A look at the history of Wheeler and Kelly's camp

The loss of most of the structures at Kelly’s Camp and the Wheeler Camp to the Howe Ridge Fire mark another chapter in the history of early settlement at Lake McDonald.

The Wheeler Camp, at head of the lake, was the exclusive residence of the Wheeler family for decades, before the Park Service acquired the property.

Attorney Burton K. Wheeler was a Democrat and Montana senator from 1923 to 1947.

According to the national register of historic places narrative of the property, Wheeler first took his family on vacation to Glacier National Park in 1915.

They would later buy a cabin owned by Wyoming rancher and guide Howard Eaton in 1917 and they used it as a day cabin until it burned in 1941.

The family spent a lot of time clearing the land around the cabin, until it had a grass lawn and was in park-like setting of trees.

Burton and his wife, Lulu, had six children by 1924 and their little cabin was getting cramped, so they built the “sleep” cabin in 1929 and over the years, built other cabins to house their growing family, grandchildren and guests.

One cabin of note was the garage cabin, built in 1940. It had a two-bay garage underneath it. Of interest was that Asa “Ace” Powell built the fireplace for the cabin. Powell was better known for his artwork, both paintings and sculptures.

A year after the garage cabin was built, the main cabin burned in a fire. The Wheelers set about rebuilding it.

By 1952, there were five structures on the lot — including a boathouse. The Wheeler family would eventually relinquish ownership of the camp to the Park Service. The Park was looking to a non-profit like Glacier National Park Conservancy to lease and restore the cabins at Wheeler, but all that is left now is the main cabin.

Frank and Emmeline Kelly had an even deeper connection to the Park. They were pioneers in the tourism industry in Glacier. Frank first came to the Lake McDonald area about 1893. He filed a homestead claim on the northwest end of the lake and over the years turned the property into a tourist destination as he also ran, at one point or another, four tour boats on Lake McDonald.

Perhaps the best known was the “Emmeline” which he built himself in the winter of 1905-06.

Kelly ran the boat business on the lake until the fall of 1921, when he sold it to Rollo C. Abell. He then bought it back, however, and ran the Emmeline for several more years.

The only way to access Kelly’s Camp was by boat until 1933, when Frank, along with help from others, pioneered a road from the Wheeler place to his camp.

The dead-end road construction coincided with the opening of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Tourism at the time was a tough business to be in. Cottages rented for $60 a month, or $150 for an entire summer. The first cabins were built in 1910. That included the “The Big House” the largest cabin in the camp.

Other cabins were added as the years went on the Kelly’s Camp was going full bore by 1931.

But both Frank and Emmeline would die of pneumonia in 1935.

Their son, Vern, ran the complex, but with the Depression and then World War II, the camp went through several lean years. Vern would die in 1958 of pneumonia.

Changes came in the 1960s as lots and cabins were sold to private individuals and families, many of which had ties to the camp as guests for decades.

The Big House was acquired by the Park Service in 1988. Recently, it was eyed as a “historical rental” by the Park Service. Under that plan, an entity would restore the structure and then rent it out to guests.

The Big House burned to the ground, along with most of the structures at Kelly’s Camp.

Over the years cabins were added and not all of them contributed to the historic character of the camp. One was built, according to tax records, as late as 2013.

Today Kelly’s camp looks as if a bomb went off. One cabin can be seen left standing along the shoreline. Some of those owning cabins at Kelly Camp have vowed to rebuild. The market value, according to state tax records, is high. The land values alone range from $350,000 to more than $700,000 for each lot. In today’s booming market, they’re likely worth more than that. Similar lots on Whitefish Lake, with small cabins fetch more than $1 million, according to local real estate listings and they don’t have the views of Glacier Park.

Frank Kelly could have only imagined.