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WEST GLACIER, MT - - Izaak Walton was British and an astute fisherman in the late 1500's.  So how does his name grace an inn in Essex, MT?  In 1939, the Great Northern Railroad was casting about for a name for their newly completed staff lodging and hit upon it.
     The rail line which runs through Essex and West Glacier and Whitefish is a stretch of the Northernmost transcontinental railroad.  And, as such, needs to remain open year-round.  To this end, the GN staffed Essex (a settlement of 150 at the time) with 60 workers in the winter. They were tasked with keeping the rails snow-free from West Glacier, over Marias Pass to Essex.  Their lodging was abandoned rail cars and tents.  Not much fun ...or warm...in nasty winter weather.
     The GN finally built a 29 bedroom structure as housing for the workers and, later,  tourists in summer.  79 years later the inn, now privately-owned, still caters to tourists. And train plows now clear the rails in winter.