Little Chief was built by Captain Swanson in 1926 and has operated in Glacier National Park since that time. Much like her sister ship Sinopah, Little Chief is a 45-foot carvel planked launch with cedar on an oak frame and is authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 49 passengers with a current Certificate of Inspection. Her original name was Rising Wolf, named after the massive mountain that flanks the entire north shore of Two Medicine Lake where she operated. The boat was rechristened Little Chief in 1976 after moving to St. Mary Lake where the mountain Little Chief is a prominent feature of the view. Little Chief received an extensive restoration in 1990 and has remained on St. Mary Lake since. In 2016, Little Chief became the first boat from the State of Montana to be added to the National Register of Historic Places!

Captain Swanson built the tour boat Sinopah in 1926 for the Glacier Park Hotel Company, the tourism subsidiary of Great Northern Railway. Sinopah took its original name Little Chief from a prominent mountain on the south shore of St. Mary Lake where the boat was originally launched. It was used to shuttle Railway customers from the St. Mary Chalets up the lake to Sun Point Chalets. It was purchased by Glacier Park Boat Company in the 1940s and moved to Two Medicine Lake. Upon its move to a new lake, it was rechristened Sinopah. In 2017 Sinopah was added to the National Register of Historic Places! The 45-foot carvel planked launch with cedar on an oak frame is authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 49 passengers with a current Certificate of Inspection. In 2019 Sinopah was brought into the Glacier Park Boat Company office in Columbia Falls for restoration, it was her first trip west of the divide since the 1990s!

In 1930, Captain Swanson built the DeSmet for the Glacier Park Transit Company as a scenic launch from its Lewis Hotel, now Lake McDonald Lodge. She takes her name from Jean-Pierre DeSmet, an influential Jesuit missionary during the mid-nineteenth century. It has never left Glacier National Park, continuing to operate for interpretive tours during the summer and dry docked in the winter in the historic Fish Creek Bay Boathouse. The DeSmet is the largest boat in our fleet, she is a 57-foot carvel planked launch on an oak frame authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 70 passengers with a current Certificate of Inspection. The DeSmet was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017!

In 1945 Swanson co-built Morning Eagle with Arthur J. Burch, founder of Glacier Park Boat Company. She was originally named Big Chief and was placed on Swiftcurrent Lake. In 1960, her name was changed to Morning Eagle and she was moved to Lake Josephine. She received maintenance in the winter of 1974, in order to return in the spring of 1975, it took six days and six college students to hand-wench Morning Eagle against the current up the one-half mile stream as the old logging road was flooded and impassable. Since that time the road has reverted back to its original state ensuring that Morning Eagle will stay where she is and all repairs are done on site. This vessel is a 45-foot carvel planked launch with cedar on an oak frame authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 49 passengers with a current Certificate of inspection. Morning Eagle was the most recent addition to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

Chief Two Guns was built in 1960 by our founder Arthur J. Burch for Glacier Park Boat Company. Since being built she has operated on Swiftcurrent Lake. Chief Two Guns has a unique history as it has survived an avalanche. In 1974 when Morning Eagle was moved out of the Park for repairs, Chief Two Guns was brought to Lake Josephine to spend the winter in the boathouse at the base of Grinnell Point. In late winter 1975, an avalanche blasted down Grinnell Point demolishing the boathouse and sending Chief Two Guns out onto the frozen Lake Josephine. The hull survived the avalanche and was floated down the creek to Swiftcurrent Lake, then hauled into town for reconstruction. She spent that summer in town while the Little Chief took her place. She returned to Swiftcurrent Lake the following summer and has not left since. This vessel is a 45-foot marine plywood hull launch with batten seam construction authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 49 passengers with a current Certificate of Inspection.

Joy II was built in 1984 by our owner Scott Burch, grandson of founder Arthur J. Burch. She was originally named Vessel International II and operated out of Waterton, Canada, in support of the Prince of Wales Hotel. In 1986, her name was changed to Joy II, she was then transported across the border to St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park and has remained there since. This vessel is a 41-foot marine fiberglass hull launch authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 49 passengers with a current Certificate of Inspection. Joy II is one of two boats at St. Mary Lake!