PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

September 21, 2022

LABOR DAY 2019

Wednesday, August 14, 2019, Diane and I took the Big Sky Tour of Glacier National Park on an eighty year old Red Bus.  Our driver and guide was Stemmer Simone.  A part of the tour included the fifty miles on the Going-To-The-Sun Road which provided spectacular views of the park including two glaciers.  Given when it was built and the restrictions under which the construction took place, it is one our country’s outstanding construction feats.

As we traveled the fifty miles of the Going-to-The-Sun Road our Stemmer Simone told us something of its construction.   Construction began in 1921 and took twelve years to complete.  Workers had to contend with bears, cold weather, snow, difficult obstacles, and rough terrain.  The survey crew had to climb the equivalent of climbing the Washington Monument five times.  Supplies and materials came to the work sites by packhorses and mules.  Much of the work was done by hand.  In spite of all the dangers only three men lost their lives during the construction of the Road.

Hundreds of men labored many hours in the 20’s and early 30’s so that we today might have easy access to the wonders of Glacier National Park.  Labor Day Weekend is an appropriate time to remember the contribution “workers have made to the development, growth, endurance, strength, security, productivity, laws, sustainability, persistence, structure and well-being of the country.” (Wikipedia)  Those who built the Road-To-The-Sun Road would surely be included in such remembrance.

In the Hebrew Bible there are at least two great building projects.  The first is by Solomon who built the first Temple complex in Jerusalem.  The second is Nehemiah who rebuilt the temple and the city walls when the Hebrew people returned from Exile.  Both projects were seen as being directed by God and as a way of living out their faith.

A second group of workers who contributed to Glacier National Park as we know it today were young men between the ages of 18 and 25 who come to the park as members of the Civilian Conservation Corps.  The Road-To-The-Sun Road was completed in the depths of the Great Depression.  There were little resources or labor to develop the Park and to take advantage of the road which had been constructed.  The CCC provided the much needed labor that was required.  The 1,278 CCC workers who came to the park between 1933 and 1942 developed trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and the west entrance station where today the Park offices are located.  They were also helpful in fighting fires that broke out in the park.

Each worker received $30 per month of which they sent $25 home to their families to help them out during the Depression.  During their stay in the park they gained basic skills which helped them find work when they returned home.  Many who came to the Park came from very poor communities that offered little in the way of job training.

This Labor Day I will be remembering all those workers who made it possible for Diane and me to have a memorable visit to Glacier National Park.  I will also remember all those whose labor makes my life a little easier and contribute to the general welfare of my community.

(This article was originally published 09/01/19 and is the first of a series of articles about my train trip to Seattle, Washington.)