Tenting To-night: A Chronicle of Sport and Adventure in Glacier Park and the Cascade Mountains

In Short

This book is a firsthand narrative of an ambitious expedition through the rugged, largely unmapped wilderness of Glacier National Park and the Cascade Mountains. Part travelogue and part survival story, it chronicles a family’s journey—complete with pack trains, boats, and a temperamental cook—as they navigate treacherous mountain passes, glacial lakes, and river rapids. It has lasted because of its vivid, unvarnished depiction of the American frontier, preserving a moment when the wilderness was still a formidable, untamed presence, and reflecting the sheer grit required to traverse it.

The Story

The journey begins as an attempt to find adventure away from the reach of telegraphs and telephones. A family, accompanied by guides and a pack-outfit, enters the Montana Rockies with a fleet of boats to be hauled over mountains and launched into the wilderness lakes. The narrative arc moves from the initial novelty of "The Big Adventure" to the harsh realities of mountain travel: leaking tents, relentless rain, and the constant, muscle-racking effort of riding horses at a walking pace for days on end. As they move from Glacier Park into the Cascade Mountains, the stakes rise. The expedition involves not only crossing high, snow-choked passes that feel like "barriers which you climb with chills and descend with prayer," but also navigating dangerous river rapids where the boatmen must display superhuman skill to keep the party from disaster.

Throughout the trek, the group faces a shortage of supplies, the constant threat of injury, and the encroaching winter. They encounter the solitude of the frontier, meeting isolated settlers whose lives are defined by long, silent months of labor. The emotional core of the trip shifts from the lighthearted joy of exploration to a deeper respect for the unforgiving landscape. They witness the beauty of hidden glacial lakes and the tragedy of those lost to the wilderness, such as the sheep-herder found dead after a desperate, failed attempt to crawl to safety.

The climax of the trip arrives at the formidable Cascade Pass, where the terrain becomes so steep and unstable that the party must abandon standard safety, roping their gear down cliffs and risking the lives of their horses. By the time they finally emerge from the "great green cathedral" of the forest into the light of a civilized settlement, the travelers are physically exhausted and ragged. The ending is one of profound relief; they trade the wild, beautiful, but punishing isolation of the mountains for the simple, cherished comforts of "houses and dogs and cows and apple trees." The journey concludes not with a grand conquest, but with the humble realization that they have survived an experience that pushed them to their limits, leaving them with a lasting, bittersweet appreciation for the wild places they left behind.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins The expedition sets out from the transcontinental railway, trading the dust of the plains for the stimulating air of the Rockies. The party, including multiple children, prepares for a journey that requires hauling boats across mountain trails and through forest wilderness.

Navigating the Flathead The group transitions to the water, where boatmen navigate the treacherous rapids of the Flathead River. Success depends entirely on the skill of these pilots, who must read the churning currents to prevent the party from being swept against boulders or into whirlpools.

The government intervenes While attempting to visit a local round-up, the party receives an imperative telegram from the government demanding the return of their horses. They choose to ignore the command, prioritizing their "stolen holiday" over the haughty instructions of officials.

Into the Cascades Moving deeper into the Washington wilderness, the team faces the stark, glacial beauty of Lyman Lake and the high-altitude challenges of Cloudy Pass. They encounter the stark realities of life in the range, including the somber stories of trappers lost to snow-slides and isolation.

The final descent The journey culminates in the harrowing traverse of Cascade Pass, where the terrain is so difficult that progress is measured in inches rather than miles. The group eventually struggles through thick, rank vegetation and roaring rivers before finally emerging at the edge of civilization.

The People

The narrator serves as the observant, resilient heart of the group, balancing a love for the wild with a sharp, often humorous eye for the practical miseries of camping. She is the anchor for the family, managing the social dynamics of the guides and the inevitable tensions with the cook, Bill. Bill, the chef, provides a prickly, necessary presence; his initial disdain for the group—and his famous observation that his rain-soaked sweater might become a blanket—highlights the friction between the pampered expectations of city dwellers and the harsh labor of the trail. The guides, particularly Pete and Dan Devore, are the quiet masters of the environment. Their encyclopedic knowledge of the terrain and their ability to navigate death-defying passes provide the group’s only true security. Finally, the "junior members" of the party—the Big, Middle, and Little Boys—act as the group's spirited, restless energy, constantly testing the limits of the wilderness through fishing, shooting, and occasional sulking when the forest doesn't provide the excitement they crave. By the end, they are all tempered by the journey, moving from wide-eyed adventurers to weary, respectful travelers.

In Its Own Voice

A pass is a blood-curdling spot up which one's horse climbs like a goat and down the other side of which it slides as you lead it, trampling ever and anon on a tender part of your foot.

The author offers this definition of a mountain pass after experiencing the terror and physical toll of traversing the Rockies.

In the long snow-bound days after he set his traps, the trapper had busied himself fitting it up.

She reflects on the ingenuity and loneliness of a settler who built a small, durable cabin in the heart of the wilderness.

What It's Really About

The central theme is the tension between the romanticized idea of the "Big Adventure" and the brutal, often mundane reality of existing within an indifferent nature. The book acts as a meditation on the fragility of human comfort; it questions why we seek the wilderness, only to find our greatest joy in the return to civilization. It also explores the concept of the frontier as a character in itself—a place that demands total submission and respect, and where the line between survival and tragedy is often drawn by luck. It is a testament to the quiet, often hidden lives of those who inhabit the edges of the wild, and a critique of the transient, sometimes naive gaze of the modern traveler.

Why Read It Today

Readers who love detailed, immersive accounts of outdoor life will find this book deeply rewarding. It reads like a long, dusty, and exhilarating conversation with someone who has actually been there. You will feel the chill of the glacial water, the bite of the mountain wind, and the bone-deep fatigue of a long day in the saddle. It is an honest book; it does not try to hide the fact that the author and her party were, in many ways, outsiders—often clumsy, sometimes unprepared, and occasionally frustrated by the very nature they came to admire.

Modern readers should be prepared for the period-specific attitudes and the occasional, dated language regarding the indigenous tribes and the "taming" of the wilderness, which reflect the era in which it was written. However, the descriptions of the landscape remain timeless. The passages concerning the Agnes Creek Valley or the silent, snow-bound tragedies of the mountain trappers are written with a precision and warmth that transcend the century between the writing and today. It is a perfect choice for anyone who wants to understand the sheer, terrifying, and beautiful scale of the American Northwest, capturing a specific, vanished way of interacting with the land that feels both alien and startlingly real.