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Robert Edgar - Stage Driver The "Real" Geyser Bob Copyright 2024 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 th e author.

Prospecting in Paradise The Early Gold Seekers Copyright 2024 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 th e author. Copyright 2009 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. Additional Resources: Robert V. Goss, E.S. Topping, “Chronicles of the Yellowstone." Aubrey Haines, “Yellowstone National Park – Its Exploration and Establishment. Robert V. Goss, ”George A. Huston - Yellowstone Pioneer, Prospector & Guide Grand Teton Historic Resource Study Cooke City, Montana at colorado-west.com Jardine – Montana DEQ New World Mining District Montana Gold Rush

Mountain Men in Yellowstone 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 th e author. Visit my Home Page to see which of my pages are completed and available. It's a long trip . . . Thanks for your patience.

The Writings Of Robert Goss 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 th e author. Articles by Robert V. Goss First Bridge Over the Yellowstone River - The Saga of Jack Baronett" Annals of Wyoming , Spring/Summer 2023 "Poker Nell - The Queen of Diamonds" Montana Pioneer , Aug & Sep 2021 "Coated Specimens and Colored Sands" Yellowstone History Journal , 2020, Vol. 3, No. 1 "The Great Yellowstone Park Holdup and the Lone Star Involuntary Benevolent Society" Annals of Wyoming , Winter Spring 2020, Vol. 92, No. 1 "Yellowstone Pete - Seeing America by Donkey Train" Montana Pioneer , June 2020 “Coated Specimens & Colored Sands - Yellowstone’s Early Curio Trade Yellowstone History Journal , Vol. 3, No. 1, 2020 "The 1889 Gardiner Inferno" Montana Pioneer , May 2020 “Thar She Blows! When Whales Rode the Rails in Montana" Montana Pioneer , July 2019 "Cinnabar’s 'Specimen' Schmidt - Specimens from Out of the Park” Montana Pioneer, Oct. 2018 "Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Company: First Commercial Motorized Passenger Service in Yellowstone" Annals of Wyoming , Winter 2018. Vol.90, No.1 "Geyser Bob: Yellowstone's Legendary Stage Driver" Annals of Wyoming , Vol. 88, No.3, Summer 2016 “Robbery and Wrangling in Yellowstone" (George "Morphine Charley" Reeb) Montana Pioneer , January 2011, Livingston Montana “Holm on the Range: Camping the Yellowstone with Aron ‘Tex Holm’” Annals of Wyoming , Winter 2010, Vol. 82, No. 1. “Taking the Cure – at LaDuke Hot Springs” Montana Ghost Town Society , Fall 2010, Vol. 40. “Meet Me in St. Louis” (Gus Holms) Points West , Summer 2010, Cody Wyoming “Prospecting for Z.R. ‘Red’ Sowash – Park County Miner & Saloon-Keeper" News From the Red Caboose , Spring 2010, Livingston, MT. “And Finding. . . A Hairless Cub, Called the Gulch, Bear. Being an Early History of Bear Gulch and the Sheepeater Mining District" Montana Ghost Town Quarterly , Spring 2010, Vol. 40. “The Man Who Wandered Away - A Yellowstone Mystery” Annals of Wyoming , Autumn 2008, Vol. 80, No. 4. (No longer available online) “A Tale of Two Sisters: Pryor & Trischman in Yellowstone in the Best and Worst of Times” Annals of Wyoming , Spring 2002, Vol. 74, No. 2. “Yellowstone’s First General Store – A Legacy of Jennie Henderson and Her Family” Yellowstone Science , Vol. 13, No. 2, Spring 2005. Yellowstone Center for Resources, YNP, WY “Buses in Yellowstone National Park” Motor Coach Today , Vol. 7, No. 2, April-June 2000. By Bruce Austin, Robert Goss, and Gerald Pesman “Glacier Park” (A History of the White Buses in Glacier) Motor Coach Age , Vol. 53, No. 2, April-June 2002. By Bruce Austin, Raymond Djuff and Robert Goss “Yosemite” (A History of the White Buses in Yosemite Park) Motor Coach Age , Vol. 60, No. 1, Jan-Mar 2009. By Bruce Austin, Tom Shafer and Robert Goss Books by Robert V. Goss : “Yellowstone – The Chronology of Wonderland” Self-Published, New, Revised 5th Edition, 2015, 180pps (Currently Out of Print) “Making Concessions in Yellowstone” Self-Published, 3rd Edition, Copy 2003 (Out of Print) “Yellowstone’s George Whittaker - Soldier, Scout and Storekeeper” Self-Published, Copy 2003 (Copies still available from the author - $10 incl S&H by USPS) “Serving the ‘Faithful’ in Yellowstone - Henry Klamer and the General Store in the Upper Geyser Basin" Self-Published, Copy 2003 (Copies still available from the author - $10 incl S&H by USPS) “Coating Curiosities in Yellowstone - Ole Anderson and the Specimen House” Self-Published, Copy 2004 (Copies still available from the author - $10 incl S&H by USPS) “Pack Trains and Pay Dirt in Yellowstone - On the Trail with George Huston” Self-Published, Copy 2007 (Copies still available from the author - $10 incl S&H by USPS) “From Sail to Trail - Chronicling Yellowstone’s E.S. Topping” Self-Published, Copy 2008 (Out of Print) “Images oF America: Livingston, Montana” Elizabeth A. Watry and Robert V. Goss Arcadia Publishing, Copy 2009 (Avail. from the Publisher & on-line bookstores)

Yellowstone Post Cards Vol. 1 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 th e author. Visit my Home Page to see which of my pages are completed and available. It's a long trip . . . Thanks for your patience.

Yellowstone Trade Cards 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 th e author. Visit my Home Page to see which of my pages are completed and available. It's a long trip . . . Thanks for your patience.

Yellowstone Post Cards Vol. 2 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 th e author. Visit my Home Page to see which of my pages are completed and available. It's a long trip . . . Thanks for your patience.

NEW!! "Geyser Bob Site Search" is live. Located on the Geyer Bob Home link. Search the whole site for your research needs. CLICK HERE to Begin Welcome to . . . Geyser Bob's Greater Yellowstone History Athenaeum Providing a bounty of historical information and archival photographs of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming and the surrounding gateway communities in Montana, and Idaho. The most complete source of information on the historic hotels, camps, stores, gateway communities, and early concessionaires in Yellowstone! Heading 6 * athenaeum : (ath·e·ne·um) noun 1) an institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning. 2) a library or reading room. This new Geyserbob.com website is a work-in-progress, and will eventually replace my Geyserbob.org web site. Unfortunately, for the second time in 20 years, I (and others) are essentially being booted off from HostGator. The first time was when Yahoo dis-banded their Geocities web platform. This current issue is due to the Plesk Parallels platform no longer being supported by HostGator. Eventually my .org web site (mine and many others) will be turned off, but no timeline has been made available at this time. So, bear with me as I slowly try to recreate and improve my Yellowstone histories with Wix.com. Luckily this new platform is much simpler and easier to use, and will create a more consistent theme across the many pages. Happy Trails, Robert V. Goss, aka Geyser Bob Email Me [Note: This is not a link, you will have type the address into your email.] About Geyserbob.com For those of you new to my web site, it has very little (if any) information about Geysers. There are any number of web sites out there that can help you out with that sort of information. This is about Yellowstone's vast history of the tourist industry and those persons and companies that supported it. Geyser Bob was a stagecoach driver for 30 years (1883-1913) in Yellowstone National Park. He was known as a teller of tall tales and a prevaricator extraordinaire, with just enough truth thrown in to cause many greenhorns, pilgrims, etc., new to the West, to actually believe him. A newspaper writer in 1888, once described him: "There was until recently a driver in Yellowstone Park named Geyser Bob, whose reputation as a liar had gained him great renown. He was rocked in the cradle of prevarication, nurtured on distorted facts and arrived at vigorous manhood the champion all-round liar of the Rockies." He seemed a likeable enough sort of fella, so I purloined his moniker as my web nom de plume. I hope he won't find offence. Ole Bob (Robert Edgar officially), once related a story of how he got his name (there are many): "One day a cultured lady from the East, who was receptive to any story told of the park, plied Bob with innumerable questions. She asked Bob if any one had ever fallen into a geyser and lived. ‘I told her that one time I was walking near the Giant geyser at Old Faithful basin and slipped in,’ said Bob. ‘The water carried me through the channel underground so fast that I did not have time to get burned and washed me up into the crater of Old Faithful and then threw me out. The lady believed the story and thought it was so good that she pointed me out as a world’s wonder and the boys christened me ‘Geyser Bob.’”

Historic Bridges in Yellowstone Copyright 2024 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 th e author. INTRODUCTION Bridges and river causeways have been an integral part of Yellowstone’s history since 1871 when Jack Baronett built the first known bridge in Yellowstone near the current Tower Junction. Due to the rugged wilderness conditions of early travel in the first decade of the Park’s official establishment (1872-1882), journeys were of necessity limited to horseback, pack trains and foot travel. When Philetus Norris became Yellowstone’s 2ndSuperintendent in 1877, existing roads were crude at best, totaled about 32 miles with approximately 108 miles of trails. He began an extensive campaign of road and bridge building that continued until his departure in1882. The roads were described by many as only "fair" wagon trails. Nonetheless, they still provided improved access to the many wonders of Yellowstone. By the time he left there were five times as many roads and twice as many trails. He also constructed countless bridges, including several on Cascade Creek, the forks of the Gardiner, Firehole and Gibbon rivers, Crystal Falls at Canyon and others. Regardless, fording streams was still quite common during those years. Succeeding superintendents continued bridge and road building and improvements/repairs. In 1883 the roads had improved enough that the Wakefield & Hoffman Stage Co. began running tourist stages from the NPRR depot at Cinnabar, Mt to Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris, Old Faithful and Canyon. The Yellowstone Transportation Company took over the stage lines in 1886 and sub-leased the actual stage operations to Wakefield & Hoffman. Coach service was extended to Lake from Canyon and after 1891 the road opened from Old Faithful to West Thumb and Lake Hotel. Top: Jack Baronett's Bridge over the Yellowstone River near Tower Junction. Photo by FJ Haynes, 1871. Below: P.H. Norris On March 3, 1883, the first phase of military presence began in Yellowstone. The Army Corps of Engineers arrived to take charge of the construction and improvements to the Park's road system. Three years later, the U. S. Cavalry would join the Engineers and assume the role of administrating the Park. In August, 1883, 1st Lt. Dan C. Kingman, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, escorted by members of the 6th Infantry, arrived at the Mammoth Hot Springs headquarters. He began establishing the first official road and bridge standards for the park and continued his work until 1890. Some of his bridge accomplishments include the 1st trestle bridge through Golden Gate canyon and the 2nd wooden bridge over Crystal Falls. In 1891, Hiram M. Chittenden of the Army Corps of Engineers took over road construction until 1892, returning in 1899 and serving until1906. Some of his major works included the Melan Arch at Canyon (Chittenden Bridge), the 2nd Golden Gate viaduct, road and spiral bridge over Sylvan Pass, Fishing Bridge and the Roosevelt Arch at the North entrance. Improvement continued through the years and even today it remains a challenge to keep up with the ever-increasing traffic and wear & tear. Although there are and have been countless numbers of bridges in Yellowstone, I have selected the following that I thought of historical interest - many are still in use, some are in existence but no longer utilized, and some that have been removed from the landscape. Tower Area Built in the spring of 1871 by Collins Jack Baronett, his bridge is believed to be the first bridge built across the Yellowstone River. “Yellowstone Jack” also went by John H. Baronett, sometimes spelled Baronette, Gone for over 100 years now, the bridge was located about 200 yards upstream from where the Lamar River empties into the Yellowstone. It was built as a toll bridge for the miners, hunters, and freighters traveling to the mines of Cooke City. The operation, including Baronett’s nearby cabin & outbuildings cost about $4,000. During the Nez Perce war of 1877, much of the log work was burned. Baronett and P.W. Norris partially rebuilt the bridge in the following year. During much of this period of time Baronett was off on many gold prospecting expeditions in various parts of the West, and partners John Ponsford and J.L. Sanborn operated the toll bridge for him. In 1880 Baronett replaced the stringers, floor braces, and iron work at a cost of $2,000. In the early 1890s the government later refused to issue him a permit to continue operating the bridge and the Army summarily took possession of the structure in 1894. It continued to be used until a new bridge was constructed upstream in 1903. The old bridge was finally burned around 1906 and torn down in 1911. After a prolonged and expensive legal battle, Baronett received $5,000 from the government for his bridge. Traces of the old Baronett Bridge remain today, along with the old road into Yancey’s Hole. Baronett's Bridge after the rebuilding & engineering a Queen Post Truss design by Norris, Baronett, and Ponsford between 1878 and 1880. It was now capable of handling wagon traffic. Tower Junction Bridge I In 1903, a new and much larger bridge was constructed over the Yellowstone River near the current Tower Junction. Located farther upstream, the new “Baronett Bridge” replaced the original Baronett's bridge. The 130’ steel deck truss bridge was completed in the spring and designed by the American Bridge Co. At the time, it was considered the longest single-span steel bridge in the park. Fifty years later in 1963, the Tower Bridge was replaced and widened with a 604’ bridge at a cost of $435,000. Canyon Area The Crystal Falls wooden bridge was built over Cascade Creek and Crystal Falls in 1880 by Supt. Philetus Norris. At some point in time, the bridge was improved & rebuilt. In an 1889 report to the Secretary of War, Major Allen noted there was a 40' single-span King and Queen post-truss bridge with a trestle approach of 30’ that spanned Cascade Creek. Its height above low water was 20'. At some point prior to 1889 wooden ladders were placed to provide access to Grotto Pool, below the bridge. They were reported to be in use as late as 1916. In 1903-04, the steel arch Cascade Creek Bridge (below right)was erected farther upstream to replace the Crystal Falls Bridge. It had a 120’ span with approximately 60’ approaches on either side and sat about 80’ above the creek bed. This bridge over Cascade Creek eliminated two bad hills and sections of road where sliding clay slopes made it extremely difficult to maintain a road. The junction of the Norris and Lake roads were changed to conform to the new road over Cascade Creek. The new road from the bridge passed through the middle of the Wylie Camp ,which was moved to an area near the current entryway to the Upper Falls parking lot. After WWII an earth-filled causeway was built a short ways upstream (current location) and replaced the old bridge. Left: Late 1800s stereoview depicting Crystal Falls and the wooden ladders reaching down to Grotto Pool. Right: 1903-04 steel arch bridge over Cascade Creek. Postcard with Crystal Falls with the 2nd wooden bridge and Cascade Creek steel bridge upstream. Tammen PC #8395 Unnamed Creek Bridge . Along the road from Upper Falls to the Soldier Station, a bridge was constructed in 1880 over an unnamed tributary of Cascade Creek. In 1889 a trestle bridge, 14’ wide and 115’ long replaced the earlier bridge. The bridge was replaced in 1914 with a steel reinforced concrete culvert and is still in use today. Canyon Bridge at Jay Creek The 1st Canyon Bridge, constructed between 1893 and 1894, was a wooden arch truss bridge and the largest bridge built in the park at that time. The bridge, crossing Jay Creek near its mouth at the Yellowstone River, consumed half of the 1893 park appropriations budget and was finally completed in 1895. It was replaced by the 2nd Canyon Bridge built in 1914 under contract by the Army Corps of Engineers. This new bridge was a reinforced concrete rib arch design with open spandrels, 210’ long and supported by a 145-foot arch. It opened to the public on June 16, 1915, and still exists today for foot/bike travel. Left: Jay Creek Bridge, Steel,' Chittenden Bridge in background. Tammen PC #8127 Right: Jay Creek Bridge - Concrete, Tammen PC #4274 Chittenden Melan Arch - Canyon Left: Chittenden Bridge Construction 1903, NPS Right: Chittenden Bridge, Haynes PC ca1915 Hiram M. Chittenden, of the Army Corps of Engineers, built a bridge over the Yellowstone River in 1903, just upriver from Upper Falls, so that tourists could safely visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was constructed out of concrete using a Melan Arch design. It was the second bridge built over the Yellowstone River, the first being Baronett’s Bridge at Tower. “The exact form was a matter of careful study in order to get the lines which would appeal to the eye as meeting the artistic requirements. The span of the bridge is 120 feet and the rise of the arch is 15 feet. The height of the roadway at the center is 43 feet above low water in the river. The abutments are natural rock. The arch contains ten steel girders, which give it great strength. The body of the structure is solid concrete. The forms for the ornamental railing were manufactured in St. Paul, but the railing itself was molded in rich Portland cement mortar in place.” [Hiram Chittenden, 1915] The completed structure, a graceful arch over the rapids, had a 120' span with a total length of 160'. The rise of the steel arch girders at the center of the bridge was 15'. The bridge surface also had an arched form, with the center 2'-6" higher than the ends. The center point of the roadway was approximately 43' above low water. The structure's full width was 18'-6" with the roadway itself 14'-6" wide. The design included a narrow walkway on either side, with an iron guard rail between the walks and the roadway. [HAER] Chittenden Memorial Bridge By 1960 time had taken its toll on Chittenden's 1903 bridge and an inspection deemed the structure unsafe. It was closed to the public immediately and plans were made to replace the bridge. A more modern design eliminated the visibility hazard created by the arched road surface in the Melan Arch design. Drivers of modern cars sat much lower inside the vehicle than drivers of stagecoaches or early model automobiles. Demolition of the old bridge and construction of a new bridge on the same site began in 1961. The new bridge, called the Chittenden Memorial Bridge, and was completed in 1963. [Diane Papineau Canyon Village Thesis, 2008] Chittenden Bridge 1994, NPS Jim Peaco Lake - Sylvan Pass Area "Tex" Holm Camping tour on wooden Spiral Bridgeca1915. Tammen PC #1698 Spiral Bridge after concrete tunnel and rock fill installed, ca1920s. NPS Corkscrew Bridge - Sylvan Pass This term describes wooden bridges that were built to pass over themselves in order to avoid steep inclines on mountain passes. The wooden Corkscrew Bridge, also known as the Spiral Bridge, was built on Sylvan Pass in 1905. The bridge was improved in 1917, with a new 60-foot timber trestle and rock fill at the abutments. In 1919, the wooden trestle was replaced with a concrete arch/tunnel. By 1929, the bridge was bypassed by a new road constructed along the cliffs on the slopes above. The increasing power and speed of automobiles had rendered the spiral design obsolete. No doubt the new road also eliminated much snow removal from the road in the bottom of the canyon. The bridge remains in the bottom of the canyon just east of Avalanche Pass and can be seen from a viewpoint along the present road. The bridge is still in remarkably good condition after all these years. Fishing Bridge This bridge, designed by Hiram Chittenden, was built over the Yellowstone River near its head at Yellowstone Lake in 1902. The name Fishing Bridge was officially affixed to it in 1914. Rebuilt in 1919, the bridge featured walkways on each side of the roadway. According to Hiram Chittenden, the 1902 bridge was “built on piles in 16-foot bents; total length 360 feet. In order to avoid a heavy embankment on the eastern approach to the bridge. At the same time, to give rowboats ample space to pass under it at high water, the bridge was given a curved profile, so as to raise the center about 3 feet above the ends.” The bridge reached directly across the river at right angles to the shore lines. In 1927 a boathouse with floating dock, office, and sleeping quarters was built at Fishing Bridge. The structure may have been mobile, attached to the bridge itself, and moored in different locations over the years. This first boathouse and dock served until 1935, when a much grander facility was constructed. Architect Robert Reamer designed this new 26’ x 54’ boat house, and it continued in service until 1963.The old Fishing Bridge was replaced in 1936-37. According to Supt Rogers, the new bridge was, “532 feet in length consisting of 19-28 foot spans, cost approximately$100,000 or about $188 per lineal foot. It furnished a 24-foot roadway with the two 5-foot sidewalks and an overall width of 42 feet. The entire contract including the parking areas and supplemental work totaled about $140,000.” Fishing from "Fishing Bridge" was officially prohibited after the 1973 season. Old Faithful Area Riverside Geyser Bridge In 1897, a new bridge was built over the Firehole River near Riverside Geyser, providing access to Old Faithful from Biscuit Basin and points north. This bridge also offered access from Biscuit Basin and Morning Glory Pool to Old Faithful Geyser basically following the current pedestrian path A bridge inspection report in 1909 described this Bridge No. 9 thusly: “The present bridge consists of a two-truss wooden span on wooden piers and abutments. This bridge is entirely too light for the service required at this point. It is located at one of the most important points in the park, and in addition to the vehicle traffic, is at times loaded with sightseers viewing the Geysers. It is recommended that, owing the importance of the bridge, and its location, it should be made an attractive appearing structure, and further recommended that two 32' plate girder spans with curved effect underneath be used resting on concrete piers and abutments, and that the roadway be 20' in width so as to accommodate the sightseers without interference with the vehicle traffic.” Top Right: Original bridge in 1893, w/Minnesota nat' Guard. FJ Haynes Photo. Left: Riverside Bridge, 1916. NPS Photo Bottom Right: Riverside Bridge, 2017. Author Photo In 1909, Captain Wildurr Willing of the Corps of Engineers proposed a reinforced concrete structure believing that, “. . . since this was one of the most visited areas in the park, it was necessary that the bridge be of an aesthetic design.” However, because of high construction costs, a 65-foot steel arch bridge was built by the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Company. The bridge at left, was rebuilt in 1935 as part of the reconstruction of the Madison Junction to Old Faithful road project. The bridge consisted of one span of 53’ with total length of 58’. The deck width extended 33’-0", and the bridge roadway width 26'-2". The rigid-type bridge had masonry abutments, concrete deck, and steel hand rails. The rails were vertical steel posts with channels cupping downward framing into these posts near the top and bottom. The concrete deck had an asphalt surface. McLaughlin Construction Company of Livingston, Mt, built the bridge at a total cost of $19,677.19. Gibbon River In 1894, a new road [Mesa Road] was completed from a point on the old road near Gibbon Canyon and below the Falls. It ran south across the plateau toward the Firehole River, and connecting with the main loop road at the exit of the Firehole Cascades scenic byway. A bridge was first erected at this site around 1901 just south of Gibbon Falls. A 1909 Bridge Report stated that Bridge No. 5 crossed the Gibbon River near the Wylie and Shaw & Powell camps, “The present structure consists of one pier in the middle of the stream, and two log abutments with log stringers spanning the space between. The bridge was built about eight years ago [ca1901] and is in a fair condition, but too light in construction for the travel it has to carry. It is recommended that it be replaced by a 40'steel plate girder span, resting on concrete abutments.” Top Left: 1914 Log Bridge by old Wylie Camp. NPS Photo Top Right: 1912 Topo Map Excerpt, NPS Bottom Left: 2nd Gibbon Bridge. YNP Photo Based on recommendations in the 1909 Bridge Report, a 40' steel arch bridge was built over the Gibbon River in 1914 near the Wylie Camp, seventeen miles from the West Entrance. In 1930, “realignment of the Norris Junction to Madison Junction road resulted in two steel bridges across the Gibbon River approximately 9 1/2 miles below Norris Junction being abandoned. It was proposed that both would be removed, however one bridge, which served the old stage road (Mesa Road) to the Firehole Cascades, was still needed as diverted traffic used this route while the new road was being completed.” At some point afterward the Mesa Road bridge (Bridge No. 5) was removed. As of 2008 traces of its existence still remained. [GRAND LOOP ROAD HAER No.WY-55] Mammoth - Gardiner - Corwin Springs Golden Gate In the narrow and beautiful rock-walled pass through which Glen Creek passes and along the steep walls of Golden Gate Canyon, Engineer Lt. Dan Kingman built a 228’wooden trestle bridge in 1883. This new road up to Swan Lake Flats bypassed the treacherous Snow Pass road and was completed in 1885. Chittenden replaced the wooden structure in 1900-01 with a new concrete viaduct supported on concrete arches. The road was 16’ wide with a 42” parapet wall. Left: 1885 Wood Trestle. NPS Right: 1901 Concrete Bridge. NPS During the winter of 1932-33, an attempt was made to drive a tunnel through a protruding portion of the canyon walls. Close to completion in May of 1933, the tunnel caved in and all work on the project ceased. Later in 1933, the bridge was rebuilt and widened. The new 24’ wide viaduct had been built over the old bridge, however, it was independently supported. The old structure was removed in the fall of 1976, and a new concrete bridge erected that was 30’ wide and 327’long. The Pillar of Hercules, an iconic monolithic rock formation, was moved with each renovation and reset at the bridge entrance on a concrete platform. Chittenden Bridge, 1970s. YNP #174626 Left: Sheepeater Canyon Bridge over Gardner River, ca1905. Original negative, Copyright Robert V. Goss. Right: 2nd Sheepeater Canyon Bridge over Gardner River, 1917 NPS photo. Sheepeater Canyon Bridge - Gardner River Around 1880, Supt. Norris had a crude road built from the main road just south of Camp Sheridan at Mammoth east to the Middle Gardner River and Sheepeater canyon. There a small log bridge crossed the river and the road wound up the steep slopes of Bunsen Peak, past Ospey Falls, meeting up with the main road just above Rustic Falls. This is believed to be the 1st secondary road built in the park and remains today as a scenic hiking & biking byway. In 1903-04, the 2nd Sheepeater Canyon bridge was fabricated over the Gardiner River near the base of Bunsen Peak to access Tower Falls and Cooke City. Located located upstream of the current bridge site, it became the largest bridge in the park at that time. Consisting of five steel arch spans, 76’ each, and two approaches of 15’, the bridge totaled 410’ in length. The deck floor was about 70’ above the river surface. Traces of its approaches and old access road remain to this day. Also known locally as the “High Bridge,” the new Gardner River bridge - 3rd Sheepeater Canyon bridge - was completed in Nov. of 1939 at a cost around $247,000. At 205’ tall, it was the highest bridge in the park. It crossed the Gardner River just east of Mammoth along the road to Tower. It replaced the older and much lower bridge built in 1903-04, closer to the base of Bunsen Peak. There were 4 spans 184’ length with a total length of 962’ and a deck width of 28’. The decking was rebuilt and other repairs effected in 1978 under a contract with COP Construction of Billings, Montana for $888,293. Sheepeater Cyn Bridge over Gardner River. Ca1960s, HAER Gardiner Yellowstone River Bridge A steel bridge was built over the Yellowstone River in Gardiner about a ½ mile below the current site in 1893 at a cost of $10,700. In 1930, a new concrete bridge was erected over the Yellowstone River at the present site at a cost of $57,000. To commemorate the opening, a community dance and picnic was held on the bridge. Located near the old jail, the structure had a total length of 409’ with the longest span 192’. The roadway width between curbs was 38’ with a total width of 50’. It was rebuilt and widened in1975. !st vehicle bridge over the Yellowstone River. Photo courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum 2nd Yellowstone River Bridge. Photo Courtesy HAER Gardiner Swinging Bridge In 1914, a swinging foot bridge was built over the Yellowstone River and remained in use until April of 1930 when construction of the new bridge began. It was located near the location of the current bridge and provided pedestrian access to the growing developments on the north side of the river. YNP Photo #37086 Two young ladies from Denton, Texas described the Swinging Bridge in Gardiner in 1915 while preparing to join a Yellowstone Park tour with the Shaw & Powell Camping Co.: “We are warmly greeted at the hotel and enjoy our stay overnight. The following morning we walk over the village, and one interesting place we visit is an extension bridge over the Gardner river. It is built for pedestrians and is said to hold up to four people, but wait until you walk out to the center, where the bridge swings up and down with each step, while the rushing, foaming water beneath roars until you do not know whether you are going up or down; then you think it will not hold one.” [Denton Record-Chronicle (Texas) Aug 12 1915] Corwin Springs Bridge The Corwin Springs hotel was built on the east side of the Yellowstone River about 7-1/2 miles north of Gardiner in 1909 by the Electric Hotel Co. The bridge was built at the same time with Park County and the Hotel Co. splitting the $13,500 cost. Northern Pacific Ry trains from Livingston enroute to Yellowstone stopped at Corwin Springs and guests could walk across the bridge to the hotel. The length of the longest span was 216’ with a total length of 294’. The deck was 17.4’ wide with a clearance of 14.5’. The hotel featured 72 rooms, a large swimming pool, private plunges, and Spray, Needle, and Shower baths that were fed with hot water piped in from LaDuke Springs. Corwin Springs Hotel & Bridge postcard. Author's Collection This historic and picturesque bridge was ignobly removed and replaced with a rather mundane-looking concrete structure in 2008. The new bridge, a 3-span, prestressed concrete structure, measures 294’ in total length, with a 30’ roadway and 32.5’ wide deck. Honorable Mentions The numbers are reference locations on the map below. Numbers 9 & 12 are Fishing Bridge & Gardiner River Bridges, discussed earlier on this page. All photos courtesy Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) 1989 The numbers are reference locations on the map Numbers 9 & 12 are Fishing Bridge & Gardiner River Bridges, discussed earlier on this page. All photos courtesy Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) 1989 Copyright 2024 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. © 2024 by Robert V. Goss. Created with Wix.com

