Yellowstone Hotel & Transportation Companies
Bear-in-Circle Logo Through the Years
Copyright 2020 by Robert V. Goss. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.
Yellowstone Park Association
1886-1909
Created in 1886 by the Northern Pacific RR to take over the properties and operation of the bankrupt YPIC. The heads of the company included Charles Gibson, Nelson C. Thrall, Frederick Billings, and John C. Bullitt. Harry Child, Edward Bach, and Silas Huntley purchased the company in 1901 with financing from the Northwest Improvement Co. Child acquired full ownership in 1907, and on December 9, 1909, Child had the name of the company changed to the Yellowstone Park Hotel Co.
Top Left: This decal is 4" diameter. The photo for these decals was taken by F.J. Haynes in the early 1890's at the Fountain Hotel garbage dump. You can still see the cans in the foreground. In later years the foreground was stylized to represent small trees, logs and
Top Center: Paper decal, 1 inch,seen on envelopes, stationary, luggage, etc.
Top Right: Paper decal, 1 inch, for use on mailing envelopes.
Bottom Left: Paper decals, 1 inch size, perforated like stamps.
Yellowstone Park Hotel Co.
1909-1936
Formed Dec. 9, 1909 by H.W. Child to take over the operation of the Yellowstone Park Association, which he also owned. Son Huntley Child was chosen as vice-president and son-in-law William Nichols became secretary. Child remained head of the YPHCo until his death in 1931, when Wm. Nichols took over the helm. At that time Vernon Goodwin became vice-president and Hugh Galusha was retained as controller. The company remained in control of the park hotels until 1936, when the company was merged with the Yellowstone Park Boat Co., Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., and Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Co. to form the Yellowstone Park Company.
Left: Paper decal, 1-1/2 in to 4 inch, used on luggage, envelopes, postcards, stationary, etc.
Right: Metal pinback, about 1-1/4 inch diameter. Very prolific, even these days.
Left: Paper decal, 1-1/2 in to 4 inch, used on luggage, envelopes, postcards, stationary, etc.
Right: Brass watch fob from 1912. Stamped on back:
Mid-West Delegation
Chicago Special
Yellowstone Park Company
1969-1979
Formed in 1936 under the direction of Wm. Nichols, with Vernon Goodwin as vice-president, Mrs. Harry Child was a principle stockholder. The company was formed by the mergers of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., Yellowstone Park Hotel Co., Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Co., and the Yellowstone Park Boat Co. The company received a 20-year lease in August. The Child-Nichols family sold the company to Goldfield Enterprises on February 4, 1966 for 6.5 million dollars. Goldfield became a part of General Host, Inc. The Park Service, increasingly frustrated by General Host’s dismal record of service in the park, canceled the contract in October of 1979 and paid 19 million for all of YPCo’s park buildings and assets. TWA Services received the new concession contract later that year and changed the name of the company.
Very common paper decal, found in sizes 1-1/2 and 4 inch. 12 inch water-transfer decal were used on the side door panels of company vehicles.
Soft cloth patch that could be sewn on to employee uniforms.
Linen iron-patch used on employee uniforms
TW Services, Amfac, and Xanterra Parks & Resorts.
In 1979, the government bought out all the Yellowstone Park Co. assets in the Park, and a new short-term lease was granted to TWA Services, with extensions and renewals based on performance. The name was changed to TW Services in 1984 and TW Recreational Services in 1988. Amfac Parks & Resorts, who had purchased the Ferd Harvey Company in 1968, bought out TWR Services in 1995 and was renamed Xanterra Parks & Resorts in 2002.
The top three items are all cloth patches for employee uniforms. To the left was a sew-on patch, about 4 inch size, while the other two were iron-on patches, about 3 inches in length..
Bottom left is Amfac logo, using dark green lettering. To the right is a TWR paper decal about 3 inches long.
Yellowstone Park Transportation Co.
1898 - 1936
Formed in 1898 by Harry Child, with brother-in-laws Silas Huntley and Edward Bach to take over the operation of the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co.. They received a 10-year lease on March 31. Huntley died about three years later and his shares reverted to NorthWest Improvement Co. Bach sold his shares to NWIC in 1902, leaving Child in full control. In 1917 the stagecoaches were put out to pasture and White Motor Co. buses took over the roads. William Nichols, who took over the company in 1931 after Child’s death, merged the YPTCo with the YPHC, YP Lodge & Camps Co., and the YP Boat Co. in 1936 to form the Yellowstone Park Co.
YPTCo decal, 1-inch and 2-inch are known
YPTCo brass badge, or driver's cap emblem. This dates to the 1920s - early 1930s.
Yellowstone Park Co brass badge, or driver's cap emblem, about 2-inch in size.. This dates to the post-1936 era. Notice the 'T' missing in the center.
Variations on a Theme
From the 1890s to 1940s
Top Left: Logo of the Lander-Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., who drove tourists from Lander, Wyo. to Moran Jct. near the Tetons. They began business in 1921 when a new highway opened over Togwotee Pass. The image is of Dick Washakie, son of famed Shoshone Chief Washakie.
Top Center: Logo for the Summit Hotel in Monida, Mont. It opened in 1898 when the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co. began hauling tourists from Monida through the west entrance of Yellowstone,
Top Right: Logo for the Monida Line & the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Line. The company operated 1898-1913.
Middle Left: Logo for the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co., 1898-1913.
Middle Right: Logo for the Milwaukee Road RR, and the Gallatin Gateway route to Yellowstone. Service was provided through the west entrance of the park by the YPTCo. beginning in 1928.
Bottom Left: W.A. Hall Store in Gardiner, Mont., at the north entrance to Yellowstone, located next to the Roosevelt Arch.
Bottom Right: Logo for the Cody Road to Yellowstone, traveling through Wapiti Valley and over Sylvan Pass into Yellowstone. Cody was home to Buffalo Bill.
