Ruth & Lester Johnson were small ranchers working in Browning to support a herd of cows and a bunch of kids. While on a Sunday drive with Ed Hilton, he mentioned he had leased a spot at St. Mary, for a gas station. We had bought a temporary shop from a contractor just before this, to tear down. It was 40 feet square, and new lumber. We offered the building for a combination restaurant and gas station. It was crude, no electricity or running water. In 1952 we got electricity. We hauled our water in barrels from St. Mary River. We slept in a tent behind the restaurant for five years. We were open from 6a.m. to 10p.m. Ruth worked that shift every day. I ran the ranch but gave it up after three years, and sold the cattle to buy this land on the hill.

In 1957 we made a deal to purchase this land. It was at that time just a bare hill. We rented equipment and made a level spot up here. We bought the original log building from Bob Garrow. It was built in the 1940s and was the caretaker's house at Sherburne Dam (near Many Glacier). Bob Garrow moved the building up here. The first few years, the dining room was only half the size of the present log structure, the kitchen took up the other half. We opened up here in May of 1963. The first years we hired a waitress or two, but Ruth and I along with some of our children did most of the work.

Every few years we would try to add on. We added the campground in early 1970, and the lower dining room in 1977. Ruth and I can't quite cut the long hours anymore. Our youngest daughter, Kristin, works at Gilda's Club (in Seattle, WA) in the winter, and manages the cafe in the summer. Our son Hugo takes care of maintenance for the whole place. Ruth and I are around to help out.