A Ride in the Park: Remembering West Glacier and the 

Graham-Paige 

From an Interview with Ray Westby 

In 2008, the Federal Lands Highway Program celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Looking 

back at the past quarter century – and more – a number of retirees have shared their 

stories about life in the Vancouver office and in the field. 

The Graham-Paige 

automobile was used by the 

Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) 

(predecessor agency to FHWA) 

on many projects during the 

1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s, 

including use in West Glacier, 

Montana, and Glacier National 

Park. During that time, an 

employee of the Bureau of 

Public Roads – Bill Peters – 

was assigned to the Portland 

Office and working on a 

project at the park. 

He befriended a boy in town and used to take him on rides in the Graham Paige 

while he drove around the park. That boy, Ray Westby, also grew up to be an employee 

of BPR. Ray’s career spanned more than three decades. He joined BPR in 1950 and 

worked as project engineer on many projects in Oregon and Washington. He came into 

the Vancouver office in 1969 to head up the design section; and retired in 1982 as Chief, 

Project Development Division. 

In the winter of 2008, Ray recalled those early rides with Bill Peters. “I was 

raised in West Glacier, Montana,” he said, when it was “just a little village.” He couldn’t 

remember how he had come to meet Bill Peters, but he remembered the car. “He had one 

of those old cars. It had to be about 1926 or ‘27.” What was Peters’ job for BPR? The 

particular function wasn’t something that the young boy filed away: “I don’t know what 

he did, but he checked on something,” Ray said, and he still remembers the thrill of the 

ride. “I was about 7 or 8, maybe 9 years old then, and he’d take me around in that old 

car....on these old gravel roads.” 

Construction began on the Going to the Sun Road in 1925, and during the July 15, 

1933 dedication, the National Park Service Administrator called it the “most beautiful 

piece of mountain road in the world.” 

“I can remember when the road was opened,” Ray said. “I was just a kid when 

they built it.” At the time, he recalled, “the west side just went up to the summit. Then 

it was about three years later before you could come up from St. Mary’s and reach the 

top.” 

Photo from WFLHD Archives.
The Bill Peters that Ray remembers 

could well be William B. Peters who worked 

for BPR from 1919 to 1954 and was in 

Glacier National Park 1925 to 1928. Peters 

contributed a piece to FHWA’s 1976 history, 

The Trailblazers, in which he in part recalled 

a 1926 incident when a crew member living 

with his wife and toddler in a board floor tent 

had to chase a bear off the porch. 

 Although the Going to the Sun Road 

was long completed by the time Ray Westby 

came to work, maintenance, repairs, and 

improvements were regularly undertaken. 

“We’re the ones that are guilty of putting 

those homely guardrails in,” he said. “The 

Park Service was trying to try out different 

things that...were a lot cheaper than rock. 

They were terrible looking things.” 

By the time Ray started at FHWA, 

most of the folks who had worked on the 

original construction were long since retired, 

but Ray did remember working on a crew with 

Mick Moen, who “was an inspector when 

they built (the Sun Road) and those rock 

walls.” Ray remembered, “They really had 

some beautiful pictures of this construction.” 

Above: Going to the Sun Road. The original 

caption for this project photo describes it as 

“Station 66 looking west at East Portal 

showing method used of placing portal 

masonry stones. Derrick with “A” frame 40 

feet long mounted on 4-ton truck lifting 3-ton 

rock into position. (8-8-41)”

Right: A 1931 Graham Paige was donated to 

the FHWA’s Western Federal Lands Highway 

Division (WFLHD) by Mr. William McBee of 

Albany, Oregon, in 2003. It is shown here 

after being restored by WFLHD employees 

Wade Johnson and Cal Frobig. 

Ray Westby was interviewed at WFLHD on January 10, 2008. He worked for 

BPR and FHWA from 1950-1982. If you have comments about this story, or if you have 

stories about Ray Westby, Bill Peters, Mick Moen, West Glacier, or the Graham-Paige, 

please email me at marili.reilly@fhwa.dot.gov. 

 -- Marili Green Reilly