Distinctly Montana Magazine

74 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 in the East already had their por- tions of the muddy trail complet- ed, but the further you moved west, roads were virtually non- existent. Michigan, for example, did not complete its portion of the highway until 1926. And Mon- tana's 660 miles of the highway, more than any other state, would not be completed until much later. When the final route for the Roosevelt Highway through Mon- tana was determined, even the best parts of the road were difficult to traverse. Especially in those early automobiles. According to a historical marker outside of Malta, "the Roosevelt Highway Association warned motorists in 1921 that the route between Glasgow and Malta was a partly im- proved dirt road that was almost impassable because of gumbo in wet weather." Despite the unimproved nature of the Roosevelt Highway, ad- venturous tourists driving Buicks, Studebakers, Maxwells, and Over- lands (but mostly Model A Fords), still made the difficult trek along Montana's remote Hi-Line to vis- it Glacier National Park and other attractions along the way. Their vehicles were serviced in small- town garages and the travelers camped along the way, boosting local economies. One promoter wrote, "The Roosevelt Highway opens to the tourist the door of the treasure-box of beauties and gran- deur and varied scenery of the North continent as no other highway does." Remnants of the old Roosevelt Highway still exist today, in- cluding the Roosevelt Memorial Obelisk. Soaring 60 feet into the sky along Highway 2 on the southern side of Glacier Na- tional Park, the monument has a tapering cement core covered on all sides with seven-inch slabs of Montana granite quarried THEODORE ROOSEVELT INTERNATIONAL HIGHWAY "The Teddy"

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