Camping in the Yellowstone Frost & Richard Camping Co. 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 th e author. "Now all is hustle among local transportation companies in anticipation of the opening of the Turk season July 1st. The equipment is being put in readiness and parties being booked daily. The companies in the field this year are the Yellowstone Park Camping & Transportation Co., Shoshone Camping Co., Frost & Richard and Dahlem Bros. All are reliable and anyone hooking with them is assured of the finest treatment possible and the finest trip through the country. The Cody road to the Park is completed and leads through the noted Shoshone Canyon, just past the Shoshone dam and lake and up through the grand North Fork country. It's a trip worth traveling over continents to enjoy. BOOK NOW! Address any of the Companies mentioned at Cody, Wyoming." Park County Enterprise (WY), Jun 1, 1910 The town of Cody, Wyoming is located 50 miles east of Yellowstone and was founded in 1896 by Buffalo Bill Cody, and other investors having railroad and agricultural interests. Like most small western towns, growth of the town was predicated upon having access to railroad service. Col. Cody began negotiations with the railroads and eventually the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR was convinced to build a branch rail line from their main line at Billings, MT. The line extended south to Toluca and from there ran southwest for 129 miles to Cody. The line reached town in 1901 and the depot was built on the north side of the Shoshone River, on the opposite side of the river from the town proper. That same year construction began on a new road over Sylvan Pass into Yellowstone. It opened in late June/early July 1903 after the heavy snows had melted, making Cody the East Gateway to Yellowstone Park. Tex Holm began conducting camping tours over Sylvan Pass in 1903 and other small operators, including Ned Frost and Fred Richard, followed suit in later years . Top Left: The town of Cody Wyo, ca1904, less than a decade after its founding. Bottom Left: Ned Frost leading a pack train over Sylvan Pass, probably late spring. [Undated Real Photo postcard] Ned Frost became a partner with Fred Richard in the early 1900’s with each of them homesteading land around Green Creek west of Cody. Ned hunted and trapped, while Fred skinned, stretched and prepared the pelts. Coyote pelts were going for $60 at the time and business was good. Individually or collectively they also guided hunters through the nearby wilderness country in search of big game. Through these enterprises they saved up enough to build a large ranch house as a base camp for their enterprises in Wapiti Valley. The ranch featured 17 rooms, including seven bedrooms upstairs and a large living room with fireplace to entertain their paying guests. Richard, Fred J. (Alfred John) Fred J. Richard was born around 1880-81 in Vermont. He married Margaret Hughes (born ca1881) of Illinois in Chicago on January 1, 1909. Her sister Mary would marry New Frost the following year. By 1910 Fred and Margaret were listed in the US Federal Census for Park County. The couple had two children; Alfred J. “Jack”, born in 1909 in Wyoming; and Robert H., born ca1915 in Wyoming. Son Jack became quite a renowned local photographer and his massive collection of photographs was donated to the Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody Wyoming. Frost, Ned Ward Ned W. Frost was born April 11, 1881 in Minnesota and came into the Cody country in a covered wagon in 1884 with his family and settled on Sage Creek near Cody. He killed his first grizzly bear around the age of seven or eight and began a life of hunting and guiding. By age 14 he was shooting antelope to supply meat houses in Coulson (Billings), Montana. He appears in the 1900 Federal Census for Wyoming. He helped to build the Corkscrew Bridge on Sylvan Pass in the early 1900’s and in 1903 he discovered Frost Cave in Cedar Mountain just west of Cody. His future wife Mary Hughes was born February 1881 in Chicago, Illinois and was the sister of Margaret Hughes, who married Fred Richard in 1909. Ned and Mary were married January 20, 1910 at the home of Fred Richard. The couple’s first son Nedward Mahlon was born around 1911. He was followed by Richard J. about 1918 and Jessie W. circa 1921. Ned passed away Nov. 19, 1957 after several months of ill health. He was considered by many to be the foremost big-game hunter of his time. Frost & Richard Camping Co. Ned Frost and Fred Richard formed the "Frost & Richard Camping Co." around 1909 and began conducting formal advertised camping trips into Yellowstone using moveable camps. They had, however, operated earlier than 1909 as “Frost & Richard.” The Wyoming Stockgrower and Farmer newspaper of Cody noted on July 11, 1907 that, “Frost & Richard started with the first park party of the season Monday. The party consisted of Chas. P. Whitney, wife and little daughter, Mr. Lesch, a railroad attorney, three young Lady teachers and three young gentlemen, all of Chicago, and Mrs. Frank Thompson of Cody.” Several articles in the Wyoming Stockgrower & Farmer newspaper for July 1905 also noted several small tours led into the park by Frost and Elmo Webster. These informal tours no doubt extended back several years and probably utilized the Sunlight Basin route through Cooke City and the northwest entrance prior to the opening of the Sylvan Pass road in 1903. The size of the parties gradually increased and in June 1910, the Park County Enterprise (WY) reported that the Frost & Richard Camping Co. was guiding a party of around 30 tourists through Yellowstone. Wyoming Stockgrower and Farmer, 19Jul1905. In 1910 the men had a 20-page promotional booklet printed up by South Publishing Press to advertise their services. It was entitled, “Over the Cody Trail to Yellowstone: Seeing nature’s Wonderland by Camp in Parties of Two or More. [Not shown] The following year the McGuire Printing Co. published a 16-page booklet more simply titled, “Cody Road Through Yellowstone Park.” [Left - 1915 Edition} This small tome is not to be confused with a Burlington, Chicago & Quincy RR publication titled “The Cody Road to Yellowstone” that was in publication by 1907, and continued through 1916. [Right] The Frost & Richard Camping Co. is first mentioned in that brochure in 1909. Camping Tours Over the Cody Road (1909) The most popular way of making the trip over the Cody Road and through Yellowstone Park is in a camping party from Cody back to Cody, occupying 16 or 18 days. The Yellowstone Park Camping and Transportation Co. (Aron Holm, Proprietor) and Frost & Richard have for many years made a specialty of outfitting and conducting such parties, and the many people who have made the tour under their auspices have been uniformly well pleased with the arrangements. The names of such people we will be glad to furnish to anyone contemplating the trip. The Company and Frost & Richard both have first-class outfits and handle their own parties and in an entirely satisfactory manner. Transportation is provided in covered surreys or waggonettes built with extra good springs specially for this mountain service and very comfortable; a good saddle horse is provided for those who wish to make the trip on horseback, for $1 per day extra—should any such become tired, they may of course have a seat in the surrey. The tents are tepees, each accommodating two persons, and the best that money can buy; they are furnished with canvas floors, ostermoor mattresses, woolen blankets and warm, heavy comforters; a private toilet tent for ladies is set up at each camp. The meals are the best that the market affords in canned goods, smoked meats, fresh vegetables and trout, all prepare by women cooks in a covered cook-wagon. Many ladies make the camping tour and enjoy it thoroughly; children as young as seven or eight years have made the trip, some even going horseback as there is always a man in the party to teach the inexperienced to ride and who accompanies the children and inexperienced riders of the party at all times. [The Cody Road to Yellowstone Park – 1909 (Burlington, Chicago & Quincy RR, shown above right] By 1910, the company advertised 12, 16, and 28-day camping trips, and used tepee-style sleeping tents nine feet square with canvas bottoms. The tents had beds that were provided with mattresses and blankets and accommodated two persons, but private tents could be had for an extra charge. Trips were conducted in 3-seated mountain surreys seating five passengers and the driver. Mess and baggage wagons accompanied the party carrying supplies, cooking and dining tents. The dining tent was furnished with a stove, folding tables, and chairs and the dinnerware was of white granite. Toilet tents were set up at each camp and water heated for the guests’ use. The trips cost $4.00 per day with an extra $1.00 per day charge for those wishing to ride on horseback. The company also offered horseback pack trips in the park that traveled on various trails during the daytime, but spent the nights at the camps of the coaching parties. Cody Pictorial, ca1911. Click to enlarge. "The Loop Sylvan Pass Cody Road" Frost & Richard camp wagon crossing the pass, ca1912. [Lucier Photograph] "Corkscrew Road Sylvan Pass" Undated photo of Fros & Richard camp wagons. [YNP #1935] From the Park County Enterprise (WY), Jun 1, 1910: "Now all is hustle among local transportation companies in anticipation of the opening of the Turk season July 1st. The equipment is being put in readiness and parties being booked daily. The companies in the field this year are the Yellowstone Park Camping & Transportation Co., Shoshone Camping Co., Frost & Richard and Dahlem Bros. All are reliable and anyone hooking with them is assured of the finest treatment possible and the finest trip through the country. The Cody road to the Park is completed and leads through the noted Shoshone Canyon, just past the Shoshone dam and lake and up through the grand North Fork country. It's a trip worth traveling over continents to enjoy. BOOK NOW! Address any of the Companies mentioned at Cody, Wyoming." Top Left : Frost & Richard wagons atop of Mt Washburn, undated. [Courtesy Wyoming PBS] Top Right: Frost & Richard party having lunch on the road on Aug. 19, 1912, probably Sylvan Pass or Mt. Washburn. [Courtesy Wyoming PBS. " "YELLOWSTONE AND OTHER WESTERN LOCALES THROUGH A YOUNG WOMAN’S EYES" Photo album from Muriel Mann of Chicago of a western tip in 1913 Left: Frost & Richard wagons atop of Mt Washburn. Right: Frost & Richard wagons crossing the Shoshone River, somewhere between Cody and the East entrance of Yellowstone Finale for the Frost & Richard Co. After 1916 and the government-mandated consolidation of the camping companies in Yellowstone, Frost and Richard mostly parted ways and returned to their own guiding and hunting operations. Frost guided many famous hunters during his lifetime, including Saxton Pope and Art Young (Pope & Young Club) in 1920. Frost Lake, two miles NE of Pyramid Peak was named after him ca1893-95, as was Frost Cave in the mountain west of Cody. The Skytel Ranch is currently located on the site of the Frost Ranch. "Through a deal which was closed this week the Frost & Richard Co. dissolved partnership and Fred Richard takes over the ranch on Northfork and will devote his entire time to developing it along agricultural and stock raising lines. Ned Frost, the retiring member of the company plans to continue his "dude" wrangling activities, making the ranch his headquarters for the present. Poor health is the principle reason for his retirement from business and in the fall he will probably go to California to spend the winter." Northern Wyoming Herald, May 21, 1919 Map of Frost and Richards tour route through Yellowstone with campsite numbered. [1915 F&R brochure] Click to enlarge Famous Guide and Big Game Hunter Dies at Cody, Wyo. Greeley Daily Tribune, Thursday, Nov. 21, 1957 Ned Ward Frost, 77, one of the West's most famed big game hunters and guides, died Tuesday [19th]. He had been in ill health for several months. Frost, who came to the Cody area in 1903, led many big game hunting expeditions into the rugged country surrounding Yellowstone National Park and was the discoverer of Spirit Mountain Cavern, five miles west of Cody. Frost was reputedly one of the most accurate big game marksmen in the first quarter of the 20th Century and made several hunting expeditions throughout the world. Sept. 26, 1952, was set aside in Wyoming as "Ned Frost Day", to honor big game guides and hunters. Frost was found dead at mid morning when Dr. Joseph A. Gautsch went to investigate when Frost failed to keep an appointment with the physician. Funeral arrangements have not been completed. Within the past month, Frost sold his 1,885-acre ranch on the North Fork of the Shoshone River to Rep. Keith Thomson (R Wyo). Fred J. Richards Dies in Powell CODY, Wyo.—Fred J. Richards, a long time Park County resident, died in a Powell rest home early Monday at the age of 82. Mr. Richards was born in Eden, Vt., July 19, 1880 and had lived in Park County for 61 years. Two sons, Jack of Cody and Robert of Denver, survive. Billings Gazette, 28Aug1962 GRIZZLY FIGHTS GUIDES TOURISTS RESCUE THE PAIR Washington Post, Aug. 27, 1916 Ned Frost, Yellowstone park guide and noted hunter, and Edward Jones, a cook were badly injured near Lake Hotel, in Yellowstone park, in a one-sided battle with an immense grizzly bear. Frost was conducting a tourist pack train through the park, Jones being the cook. Because of park regulations the party traveled without arms. Monday night Jones discovered a male bear raiding the camp grub outfit. BEAR RESENTS INTERFERENCE Bears protected in the park roam unmolested and ordinarily are not vicious. So Jones did not hesitate to attempt to drive the animal away. Resenting his interference, the bear charged, hurled him 80 feet with a blow from its paw and was mauling his back when his yells brought Frost to the scene. Unarmed, but undismayed, Frost unhesitatingly went into battle attacking the enraged beast with the first weapon he could seize, a frying pan. The bear turned upon Frost and an unequal battle with the advantage all on the side of the grizzly ensued. A sweep of the bear's claws tore Frost's leg open from the hip to the knee, but he fought on floundering away from the grizzly's lunges and belaboring her with whatever he could lay his hands on. NOISE OF BATTLE BRINGS AID Jones, almost disabled, rejoined the fray and the two men between them succeeded in confusing the bear so it wasted its efforts in attempting to maul both at the same time. The noise of the battle brought tourists running to the camp and the bear fled. Frost and Jones were taken to the hotel where an army surgeon dressed their wounds. Later they were brought to town [Cody] in a serious condition, but are expected to recover. Frost is one of the best known of the park guides.

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 th e 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.

