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HISTORY OF WHITEFISH It is unknown when the first settlers came to this special place we call Whitefish. In the mid 1850’s trappers working the area found Indians catching native Whitefish from the lake, thus the name Whitefish. It is known that the first permanent settler was John Morton who built a cabin in 1883 on the shore of the lake just west of the river mouth. Morton was joined by loggers, including the Baker and Hutchinson brothers, in the early 1890’s. Loggers boomed up the logs behind a dam built by the Boston and Montana Commercial Company at the river mouth, which when opened, created a "splash" of water to help float the logs down Whitefish River to Kalispell. In 1891 C. E. Ramsey built a hotel just west of the river and opened it in the summer of 1892, calling it The Lake View House. It had hammocks, croquet grounds, boat rentals and fishing for those coming in on horseback, as there were no roads. The Great Northern Railway entered the valley in 1891 and followed a route through Columbia Falls, Kalispell and on westward. The railroad west of Kalispell went through Pleasant Valley and climbed over the Salish Mountains. It was a difficult and tortuous grade up and down again on the other side. The railroad was looking to British Columbia, just north of the border, for coal to fuel its steam locomotives. It seemed eminently practical to build a rail line from Columbia Falls to Eureka, and thence to Fernie, B. C.; after all, such a route was a water grade all the way. And the Kootenai River flowed directly from Eureka to Libby. So the decision was made in the early 1900’s to reroute the Great Northern Railway from Columbia Falls to Eureka, and down to Libby, eliminating the difficult crossing of the Salish Mountains. A branch line extended northward from Eureka, accessing the desired coal near Fernie. Land speculators, reportedly from Butte, bought up all the vacant land in Columbia Falls, hoping to resell it to the railroad for a division point and switching yard, with tons of profit in their pockets. James Hill, however, wouldn’t be held hostage to speculators, and looked west, to the foot of Whitefish Lake. Hill announced that the railroad would be re-routed to a more northerly route with a new division point to be established at the foot of Whitefish Lake. This new location had an abundance of water and, although a bit swampy and in virgin forest, was on a flat piece of ground and would be very satisfactory for the purpose planned. Construction of the “Columbia Falls Cutoff” started at Rexford and was built to the east from there. The new town site of Whitefish was surveyed and dedicated in June of 1903. Land was acquired, the rail yards were constructed, and a town was platted. Timber clearing and building began in earnest with most of the construction material being hauled in on a spur line built from Columbia Falls to the new site. The cut off was completed in August of 1904, and the first official passenger train came on October 4, 1904. In April of 1905, the town was incorporated. The town of Whitefish held its first council meeting in 1905.
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