Kalispell is a vibrant mountain town with a notable Old West charm located between Flathead Lake and Whitefish Mountain Resort and Glacier National Park. The bustling community sits among towering mountain ranges in a valley filled with crystal clear lakes and is known for its proximity to vast recreation areas. The town served as the shooting location for the 2004 film Hidalgo. The first European settler to explore the Flathead Valley was likely surveyor Peter Fidler of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 18th century. From 1870, permanent settlement and the introduction of livestock brought permanent changes, as did the near eradication of local bison populations. In 1884, a short-lived town called Ashley was founded where Kalispell is today. Three years later nearby Demersville was founded. Demersville quickly grew to be the largest town in the area, but when the Great Northern Railroad bypassed the town, it was abandoned just as quickly, with people moving the short distance to the new town of Kalispell. As the Great Northern Railroad built its continent-spanning railroad line in the 19th century, a need for a Divisional point in the Flathead Valley was identified. Using his own capital, Charles Edward Conrad, a businessman and banker from Fort Benton, Montana, formed the Kalispell Townsite Company with three other men, all from Great Northern board of directors. The town took its name from the local native tribe, adding an extra "L" for good measure. "Kalispell" is a Salish word meaning "flat land above the lake". (The stem "Kali" is a false cognate to the Hindi goddess by the same name, and is thus, unrelated). The townsite was quickly platted and lots began selling by the spring of 1891. Conrad built a large mansion in Kalispell in 1895. Kalispell was officially incorporated as a city in 1892. Since that time, the city has continued to grow in population, reaching 19,927 in 2010. This despite the railroad being rerouted from its original route over Haskell Pass, via Kalispell and Marion, Montana, to a more circuitous but flatter route via Whitefish and Eureka already in 1904. As the largest city in northwest Montana, Kalispell serves as the county seat and commercial center of Flathead County. The city is considered a secondary trade center with a trade area of approximately 130,000. The city is home to Logan Health Medical Center, which has a 150-bed hospital facility. The railroad history through Kalispell ended in 2018 when the city purchased and tore up the long-abandoned track through the city. The city of Kalispell removed the remaining downtown trackage, relocating the railroad to Glacier Rail Park, a new industrial park just north of town, abandoning 2.4 miles of the original route. Nestled in the Flathead valley, Kalispell is 31 miles (50 km) from Glacier National Park and 22 miles (35 km) from Hungry Horse Dam. Skiers have access to Whitefish Mountain Resort on Big Mountain and Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, each 17 miles (27 km) away. Flathead Lake, the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi river, is 7 miles (11 km) away. Buffalo Hill Golf Club, designed by Robert Muir Graves, serves golfers in the region. The tribal schools nearby offer classes in the Kalispel–Spokane–Flathead language, a language nest, and intensive language training for adults. There is a Salish language school and training center in nearby Arlee, Montana. Heaven’s Gate (1980), an American western epic, was filmed in and around Kalispell.