Yellowstone's Gateway Communities Click on Link above to begin your tour. Yellowstone’s Gateway Communities The existence of the gateway communities has been viewed historically (incorrectly I think) by the early military authorities and the Park Service as a sort of ‘necessary evil’. From the earliest days these towns, which have provided many of the necessary visitor services, have also provided a relatively safe haven and a base for a variety of social misfits whose interests were generally contrary to the best interests of the park. Some of the biggest problems in the early days were the poachers of wildlife, and exploiters of park resources. There were also the occasional stagecoach robbers, and trouble-making drunks that had to be taken care of by the authorities. Until 1894, there were no effective laws governing the park, and no judicial system to deal with the lawbreakers when apprehended. Usually the most the authorities could do was to evict a troublemaker from the park and confiscate his gear. It was a small price to pay in return for some of the profits that could be made by selling buffalo heads, game meat, etc. Passage of the Lacey Act in 1894 provided for legal protection of the park’s features and established a working judicial system. Although this did not stop wrongdoing, as no laws will, it helped tremendously to control the problems and at least gave the military authorities the power to punish these people. Problems such as ‘horn-hunting’ and poaching continue to this day, as certain locals, and of course out-of-towners, look to the park’s resources to help supplement their incomes. Gardiner , because of its lower elevation, lack of significant snows, milder climate and easy access, became the first gateway community in the early 1880’s. The area was traversed frequently starting with the fur trade in the 1820-30’s. Gold miners passed through the area in the 1860’s, with the precious element being discovered on Bear Creek in 1866 by Joe Brown. Gold ore was discovered in the hills around Jardine about 13 years later. The early exploration parties also passed through the area in 1869-72 as they followed the Yellowstone River into the park. These included the Folsom-Cook-Peterson, Washburn, and Hayden expeditions. The impetus to development came in 1883 with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad to Cinnabar, 3 miles north of town. Even though the railroad did not reach town until 1902, Gardiner continued to prosper. It became the center of freighting activities not only for the park, but also for the gold mines at Jardine and Cooke City. It was the primary entrance for tourist travel through the park for many years. The town provided much labor for the road crews in the park, and for the transportation and hotel companies, and still does. The town also provided entertainment for the soldiers of Ft. Sheridan/Yellowstone in the form of bars, gambling, and houses of ill repute (much to the chagrin of the commanding officers no doubt). Amenities necessary for the comfort of the tourists, Sagebrushers, outfitters, hunters, and locals were also well provided for. West Yellowstone came into being around 1907 with the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad. It was originally called Riverside even though it was not located at the river’s side, and the name was confused with the soldier station and stage station located a few miles inside the park. Two years later the town was renamed Yellowstone. It retained this name until 1920 when, to eliminate confusion it was changed again, this time to West Yellowstone. The west entrance of the park had been used since the early days of the trappers, who followed the course of the Madison River in search of beaver. Gold miners followed this route in the 1860’s, and by 1873 the “Virginia City and National Park Free Wagon Road” was built. By 1879 Gilmer & Salisbury were running stagecoaches from the UPRR station in Spencer Idaho into the Lower Geyser Basin. Although the post office was established in 1908, it was not until 1913 that lands were removed from Forest Service ownership in order to form the townsite. The town served primarily as a summer resort and fall hunting retreat until the early 1970’s when the Old Faithful Snow Lodge began operating for the winter season, and the Park Service began grooming the roads for snowmobiles. Cooke City , located near the northeast entrance, had its beginnings as a mining town, with gold being discovered in the area around 1869-70. It was originally named Miner’s camp in 1872, changing to Clark’s Fork City and Galena, before becoming Cooke City in 1882. The only real way in or out of the area was the trail from Gardiner through the park. The road to Cooke City was marginal at best until the early 1920’s, and even then the road would be impassable to wagons most of the winter. This area did not really become a ‘gateway community’ until the mid-‘30s when the road over Beartooth Pass was completed. This road was then advertised by the railroads as the ‘most spectacular’ entrance to the park. NPRR had a branch line into Red Lodge and bus service was available from there. This road is still generally only accessible mid-June through September because of the deep snows on the 11,000’ pass. Like West Yellowstone, their basic season is summer and fall, but it has become a very popular winter snowmobile resort. The closest gateway community to the east entrance is about 50 miles distant at Cody Wyoming . This town came into existence in the late 1890’s with help of the famous Buffalo Bill Cody, the railroad and agricultural interests. The first known white man to see the area was John Colter who passed through the area in the winter of 1807-08. The designation Colter’s Hell actually came from this area, not Yellowstone Park. Around 1902 Wm. Cody opened up his ‘Irma Hotel’, and established a trading company, campground and newspaper in town. He built Pahaska Lodge and the Wapiti Inn hunting lodge at the east entrance of the park. That same decade was fairly momentous for the new town, as the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy railroad arrived, a road over Sylvan Pass into Yellowstone was built, and construction started on the Shoshone Dam and Reservoir outside of town. In 1912 Holm Transportation Co. started regular passenger service to Yellowstone, and four years later the Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Co. became the first motorized transportation company to enter the park. They traveled as far as Lake Hotel where the guests were transferred to stagecoaches. The following year the stagecoaches gave way to the automobile and a new era was begun. The town is home to the world-famous Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indian Museum, and the Winchester Collection. Although seasonal in nature, the area has a variety of other business interests to help keep the town thriving year-round. Jackson Wyoming , although really a gateway community to Grand Teton National Park, has been included here because of the many historical ties the area has to Yellowstone. Colter is reputed to have passed through the area in 1807-08, and the area was well known to the fur trappers. The 1860’s saw gold seekers, but paydirt was never really found here. The Hayden Expedition explored the area in 1872 and ‘78. James Stevenson and Nathaniel Langford of the 1872 expedition claimed to have scaled the Grand Teton that year. However, Wm. Owen and his party who scaled the peak in 1898 disputed that earlier claim. The first known permanent settler arrived in 1884, but growth in the valley was slow. Access to the valley was difficult and the nearest railroad was over the mountains to the west in Idaho. The primary economy of the valley in the early days was ranching, cattle, horses, and dudes (probably the more profitable of the three). As with the other communities, poaching was a well-established custom for many years. In 1929 Grand Teton National Park was established and was expanded considerably in 1950. The first ski area was founded in 1946, and about 20 years later the Jackson Hole Ski area was established. The area now competes successfully with many of the renown ski hills of Colorado and Utah. The communities of Jardine, Aldridge, Electric, and Horr have been included mostly because of personal interest by the author. They have never been considered gateway communities, although they had considerable impact on the town of Gardiner in the early days. Gold ore was discovered on Crevasse Mountain near Jardine in 1879. In 1898 the post office was established and the town was quite a bustling little metropolis. Mining for gold, along with tungsten and arsenic was somewhat sporadic over the years. When the cyanide plant burned down in 1948, that was the end of any prosperity until 1988 when gold production started up at Mineral Hill Mine. That too was short-lived, closing down in 1996. Aldridge, Horr and Electric were relatively short-lived towns. Horr was founded in 1888 the service the nearby coal mines. It changed its name to Electric in 1904 because, as the old joke goes,“…the women were tired of living in Horr houses.” Aldridge, also related to the coal boom, was established in 1894 and was first called Lake. The coal mines shut down in 1910, and by 1915 both post offices had been closed down. By then many of the businessmen had already moved their operations into Gardiner, having seen the handwriting on the wall.

Yellowstone Bibliographies 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 th e author. [1g] Adare, Sierra, "Celebrating Cody's Centennial". Wild West Magazine, June '96. [2] Augspurger, Marie M. "Yellowstone National Park - Historical and Descriptive". The Naegele-Auer Printing Co. 1948 [2m] Austin, Bruce, 1999 conversations and data provided by him. Independent researcher, bus historian and restorer. Loma Linda University, Calif. [3] Anderson, H. Allen, "Ernest Thompson Seton in Yellowstone Country". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 34, No.2, Spring '84. [4] Baldwin, Kenneth H., "Enchanted Enclosure: The Army Engineers and Yellowstone National Park - A Documentary History". Office of the Chief Engineers, US Army, 1976. [4m] Barnes, Christine, “Great Lodges of the West”. Published by W.W. West, Bend Oregon, Copy. 1997. [5] Barnett, LeRoy, "Ghastly Harvest - Montana's Trade in Buffalo Bones". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Vol.XXV, No. 3, Summer '75. [6] Barringer, Mark Daniel, "Private Empire, Public Land: The Rise and Fall of the Yellowstone Park Company". Texas Christian Univ. Thesis, Dec. 1997 [8] Bartlett, Richard A. "Those Infernal Machines in Yellowstone...". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Vol. XX, No. 3, Summer 1970. [10] _______________. "Yellowstone - A Wilderness Besieged". University of Arizona Press, 1985. [12] Beal, Merrill D., "The Story of Man in Yellowstone". Caxton Printers, Ltd, 1949. [14] Brown, Mark H., "The Plainsmen of the Yellowstone - A History of the Yellowstone Basin". University of Nebraska Press, 1969. [14a] _______________, "Yellowstone Tourists and the Nez Perce". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Vol. XVI, No.3, Summer 1966. [14m] Brust, James S., & Whittlesey, Lee H., "Thomas J. Hine - One of Yellowstone's Earliest Photographers". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Vol.49, No.2, Summer 1999. [14u] Burlingame, Merrill G., "The Montana Frontier". Big Sky Books, Montana State University, 1942. [15m] Child, Harry W. Jr., “History of Dates and the Child Family in Yellowstone”. An unpublished chronology, 1999. [16] Chittenden, Hiram Martin, "The Yellowstone National Park". (written 1895] University of Oklahoma Press, Norman Publishing, 1964. [16m] Clemensen, A. Berle, “Historic Structure Report – Historic Data Section – O.F. Inn”. Denver Historic Preservation Branch, National Park Service, Dept. Interior, Denver, Co. [16t] Cody Country Magazine, 1996 [17] Culpin, Mary Shivers, "The History of the Construction of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park - 1872-1966". Historic Resource Study Vol.1, Rocky Mtn. Region, National Park Service, 1994. 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[54] Jurale, James A., "History of Winter Use in Yellowstone National Park". University of Wyoming, Dec. 1986. [55] Karmizki, Kenneth W., "Suspected Site of the Hobart Hotel - Report of Research & Testing". Montana State University, 1997. YNP Files - "Structures". [56] Langford, Nathaniel Pitt, "The Discovery of Yellowstone Park". University of Nebraska Press 1972. (Text from author's 1905 Edition). [57] Livingston Enterprise newspaper [58] Malone, Michael P., "The Gallatin Canyon...and the Tides of History". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, Summer 1973. [60] Malone, Michael P., & Roeder, Richard B. , Editors, "The Montana Past - An Anthology". University of Washington Press, 1969. [60e] Markoff, Dena S., “The Dudes are Always Right – The Utah Parks Company in Zion National Park 1923-72”. Zion Natural History Association, 1980. [60g] Mattison, Ray H. “Report on Historical Structures in Yellowstone National Park.” 10/3/60. 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[78] Randall, L.W. (Gay), "Footprints Along the Yellowstone". The Naylor Company, Copy. 1961. [78t] Reese, Craig, “N.P.Ry - First of the North Transcontinentals – An Overview and Chronology”; “N.P.Ry – Park Branch Construction”; “N.P.Ry – Park Branch Operations”. A 3-part article originally published in the ‘Mainstreeter’, the publication of the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Asso. [79] Reeves, Thomas C., "President Arthur in Yellowstone National Park". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Summer 1969. [79g] Rzeczkowski, Frank, “The Crow Indians and the Bozeman Trail”. Montana – The Magazine of Western History, Vol.49, No.4, Winter 1999. [79d] Ridge, Alice A. & John Wm., “Introducing the Yellowstone trail – A Good Road from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound”. Yellowstone Trail Publishers, Altoona, Wisc. Copy. 2000. [80] Runte, Alfred, "Trains of Discovery - Western Railroads and the National Parks". Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1990. [80a] _______________, National Parks – The American Experience”. University of Nebraska Press, 1979. [82] Russell, Carl Parcher, “One Hundred Years in Yosemite”. Yosemite Natural History Asso., Yosemite National Park, 1959. [84] Schullery, Paul, "Yellowstone's Ecological Holocaust". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Montana Historical Society. Aug. 1997. [85] _______________, "Searching for Yellowstone - Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness". Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997. [86] _______________, "Buffalo Jones and the Bison Herd in Yellowstone: Another Look". Montana - The Magazine of Western History, Vol. XXVI, No. 3, Summer 1976. [87] Saunders, Richard L., "Glimpses of Wonderland - The Haynes and Their Postcards of Yellowstone National Park". Saunders 1997. [88] Saylor, David J., "Jackson Hole, Wy. - In the Shadow of the Tetons". University of Oklahoma Press, 1970. [90] Scofield, Susan C., "The Inn at Old Faithful". Crowsrest Associates, 1979. 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Winter 2000, Vol. 8, No.1 [97] The Yellowstone Postcard Exchange (TYPE), Quarterly Newsletter by J. Michael Bodell. [97e] Tilden, Freeman, "Following the Frontier with F.J. Haynes". Alfred A. Knopf, 1964. [97p] Topping, E.S., "The Chronicles of the Yellowstone - An Accurate, Comprehensive History". Ross & Haines, Inc. 1968. [97u] University of Montana Bozeman, Mt. Renee Library, “The Eagle Family Collection”. [98] US Dept. of Interior, NPS, "Yellowstone National Park Wyoming". Government Printing Office, 1937. [99] US Dept. of Interior, National Park Service, “Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)” and “Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)”. Located through American Memory, Library of Congress website. [99g] ________________, “Golden Gate Viaduct”, HAER WY-3, [99n] ________________, “Norris Soldier Station”, HABS No. WYO-21, John DeHass, Jr. [100] Van West, Carroll, "A Travelers' Companion to Montana History". Montana Society Press, 1986. [106] Whithorn, Bill and Doris, "Photo History of Gardiner, Jardine, Crevasse". The Park County News, 1972. [106m] _______________, “Images of America – Paradise Valley on the Yellowstone”. Published by Arcadia Publishing, Chicago, Ill, 2001 [107] _______________, "Yankee Jim's National Park Toll Road and the Yellowstone Trail". April 1989. [108] _______________, "Twice Told on the Upper Yellowstone". Vol. I, Published by Doris Whithorn 1994. [108a] _______________, "Twice Told on the Yellowstone". Vol. II, Published by Doris Whithorn 1994. [110] Waite, Thornton, "Yellowstone Branch of the Union Pacific - Route of the Yellowstone Special, 1994. [110h] West Yellowstone Historical Society, “West Yellowstone Historic District”. Walking Guide ‘Oregon Short Line Terminus Historic District’. [110m] Wheaton, Rodd L., “Architecture of Yellowstone – A Microcosm of American Design”. Yellowstone Science magazine, Vol. 8, No. 4, Fall 2000. [113] _______________, "Yellowstone Place Names". 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Coaching in Yellowstone Click on Link above to begin your tour. Development of the Transportation Companies in Yellowstone The earliest commercial transportation venture in the Park seems to be Jack Baronett’s toll bridge, built in 1871 near Tower junction over the Yellowstone River. He built a cabin on the bench above the junction of the Lamar and Yellowstone Rivers, and charged a $1.00 a head for man or beast to cross. In 1873, John Werks, George Huston, and Frank Grounds operated a primitive pack and saddle business at Mammoth. Stagecoach service was started in 1874 with ‘Zack Roots Express’ weekly service on Mondays from Bozeman to Mammoth, carrying both freight and passengers. The construction of a primitive road by Supt. Norris and his crew from Mammoth to Lower Geyser Basin in 1878 allowed Marshall & Goff to start a stagecoach business in 1880 to access the Geyser Basins and Marshall’s Hotel. During the next 36 years numerous companies operated stagecoach lines, including Wakefield & Hoffman, Yellowstone Transportation Co., Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co., Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co. (F.J. Haynes), Cody-Sylvan Pass Co., Wylie Camping Co., and Shaw & Powell Camping Co. After the 1916 season, all transportation companies were merged into a monopoly, called the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., headed by Harry W. Child. In August of 1915, automobiles were first allowed into the Park. That year and the following one was a time of transition with both modes of travel operating under strict guidelines. This act of 1915 brought major changes to the entire way of doing business in the Park. With the shortened travel times now available, hotels were no longer needed at Fountain and Norris. Many tent camps were also closed. The increased travel times and freight tonnage available with motorized trucks eliminated the need for the various dairy and slaughterhouse operations inside the Park. Also, with the elimination of the “weed-burners’, the park’s pastures would no longer be needed for the intense grazing that had been necessary. In 1917 the stagecoaches and stock were sold out, and Child, with loans of over $400,000 from the railroads, purchased 117 White Motor buses and various service trucks. These were headquartered at the barns built in 1903-04 at Mammoth. Plans were finalized for new facilities in Gardiner in 1924, but in March of 1925, the buildings at Mammoth burned, along with at least 93 vehicles. It took a giant effort by the White Motor Company to get new auto stages to the park for spring opening. The new garages in Gardiner were completed later that year. In 1936 the YPTC was merged with other Park concessionaires into the Yellowstone Park Company under Wm. Nichols, Child’s’ son-in-law. As automobiles took over, the need for improvement of the roadbeds became a priority. Gradually, the roads were widened, oiled, graveled, and ultimately paved. The maintenance of the roads was and still is a constant problem. The need for auto campgrounds and gas filling stations became apparent, and eventually facilities were established at all major locations. Yellowstone Park Service Stations currently runs the gas stations and is independently owned. The Railroad Era The influences of the early railroad companies, although now lone gone from the local scene, reaches back into the earliest days of ‘official exploration’ of the Park. Nathaniel Langford of the Washburn Expedition of 1870, was an employee of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Through the influence of his boss Jay Cooke, financial agent of the NPRR, Langford was a strong advocate for the railroad interests in park affairs, as were other influential people connected with the park. By 1883, four railroad companies have achieved transcontinental status, receiving vast tracts of lands adjacent to their right-of-ways as their incentive. In order to recover their costs and increase travel along these lines, the railroads needed to create reasons for people to travel west. These included land sales for homesteading, ranching, farming, and business opportunities in the newly established towns along the way. Promotion of resort areas and natural wonders was another ploy to attract travelers from the moneyed classes. Yellowstone was the target of this last type of promotion by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1882. In that year surveys had been made into the heart of the park in hopes of extending rail lines to all the important points of interest. Also there was a push to run tracks along the northern border to Cooke City in order the service the gold mines there. Eventually, through the actions of the Secretary of Interior, Congress, and various sportsman groups and concerned citizens, these plans were thwarted. The gateway communities became the ‘end of the line’. In 1883 the NPRR extended a line from Livingston to Cinnabar called ‘the Park Branch Line’. It had stopped there instead of continuing on to Gardiner because of lack of access through certain private lands. Construction of the National Hotel at Mammoth had started earlier this year, and was partially open for business in late summer. This was the first hotel built in the park that hoped to cater strictly to the upper class visitors. By 1911 luxury hotels had been constructed at all major locations with financial backing by the NPRy. Other railroads companies joined in the competition for park business with Union Pacific RR entering West Yellowstone in 1907. The Burlington & Chicago reached Cody in 1901, and the Milwaukee extended service to Gallatin Gateway in 1927. Land claims were eventually settled in Gardiner, and the NPRy reached that town in 1902, with the depot and Arch being built the following year. The railroads continued to exert influence on park business into the 1900’s with outright wnership or majority interests in the hotel companies and some of the transportation companies. By 1907, NPRy had sold its stock and direct interests in the hotels, but continued to actively promote the park and provided loans to H.W. Child for construction and improvements. The railroads continued to provide financial assistance to Park businesses until after WWII. Demand for railroad services after that time decreased rapidly with the increase in the use of automobiles for vacation travel. Regular scheduled passenger railroad service ended in Gardiner in 1948, Cody in 1956, and West Yellowstone and Gallatin Gateway in 1961.

Camping in the Yellowstone George A. Huston Early Gold Miner, Guide & Packer Copyright 2021 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 th e author. George Huston was among the earliest guides in the wilderness that would become Yellowstone National Park in March of 1872. And although his operation does not fit into the mold of the latter day government-permitted camping operations, the situation in Yellowstone in the early 1870s was also quite different and much more primitive. I include him here because by 1873, I feel Huston provided what seems to be the first commercially advertised service for guiding, packing, camping, and transport through the north entrance into Wonderland. Illustration of George Huston from Harper's Weekly , 11-17-1877 Biography of George Huston on my Biographies web page. Gold Miners, Harper's New Monthly, April 1860 Huston first appeared on the Yellowstone scene in 1864 as a gold prospector, fresh from having served three years in the Pennsylvania Reserves during the Civil War. That year he conducted a party of 30-40 miners up the Yellowstone River into the Lamar and Clark’s Fork drainages. Later in the year he led another party up the Madison and Firehole rivers. In 1866 he guided a small group of miners through the west entrance of Yellowstone up the Madison River to the geyser basins and prospected around Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, Mirror Plateau, Lamar Valley, and returned to Emigrant via the Yellowstone River. He has been thought by some to be insignificant in the bigger historical perspective of Yellowstone, and perhaps in some ways that may be true. However, he was one of those people that always seemed to “be where the action is” in the very early days of Wonderland, and by following his adventures, one can be led through many of the important events in the early history of the greater Yellowstone region. Huston built a cabin in the fall of 1867 near Turkey Pen Creek along the present Rescue Creek Trail, becoming who is believed to be the first permanent white resident in the park. When Truman Everts was lost on the Washburn Expedition of 1870, it was Huston who carried Everts on his horse to the north side of Yankee Jim Canyon where a wagon could then transport Everts to Bozeman. It was probably his cabin that Jack Baronett and George Pritchett brought Everts to so he could recuperate. In Nov. 1871 Huston assisted Matthew McGuirk in the construction of a house and barns at McGuirk’s Springs on Boiling River that was intended to be a refuge for invalids to soak in the ‘medicinal waters.’ The following year he accompanied the F.V. Hayden Expedition into Yellowstone and with Jack Baronett helped provide guide services. Scribner's Magazine of 1871 depicting a dazed and lost Truman Evert s McCartney's Hotel, Courtesy YNP Archives #50787 In the early 1870s there were no formal hotels, stores, or roads in Yellowstone. Explorers and curiosity-seekers were on their own and needed to be provisioned with everything they might need on an extended packing/camping trip. James McCartney and Harry Horr had homesteaded 160 acres at Mammoth Hot Springs in 1871 and built what can be loosely termed a ‘hotel.’ It was primitive at best and visitors were required to provide their own blankets and sleep on the floor, but guests could at least be dry, warm, and provided with food and drink. During a Yellowstone visit in 1874 Lord Dunraven commented that it was “the last outpost of civilization – that is, the last place whiskey is sold.” That was the only lodging in the park until 1880 when George W. Marshall built a hotel and mail station on the Firehole River. The first known published reference to Huston’s commercial guiding and packing career occurred on April 4, 1873, when the Bozeman newspaper proclaimed “Huston & Werks pack train will in the course of a week be prepared to convey travelers and goods to the National park, or the Clark’s Fork mines.” Although Jack Baronett, Frederick Bottler and others had been providing guide services for exploration parties, this appears to be the first commercially advertised service for guiding and transport through the north entrance of the park. Huston joined up with fellow Pennsylvanian and prospector John Werks (John F. Works), who appeared to have handled the business end of matters. On April 25 another ad appeared in the paper and interested parties were to contact Gov. Williams at the Exchange Saloon in Bozeman for details and arrangements. The ad proudly proclaimed “Ho for Wonderland and the Mammoth Hot Springs - I am now prepared to carry INVALIDS and PLEASURE PARTIES to the celebrated Mammoth Hot Springs, and other points in the National Park.” G.W.A. Frazier’s four-horse ‘conveyance’ from Bozeman carried passengers to the ‘Yellowstone Canyon’ on a weekly basis, or more often if necessary. Top Right : Bozeman Avant-Courier , June 13, 1873 Bottom Right : Bozeman Times , July 6, 1876 Werks placed another ad in the July 4th newspaper that pronounced “Cheap Transportation to the Geysers. I am prepared to furnish Ten Pack Animals or Riding Animals to persons desiring to visit the national park or any portion of the Upper Yellowstone. Terms one dollar per day for each animal.” Frank Grounds, also a prospector and hunter, assisted in the pack train operation and the three men escorted intrepid tourists along the crude trails traversing the park, showing off the sights and describing the features as best they could. Men such as Julius Beltizer and Ed Hibbard also guided ‘dudes’ through the park, perhaps on their own, or in conjunction with Huston & Werks’ operation. In their spare time, the men began ‘coating specimens’ in the mineral-laden waters of the Mammoth terraces and sold them to the tourists. The guiding venture apparently was successful, as Huston continued the pack train enterprise at least through 1876. It has been estimated that around 500 people a year visited the park during those years. Above : Grounds & Huston Bozeman Avant-Courier , June 11, 1875 Right : Typical pack train in Yellowstone. [Courtesy Burton Holmes Yellowstone Travelogues] Huston was guide for the ill-fated Radersburg party through the geyser basins in 1877 during the Nez Perce War when members of the party were held captive and several persons killed in the park during that unfortunate event. He assisted in the search for George Cowen, who was wounded by the Nez Perce and joined Gen. Howard at the Clark’s Fork Mines as a scout for the US Army expedition that was tracking the Nez Perce. He apparently was with the command at the surrender of Chief Joseph in the Bear Paw Mountains in early October. Collage of images from the Bear Paw Battlefield, Montana, Harper's Weekly 11-17-1877] After the Nez Perce adventure in 1877, Huston focused his endeavors mostly on gold prospecting and mining. Although he still guided special parties on occasion. In 1879 Huston teamed up with Jack Baronett to guide Silas Weir Mitchell, a well-known physician and writer from Philadelphia. Upon his return to civilization Weir wrote of his experiences and reflected, “Not an unpicturesque scene, our campfire, with the rough figures stretched out on the grass . . . Jack and George Houston good-naturely chaffing, and now and again a howl responsive to the anguish of a burnt boot. He who lived a life and never known a camp-fire is - Well, may he have that joy in the Happy Hunting-grounds!” Huston also guided General Sherman through Yellowstone in the summer of 1881 and while in the park they encountered General Sheridan with a small contingent of soldiers and together they all continued their journey under Huston’s expert guidance. During this period of time Huston spent several years in the Bear Gulch District mining gold in the mountains above the valley where the town of Gardiner would be founded in 1880. He then concentrated his mining efforts on the Cooke City area where he seems to have led a fairly successful life and was a respected citizen until his death at the relatively young age of 42. Left Above : Jack Baronett's Bridge, built in 1871 to access the Cooke City gold mines. WH Jackson Photo Left Below : Bear Gulch news, Bozeman Times , July 12, 1877 Some years later Huston and Joe Keeney purchased about 116 acres of the Henderson Ranch at Stephens Creek on Nov. 19, 1883. They resold the land later that year to the Northern Pacific RR and the site became the town of Cinnabar MT. Huston was also heavily involved in the Cooke City gold mines and was one of the original Cooke City founders and townsite residents. In 1884 he was one of the incorporators of the proposed rail line from Cinnabar to the mines of Cooke City, an enterprise that ultimately failed. As I mentioned previously, it seems whenever some important event was occurring in the park George Huston was likely to be involved. Cooke City ca1883, courtesy YNP Archives #7141 Early in June 1886 the Bozeman Avant Courier reported that life-long bachelor George Huston was suffering with pneumonia and by mid-month was described as dangerously ill with pneumonia. As his health declined he was moved to a Livingston MT hospital. George A. Huston, born 1842 in Cumberland Township, PA, passed away July 4, 1886 at age 42 of typhoid pneumonia and other complications. An 1877 article in Harper’s Weekly described Huston as “…a man of sterling integrity and indomitable pluck . . . the hero of many a thrilling bear or Indian fight, but told so modestly that you do not suspect him of being the principle actor." George Huston's tombstone, located at the Mountain View Cemetery in Livingston, MT The Bozeman Weekly Avant Courier on July 22, 1886 posted a heart-felt proclamation from the citizens of Cooke City: RESOLVED, that in the death of Geo. A. Huston, we have lost a noble and true-hearted friend, filled with laudable impulses, faithful, kind and generous, gifted with all the manly attributes that add so much to the happiness of the world. RESOLVED, that in his death the people of Montana lose one of the bravest of the many brave pioneers, who penetrated the undiscovered wilderness of our Northwestern Territory, and with brave hearts and willing hands brought to the knowledge of the world one of the greatest mining sections ever discovered. RESOLVED, That his past efforts deserve the lasting gratitude of all who will share in the future Golden Harvest. For more detailed information on the life and times of George Huston, check out my book: “Pack Trains and Pay Dirt in Yellowstone: On the Trail with George Huston.” Self-Published, Copyright 2007 Available from the author for $12.00, which includes S&H via USPS Media Mail. Please email me for details.

