[5] He also traveled the country giving lectures at colleges and YMCA facilities on "Sanitary Science", an early form of public health.

His strong public speaking and persuasion skills likely played a role in his lobbying efforts for Glacier's National Park status.

[6] Sperry arrived in what is now Glacier National Park in 1895, planning to explore the area and purchase land as an investment.

[7] He organized a party to explore the area, and discovered Avalanche Lake and the glacier that now bears his name.

To attract visitors to the park, in 1902 Sperry worked out an agreement with James J. Hill, the president of Great Northern Railroad, in which Sperry would recruit students from the University of Minnesota to build trails to the glacier without wages (but the benefit of spending the summer in the mountains) and Hill would arrange for their transportation and accommodations.