“There is a feeling that time has stopped and the past and the present live together, here in the “Last Best Place.””
I first came to Montana more than 12 years ago with my husband Louis, when we were just dating. Louis’ mother is from Butte, Montana and for most of her life had property along the shoreline of Swan—first the river, then the lake. It was on our annual Summer trips to Sunburst Drive that I fell in love with this state and in particular the charming frontier town of Bigfork. A close-knit community, Bigfork comes alive in the high season with performances at the Bigfork Playhouse, outdoor concerts with the Glacier Symphony, Farmer’s Markets and adventurers seeking thrills on Flathead Lake and within Glacier National Park.
On the shores of Swan Lake, where the lake meets the river, the Kootenai Lodge is Old Montana. Louis and I visited the development a decade ago when it first launched, we toured the thoughtfully restored log cabins and several of the newer homes. Acres of rolling lawns, bordered by split rail fencing, sunshine glistened off of the lake, the river came alive with fish jumping and ducks swimming. A pontoon boat docked, kayaks, and SUP boards stacked—this magical property promised an active lifestyle set in impossible beauty. The Lodge at Kootenai, the centerpiece of the property, is a national treasure—built in the 1900’s by the architect of the Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier National Park. As the private summer camp of the Copper Kings, the grand Lodge hosted luminaries of the day from J.D. Rockefeller to Charlie Russell to Charles Lindbergh. We drove by the Kootenai several times a day and I would remember our tour and think of what it would be like to spend time there.
Louis and I now have two boys, ages 7 and 9. They have spent every summer since they were born adventuring along these shores—hiking in Glacier, fishing with their grandfather and Dad, kayaking to little islands in the middle of Swan and floating the river. We would return home to share pictures of our adventures with my parents. Last summer, my Mom and Dad made their first trip to Montana and fell in love with these magical shores. Peter and Kacey McCoy are the new stewards of Kootenai’s historic Evans Cabin, built in 1915 for Lewis Orvis Evans, general counsel of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Through summer, fall and winter, this legacy log cabin has become the gathering spot for our friends and family, and memories are in the making.
It is not just the beauty of these luxurious homes or watching the glacier-fed lake flow into the river, or the abundance of nature frolicking on its’ banks, or the light, ever-changing through the seasons, but it’s witnessing everything at once—there is a feeling that time has stopped and the past and the present live together, here in the “Last Best Place.”