Hotels in the Yellowstone Yancey's - Roosevelt Lodge 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 th e author. Yancey's Hotel in Pleasant Valley 1882-1906 Uncle John F, Yancey This colorful character, the sixth of ten children, was born in Barren County, Kentucky in 1826. Described as the weakly child of the family, he outlived them all. He moved with his family to Missouri while he was still a boy. He journeyed to California in 1849, no doubt following the Gold Rush and later spent time on the Santa Fe Trail. Yancey returned east and fought for the cause of the South in the Civil War. After the war he removed to the Bozeman area and Crow country in 1866 and was employed by the government much of the time. Sensing opportunity in the Yellowstone Park, he made arrangement to settle himself along the road from Mammoth Hot Springs to Cooke City. Jack Baronett built a bridge over the Yellowstone River, that was located near Yancey’s site. John Yancey settled into Pleasant Valley in 1882 and built a cabin and mail station to serve the stages and miners enroute to the mines of Cooke City. The area was located near the junction of the Lamar and Yellowstone Rivers, not too far from Baronett's Bridge. The mail route from Gardiner to Cooke City generally took two days in good weather, and mail carriers used Yancey’s as the overnight stop. Yancey had reportedly received verbal permission from Supt. Patrick Conger to establish the mail station to accommodate traffic to Cooke City. Left: Bridge built by Jack Baronett in 1871 over the Yellowstone River, just above its junction with the East Fork of the Yellowstone (Lamar River). [F. Jay Haynes Stereoview] Right: Sketch of John Yancey made by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1897. [From Recreation Magazin e, "ElkLand," Vol. 7, 1897] Yancey received a 10-year lease on 10 acres of land on which to construct his hotel and mail station. He opened the "Pleasant Valley Hotel" in 1884 with a 1-1/2-story log cabin measuring 30' x 50'. It could supposedly accommodate 20 guests in the upstairs bedrooms at a rate of $2/day or $10/week. Yancey erected a 1-1/2-story saloon nearby in 1887 that measured about 20’x20.’ The story goes that his whiskey glasses were undefiled by the touch of water. Yancey knew all the good fishing holes and had plenty of tall tales to amuse people. His establishment attracted fishermen, hunters, and others interested in this quiet part of the park. By 1885, $25,000 had been spent on the construction of a road from the Yellowstone Falls via the east trail over Mount Washburn to Yancey's on the Mammoth Hot Springs road. This road allowed traffic to and from Yancey’s into the heart of Yellowstone, providing addition business traffic. To deal with the increased business, Yancey enlarged his hotel Above Right : Yancey's Hotel & saloon, ca1896. From Burton Holmes Travelogues Below : Yancey's Hotel, undated stereoview, photographer unknown. One Acting Superintendent described Yancey as a “peculiar and interesting old character . . . popular among a large class of people in this section, and also has a few powerful friends in the east . . .” It was also noted that Yancey’s place had “attractions, for a number of people, probably for the very reason of its roughness, and because it is a typical frontier establishment.” Of course that roughness did not appeal to everyone and superintendent Pitcher commented in 1902 that “it is so wretched as to prevent many people from going to his place who [would] do so if he would furnish [them] with a fairly decent fare." Owen Wister That same year, Owen Wister, who later authored The Virginian , was in Yellowstone on a sheep and goat hunting trip. He stopped by Yancey’s and was treated to one of Uncle John’s special elixirs. Wister described the old man as one, “of that frontier type which is no more to be seen; the goat-bearded, shrewd-eyed, lank Uncle Sam type. He and his cabins had been there a long while. The legend ran that he was once a Confederate soldier, and had struck out from the land of the Lost Cause quite unreconstructed, and would never wear blue jeans because blue reminded him of the Union army. He was known as Uncle John by that whole country . . . And then Uncle John led me across the road to—not his wine, but his whisky cellar. Handsome barrels. I came to know it well. He had some sort of fermented stuff made from oranges, which he obtained from California. Mingled properly with whisky, the like of it I have never elsewhere tasted.” Burton Holmes Travelogues World traveler Burton Holmes expressed a similar opinion in his Yellowstone Travelogue during a visit in 1896: “A visit to “Uncle John Yancey’s” ranch is an experience that will be remembered but which will not be repeated. A comic writer might find food for profitable study in the peculiarities of Uncle John, but the ordinary traveler will find neither palatable food nor decent accommodations while at the old man’s “Hotel.” The tenderfoot should not remark the unwashed condition of the two historic glasses into which the proprietor pours the welcoming libation of “Kentucky tea,” for it is Yancey’s boast that his whisky glasses have never been polluted by the contact of so alien a liquid as water. That water is not held in good repute at Yancey’s is evidenced by the location and condition of the “bathing establishment” maintained for the inconvenience of guests who are so perverted as to require more than a pail that serves the needs of the habitués of the primitive caravansary. On the whole it is wiser to leave the park with the impressions of its glories undimmed by memories of Yancey’s Ranch.” Somehow, despite Holmes' unfavorable review, he did devote a fair bit of space to Yancey in the Yellowstone Travelogue, along with a wealth of photos not found elsewhere. Yancey's "dough-wrangler" and all-around helper cooking "Grub," and John Yancey in his corral ca1896. Yancey maintained a small herd of horses, beef and milk cows to help maintain the operation. [ From Burton Holmes Travelogues] I n 1897 Ernest Thompson Seton, sometimes Ernest Seton Thompson, and his wife traveled to Yellowstone and rented and fixed up one of Yancey’s cabins. They spent the next few months studying wildlife nearby Yancey’s Hotel and then ventured through Yellowstone to see and photograph other wildlife. That visit formed the basis on some of his many books. [Recreation Magazine , December 1898] Uncle John traveled to Gardiner in late April to attend the dedication of the new stone arch near the Northern Pacific RR depot. “Teddy” Roosevelt was on hand, along with numerous other dignitaries, and dedicated the arch on April 24. It came to be known as the Roosevelt Arch and still proudly stands today on the edge of Gardiner. John Burroughs, in his Camping and Tramping with Roosevelt , remarked that during Roosevelt’s trip through Yellowstone in 1903 with Burroughs and others, “We spent two nights in our Tower Falls camp, and on the morning of the third day set out on our return to Fort Yellowstone, pausing at Yancey's on our way, and exchanging greetings with the old frontiersman, Yancey took sick after attending the dedication of the new arch in Gardiner in 1903. The Anaconda newspaper reported on May 6 that, “Word was received late Monday night, first by telegraph and later by telephone, that "Uncle John” Yancey, pioneer in the Yellowstone park, having lived there more than 30 years . . . was dying. Both messages were directed to Assistant County Attorney Daniel Yancey, nephew of the pioneer. The telegram stated that '‘Uncle John" was sick, confined to bed, but the word over the 'phone was urgent and to the effect that the old settler was sinking fast.” Yancey passed away the next day, on May 7th at age 77. Above Right: John F. Yancey Photo taken at the C.E. Finn photographic studio in Livingston, Mt. [YNP #939] Left: Photo of Yancey's headstone in Gardiner's Tinker Hill Cemetery. [Photo by the author] Right: Headline from the Butte Miner, May 8, 1903. The Gardiner Wonderland reported on the 14th, that the funeral procession was the largest ever seen and most of the businesses had closed their doors for the funeral and procession. At the funeral service held at Tinker’s Hill cemetery, where the Rev. E. Smith of Livingston, offered a prayer and eulogy. The minister expressed the generally held opinion that, “The esteem in which “Uncle John” Yancey was held in this community [Gardiner] where he was best known, was shown in the very great concern of people who paid a last tribute to his memory. From everywhere around came those who had known him in life, until the procession was much the largest ever seen here. Nearly all business houses closed and as the procession filed by the government and railroad works, all business was suspended.” Described as among the class of men renowned as “pioneers, first settlers, old timers, etc. . . [they lived a] hardy, rugged, rough and ready life . . . [where] the hardships born; the stalwart purposes developed can not be too extravagantly spoken of. All of this has brought peace, comforts, and prosperity to this present generation and insures the same to succeeding generations.” The End is Near for Yancey's Hotel On April 16, 1906 fire destroyed the hotel building. The Butte Daily Post reported soon after that; “A fire originating in a defective flue is reported to have completely destroyed the old Yancey hotel property in the Yellowstone park Monday night. Uncle John Yancey built and opened the hotel over twenty years ago, and it was a very popular resort for park tourists. The loss is about $5,000. Dan Yancey, who succeeded to the ownership and management of the hotel upon the death of Uncle John, says a new hotel will be built on the site of the old [one] this summer, and tents will be used in the interim for the accommodation of travelers.” The following year Dan applied for permission to continue the business at a location closer to where a new road was being constructed. Permission was denied and the original lease was revoked in November of that year. However, a lease was issued to the Wylie Permanent Camps Co. to establish a camp nearby. The camp was located at the junction of the Mammoth-Cooke City-Mt Washburn/Canyon roads. the camp became the Roosevelt Lodge in the 1920s. The saloon and remaining buildings were razed in the 1960's. Camp Roosevelt & Roosevelt Lodge 1917 - Present Wylie Camping Company Roosevelt Tent Camp was established by the Wylie Permanent Camping Co. in 1906. A bathhouse was built at nearby Nymph Spring, which had been used since at least the 1870s as a bathing/soaking spring by early pioneers and explorers. The guest accommodations were wood-floored tents covered with red and white candy-striped canvas and furnished with simple, rustic furniture. The camp could handle up to 125 guests. A communal dining tent served family-style meals. The area appealed to those who desired a more isolated area and catered to fisherman, wildlife enthusiasts, and horseback riders. Above: Roosevelt Lodge in 1923, surrounded by a combination of tent cabins and wooden cabins. [Yellowstone Park Camps Co brochure, 1923, courtesy Univ of Wyoming Library] Right: Wylie Camping Co., Camp Roosevelt, ca1907. [Underwood & Underwood stereoview] Camp Roosevelt Camp Roosevelt was originally named by the Wylie Camping Co. to honor President Theodore Roosevelt, who was rumored to have camped on the site during his camping trip in 1903. The actual camp site was located at the old Tower Soldier Station, about one and a half miles south of the camp and the Roosevelt Lodge. The rustic log lodge show above was built on the site of the former Wylie Camp in 1919-20 by the Yellowstone Parks Camps Co. and was originally known as Camp Roosevelt. Construction began in the fall of 1919 and was completed the following year. The 1-story building rested on a rubble-stone foundation and utilized unpeeled logs for the walls. It measured 90’ by 50’ with an “L” extension of 29’ by 59’. A covered porch extended across the front of the building and wrapped around the southeast side. In 1924, Vernon Goodwin bought the camp from Howard Hays and Roe Emory in 1924, retaining the same company name. Around 1927 Goodwin renamed the company the Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Co. The "Camps" at Mammoth Hot Springs, Lake, Canyon, OF and Roosevelt became 'Lodges.' Left: Camp Roosevelt, ca1920, Real-Photo postcard. Right: Camp Roosevelt, 1922. [Haynes PC #22738] The lodge featured two stone fireplaces, a dining room lounge, kitchen and rustic furnishings. Roosevelt Lodge was not a part of the standard tour package and tourists had to pay extra to include that area in their trip. Therefore visitation here was never as great as in other locations, but was a favored location for fishermen and horseback riding. Left: Camp Roosevelt, interior and stone fireplace, 1922. [Haynes PC #22740] During the years 1920-29, 37 cabins and 26 tent cabins were constructed, along with other utility buildings. By 1929, three groups of tourist cabins had been established at Camp Roosevelt. These included: six log cabins and one "rustic-frame” cabin located south southeast of the Lodge; 18 board-and-batten, rustic-frame, tent cabins located southeast of the lodge, and 18 rustic-frame cabins located northeast of the Lodge. In the 1920s, bathroom and shower facilities were added to the Camp Roosevelt complex. Two bathrooms were constructed adjacent to the southeast and northeast cabin groups. These were simple buildings, of frame construction with wood-shingled gable roofs. They also served as a public wash room for transient guests — people who come in only for lunch and did not have a cabin. Left: Log & board rustic cabins at Camp Roosevelt. Facing the lodge, these would have been somewhere to the right side. [Undated Real-Photo postcard] Right: Tent and wooden cabins located to the left of the lodge, 1925. Note the larger bench surrounding the "Roosevelt Tree." [ YNP #36505] Upper Left: The "Roosevelt Lodge" name appears on this Haynes postcard in 1927. [Haynes PC #27468] Lower Left: Roosevelt Lodge ca1930, with the local bear entertaining two young ladies. Note the log bench has again been changed. [ YNP #185328-270] Right: Article from the Anaconda Standard , June 1, 1919, describing the naming of "Camp Roosevelt." This was an official government name now, as opposed to the corporate name from the Wylie days. Click to enlarge. The lodge was closed in 1933-34 due to the Great Depression and the housekeeping cabins at the Tower campground were closed in 1934. A few years later about 70 cabins were moved in to Roosevelt from Mammoth Lodge. By 1939 running water was provided to all of the cabins. World War II again closed the lodge from 1943-46. The southeast section of the lodge building was removed around 1947. All of the tent cabins were removed by 1950 and in 1962 thirteen cabins from Old Faithful Lodge were hauled in. The lodge and about 97 cabins units are still available for guest use and are operated by Xanterra Parks & Lodges. Yellowstone Forest and Trail Camp for Boys and Young Men This camp was established in 1921 at Roosevelt to provide outdoors’ skills to young boys. It opened July 1 for a seven-week term. Alvin G. Whitney of Syracuse University of New York was the Director. The staff was composed of naturalists, foresters, and artists who instructed the students in photographing wild game, studying the fauna and flora, fishing, and mountain climbing. Informative auto tours were conducted to study the many park features and wildlife. The camp was designed for boys 12 to 18 years of age and emphasized character building. Meals were served in the Camp Roosevelt Lodge. There were tent cabins, simple wooden cabins, council house, shower baths, and a swimming pool. The boys were expected to provide for themselves, pocket kodak, flashlight, small sheath-knife, binoculars, knapsack, canteen, hand lens, compass, pocket notebook, fishing tackle, hatchet, and waterproof matches, in addition to a proscribed collection of varied clothing and boots.. A brochure from 1921 made the pitch that, “Every boy should have the opportunity to experience the simple and elemental in wild nature at the most imaginative and plastic age, while life-long interests are being developed. During that golden period of altruism a deepening interest in nature may well serve to mould his character and direct his pleasures permanently in the noblest channels.” Although the project seemed to be a noble venture, it unfortunately was short-lived and after the 1923 season, it closed due to financial losses. Upper Left: Boy's Camp main lodge building. [YNP #31831] Lower Left: Advertisement for the Forest and Trail Camp. Click to enlarge [ Newspaper ad from 1921, author's collection] Upper Right: Boy's Camp lodge building with tent cabins. [YNP #193429-75] Stage Rides & Cookouts The now famous stagecoach rides and steak cookout at Yancey’s Hole n Pleasant Valley began in the summer of 1959. An article from the Spokesman Review of Spokane Wash. proclaimed, “For the first time in many years, old-fashioned stagecoaches and tallyhos (horse-drawn sightseeing carriages) will operate in Yellowstone park from Roosevelt lodge to Pleasant valley. Morning and evening rides to Yancey s Hole will be featured where breakfasts arid barbecue dinners will be served.” A Yellowstone Park Co. brochure from the early 1960s invited guests to, “Clamber aboard a stagecoach for an exciting jaunt into the past . . . The sturdy Concord coaches, luxurious vehicles at their time, [1886-1916] may in the softness of the present seem like Roosevelt rough riders.” At that time, a mere $1.75 allowed one to step back into Yellowstone’s past. By 1966, five bucks would gain one a coach ride with steak, French fries, a vegetable and coffee at the historic Yancey’s Hole. The Boston Globe that year waxed, “Barbecue smoke and the aroma of coffee hang heavy on pine-scented air while the sun falls behind the nearby Rockies. Later the stage rattles home, fording a stream, trailing a cloud of dust that glows red in the dying light of day.” The Concord Tally-Ho ruled the road there for many a year, but in later times rubber-wheeled wagons did most of the hauling of guests. They were safer and easier for less-experienced wranglers to drive. The days when a jehu who knew how to wield the ribbons of four or six horse teams and expertly crack the whip had rapidly faded. Although in recent years a replica Talley Ho was built in the Xanterra garage/shop for use at Roosevelt. One visitor in 1966, who seemed to have enjoyed his journey into the past, related his impressions: At Roosevelt Lodge we climbed aboard a yellow stagecoach for a steak fry in the peaceful surroundings of Pleasant Valley. The 30-minute ride with steak, French fries, vegetable, coffee and dessert comes to $5. Children go for half price. Barbecue smoke and the aroma of coffee hang heavy on pine-scented air while the sun falls behind the nearby Rockies. Later the stage rattles home, fording a stream, trailing a cloud of dust that glows red in the dying light of day. [24Jul1966 Boston Globe ]

