Whitefish is a city which exists solely because the Great Northern route west through the mountains was poorly conceived, being too steep and tortuous a route. Originally routed through Kalispell, about 10 miles south, it was rerouted further north, past the southern end of Whitefish Lake, then north to Eureka before heading through the mountains. At the time there was no settlement at Whitefish Lake, so they made one and named it Whitefish in 1904. Incorporated in 1905, it was made a divisional point on the railroad, ensuring a future for the town. Though the Great Northern is no longer, the railroad is still there, now part of the BNSF. One of the legacies left by the Great Northern is their railway depot, a beautiful three story Tudor styled depot built in 1927, now a National Historic Place. Now fully restored and owned by the
Stumptown Historical Society, it houses their headquarters and the
Whitefish Museum.
One of the fine attractions of Depot Park, across Depot Street from the Great Northern Depot, is this sculpture which rises from the pond on the western edge of the park. It consists of three whitefish (an apropos subject for this city) rising out of the pond, supported by native rock set on a concrete bast at water level. The triad of six foot long fish are done in bronze and very finely detailed, showing lifelike scales on the body and bone in the fins.
The sculptor was
Cody Houston, a Montana artist who grew up a banker's son in North Carolina. The sculpture was commissioned by the City of Whitefish as a commemoration of the city's centennial in 2005.
If you would like your very own copy of this sculpture, the city has further commissioned a run of
35 numbered pieces, which can be bought for $2,000 each by contacting the City of Whitefish. Offers such as this don't occur every day.
That ad was probably posted in 2005, so they may well have been sold by now.