a mountain.
A car travels a gravel road in a dense pine forest, with mountains further behind.
Title: Before 1933, the Glacier tourist experience revolved around arriving by train. Passengers would then tour the Great Northern Railways’ network of grand hotels, chalets, and tent camps via horse, boat, and bus.
Title card: After 1933, this magnificent mountain road – and its automobile tourists – became the focal point. What kinds of changes do you think this brought?
Color footage with date label ‘1939.’
Red buses and automobiles line a parking lot surrounded by craggy mountains.
People mill about on paths near the parking lot. The mountains above crumble into talus slopes at their bases.
A group of people walk up a path in a meadow below a prominent mountain. Fade to black.
Description
The first in a series of four highlight reels about the experience of driving the park's famous road from the 1930s-1960s. The 1930s was a time of great change with the completion of this new road.
Duration
3 minutes, 40 seconds
Credit
NPS Video
Date Created
04/17/2025
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