Gateways to Wonderland Early History of Cody Wyoming Copyright 2021 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 th e author. The Early Days . . . Cody, Wyo is located on the Shoshone River in the Bighorn Basin in NW Wyoming, in a basin surrounded by mountain ranges on three sides: the Absarokas to the west; the Owl Creek Mtns to the south; and the Bighorn Mtns to the east. The east entrance to Yellowstone National Park lies 53 miles to the west, up the North Fork of the Shoshone River. John Colter passed through the area in 1807-08 and discovered the odorous springs along the Shoshone that became known as Colter’s Hell. The smell of the springs also gave the Shoshone River its original moniker of Stinking Water River. However, the name was changed in 1901, for obvious public relations purposes. Jim Carter and John Chapman both drove cattle herds from Oregon to the South Fork of the Stinkingwater River and established ranches. The following year Henry Belknap drove a herd south from Billings into that area. 1916 Postcard of Buffalo Bill and Cody entrance to Yellowstone, Denver Public Library In the spring of 1886, Charles DeMaris trailed a herd of cattle from Lemhi, Id. to the hot springs on the Stinkingwater River and took up a homestead near the springs. Suffering from ailments, he hoped the springs would heal him, which they seemed to do. The springs were named after him and the general area became known as DeMaris Springs. Charles and his wife Nellie built a hotel on their site that opened in 1903. On June 26, 1914, Charles DeMaris passed away. His wife Nellie and her family continued to operate the resort until her death in 1935. 8038 De Marris Hot Springs, Cody, Wyo. H.H. Tammen postcard, early 1900s. [Author Collection] Charles Demaris Pioneer is Dead Grazed the First Large Herd Where Billings is Located The Billings Gazette , Mont., 01Jul1914 Charles DeMaris, one of the oldest pioneers in northern Wyoming, died at his home at the DeMaris Springs, near Cody, at the age of 87, after several weeks’ sickness, last Friday night, according to information which reached Billings yesterday. The deceased was a real western pioneer. Bom in Ottawa. Canada, in 1827, he moved to Chicago with his parents when 9 years old. He came to Montana in the later 60s, traveling by steamer to Ft. Benton, from where he went to Leesburg Basin, Idaho, and engaged in gold mining. In 1871 he engaged in the cattle business in Idaho and in 1879 he came to the Yellowstone valley and went into the stock business, driving his herds overland from Idaho. Mr. DeMaris is generally credited with being the first man to turn out a large heard of cattle here, grazing them on the spit where Billings now stands. In 1886 Mr. DeMaris discovered the famous Hot Springs, near Cody, Wyo., which now hears his name and from which water is shipped all over the country. The deceased is survived by a wife and 13 year old son [Bill]. Left: DeMaris Hot Springs, undated. [Wyoming State Archives #14249] Right: De Maris Springs, Cody Wyo. [Buffalo Bill Historic Center , P61643005] Wm. Cody had explored the Big Horn Basin in the 1870s and ’80s as guide and hunter for various military, civilian and governmental expeditions. He saw great potential for the agricultural development of the area. Cody and some cohorts examined the area for the possibility of dams and canals to provide water for the basin. They also surveyed for a road to pass over the Absaroka Mtns and into Yellowstone to establish a basis for tourism. He no doubt had conversations with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR (CB&Q) officials to get their opinions for bringing a rail line into the basin. The original town of Cody was located on DeMaris’s land on the flat above the river, and was first called Shoshone, which the Post Office rejected. Richland was also proposed, but rejected by Cody’s cohorts, and naturally the name Cody came to be. In 1895, Buffalo Bill Cody, George T. Beck, Cody’s Wild West show partner Nate Salsbury, Harry Gerrans, Bronson Rumsey, Horace Alger, and George Bleistein founded the Shoshone Land and Irrigation Company. Construction began on the Cody Canal in the fall of 1895, which would carry water from the south fork of the Shoshone River to the town. In spring 1896, the area was surveyed and the present townsite laid out about 2 miles from DeMaris Springs. Early Cody founders: Wm. F. Cody, seated. George T. Beck, left, and Henry J. Fulton, right. [F.J. Hiscock photo, ca1910] According to the Casper Star-Tribune on 19Mar1978, “While on a visit to Sheridan [Wyo], in 1894, he [Cody] purchased the Sheridan Inn, and it was here that he heard about the Cody area and the Big Horn Basin. He had seen the area years before as a guide and when George Beck of Sheridan talked to him about his dream of introducing irrigation to the Big Horn country and starting a new town, Cody became enthusiastic about the project and became a third partner with Beck and Horace Alger in the Shoshone Land and Irrigation Co. He was able to interest four wealthy men from Buffalo, New York, Monte Gerrans, Nate Salsbury, Bronson Rumsey and George Bleistein, in the project and they each put up $5000 towards the building of the canal. By 1897 the canal was completed and the little town that sprang up as a result was named after Cody. Through his friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt he was able to get the tallest dam in the world constructed on the Shoshone River just west of Cody.” William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody Wm. Cody had explored the Big Horn Basin in the 1870s and ’80s as guide and hunter for various military, civilian and governmental expeditions. He saw great potential for the agricultural development of the area. Cody and some cohorts examined the area for the possibility of dams and canals to provide water for the basin. They also surveyed for a road to pass over the Absaroka Mtns and into Yellowstone to establish a basis for tourism. He no doubt had conversations with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR (CB&Q) officials to get their opinions for bringing a rail line into the basin. The CB&Q had showed some interest in building a spur to Cody from Toluca, Mont., northeast of Cody in order to exploit the future agricultural and cattle market. The Shoshone Land Company deeded many town lots to the railroad company to ensure that the CB&Q built the line all the way to Cody, thus giving them a vested interest in the success of the town, Left: Advertisement for the Shoshone Irrigation Company touting new homes in the Cody basin. , ca1897. Right: Plat map for the new town of Cody. East-West avenues are named after the founders, North-South streets are numbered. [Buffalo Bill Historic Center , MS-07] Founding a new town in the Shoshone Basin Buffalo Bill helped to found the town of Cody in 1896. In 1897 and 1899 Cody and his associates acquired from the State of Wyoming the right to take water from the Shoshone River to irrigate about 169,000 acres of land in the Big Horn Basin. They began developing a canal system to carry water diverted from the river. A few years later the Feds stepped in to provide aid and funds for the huge project. The town of Cody was incorporated in 1901 and the following year W.F. Cody built the Irma Hotel and also established the town’s 1st newspaper, the Cody Enterprise in August 1899. The Buffalo Bill barn and livery was also operated by “Bill,” probably opening in the late 1890s, and reportedly torn down ca1919. In 1905 he officially opened up Pahaska Tepee Lodge at the east entrance and the Wapiti Inn about midway from Cody, serving both tourists and hunters in the nearby forest areas. He applied to the park to take over the business of the ailing Holm Transportation Co. in 1915. However, their business improved and his request was denied. He died in 1917 on the way to Denver and was buried there, much to the chagrin of the residents of Cody. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show “Buffalo Bill” Cody opened Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show on May 19, 1883 at Omaha, Nebraska. With Dr. W.F Carver, exhibition shooter, they took the show, subtitled “Rocky Mountain and Prairie Exhibition,” across the country. Over the years, the troupe, which included as many as 1,200 performers, included many authentic personalities such as James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok, Texas Jack Omohundro, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull and Geronimo, as well as working cowboys recruited from the West. When Cody’s show began to suffer financially he sold a one-third interest in his production to Gordon “Pawnee Bill” Lillie in 1908. Soon, Gordon bought the remaining interest in the show but retained Buffalo Bill as a partner. The two traveled together as the “Two Bill’s Show” until 1913 when the venture went bankrupt. Top: Buffalo Bill's Wild West letterhead, dated 1896. [Buffalo Bill Hist Center , #P69118] Bottom Right : Wild West Show in London, England, 1905. [Library of Congress] Bottom Left: Original Buffalo Bill Wild West poster, undated. [Buffalo Bill Historic Center , MS-07] Bottom Center : Ad for the Two Bill's Show, toward the end of Cody's career. [Ottawa Daily Republic , Kansas, 11aug1911] Shoshone Dam Planning and construction began on the Shoshone Dam in 1905 and was completed Jan. 17 1910. It created Shoshone Lake upon its completion, which took several years to fill. The dam was 328’ tall, and was claimed to be the tallest structure of its kind in the world. It was 85’ wide at the bottom and 200’ at the top, and 100’ thick. It was expected to irrigate some 100,000 acres of land. Hundreds of excited Cody citizens gathered on the 17th near the top of the dam to celebrate, and just before noon the final bucket of concrete was poured onto the dam, completing this massive project. The dam created an enormous reservoir, with a surface area of ten square miles and an average depth of seventy feet. Its capacity in gallons was estimated at 148,588,512,000. The purpose of the structure was to control the great floods of the Shoshone river and provide an ample water supply for the irrigation of more than 100,000 acres of exceptionally fertile land in the valley below. "Big Dam Done Saturday" [Powell Tribune Wy, 18Jan1910] Left: "29199 Shoshone Canyon, Dam and Road from South Rim of Shoshone River. Wyo. [Keystone View Company stereoview] Right: Collage of dam scenes from Pictorial Souvenir of Cody, Wyoming, 1911. A.G. Lucier Photographer. In order to reach the dam site itself, it was necessary to carve a road through the inaccessible gorge of the Shoshone River. For several miles the road was blasted out of the sheer face of Rattlesnake Mtn. and carved through several tunnels. The Shoshone Dam name was changed to Buffalo Bill Dam & Reservoir in 1946. President Truman signed the bill in March, honoring the 100th anniversary of Buffalo Bill Cody's birthdate. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR The CB&Q extended a rail line to Cody, Wyoming in November of 1901, providing access to the eastern side of the park and the beautiful Wapiti Valley. The Burlington Route to Cody was a branch line off the main route from Lincoln, Nebraska to Billings, Montana. It left the main line southeast of Billings at Toluca and headed southwest for 129 miles to the terminus at Cody. Construction on the line began in the spring of 1900 and was completed Nov. 11, 1901. As the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR reached town in 1901, construction began on an automobile road up the North Fork of the Shoshone River. It would meet up with the road that was under construction over Sylvan Pass into Yellowstone by the Army in charge of the park. Two years later the road over Sylvan Pass became passable for wagons but was not officially completed until 1905. This allowed Cody to become the eastern gateway to Yellowstone. By 1903, both Aron “Tex” Holm and the Frost & Richard companies were leading camping trips from Cody over the pass and into Yellowstone. As time went on other local outfits escorted guest into the park by horseback or wagon. Frost & Richard Camping Company ascending Sylvan Pass from Pahaska, with camp wagons, carriages, and horses. Undated. YNP #1935 By 1917, tourist facilities in Cody were proving inadequate to meet growing tourist demands. To help alleviate the problem and satisfy their customers, the CB&Q built the Burlington Cody Café for their rail passengers. It was located just west of the depot and was scheduled to open on June 20, 1917. The railroad was hoping the town would pick up the slack in hotel accommodations, but apparently the local businessmen did little to add rooms. So, in 1922, the CB&Q built a new 2-story hotel to add on to the existing café. It featured 45 basic sleeping rooms upstairs, with a 100-person capacity café and lounge downstairs. It opened on June 19, 1922 and was renamed the Cody Inn. Burlington Cody Inn Dining 1955 [Buffalo Bill Historic Center] Bottom Left: Real-Photo postcard of the Burlington Inn, ca1922. Note the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. (YPTCo) buses at right. Bottom Right: Real-Photo postcard of the Burlington Inn after remodeling, ca1928. YPTCo buses at the entry, along with private autos on road. Tourist demands continued to expand and the CB&Q built a new addition to the Cody Inn in the spring of 1928. It included a basement and 2-stories that would about double the existing restaurant space and bedroom count. Again, it was scheduled to open June 20, 1928. The Inn was closed from 1943 to spring 1946, no doubt due to WWII, and reopened June 19, 1946. During closure it was remodeled and redecorated. In 1948 the Cody Inn was leased to a Billings man and he changed the name to El Rancho. The railroad ended passenger service to Cody in 1956 and a year later the all the furnishings and mechanical & electrical fixtures were sold at auction the end of June. The north wing was saved and moved to the nearby Husky Oil Co. site to be used as office space. The rest of the historic Inn was razed. In 1970 the CB&Q became a part of the Burlington Northern RR. BN merged with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe RR in 1995, creating the BNSF railroad. Buffalo Bill's Hotels Irma Hotel Built by Wm. F. Cody on the main street in Cody, Wyoming and opened on November 1, 1902. He named the hotel after his youngest daughter. It was one of three lodgings that Cody built to help promote business through the east entrance of Yellowstone Park. The others were Pahaska Tepee at the east entrance, and Wapiti Inn, at about the halfway point from town. 8-10 guest rooms occupied the main floor of the Irma, along with a lobby, dining room, billiard and bar room, kitchen, and office. The Irma's famous cherrywood bar, a gift from Queen Victoria, dates to the period of construction. Cody hired brother-in-law Louis Decker to manage the hotel. Cody’s wife Louisa died in 1921, but the hotel stayed in the family until Henry and Pearl Newell bought the hotel in 1925. The northwest addition was constructed in 1929, and The new owners gradually expanded the hotel, building an annex around 1929-‘30 on the west side to accommodate automobile travelers. After her husband's death in 1940, Pearl Newell operated the hotel until her own death in 1965. She left the hotel's extensive collection of Buffalo Bill memorabilia to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and stipulated that proceeds from the estate be used as an endowment for the museum. The southwest addition was added in 1976-1977. ,Buffalo Bill's Hotels in the Rockies." Brochure cover, authored by Louis E. Cooke, 1905 Top: Irma Hotel, ca1908. [Buffalo Bill Historic Center .] Bottom: "Col. Cody, "Buffalo Bill" in the Office of Irma Hotel." [F.J. Hiscock postcard, Copy. 1910] Top: Irma Hotel photo collage. [Pictorial Souvenir of Cody, Wyoming, 1911. A.G. Lucier Photographer] Bottom: Postcard of Irma Bar, ca1907. Col. Cody 4th from left. Wapiti Inn Wm. F. Cody built this lodge near in 1903-04 at about the halfway point (31 miles) from Cody, Wyoming to the east entrance of the park. It was one of three hotels he built to help promote the town of Cody and the new road over Sylvan Pass at the east entrance of Yellowstone. The other two facilities were the Irma Hotel in Cody and Pahaska Tepee at the east entrance. The Wapiti Inn was a 14-room frame structure built on Forest Reserve land at the mouth of Wapiti (Elk) Creek and could accommodate about twenty people. It also catered to fisherman and hunters. It was sometimes called the Wapiti Wickiup. According to the Park County Enterprise, May 17, 1913, Wapiti Inn was slated to be torn down and removed to Pahaska to expand facilities there. That year the Holm Transportation Co. began transporting tourists from Cody to Pahaska by automobile, and with decreased travel times and improved roads, Wapiti may no longer have been a necessary mid-way stop. A 1908 “Cody Road to Yellowstone” brochure described the Wapiti Inn: “At Wapiti there is the Wickiup (or Inn), a unique structure of rough boards, accommodating forty guests, and other smaller buildings (for one or two persons) with board floors and sides' and canvas coverings. The dining tent is 50 x 20 feet. The Wickiup is on Elk Fork at the junction of the Wapiti, the Elk Fork, the Sweet Water and the North Shoshone rivers. Unexcelled trout fishing is found within a hundred paces of the Wickiup. Elk Fork takes its name from the fact that for years the elk have made this vicinity their home. They may be found there the year through. Rates for meals and for lodging will be $1 per meal or lodging for the first day, and for succeeding days, or parts thereof, a rate of $3 per day.” In 1918 another Wapiti Inn appeared on the scene, but little is known of this operation. It was established by Ed. Reighley and Art V. Cunningham, perhaps on the same or nearby the original “Wapiti Inn site. Cunningham later in the year took over Reighley’s share. Newspaper ads indicate it continued to operate off and on at least into the mid-late 1920s. In later years it may have become the Wapiti Valley Inn. Top : Wapiti Inn ca1909. It was also a respite for local hunters, trappers & traders. Bottom Left: Wapiti Inn, ca1907. From Campbells' Yellowstone Guide, 1908. Bottom Right: News article describing demo of Wapiti Inn and buildings being hauled to Pahaska Tepee. [7May1913, Park County Enterprise , Wyo.] Pahaska Tepee A.A. Anderson designed Pahaska Tepee, built by William F. Cody built at the east entrance of Yellowstone in 1903-05. The lodge first opened in 1904, although construction continued into the following year. The main building was built of logs in a T-shape with two stories, bedrooms for about forty people, a good-size dining room, and a large living room with a grand fireplace. A large porch wrapped around the building on three sides. The upstairs housed Cody’s private suite and six other bedrooms. One and two-room cabins were also available and were equipped with cook stove, cooking and eating utensils, and furniture. A general store was also open for guests. In 1910 Col. Cody received shipment of a White Steamer automobile in late June. The 60hp auto was put into service to provide faster and more comfortable transportation from Cody to Pahaska. The first trip was made on July 5, 1910. Col. Cody had intended to put the vehicle into service for the 1909 season, but the vehicle failed to arrive that year. He added two more White Steamers the following season. Left: Pahaska Tepee, ca1920s. Real-Photo postcard. Right: Col. Cody driving a Pahaska Tepee bus, ca1910. [" Pictorial Souvenir of Cody, Wyoming", 1911. A.G. Lucier Photographer ] Louis E. Decker, Cody’s brother-in-law, managed the lodge in 1910 and the following year a log laundry building, a round canvas-topped dance pavilion, rifle range, tennis and croquet courts were added. Two years later a bunkhouse was constructed using logs from the Wapiti Inn. After 1916 the lodge was also used as a lunch stop for passengers on the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co . (YPTCo) touring buses. In 1924 Sylvan Pass Lodge opened and became the YPTCo lunch stop. Pahaska Tepee lodge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and the land is still leased from the federal government. The Coe family currently owns the lodge. The word Pahaska probably comes from the Lakota word for ‘long hair of the head’, which is what the Lakota called Buffalo Bill. Right : Ad for"Pahaska Tepee, Buffalo Bill's Old Hunting Lodge." [Casper Star Tribune , 18Jul1926] Bottom Left: "1697 Interior of Pahaska Tepee, Col. W.F. Cody's Hotel in the Rockies.' [Tammen Postcard, author collection] Bottom Right: "8069 Pahaska, Buffalo Bill's Hotel, on the Road to Yellowstone Park, Wyo." [Tammen postcard, ca1910] Early Cody Hotels By the early 1900's, Cody had at least three lodging houses, in addition to Buffalo Bill's Irma Hotel: Cody Hotel The Cody Hotel was built ca1896 on the north side of the 1300 block of Sheridan Avenue and run by Maxx & Shurtleff in 1900. By 1903 the hotel and saloon was owned by J.B. "Ben" Primm. By 1912, ads in the Park County Enterprise touted a Cody Hotel and Cody Bar, run by H.H. Patchell. Reportedly, it was owned by the Lonnie Prante family who operated the hotel until the late 1930s. Top : Ad for the Cody Hotel, Marx & Shurtleff, Proprs. [Cody Enterprise, 6Sep1900] Bottom Left: Cody Hotel, undated. A sign advertising "The Grill" hangs above the men on the porch. [Buffalo Bill History Center ] Bottom Right: Ad for the Cody Hotel Saloon, Fred Primm. [Cody Enterprise , 5Nov1903 Hart Mountain Inn The two-story Hart Mountain Inn (Hotel) was constructed by David H. McFall at the corner of Beck and 13rd St. around 1897-’98. May Jordan bought the hotel in 1912 and ran it until 1928. Kate Buckingham purchased the Inn ca1953 and operated it into the 1990s. In 2004 new owners dubbed it the Hart Mountain Suites and operated it until 2008. Right : Hart Mountain Inn, early 1900s. [ Pictorial Souvenir of Cody, Wyoming, 1911. A.G. Lucier Photographer ] Bottom Left: Hart Mountain Inn, undated photo. Bottom Right: Hart Mountain Hotel, ca1950s [Buffalo Bill Historic Center , PN891182151601] Chamberlin Hotel The Chamberlin Hotel was built in 1903 on 12th St, a half block off of Sheridan Ave by Agnes Chamberlin who moved to Cody in 1900 to work for W.F. Cody’s newspaper. It was primarily used as a boarding house, but as additions were built and the hotel improved and expanded over the next 15 years, particularly in 1917. In the 19teens & 1920s, a Chamberlin Dentist Office was advertised in the hotel. The hotel was known as the Hotel Chamberlin and Chamberlin Hotel over the years, providing rooms with or without bath and a dining room. An 8-room addition was built in 1920, in time for the new tourist season. Agnes sold the hotel in 1939 and passed away in January 1949. She was a pillar of the community and upon her death the town’s businesses closed for her funeral service. Around 1941, the Chamberlin was renamed the Pawnee Hotel by new owners Hattie and George Evans. After other changes in ownership, it became the Chamberlin Inn in 2005 and is still in operation. Top Right : Hotel Chamberlin, ca1920s. [Chamberlin Inn website] Bottom Right: Chamberlin Hotel in 1959. It was known as the Pawnee Inn at that time. [Buffalo Bill Historic Center , P8923394501N Bottom Left: Newspaper ad for the Hotel Chamberlin, Official AAA Hotel, ca1930s. Local Businesses Cody Enterprise From the Semi Weekly Billings Gazette, Aug. 8, 1899: “J. H. Peake, an experienced journalist of Washington, D.C., and an old-time friend of Buffalo Bill, arrived in the city today [Billings] en route to Cody, Wyo.. to establish a newspaper, says the Red Lodge Picket. The plant will reach Red Lodge in a day or two, and Mr. Peake expects to get out the first issue about Aug. 20. It will be called The Cody Enterprise and is to be a seven-column, four page paper, with all home print. Independent, with democratic tendencies, will be the new paper's politics.” The Cody Enterprise, undated. [Courtesy Park Co. Archives, Wyo] Peake established the newspaper in conjunction with W.F. Cody, who funded the project. Over the years the name has vacillated with the Park County Enterprise name, sometimes using both. A number of different owners and publishers have run the paper. Novelist Caroline Lockhart purchased the Park County Enterprise in 1920, changing back to Cody Enterprise the following year. She apparently tired of the business and sold the paper in October 1925 to concentrate on writing and other projects. The newspaper has continued to prosper and had been owned by the Sage Publishing Co. of Cody since 1971. Buffalo Bill Museum The Buffalo Bill Museum was built in 1927 on the current site of the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce and the Cody Country Art League. It was dedicated and opened to the public on July 4 with Cody's niece, Mary Jester Allen, as the first curator. In 1935 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney donated 40-acre site that later became the Buffalo Bill Historic Center.The Whitney Gallery of Western Art was dedicated in a newly constructed modern facility on the donated site in 1959. Ten years later the name was changed to Buffalo Bill Historical Center and the Plains Indian Collection added and the original Buffalo Bill Museum collection was moved to the new facility. In 1979 the Plains Indian Museum was dedicated and the following year the Winchester Collection was installed and the McCracken Research Library dedicated. The Cody Firearms Museum was added and dedicated in 1981. The Draper Museum of Natural History was constructed and opened to the public in 2002. Name changes ruled the day in 2013 as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center was renamed to Buffalo Bill Center of the West, to more accurately describe the width and depth of the museum’s mission, collections, and programs. In addition, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art became the Whitney Western Art Museum, and the Draper Museum of Natural History transformed into the Draper Natural History Museum. "Buffalo Bill Museum at Cody, Wyoming. Founded by Members of the Cody Family and the People of Cody, Wyoming." [Burlington Route postcard, nd] "1191 - Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody, Wyoming." [Real-Photo postcard, ca1930s] Ned Frost Nedward W. Frost was born April 11, 1881 in Minnesota and in 1884 came into the Cody country in a covered wagon with his family and settled near what later became Cody, on South Fork of the Shoshone R., moving to Sage Creek in 1888. He reportedly killed his first grizzly bear around the age of seven or eight and began a life of hunting and guiding. By age 14 he was shooting antelope to supply meat houses in Coulson (Billings), Montana. He appears in the 1900 Federal Census for Wyoming. He helped to build the Corkscrew Bridge on Sylvan Pass in the early 1900’s and in 1903 he discovered Frost Cave in Cedar Mountain just west of Cody. His future wife Mary Hughes was born February 1881 in Chicago, Ill. and was the sister of Margaret Hughes, who married Fred Richard in 1909. Ned and Mary were married January 20, 1910 at the home of Fred Richard. The couple’s first son Nedward Mahlon was born around 1911. He was followed by Richard J. about 1918 and Jessie W. circa 1921. Ned passed away Nov. 19, 1957 after several months of ill health. He was considered by many to be the foremost big-game hunter of his time. See my Frost & Richard Camping Co . web page for additional information. Left: Nedward W, Frost [1915 Frost & Richard Camping Co. brochure] Right: Ned Frost Prince Albert of Monaco on a bear hunt in September 1913. [Buffalo Bill History Center , Jack Richard Collection] Announcement of new Frost Curio store in the Irma Hotel, 1920. [Northern Wyoming Herald , 14Apr1920] Frost Curio Ned Frost began operating a Curio Shop in the lobby of the Irma Hotel in March 1920. The Park County Enterprise reported on March 3 that, “The room at the Irma Hotel, formerly used as a sample room, has been leased to Ned Front for the period of one year from March 1 and will be fitted up as a curio shop, to be conducted by Mr. Frost.” In the spring of 1921, Frost enlarged his shop at the Irma by extending a wall out 12’ toward the sidewalk. The shop was only open during the tourist season, closing for the winters. Comparison of the Irma Hotel before and after the expansion of the Frost Curio Shop in 1923. Note addition at arrow on right. A sign for the Irma Cafe hangs above the old cars at right. [From Real-Photo postcards, author's collection] Ned Frost Curion Store at Irma Hotel closing for season. [Cody Enterprise , 26Sep1923] He constructed his Frost Curio Shop on Main Street across from the Irma Hotel in 1927 in time to be ready to open for the summer season, usually around 19-20h of June. The store was operated in conjunction with the curio shop and specimen room established by his wife Mary in 1916 at the Burlington Cody Inn. In 1946 son Richard Frost retired from the Army and took over management of the business. NED FROST COMPLETING CURIO SHOP AT DEPOT Ned Frost has almost completed the construction of a new curio shop which is to be located to the west of the road and south of the tracks at the Burlington station, and soon will have the new structure In readiness for the summer tourist trade. Mr. Frost plans to operate the place in conjunction with hls curio and souvenir room in the lobby of the Cody Inn and will have on sale soft drinks, sporting goods such as there Is demand for from the rail tourists and other necessities for which there Is a demand at the depot. [ Cody Enterprise, 25May1927] Top : 1932 ad for the Frost Curio Shop. [Casper Star Tribune, 13Mar1932] Left: Frost Curio Shop as it appeared in 1952 [Buffalo Bill Historic Center ] Right: Interior of the Frost Curio Shop, 1950s. [Buffalo Bill Historic Center ] Frost Cave This cave high upon Cedar Mountain (now called Spirit Mountain), was discovered by Ned frost and his pack of hunting dogs while chasing mountain lions in January 1909. The dogs spotted a bobcat and chased it to a small opening in the mountain. Ned thought it just a bobcat lair, but soon after entering, realized it was a cave. In one of his reminisces, he reflected that, “I didn’t smoke in those days and I had only a few matches I kept striking them as I followed the barking dogs but when I got down to three matches, I stopped to get my bearings and I couldn't see the daylight through the entrance any longer and I was in black darkness. I guess I never felt so lonely or lost before or since. But I found an old letter in my vest pocket, tore it into strips and twisted them into quills and back-tracked. I noticed the beauty of the cave in the small light made by my light—it looked like something in a huge block of ice—with frost glistening everywhere. On a later trip I found the “frost" was the stalactites and stalagmites formed by the lime from the old extinct geysers." A few weeks later Ned, along with Will Richards, and 10-12 other men went back in to explore the cave. They carried ropes, lanterns, lamps, candles and other necessities, and spent over 5 hours in the cave and figured they explored several miles worth. Later that year President Taft issued a proclamation on September 21, creating the Shoshone Cavern National Monument, the 2nd national monument in Wyo. Locally, it was mostly referred to as Frost Cave. On May 17, 1954, after years of lobbying by Cody officials, the federal government delisted the monument and turned it over to the City of Cody. The cave was renamed Spirit Mountain Caverns. Top: Caving party in 1909. At center is Buffalo Bill, to his right is Ned Frost, with perhaps his wife. [Wyoming State Archives] Right: Grand opening of Spirit Caverns, September 16, 1957. [Buffalo Bill History Center ] On Sept. 16, 1957, after jurisdiction was turned over to local control, the cave was officially opened as Spirit Cave, with a grand opening ceremony. Claud Brown leased the cave and operated tours for about a decade, but never invested enough money to make it successful. The cave was abandoned in the late ‘60s and another lease was issued in the early ‘70s to develop the area, but little happened. In Sept. 1977, the site was turned back over to the Federal government and is currently under jurisdiction of the BLM. The entrance to cave is locked and permits required for entry. Cody Street Scenes through the Years Top: Aerial view of Cody ca1904. Right: Aerial View of Cody ca191. [Postcard H.H. Tammen #8070] Top: Main Street, Looking West, Cody, Wyoming [H.H. Tammen #11095, undivided back] Bottom: Main Business Street - Cody, Wyo., Ca1930s, F.J. Hiscock Real-Photo postcard Top: 1224 - Main Street and Business District, Cody, Wyo. Buffalo Bill's Old Home Town, Rattlesnake Mountain in the Background, circa late 1940s. [Sanborn PC #1224 Top: Main St., Cody, ca1920s. Real Photo postcard. Bottom: Cody, Wyo., Main street, ca1940s, F.J. Hiscock Real-Photo PC. Top : Main Street, Cody, circa early 1950s [Sanborn PC #65916] Dam Brought Boom . . . [and Pleasure Palaces] Selected Early Saloons and Dens of Iniquity Poker Nell & Blue Chip Kate From the Billings Gazette, May 22, 1938 It was during the "growing period" of the west that the old saloon [Cody Exchange] was built. However, Cody's first hey-day came during the construction of the Shoshone dam in 1907 and it was then that Poker Nell entered the scene. Mrs. Katherine Primm, dubbed "Blue Chip Katie" by the boys who tried to "take" her in faro, founded one of the town's first establishments of pleasure in the old building. She and her husband, Ben, for a time had a virtual monopoly on the local custom in liquor, gambling and license until another woman muscled in with a similar establishment directly across the street. The latter is remembered only as Poker Nell. Through the years, her fame has lived in the minds of the region's old timers for her ability to keep up a vociferous, cross-street argument with her competitor. During the wild boom years at the opening of the century there was plenty of business for both houses. However, when things were dull, Poker Nell and Blue Chip Katie would pass unpleasantrles back and forth across the street to while away the hours. Men who worked on the dam still remember the "acid*’ of their comments and tell of richly increased vocabularies after listening to the women exchange amenities. However, Nell and Katie never finished their debate and it became only a memory when the town continued to grow with the subsequent invasion of a dozen more saloons. Cody Enterprise, 20Jun1901 Poker Nell Poker Nell, who name may have been Nell Chadwick, in her days before Cody, had tramped around the state, plying her proficiency at poker, and perhaps other talents. One time in Casper she attended a party at which she met a young dentist by the name of Will Frackelton, who also enjoyed a good round of cards. The next day, Nell approached him and commented, “You sure put it over high, wide and handsome last night and dealt them a hand from all over the deck.” Smiling, she became more serious, “Now let’s get down to what I want done.” In her extended hand were two perfectly matched diamond rings, perhaps a half-carat each. “She asked eagerly: Will set these in my front teeth? . . . I can afford it. I took the boys to the cleaners these past few nights.” After a bit of ethical pondering, the dentist agreed to the job, noting it would probably invoke a good deal of pain. Shrugging it off, Nell responded, “You know what I want, Doc. Go to it.” It was a tedious process, involving replacing the teeth with porcelain-faced crowns with gold foil backing. But the process was successful and Nell went back to her work sporting a dazzling set of choppers, impressing both the women and men folk. [From, “Sagebrush Dentist,” as told by Wm. Frackelton to author Herman Gastrell Seely] Unfortunately, Poker Nell’s time in Cody was limited, as newspapers in September of 1908 sadly not that had been to the asylum for the hopelessly insane. The praised her qualities, “A a woman naturally possessed of a bright intellect, well educated and vivacious, a charming conversationalist, her path on the border land led to an unhappy ending.” Nell was eventually released and some sources have said she changed her ways and ran a Ladies Emporium in Cody. She was a partner to and eventually married Harry Bruce, and they may have worked the Last Chance Saloon. Her demise is as yet unknown. The Cody Exchange and Saloon Ben Primm and his wife Katherine (1857-1932), or Katie, established this saloon and gambling house sometime in the late 1890s. A 1938 Billings newspaper article dubbed it, “one of town’s first establishments of pleasure.” It seems Ben ran the saloon and pool room, while “Blue Chip Katie” ran the gambling and faro tables. Ben Primm died in December 1904 and Katherine in 1932. The state of Wyoming officially outlawed gambling in 1901, although in the smaller and more remote towns the practice continued for years. In 1906 Mayor Schwoob cracked down on gambling in Cody and 12-15 persons were charged with violations. Katie’s business must have greatly suffered, but the saloon continued to operate until at least 1913. At some point after that, the building was rehabilitated and remodeled under the direction of Mrs. Wm. F. Cody to establish an opera house for the culturally needy. “But the town didn't take to culture. Mrs. Cody’s well-meant plans could overcome the wind but they couldn't overcome the preference of customers who chose to find their entertainment in Cody's 14 saloons,” commented a 1938 news article in the Billings Gazette. A gas station later replaced the opera house and the buildings finally torn down in 1938. Left: Saloon Hold-Up article [Great Falls Tribune , Mt., 23Dec1902] Right: Cody Exchange Saloon, Ben Primm Propr., 1903 Cassie Waters Cassie came to Cody with her father Joe Welsh after they settled in Otto. In 1907 Cassie married an engineer on the dam project. When her husband died, Cassie started a “Ladies of the Night” house on Salsbury Street. She obtained liquor licenses to operate as a saloon, but with “extras” on the side. Her “house” was generally known as Cassie’s Place, and at various times she used several different last names, including, Waters, LaFay, McGhan and Stevens. On Nov. 27, 1911, young Art Spicer, a local cowboy came into Cassie's and claimed to have been drugged by two men and his bankroll of $110 stolen. After his discovery, he blamed the women in the saloon and drew his revolver and started firing at Cassie, missing her head by a mere 4 inches. Another women also had a close escape. An officer arrived around 1:30am and arrested Spicer and took him off to jail. The young man broke loose and ran, but the deputy stopped him with a bullet in the calf. He was later fined $5 and $3 in costs for firing a weapon in a house within city limits, and warned against getting into trouble again. After a fight broke out in her saloon in December of 1916, she was charged with operating a house of ill-fame,” and a number of her ‘girls” were accused of frequenting a house of prostitution. Cassie was soon after acquitted of the charges due to testimony by the local marshal and sheriff. n the early 1930’s, Cassie and another madam, Ida, were asked by the city to close their establishments. Cassie decided to move to the West Strip and in 1933 Cassie’s Supper Club was open. It was a very popular night club with dancing, liquor and later on, food was served. A bourbon and water sold for 50 cents a glass. Cassie did the color scheme in orchid after her daughter “Orchid”. Cassie died in April 1954. In 1955, the Nelsons took over Cassie’s. Cassie was remembered by close friends as a lovely lady who always helped people who needed a helping hand. Cassie's continues to remain in operation to this day. Left: "Fight Ends in Arrest of Soiled Doves." [Northern Wyoming Herald , 7Dev1916] Left: Ad for Cassie's Supper Club [Billings Gazette , 19Mar1997] Right: Undated photo of Cassie's with a Yellowstone White Motor Co. Model 706 bus in front. Etta Feeley Etta Feeley, born Alice Edwards in Black Hawk Co., Iowa, January 31, 1871 (per Find-a-Grave) came to the Cody area around 1902. She had previously plied her female trade in Denver and Billings. She opened her house that became known as the "White House on Bleinstein Ave., between 15th & 16th streets. Reportedly, the Cody Enterprise printed a gracious invitation in 1902 to the men of Cody, "You are respectfully invited to attend the opening of my new residence at Cody, Wyoming, November 1, 1902, Miss Etta Feeley." Not long after, the "Green House" opened next door sporting Cassie Waters as the Madam. The street would become known locally as "Crimson Way." Both houses operated until sometime in the 1930s, although Etta had retired previous to those times and moved to Clark, Wyo. She later took on the nom de guerre of Alice Leach, the name Leach taken from former husband Thomas Leach. She passed away Aug. 13, 1960 at age 90 in the Cody Hospital, and was buried in Cody's Riverside Cemetery. Cody Stampede The beginning of the Cody Stampede tradition is said to have started with Clarence Williams of Cody in 1919. The events occurred June 22-25 and were originally designed as a celebration for the opening of the East entrance of Yellowstone Park and a remembrance of Buffalo Bill Cody and the passing of the Wild West. No doubt it also served as a victory celebration of sorts for the end of WWI and a return to normal life. There were rodeo events, music, dances, games, parades and other such activities to amuse the public. No doubt the esteemed John Barleycorn was also in attendance to help liven things up. Bottom: Old car advertising the Cody Stampede, ca1920s. Right: Advertisement for the 2nd year of operation of the Cody Stampede. [Park County Enterprise , 23Jun1920] The following year the phrase “Stampede Days” was used to describe the celebratory events. Miss Carolyn Lockhart, publisher of the Cody Enterprise , was quoted, "that they will put the "Stamp" in Stampede or bust something." A Wild West show was also promised that was hoped to rival those in the Pendleton Oregon and Cheyenne, Wyo. events. It was planned to coincide with the 4th of July holiday - July 5-7, 1920. Featured events included rodeo events for men and women, parades, and the other traditional activities, including bar-hopping. In 1921 the events were held July 4-6, and the slogan adopted by the stampede committee was, "We'll Put ’Er On Wild." "And In their efforts to live up to this promise they turned the town loose and she was a wild time for all." Top Left: Mrs. Altuff Wins Cowgirl Race, Cody Stampede, ca1925. [Doubleday Real-Photo PC ] Top Right: Roman Standing Race Cody Stampede, ca1925. [Doubleday Real-Photo PC] In 1938 Carly Downing, a Wild West show performer, reportedly started the Cody Nite Rodeo, or "Pup" rodeo, as it was called then. The Nite Rodeo quickly became an important part of the Stampede and the Cody community and has continued on a nightly basis during the tourist season. Over 100 years have passed now, and the events continue to thrive and thrill audiences and participants alike. Right: Cody Stampede Rodeo at Cody Fairgrounds, 1935. Parade celebrating the "Days of '49" [Buffalo Bill Historic Center , PN3161617] It’s winter in Wyoming And the gentle breezes blow Seventy miles an hour At thirty-five below. Oh, how I love Wyoming When the snow’s up to your butt You take a breath of winter And your nose gets frozen shut. Yes, the weather here is wonderful So I guess I’ll hang around I could never leave Wyoming I’m frozen to the ground! anonymous

Yellowstone Hotels & Lodges - The Companies 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 th e author. Yellowstone Park Improvement Co. (YPIC) Organized on Jan. 18, 1883 by Carroll T. Hobart, Rufus Hatch, and Henry Douglas. Hobart and Douglas originally signed an agreement with Ass’t Secretary Interior Joslyn on September 1, 1882 that assured them a monopoly on the park hotel business. However, they lacked sufficient financial backing and teamed up with Hatch in 1883. The company received approval for leases of 4400 acres, a complete monopoly on park concessions, and almost unlimited use of park resources for their operations. Hobart was appointed vice-president while Hatch and his friends provided initial financial backing in the amount of $112,000. After the extent of the lease provisions became public, Sen. Vest canceled most of these provisions on March 3, 1883. A new contract was signed that included leases for 10 acres spread out among seven different locations. Tent hotel facilities were opened for the summer at Canyon (near the present Upper Falls parking lot), Norris, and Old Faithful (near the west end of the present Inn parking lot). Construction of the National Hotel in Mammoth began in the fall of 1882 with a partial opening on August 1, 1883. The company however, suffered financial problems and went into receivership in May of 1884. Hobart remained as manager, but the following year they went bankrupt. The NPRR bought out the assets at a receiver’s sale and created the Yellowstone Park Association in 1886 to run existing operations and build new hotels. Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) 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. NPRR officials held at least 60% of the shares. The YPA received a 10-year lease on April 5, 1886 and agreed to build hotels at Canyon, Lake, Norris, and complete the hotel at Mammoth by the beginning of 1887. They opened Norris Hotel in 1887, but it burned down soon after opening and was replaced by smaller, temporary facilities until 1901. The contract also gave the company a boat concession on Yellowstone Lake, but they did not use it until 1891 when E. C. Waters began managing the Yellowstone Lake Boat Co . and provided ferry service from West Thumb to the Lake Tent Hotel. In 1886 YPA obtained the Firehole Hotel and built a tent hotel at Lake Outlet. They bought out the Henderson’s Cottage Hotel at Mammoth in May of 1889. That year construction began on the Lake Hotel , which opened in 1891. Trout Creek Lunch Station opened in 1888 with Larry Matthews as manager. In 1890 construction started on the which opened the following year. The Trout Creek Lunch Station closed after the 1891 season and was replaced by the West Thumb Lunch Station. In 1898 Charles Gibson sold all of his shares to Northern Pacific Ry , making them sole owner of YPA. The NPRy then sold the stock in June to the Northwest Improvement Co., an NPRy subsidiary. Harry Child , Edward Bach , and Silas Huntley purchased the company in 1901 with financing from the Northwest Improvement Co. Huntley died in Sept. of 1901 and his stock reverted to NWIC. Bach sold his shares to NWIC in 1902. The Old Faithful Inn opened in June of 1904 while Child acquired additional shares in 1905 to obtain 50% ownership of YPA. He acquired full ownership in 1907 with loans from NPRy. On December 9, 1909 Child had the name of the company changed to the Yellowstone Park Hotel Co. At that time Child’s son Huntley became vice-president and son-in-law William Nichols became secretary of the company. From The Anaconda Standard , Montana, April 6, 1901 "St. Paul, April 5. The Yellowstone Park Association this afternoon sold out its entire belongings and interests in the National park to the Yellowstone Park Transportation company, which consists of S.S. Huntley and E. W. Bache [sic] of Helena, Mont., and H.W. Childs of St. Paul, the consideration being close to $1,000,000. Among the items being transferred were the Mammoth Hot Springs hotel recently built for $200,000: the Fountain hotel, $100,000; Grand Canyon hotel, $100,000, and Lake hotel, $75,000, besides four lunch stations and other property. J.H. Dean, president of the old company, will be manager of the new and the transportation company is now purchaser of all the property in the great national park." [excluding of course, the general stores and camps operations] Yellowstone Park Hotel Co. (YPHCo) 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. In 1910-11 the company built the grandiose new Canyon Hotel, incorporating the old hotel within the structure. They remodeled the National Hotel at Mammoth in 1911-13, adding a new wing, eliminating the top floor and creating a flat roof. After the end of the 1916 season the Park Service granted the company an exclusive monopoly on the park’s hotel concession with a 20-year operating lease. The Fountain Hotel, Norris Hotel and West Thumb Lunch Station were closed down after that season. Hotels remained in operation at Old Faithful, Lake, Canyon, and Mammoth. YPHCo built no new hotels after this time, but numerous renovations and additions were conducted at all locations. Child re-negotiated a new 20-year lease in 1923. The lease stipulated that the company would be allowed to operate and maintain inns, hotels, laundries, barber/beauty shops, baths, swimming pools, skating rinks, tennis courts, golf links, pool halls, bowling alleys, and souvenir sales. Fortunately some of these activities were never carried out. 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. Yellowstone Park Co. (YPCo) 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. Nichols remained President with Huntley Child Jr. and John Q. Nichols becoming VPs in the 1950’s The new company embarked on an ambitious reconstruction plan at Mammoth. The old hotel was torn down, except for the North Wing, and a new lobby/office complex was built along with a restaurant, recreation hall, café and tourist cabins. Nichols obtained one final loan from Northern Pacific Ry in 1937 that was paid off in 1955. In 1956 son John Q. became company president and Nichols became Chairman of the Board until his death in 1957. Financial problems plagued the company in the 1950-60’s and maintenance and upkeep of the buildings and equipment suffered terribly. Nichols even sold off his interest in the Flying D Ranch in 1944 to help pay off company debts. The Park Service enacted the Mission 66 plan in 1956 to improve visitor facilities at all parks by 1966. The plan required YPCo to built lodging and marina facilities at Grant Village, a new lodge and cabins at Canyon, and a new marina at Bridge Bay. The company refused to participate in Grant Village and the marina at Bridge Bay, although they did build, against their wishes, the new Canyon Village facilities that opened in 1957. They were also forced to close Canyon Hotel, which had been making them money. These ventures drained their finances terribly. They did however; manage to obtain the operating lease for Bridge Bay Marina in 1964 after the government finished construction. Wm. Nichols died in 1957 and for the next nine years the company underwent a series of changes in management and the board of directors. Park Service Director Hartzog notified the company on October 8, 1965 that the government intended to terminate YPCo’s contract due to their inability to upgrade and build new facilities as directed. The Child-Nichols family finally sold the company to Goldfield Enterprises on February 4, 1966 for 6.5 million dollars. Goldfield became a part of General Host, Inc. the following year and they retained the name of Yellowstone Park Co. They received a 30-year lease based on promises to spend 10 million in facility upgrades in 10 years. This new company refused to honor its contract promises to upgrade and improve visitor facilities, and buildings park-wide continued to deteriorate. 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. Left: Yellowstone Park Co. Letterhead, ca1950s Right: Yellowstone Park Co. Sticker Logo, ca1960s Xanterra Parks & Resorts The story of Xanterra Travel began in 1876 when talented visionary Fred Harvey struck a deal with the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad to open restaurants (and later hotels and gift stores) at rail stops for weary travelers making their way west. The Harvey empire was sold in the late 1960s to Hawaii-based Amfac Resorts. In 1988 in Yellowstone, the TWA Services name was changed to TW Recreational Services, Inc. Amfac, Inc. bought out TWR Services in 1995 and later became known as Amfac Parks & Resorts. In 2002, the company name was changed to Xanterra Parks & Resorts, and the company was acquired by The Anschutz Corporation in 2008. In 2013 Xanterra Parks & Resorts won the contract to operate concessions in Yellowstone National Park for another 20 years.

Yellowstone Biographies E-F-G 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 th e author. Eagle, Sam P. Sam Eagle came west from Pennsylvania in 1902 and worked as a seasonal bartender in Yellowstone in 1903. He tended bar at Mammoth Hotel and at the Fountain Hotel from 1905-07. A contract dated September 22, 1907 shows that Sam was employed as winter keeper at the Fountain Hotel that winter. He met his future wife Ida Carlson in 1905 while working at Fountain. They married in 1907 and opened a store with Alex Stuart on forest service land on the future site of West Yellowstone. He correctly anticipated the business that would be created by the arrival of the Union Pacific RR passenger service in 1908. Sam continued to work at Fountain Hotel for the 1908 season while his wife and the Stuarts ran the store. Two years later Stuart left and went into business for himself. Sam became Postmaster in 1909 and served for at least 25 years and also operated the telephone exchange beginning in 1926. A soda fountain was added in 1910 and the post office was housed there from 1910 to 1935. The current 3-story building was erected between 1927-30 and a 2-pump gas service was built southwest of the store around 1926. He became Airport Manager when the new airport opened in 1935. Eagle added onto the store in 1966. The business is still owned and operated by the Eagle family and is a landmark in West Yellowstone. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [97s; Eagle Family Collection] [18t] Eaton, Col. George Oscar. Col. Eaton was a native of Maine and served in the Civil War as a volunteer. He attended West Point, graduated in 1873 as a second lieutenant and attended the school of mines at Columbia College in New York. Eaton served in the cavalry in the western states and was a member of Gen. Sheridan's staff. After he retired from the cavalry, he came to Montana in 1881 and invested heavily in the mines at Cooke City. He was president of the Republic Mining Co. that owned mines such as the Great Republic, Greeley, Huston and the New World. He was also president of the company that operated the hydraulic placer mines in the Bear Gulch (Jardine) area and built the first quartz mill in the area. [56m;1118] Eaton, Howard. Howard Eaton came from Pennsylvania (born ca1851) in 1879 and squatted on some land in the Missouri River Breaks near Medora, Dakota Territory (North Dakota did not become a state until 1889). His brother Alden came to the area in 1881 and brother Willis in 1882. The three all established individual ranches, but joined them together in 1883 and it became known as the Custer Trail Ranch. It was located five miles south of Medora, North Dakota. The Eatons welcomed guests from the East to stay with them and in 1882 a visitor paid them to allow him to stay for a long period and have use of a horse. Thus began the early beginnings of 'dude ranching.' He began conducting horseback camping tours through the park in 1882. By 1886 he was conducting annual 3-week excursions of the park, but did not allow women on the trips until 1902. After the terrible winter of 1886-87 that decimated cattle herds over all the Northern Plains, he went into the ‘guest ranching’ business. He continued the guide business into the 1900’s. In 1904 he moved his ranch to Wolf Creek, near present day Sheridan, Wyoming and expanded his trips into Jackson Hole, the Big Horn Mountains, and Glacier Park. The Custer Trail Ranch was sold to Greene and Donaldson, men from New York. He continued his Yellowstone/Teton trips until his death on April 17, 1922. Eaton was responsible for bringing the buffalo from the Allard herd in Montana into Yellowstone in 1902 (see ‘Buffalo Jones’). He died April 17, 1922 at age 71. The 157-mile Howard Eaton Trail was named after him July 19, 1923. [32;202-03] [Bismarck Daily Tribune; 3/3/1904] [No. Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame website; Ranching - Eaton Custer Trail Ranch; www.northdakotacowboy.com/Hall_of_Fame/] Edgar, Robert Robert Edgar - See ‘Geyser Bob’. Emery, Roe. Roe Emery was picked by the White Motor Co. in 1914 to head up the new Glacier Park Transportation Co. He was responsible for setting up the operation of the new motorized bus fleet in Glacier. He later became a partner with Howard Hays in the 1919 purchase of the Yellowstone Park Camping Co. Walter White of the White Motor Co. was a silent financial partner and Hays was president of the company. They changed the name of the company to Yellowstone Park Camps Co. In 1924 they sold out to Harry Child and Vernon Goodwin, and Hays went on to head the Glacier Park Transportation Co. in 1927. Emery continued as a partner with the Glacier Park Transportation Co. until his death. Emery was also the head of the Rocky Mountain National Park Transportation Co. and the Denver Cab Co. [25L;36] Emmert, John W. John W. Emmert became Acting Park Superintendent for three months early in 1936 following the tragic death of Supt. Roger Toll. Toll was killed in an auto accident in New Mexico in February of that year. Emmert also served as superintendent of Glacier National Park from 1944 to 1958 and at Hot Springs NP from 1943 to 1944. [25L;36] Erwin, Col. James B. Col. Erwin was acting Supt. with the 4th Cavalry from Nov. 16, 1897 to March 15, 1899. [25L;37] Everts, Truman. Truman Everts was a member of the Washburn Expedition of 1870 who got separated from the expedition on September 9 and became lost around the southern end of Yellowstone Lake. He eventually lost his horse, glasses, weapons, and wandered by himself for 37 days in the park until found by Jack Baronett and George Pritchett on Crescent Hill in the northern end of the park. The men took him to the Turkey Pen Cabin to recuperate before he could return to Bozeman. George Huston carried Everts on horseback to the other side of Yankee Jim Canyon where Pritchett, Harry Horr and two soldiers continued the journey in a wagon. A $600 reward had been offered by Everts’ friends for his safe return, but neither Baronett nor Pritchett received a cent for their good deed. Everts was born in 1816 in Burlington, Vermont and made several voyages on the Great Lakes as a cabin boy with his father. In 1864 he was appointed assessor of internal revenue for Montana by President Lincoln. At age 65 Everts married a 14-year old girl and settled near Hyattsville, Maryland. He became the father of a son at age 75. He died in that area Feb. 16, 1901. [A.L. Haines, "Yellowstone National Park: It's Exploration and Establishment."] [25L;37] Ferris, Warren Angus. Warren Ferris was an educated man who was born Dec. 26, 1810 in Glen Falls, NY, and raised around Erie, Pennsylvania. He was trained as a civil engineer and by 1829 was living in St. Louis. He was hired by Pierre Chouteau Jr. as a trapper in 1930 and spent the years 1830-35 trapping and exploring the vast Rocky Mountain region in the employ of the American Fur Co. He visited Yellowstone in 1834 after hearing ‘whoppers’ about the geysers from other trappers and wanting to see them himself. Two Pend D’Oreilles Indians accompanied him on May 19-20 as he explored the Upper Geyser Basin and watched Old Faithful Geyser erupt. Upon his return to civilization in 1835, he wrote a story of the marvels of Yellowstone that was printed in the July 13, 1842 issue of the “Western Literary Messenger’, which was published in Buffalo, New York. The article was entitled “Life in the Rocky Mountains - A Diary of Wanderings on the Sources of the Rivers Missouri, Columbia, and Colorado, From February 1830, to November 1835.” The article was re-published in “The Wasp”, a paper from Nauvoo, IL. Ferris’ visit was the first ‘recorded’ visit to Old Faithful. Ferris moved to Texas near what became Dallas and died at his farm in Reinhardt on Feb. 8, 1873. [25g] [2] [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] Finch, Celinda M. Mrs. J.B. Celinda Finch was issued a lease on March 6, 1885 to construct a hotel to serve Yellowstone visitors. The site consisted of 10 acres at Canyon on the north side of the Yellowstone River, a mile from the Lower Falls, and a half mile from Cascade Creek. A set of drawings of the proposed hotel was to be submitted within 90 days, along with a survey of the site. By August 1887 no materials had been delivered to Interior and it is assumed they canceled the lease at that time for non-compliance. Celinda and her daughter Coda Gillian Finch ran McCartney's Hotel in 1879-80 and the tent hotel at Old Faithful in 1883-84. In 1886 they managed the Albermarle Hotel in Livingston, Montana. Celinda M. Jackson, born ca1846 in Iowa, married J.B. Finch in the mid-1860s. Daughter Coda was born in 1866 and the family moved to Bozeman in 1868. Mother and daughter are listed in the census of 1870, 1880, and 1900, but no Mr. Finch. The 1900 census listed Celinda at Chico Hot Springs. Coda later married Jesse A. Armitage and moved to California in 1920. Her husband was described as a "Southland builder and influential in extending [the] Pacific Coast Highway through Southern California to San Diego." Coda died December 11, 1958 in Long Beach, California at age 92. [YNP Army Files Doc. 122] [25g] [Bozeman Avant-Courier 8/19/1880, 9/30/1880] [1879, 1880, 1900 Census, Gallatin & Park Co] [Calif. Death Index Coda Gillian Armitage] [1930 Long Beach Census] [Long Beach Independent, 12/13/1958] Fitzgerald, Sellack M. Selleck Madison Fitzgerald was born April 24, 1840 in Van Buren County, Iowa to parents Ambrose Fitzgerald (b. 1806 in VA) and Mary A. (Longwell) Fitzgerald (b.1812 OH). He headed west to California in 1862 as the captain of a wagon train with 175 people at the mere age of 22. He married Mary A. Brown in June of that year at Ft. Laramie. They eventually had 13 children. After suffering farm problems in California, they moved to Oregon and engaged in the stock business. He came to Montana in 1873, settling in the Upper Yellowstone Valley. By 1875 he was living in Emigrant Gulch and advertised in the Bozeman newspaper that, "Tourists and pleasure parties can be supplied with anything they desire . . . "He was an agent for Zack Root's Express that year, being one of the stops on the route to the park. He became one of the first assistant superintendents, serving in 1885-86. In 1885 he was living at the cabin at Soda Butte to patrol activities at that end of the park and erected a 44’ addition to the existing cabin that year. The Soda Butte area also served as the overnight stop for travel from Mammoth to Cooke City. By 1888 he was running a boarding house in Horr. In 1889 he provided several train-car loads of beef and hogs to YPIC. His daughter, Eva, married Walter Henderson in 1889 (Walter was son of hotelier and interpreter G.L. Henderson). By 1897 Selleck operated the Park Hotel and livery service in Gardiner, which he leased to William Wylie for the use of his camping guests. In 1907 he served as an extra scout for the army at Ft. Yellowstone. Selleck and Mary's children were: Ambrose, b.1864; Ransom, b.1865; Henry B., b.1866; Eliza J., b.1868; Mary M., b.1869; Eva S., b.1871; Selleck M., b.1872; Ida B, b.1874; Ella E., b.1875; Emma M., b.1876; Jessie M., b.1878; Pearl E., b.1881; Babe, b.1883. Nine of the children were still alive by 1907. Wife Mary died Apr. 14, 1906 (b. 10-18-1840) and was buried in the Gardiner Cemetery. According to "Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950", Selleck remarried on Jan. 17, 1908. The marriage notice mentioned he had been previously married or divorced. The bride was Emely (nee Tomlinson) Cole, born 1854, about 13 years his junior. The 1910 Census listed him in Sweetgrass Mont. area with no wife listed and the 1920 Census shows him in Fishtail, Mont., living alone. On Sept. 27, 1927 he was married to an Elisabeth "Bettie" (Mulherin) Bassett in Columbus, Mt (b. ca1863 in Missouri) and living in Fishtail. Apparently by that age he either had money or charm. Selleck celebrated his 90th birthday in Fishtail, Montana and died March 22, 1932. [31] [LE;10/3/1885;6/15/1889;6/2/1897] [106d] [3m] [Bozeman Avant-Courier 5/14/1875; 8/27/1875] [Babcock's History of the Yellowstone Valley - 1907] [Montana Death Index, 1907-2002, STW721] Folsom, David E . David Folsom was a member of the Folsom-Cook-Peterson Expedition of 1869. He first came to the West in 1862 to mine for gold in Idaho. He moved on to Bannack and Virginia City, Montana during the gold rush in those areas. One day he incurred the wrath of bandit George Ives, who attempted to draw Folsom into a fight. Folsom beaned Ives with a pool ball and made his escape with friends. The vigilantes later hosted Ives with a "necktie party." Folsom eventually joined up with friend Charles Cook at Confederate Gulch near Helena. Cook managed the Boulder Ditch Co., which supplied water to the miners in Diamond City. Following the Yellowstone Expedition Folsom went to work in the office of the surveyor general in Montana. There he met Henry Washburn and was able to provide valuable information for Washburn’s expedition the following year. Folsom also made mention to Washburn that the area should be reserved for public use and collaborated with Cook on the article about their visit to Yellowstone. He later became a partner with Walter DeLacy in the surveying business. Folsom served as Montana state senator in the 1890’s and died May 18, 1918 in Palo Alto, California. Folsom was born May 1839 in Epping, New Hampshire, and like Cook, was educated in the Quaker philosophy, which no doubt helped seal their friendship. [31] [25g] [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] Fossum, John . John Fossum worked with or for Ole Anderson in the production of ‘coated specimens’ at Mammoth by 1885 and continued the practice at least through 1898. Henderson’s Park Guide and Manual for 1885 noted that the Cottage Hotel Museum, run by Jennie Henderson, was selling “Anderson & Fossum’s Famous Coated Goods.” During the winter of 1889-90 he was employed by the Yellowstone Park Associaition (YPA) to repair the telephone lines in the park. Billy Hofer once described him as the "best Ski runner I ever saw and the best ever in the Park." Hofer also noted Fossum was a photographer and claimed he "got some of the best Buffalo Pictures ever taken of that animal in a wild state . . ."Ernest Thompson Seton, in his book "Wild Animals at Home," published in 1913, tells this story of Fossum: "A friend of mine, John Fossum, once a soldier attached to Fort Yellowstone, had a similar adventure on a more heroic scalp. While out on a camera hunt in early winter he descried afar a large bull Elk lying asleep in an open valley. At once Fossum made a plan. He saw that he could crawl up to the bull, snap him where he lay, then later secure a second picture as the creature ran for the timber. The first part of the program was carried out admirably. Fossum got within fifty feet and still the Elk lay sleeping. Then the camera was opened out. But alas! that little pesky "click," that does so much mischief, awoke the bull, who at once sprang to his feet and ran - not for the woods - but for the man. Fossum with the most amazing nerve stood there quietly focusing his camera, till the bull was within ten feet, then pressed the button, threw the camera into the soft snow and ran for his life with the bull at his coat-tails. It would have been a short run but for the fact that they reached a deep snowdrift that would carry the man, and would not carry the Elk. Here Fossum escaped, while the bull snorted around, telling just what he meant to do to the man when he caught him; but he was not to be caught, and at last the bull went off grumbling and squealing. The hunter came back and recovered his camera. It shows plainly the fighting light in the bulb eye, the back laid ears, the twisting of the nose, and the rate at which he is coming is evidenced in the stamping feet and the wind-blown whiskers; and yet in spite of the peril of the moment, and the fact that this was a hand camera, there is no sign of shake on landscape or on Elk, and the picture is actually over-exposed. [YNP Box H2 History File] [LE; 6/6/1898] [YNP Army Files Doc.#618] French, Augustus T. A.T. French (Augustus T. French) received the Mammoth-Cooke City mail contract in 1889 and took over J.A. Clark’s previous operation. In 1891, W.S. Boom of the Idaho Stage Line received a 3-year contract for that route, but sub-contracted the operation to French. A fire in 1893 near Yancey’s destroyed a barn, stage, two horses, grain and hay that French was using in his operation. He apparently still had the contract in 1897 as he built the old log cabin (still standing) at the lower end of the Mammoth Esplanade. By 1900 French was operating the Cinnabar to Jardine stage route. The 1900 Census for Gardiner, Montana shows he was born around 1857 (age 43) in France and married to Margaret M. French, aged 31. They had 3 children: Herbert S., 12; Florence P., 9; Ambrose T., 5. In 1910 they were still living in Yellowstone, but by 1920 Augustus and Margaret had moved to Harlowtown, Montana. [32] [LE;12/21/1889;5/24/1890;6/27/1891;5/27/1893] [115] [1910-1920 Federal Census] Frost, Ned W. Ned Frost was born around 1881 and came into the Cody country as an infant with his family and settled on Sage Creek. He killed his first grizzly bear around the age of seven or eight and began a life of hunting and guiding. By age 14 he was shooting antelope to supply meat houses in Coulson (Billings), Montana. He helped to build the Corkscrew Bridge on Sylvan Pass in the early 1900’s. In 1903 he discovered Frost Cave in the hills outside of town. He became a partner with Fred Richard in the early 1900’s with each of them homesteading land around Green Creek west of Cody. Ned hunted and trapped, while Fred skinned, stretched and prepared the pelts. Coyote pelts were going for $60 at the time and business was good. They saved up enough to build a large ranch house as a base camp for their enterprises. They formed the Frost & Richard Co. around 1910 and began conducting camping trips into Yellowstone. The two men also guided hunts into the neighboring forest areas that lasted for a month or more. When Prince Albert of Monaco came to Wyoming to hunt in 1913, Fred Richard and Wm. Cody guided him. After 1916 Frost and Richard went separate ways and formed their own guiding and hunting operations. Frost guided many famous hunters during his lifetime, including Saxton Pope and Art Young (Pope & Young Club). Frost Lake, two miles NE of Pyramid Peak was named after him ca1893-95. The Frost Ranch is the current location of the Skytel Ranch. [119y] [113] Check out my Frost & Richard Camping Co. page for more info!! Galusha, Hugh. Hugh Galusha was hired as company controller for Yellowstone Park Hotel Co in 1931 and also served as Harry Child’s accountant and advisor for many years. He maintained this position with Wm. Nichols in the 1950’s, and in 1956 he became one of the first non-family members to serve on the board of Directors of Yellowstone Park Co. He also provided accounting/legal services for Charles Hamilton, Pryor & Trischman and George Whittaker. The Galusha firm is still in business under the name of Galusha Higgins & Galusha. [25L;42] Gardner, Johnson. Johnson Gardiner was an early fur trapper who began trapping in Gardner’s Hole south of Mammoth around 1831-32. He probably came up the Missouri in 1822 with the Ashley-Henry party and trapped in the Rockies for many years. He was known as a rough-and-tough fellow. An article about him in the April 23, 1903 issue of the Gardiner Wonderland newspaper rated him as “an outlaw and in general a worthless, dissolute character.” The Gardner River and Gardner’s Hole were named after him. Those names have at times in history also been spelled with an ‘i’, as in Gardiner. [25L;43] Garrison, Lemuel A. Lemuel Garison was Yellowstone Park Superintendent from 1956 to 1964. [25L;43] George, James James George - See ‘Yankee Jim’. Geyser Bob aka Robert Edgar , was a stagecoach driver for Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. (YPTCo) and 'whipped the lash' for 30 years in the park. He was famous for telling his ‘dudes’ many tall tales. One tale tells of him falling into the Old Faithful Geyser crater and coming out of Beehive Geyser. He told his astonished listener that the trip would have only taken about 10 minutes, except he stopped for a haircut and a shave. He was reported to be a son-in-law of Old Plenty Coups, chief of the Crow Indians. Edgar umpired the first game of baseball played by the Crow and Sioux, and was known to umpire beer-ball games in Gardiner on occasion. He died as he wished - "with his boots on" - and was driving a party of tourists around the park when he suddenly took seriously ill. Geyser Bob was interred in the Gardiner cemetery after his death at Yellowstone Lake on Aug. 23, 1913 at age 70. His headstone was “Erected by his Many Friends.” According to Hiram Chittenden, in his book The Yellowstone National Park (1915 edition), Edgar was born July 13, 1840 in Liverpool England and moved to New York with his parents as an infant. Growing up in the Bowery, he later served in the Civil War and went west afterward and drove a mail stage for many years in the Dakota Territory before arriving in Yellowstone, probably around 1883. See my Geyser Bob history page for an accounting of his life and his 'whoppers.' [LE;5/9/1908] [31] [113] Gibson, Charles Charles Gibson formed the Yellowstone Transportation Co. (YTC) with Thomas Oakes in 1886. Gibson, a St. Louis hotel businessman, was also co-founder of the Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) that same year, along with Nelson C. Thrall and John C. Bullitt. The YTC contracted to YPA for transportation services, but the actual stagecoach services were sub-contracted to Wakefield & Hoffman. The YTC was sold to the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co. (YNPTCo) in 1892. Gibson sold his YPA shares back to the Northern Pacific Ry in 1898. [25L;44] Gilmer John T. 'Jack. ' Jack Gilmer and Monroe Salisbury formed the Gilmer & Salisbury stagecoach line in the early 1870’s with the purchase of the assets of the Utah, Idaho, and Montana branches of Wells, Fargo & Co. In 1873 this transportation firm was running stages from Fort Benton, Montana to Helena. They bought out the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage, Mail and Express Line in 1876, operating the Deadwood line between Cheyenne and the Black Hills. They began running stagecoaches into the park from the Union Pacific rail line at Spencer Idaho beginning in 1879 and built a stage station at Henry’s Lake in 1881. The route passed through Virginia City, Ennis, Henry’s Lake and Targhee Pass before arriving at Marshall’s Hotel. They became one of the most powerful corporations in the Northwest in the late 1800’s and amassed a nice fortune. In their final days stage lines ran from the Canadian border to southern Utah and from the Great Plains to California and Washington. Gilmer began ‘whacking’ mules and oxen in 1859 for Russell, Majors & Waddell and continued with the firm when Ben Holliday bought it out in 1861. He later became involved in the mining business in South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and California. [18t] [25g] [79o;470-71] Goff, John & Homer. In Jan. of 1905 the two men were given a 4-year contract to hunt mountain lions and lynx in Yellowstone. They received $75/month in pay plus $5 per lion. They utilized a large pack of hunting dogs to kill the animals that were considered a menace to park wildlife. John Goff was the "chief mountain lion killer" of Wyoming. This was an official position created in 1905 due to the great sums of money lost by cattlemen and sheep men from mountain lion depredation on their stock. President "Teddy" Roosevelt offered the position to Goff, who had guided the president on a hunting trip in Colorado a couple of years earlier. Goff moved to the Big Horn Basin from southern Colorado upon acceptance of the position. By the summer of 1906 he had killed several hundred of the big cats in the forest reserves of the Yellowstone region. He maintained a lifelong friendship with Mr. Roosevelt. Goff was born around 1867 and started his career as a "bullwhacker" in the late 1870's. In 1906 Goff built a lodge on leased land along the North Forth of the Shoshone River not far from the east entrance of Yellowstone Park. It later became Goff Creek Lodge and is still in operation. John Goff died March 28, 1937 in Cody, Wyoming. [106d] [Goff Creek Lodge website] [Washington Post; 7-30-1906] Goode, Capt. George W . Capt. Goode was Acting Supt. of Yellowstone with the 1st Cavalry from July 23, 1900 to May 8, 1901. He was born April 21, 1855 in St. Louis, Missouri and entered the US Military Academy July 1, 1875. He became as second lieutenant with the 1st Cavalry on June 12, 1880 and served in the Spanish American War. He later achieved the rank of colonel before his release from active duty in 1918. He died August 20, 1941 at Pasadena, California. [25L;45] [31;456-57] Goodnight, Charles . His ranch in Texas provided three buffalo bulls to the park in 1902 to help build up the herd. He charged $460.00 per head, and Howard Eaton was responsible for transporting them by rail to Yellowstone. Charles Goodnight was known as the "Father of the Texas Panhandle." He was born around 1836 and immigrated to Texas in 1876. His ranch eventually embraced 1,350,000 acres with over a hundred cowboys riding herd on 42,000 head of cattle and 460 horses. The town of Goodnight in Armstrong County, Texas was named after him. He attempted to cross cattle with buffalo, producing what he called "cattalo." They were exhibited at the 1903 Chicago World's Fair and later at the St. Louis Exposition. Charles died December 12, 1929 at his winter home in Tucson, Arizona following a 2-day bout with influenza. He celebrated his 91st birthday by marrying 26-year old Miss Corrine Goodnight of Butte, Montana. They were not related and the wedding was held in Forth Worth, Texas. [25L;45] [Helena Independent; 12-13-1929] Goodwin, Vernon. Vernon Goodwin, manager of the Alexandria and Ambassador hotels in Los Angeles, became one of the co-founders of what later became the Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Co. with H.W. Child in 1924. That year they bought out the Yellowstone Park Camps Co. from Howard H. Hays, Roe Emery, and E.H. Moorman and the company became known as the Vernon Goodwin Co. Four years later Child assumed complete ownership of the lodge company, changing the name to YP Lodge & Camps Co. Goodwin continued to work for Child, as did Edward H. Moorman, and upon Child’s death in 1931 Goodwin became vice-president of Yellowstone Park Hotel Co. He continued in this position when the Yellowstone Park Co. was created in 1936 and left the company in 1942 at age 71. According to "Greater Los Angeles & Southern California Portraits & Personal Memoranda," Lewis Publishing Company, 1910, Goodwain was "born in Santa Rosa, Cal., Dec. 13, 1871. Chiefly educated in public and high schools (grad. from latter in 1889), Assistant postmaster of Santa Rosa for three years; resigned to take a law course, and admitted to practice in California Supreme Court, 1894. Principal of grammar school for three years, and later took a special English course at Stanford University. Served as Deputy County Auditor for four years and resigned to accept position with California Gas & Electric Corporation. Came to Los Angeles, 1895; now Secretary of the Bilicke-Rowan Fireproof Building Co., Bilicke-Rowan Annex Co., Alexandria Hotel Co. and Hollenbeck Hotel Co." [25L;45] [Billings Gazette, 5-24-1924] Gourley, James . James Gourley discovered gold in the Cooke City area in 1869-70 with Adam ‘Horn’ Miller, Ed Hibbard, and Bart Henderson. The party also discovered the Hoodoo Basin and gave it the name of ‘Hoodoo’ or ‘Goblin Land’. Gourley also prospected extensively in the Mammoth, Gardiner, and Bear Creek areas. By 1884 he was Recorder for Gallatin County and claimed he knew James McCartney very well for 20 years beginning in 1879, indicating he may have come from New York, as did McCartney. In 1884 Gourley was Secretary of the Bear Gulch Placer Company that was operating two large placers about 2-1’2 miles from Gardiner. [YNP Army Files Doc.137] [32] Graham, Arch and Sarah A. Graham Arch Graham was part of party of tourists in 1874 that went for a boat ride in E.S. Topping's sailboat on Yellowstone Lake. The party included his wife Sarah, William and Sarah Tracy and their two sons. Topping named his boat the Sallie in honor of having the first two women to sail with him on the Lake. Arch Graham was born in 1833 in Kentucky and moved to Nodaway County, Missouri at age 18. There he became county clerk and also acted as deputy sheriff and deputy U.S. Marshall. In 1853 Arch married Miss Sarah A. Wiseman, a native of Ohio. He enlisted at the start of the Civil War and served for the duration on the side of the South. In 1867 the family took a steamboat to Fort Benton and settled in Helena where he operated a livery stable and did carpenter work. They moved to Bozeman around 1871 and Arch served as county clerk and recorder of Gallatin County from 1871-75. He turned to farming in 1876. The Grahams had five children. [From Leeson’s History of Montana] Grounds, Frank. Frank Grounds was a resident of Bozeman, a member of the Big Horn Expedition of 1874, and prospected in the Black Hills for gold. From 1873 to at least 1875 he worked with George Huston at Mammoth guiding and running pack trains into the park for tourists. He also hunted and trapped the greater Yellowstone area. In 1875, He was know to have collected over 1000 elk skins for sale or trade with Huston, James McCartney and others at the Gardiner River Bridge in 1875. He died of pneumonia in the Black Hills in Sept. of 1877. [Bozeman Avant-Courier 4/30/1875; 5/14/1875; Bozeman Times 6/1/1875; 9/27/1877] Gratiot Camp. In 1927, the James T. Gratiot Camping Company of Dubois, Wyo., established a camp at Lewis Lake with housekeeping cabins. It was unsuccessful financially and the 76 cabins were obtained by the YPLCCo in 1928 and moved to West Thumb, probably on or near the old Wylie Camp. These were simple and inexpensive cabins and visitors were generally required to BYO bedding, etc. Tents were added to boost the capacity to about 100 guests. A cafeteria was built to serve the camp.

Hotels in the Yellowstone Norris Hotels 1887-1892 & 1901-1916 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 th e author. The First Norris Hotel - 1887-1887 Variously known as the Norris Lunch Station, Norris Hotel, and Larry's Lunch Station, there were five different facilities at Norris between 1883 and 1916. In 1883 the Yellowstone Park Improvement Co . (YPIC) established tent hotels at various locations throughout Yellowstone Park, including the Norris Geyser Basin. The first hotel opened up in the spring of 1887, even though construction was apparently incomplete. A workman started a fire in an unfinished chimney that set the hotel ablaze on July 14. The Livingston Enterprise reported that there were many guests in the hotel, but that all were saved. A bit of furniture was rescued, but all else was lost. Afterwards tents were set-up for guest use. The Jamestown Alert in North Dakota reported that, “the Norris hotel at the National park was burned Thursday and a loss of $50,000 sustained. Sam and Mrs. Matthews, who were at the hotel in the capacity of managers, have not been heard from as to personal loss or injury. Their friends trust all is right with them.” Left: The 1st Norris Hotel, Spring of 1887. [F.J. Haynes Stereoview, YNP #345] Above: Close-up of the front of the hotel, Spring 1887. [YNP Archives #50792] The Second Norris Hotel - 1887-1892 By the end of 1887 a temporary wooden hotel was completed with 20 sleeping rooms. It was long and narrow, built with 1" board siding. The Helena Weekly Herald noted on Aug. 18, 1887, “The Norris Basin hotel, burned a short time ago, is already replaced by a comfortable temporary structure with ample accommodations for more than a half hundred guests. Contrary to that report, Acting Supt. Capt. Moses described it as "cold and open, with no appliance for heating beyond a sheet iron stove in the common hall." Fire again caused havoc in 1892 and this building burned down. Much of the silverware, bedding and furniture were saved this time. Once again, the fire was believed to have resulted from a stovepipe or chimney problem. The view below would have been taken from the Norris Soldier Station, currently the Museum of the National Park Ranger. The bridge crossed the Gibbon River. Rare view of 2nd Norris Hotel by Emily Sibley Watson from Rochester NY on 20Aug1889, during her tour of Yellowstone. [Photo courtesy Univ. of Rochester , NY, Memorial Art Gallery] Round-format camera view of the 2nd Norris Hotel in 1890. Photographer unknown. The Third Norris Hotel - 1901-1916 A New Hotel. Larry Mathews , who is so well known in connection with' the Yellowstone Park, writes us that the new hotel recently built at Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Park, will be opened to the public Friday evening, Aug. 2nd. A 5 o'clock dinner will be served, after which a grand ball will be given. Ice cream, lemonade and all kinds of fruit will be served during the evening. It is expected that about 5,000 people will be present. This hotel is built on the formation, where all the large geysers of the park can be seen from the front porch, is a large affair costing $150,000, including fixtures. A large silk flag 80x47 feet will be erected over the center of the building. 'Mr. Mathews will have the management of the hotel, and is considered by the park association as the best manager in the park. [Post and Record (Rochester, Minn), 2Aug1901] A new lunch station and hotel opened in 1901 on the Porcelain Terrace at Norris. It was located on the edge of the Basin and from the front porch, one could gaze at the various geyser erupting. It contained about 25 rooms and continued to service the lunch crowd passing through. Larry Mathews managed he new hotel in 1891, and was moved to Old Faithful and managed the old "Shack Hotel Tent Camp" in 1902-03. As with the Fountain Hotel, decreased travel times in 1917 due to motorized buses, eliminated the necessity of the lunch station. It closed after the 1916 season and was razed in 1928. There are no longer any lunch or overnight facilities at Norris. Above: ca1905 view of Norris Hotel. Photographer unknown. Below: Norris Lunch House, ca1912. [Acmegraph PC #6501] Above: ca1905 view of Norris Hotel. [YPA Brochure, 1905] Below: Norris Lunch Station, ca1912. [Haynes-Photo, No. 194] From the 1901 Dept. of Interior Annual Report: "A new and very comfortable little hotel has been constructed at the Norris Geyser Basin. It has been built on a far better site than that occupied by the old lunch station, which was some distance from the geyser basin – entirely too far for the majority of tourists to walk. The new hotel is so conveniently located that the tourists can now sit on its broad and sheltered veranda, after having their luncheon, and while awaiting the arrival of their coaches, they will be greatly interested in watching the playing of the geysers in the distance below them; or if they prefer to do so, they can stroll leisurely through the basin and await the arrival of their coaches at the Monarch geyser, where comfortable seats and a shelter have been provided. This hotel has been greatly needed for a long time, and will be frequently patronized by people who can not afford the time to go entirely around the park, and also by many who wish to go out of the park by the Monida route." End of the Norris & Fountain Hotels . . . The Yellowstone Park Hotel Company is now engaged in razing the old Fountain hotel and the Norris basin lunch station, which have not been utilized since the stage coach days of 10 years or more ago. These institutions went out .pf use with the inauguration of the motor bus service. Materials .contained in these structures will be used in other construction work. [Great Falls Tribune, Mont., 26 Jun 1927, p.26] Norris Hotel with stages, 1906. [Stimson Collection, Wyoming State Archives ]

Camping in the Yellowstone "Tex" Holm's Camping & Transportation Co. 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 th e author. Beginnings of the Holm Camping Tours Aron Holm was born in Sweden in 1870, but moved with his family to America in 1883, settling in Nebraska. Aron reportedly traveled around the West, working horses in Texas, joining the Alaska gold rush, and prospecting for gold in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. There he met, and married, Susan Katharine Powers in 1897, who had previously been twice married. They later moved to Cody to join his father John, who had moved to what would become Park County, Wyo. in 1898, and had taken up work as a carpenter. Prior to the unofficial opening of the road over Sylvan Pass in 1903, "Tex" Holm and his wife Katharine began transporting small camping parties to Yellowstone in 1901.The excursions into the park were of 2-3 weeks duration. They went on horseback with pack animals over Dead Indian Pass north of Cody, down the precipitous mountainsides to the Clark Fork River and trekked through the wilds of Sunlight Basin, through the mining town of Cooke City and the northeast entrance of Yellowstone. Aron "Tex" Holm and wife Katharine, at Holm Lodge, ca1912. [Courtesy Park Co. Wyo. archives , Buckingham Folder, #86-P001] Late in 1903 they began using the new although uncompleted, east entrance road over Sylvan Pass to Yellowstone Lake. In 1906 'Tex' Holm and F.H. Welch were permitted to conduct camping parties through the park using wagons and saddle horses. The company was headquartered in Cody, with rail access from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR. They offered 14 and 18-day camping trips in covered surreys or ‘wagonettes’ built with extra good springs for mountain service. Saddle horses were available for those who desired them. Canvas-bottomed tepees were used for sleeping and were complete with mattresses, blankets, and comforters. A private ‘toilet tent’ was set up for the ladies at each camp. Women cooks prepared meals in a covered cook wagon, using canned goods, smoked meats, fresh vegetables and trout. Expansion of the company followed these early successes and by August 1905 newspaper ads touted a newly named company: The Yellowstone Park Camping Co. Park Guides and Outfitters. Personally Conducted Tours Through Yellowstone National Park, from Cody, Wyo. Yellowstone Park Camping Co., with A. Holm, F.H Welch, & H. Dahlem. [Cody Enterprise, 15Jun1905] Letterhead, Yellowstone Park Camping Co., with A. Holm, F.H Welch, & H. Dahlem. 23Sept1905 [YNP Archives, Doc. #6375] Officials of the new company consisted of Aron Holm, Frank H. Welch, and Henry Dahlem. Camping parties went out every two to three weeks, with the last one leaving in early October. In 1906, the Yellowstone Park Camping Co. incorporated as the Yellowstone Park Camping and Transportation Co., with Tex Holm as president, Dahlem as vice-president, and Welch as secretary-treasurer. Typically fifteen days on the trail would cost fifty-five dollars or a twenty-one day trip would run sixty-three dollars. The first night was spent at Wapiti, half-way between Cody and the east entrance. The next camp was near the East entrance and then Sylvan Lake atop Sylvan Pass. Nightly camps would be made near all the popular tourist sites in Wonderland. By 1910 business was such in May of 1910 Tex Holm embarked on a huge investment of time and money when he began construction of Holm Lodge, located along scenic Libby Creek about seven miles from the east entrance of the park. The rustic log building quickly took shape and on June 8, 1910 the Park County Enterprise proudly proclaimed, “The Holm Lodge is Now Open – This Famous Mountain Resort for Tourists, Anglers and Hunters is Now in Shape to Accommodate Guests in Pleasant Manner.” Early view of Holm Lodge (pre-1913 fire). [Courtesy the Stanley Museum , Kingfield, Maine] Undoubtedly construction continued throughout the summer putting finishing touches on the various facilities. The main lodge consisted of a large dining room and another “amusement room” used for kitchen services and dancing parties. Guests slept in 12’x14’ tent houses that consisted of board floors and partial woods walls topped with canvas tent-tops. Iron beds, Ostermoor mattresses, stove, dresser, chairs, and wash-stands completed the furnishings. The “houses” were scattered amongst the woods for privacy with a centrally-located log bathing pavilion sporting porcelain bathtubs and offering hot and cold running water. The “grub” consisted of “fresh fruits and vegetables and garden truck of every description, eggs laid by our own chickens, plenty of fresh milk from our own cows.” Guests who wished to spend extended periods at the lodge were charged $100 a month, which included meals, saddle horse, and guide service on short camping trips. Laundry facilities were available, along with telephone service to Cody. Two views of the original Holm Lodge, showing the rear section and scattered guest tents. [Buffalo Bill Historic Center , Cody, Nos. P21-0503-11 & 12] Chicago Geographic Society 1909 and 1910 were busy years for Tex Holm. Among other travelers, he hosted a large group from the Chicago Geographic Society in both years, in early July - his first big trip for each season. The 1910 trip was said to coast $120 for society members, including all expenses. A wonderful set of photographs were made available to the author from the trip. The following is a newspaper notice about the 1909 trip from the Chicago Tribune: Second Night's camp, located just west of Pahaska Lodge. [Chicago Geographic Society , 1909] GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY PLANS CAMP IN YELLOWSTONE PARK. Forty Chicagoans Will Leave on July 6 for Three Weeks’ Outing Under “Tex” Holm, Roosevelt Guide. Equipped with camping utensils, guides, books, and the works of botanical, geological, and physiographical authorities, forty members of the Chicago Geographic society will leave the city July 6 for a three weeks' camping tour of Yellowstone Park. They will go to Cody, Wyo., in special coaches on the Burlington railroad and from there will take the trail under the guidance of “Tex” Holm, the veteran guide, who accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on a similar expedition several years ago. The route from Cody lies across the Shoshone national forest, through the mountains of the Absaroka range, and into the park through the southeast entrance. Jesse Lowe Smith, the president, will lead the expedition. A. Holm Camp Wagon with four men, perhaps rivers and camp tenders. [1905 glass slide, courtesy Brigham Young University Libraries ] Top Pair: Struggling get through a snowbank on top of Sylvan Pass in early July, 1909. the wagons had to be unloaded and reloaded after the drift. Middle Pair: Holm wagon, for unknown reason labelled: Peaches & Cream (cola) Coach. Names of lead horses?? Bottom Left: Mr & Mrs. Holm. katharine Holm was an active participant of the camping tours, although she rarely seemed to get proper credit for her work. Thanks to Walter Keats, Executive Director of the Geographic Society of Chicago (GSC) for many of the wonderful photos on this page. The GSC was founded in 1889 and in 1909 and 1910 members of the Society came out to Yellowstone to explore this vast Wonderland. They were guided by Aron Holm and his camping company. It is believed the photos were taken by Miss Meta Mannhardt, a member of the GSC, who gave her album of pictures to the GSC in the 1950's. Reproduction or use of these photos is not permissable, without written permission from GSC. Photo Credits: Owner/Publisher - Geographic Society of Chicago; Photographer - Meta Mannhardt. “To good guide Aron Holm and Mrs. Holm, his wife, whose sweet song charmed our nightly circle around the camp fire . . . to all whose faithfulness followed us day and night through the valley of the Shoshone, Sylvan Pass, and the Yellowstone, these pages are joyfully dedicated.” Charles Heath penned these poignant words in the dedication of his book, A Trial of a Trail, an account of his visit to Yellowstone National Park and Cody, Wyoming in 1905. He came west from Chicago to spend two weeks camping in Yellowstone and the beautiful Wapiti Valley, located between Cody and the east entryway to Yellowstone. Holm's Lodge & Camp located on Sylvan Pass, near the edge of Sylvan Lake. A 1910 Holm brochure described locations of the various campsites along the usual route: Wapiti, Holm Lodge, Sylvan Lake, Yellowstone Lake, Craig Pass, near Riverside Geyser, Lower Geyser Basin, Obsidian Cliff, East Gardiner Creek [Lava Cr.], Tower Falls, Grand Canyon, Turbid Springs, Camp Beautiful [near East Entrance] and repeating the route back to Cody. Campers could exit at Gardiner if desired, for a slightly shorter tour. The cost for this wonderful excursion was $4.00 per day. Big game hunting parties were offered from Holm Lodge into the surrounding National Forests areas as were trips to Jackson Hole on horseback with pack outfits. These trips lasted from 25-30 days, covering about 200 miles. Experienced guides and cooks accompanied each party. The route traversed the "wildest and most rugged parts of the Rockies, away from civilization, making many side trips into parts which have never been visited by other parties." The cost of this adventure was $250, which covered all the expenses from Cody and the return trip. In 1910 Tex Holm also received a permit from Yellowstone authorities to establish a permanent camp at serene Sylvan Lake, atop Sylvan Pass. Plans were immediately set in motion to create Holm Lodge No. 2 (Sylvan Lake Lodge), which would be similar to the main lodge, except without the luxury of bathing facilities, unless one was venturous enough to dip into the chilly waters of the lake. A log lodge was constructed at Sylvan Lake that served as lobby and dining room and was surrounded by Holm’s characteristic tepee-shaped canvas sleeping quarters. Wide-angle view Holm's Lodge & Camp located on Sylvan Pass, near the edge of Sylvan Lake. Buffalo Bill Historic Center , Cody, No. P21-1861] With anticipation of continued growth in tourism, Tex Holm moved forward with his business expansion. On October 28, 1911, the Park County Enterprise (Cody, WY) announced, “Holm Incorporates New Tourist Company – Local Parties Said to be Backing the New Concern.” The Yellowstone Park Camping and Transportation Company was dissolved and the assets were absorbed into the new “Holm Transportation Company.” The Tex Holm Livery Company, a livery business established by Tex in Cody, also merged into the new outfit. This fledgling organization, incorporated in Wyoming October 23, 1911, was capitalized for $75,000, divided into 750 shares and was managed by a board of directors consisting of Aron Holm, Louis Gokel, J.M. Schwoob, W.L. Simpson, and W.J. Deegan. The goals of the company were lofty. In addition to the purpose of engaging in general livery, transportation, hotel, and merchandise business, the company’s objectives included purchasing, leasing, or building hotels, lodges, camping outfits, and roads and bridges as necessary to conduct business. Holm Transportation Co. Letterhead, 1912. [YNP Archives, Holm Transportation Holm Transportation Co. Logo [From a mailing envelope, pm1913] Tex Holm & Shwoob traveled to Washington to gain permission to transport customers to the other hotels and camps, along with requesting permission to establish permanent camps in the park, much as the Wylie Company had done. The men conferred with the Secretary of Interior and Wyoming’s representatives to Congress. After what were no doubt strenuous negotiations, the Holm Transportation Company was finally granted a transportation concession in Yellowstone. It was, however, at the expense of not being able to establish permanent camps or construct hotels. Schwoob later reported that he was satisfied with the compromise that relieved HTCo of having to expend many thousands of dollars in order to establish new camps or other lodging facilities. Continuing, Schwoob related that, “what the company really secured was the privilege of having their tourists boarded at the Park hotels and the Wiley [sic] camps on the same terms which are given visitors who are conveyed thru [sic] the park by the old transportation company and the Wylie outfit.” Disaster struck when front page headlines of the Park County Enterprise on Saturday, November 15, 1913 proclaimed: “Main Building at Holm Lodge Completely Destroyed by Fire. Beautiful Resort is Scene of Disastrous Conflagration Last Wednesday Evening.” Luckily Tex Holm was onsite, and with the assistance of men from a nearby road crew, managed to rescue most of the interior furnishings, but nothing could be done to save the lodge. Tex was devastated. Unwilling and perhaps unable to borrow money to rebuild, Tex sold his prized Holm Lodge to William “Billy” Howell, an investor in his company who had managed Holm’s pack outfits for the past few years. The deal closed in early May for an undisclosed purchase price, but there was speculation that Holm gave the lodge to Howell in exchange for debts owed. Howell, who terminated his employment with HTCo, formed an association with Hillis Jordan, whereby Howell would run the lodge and Jordan, an experienced packer, would guide parties into the park independent of the Holm operation. Howell built a new and bigger lodge on the same site, retaining the same name. The next year, Tex Holm housed his guests at the nearby Pahaska Tepee, as his lodge was gone. When Howell completed the new lodge, Holm agreed to house his Yellowstone guests at Holm Lodge instead of Pahaska Tepee. Howell later went into a partnership with Cody schoolteacher Mary Shawver and together they managed Holm Lodge until 1947. Top Left: Holm Lodge, probably the rebuilt version after the fire. [Tammen 91671 Real-Photo postcard] Top Right: Interior of Holm Lodge, undated Real-Photo postcard. Bottom Left: Holm Lodge, probably rior to the building of the log lodge. Guest stayed in tents, touring wagons in foreground. [F.J Hiscock Photo, undated, Buffalo Bill Historic Center, #P211-201. Top of photo has been cropped] Beginning of the end . . . Holm Transportation Company was granted the security of a three-year lease beginning March 31, 1914. Expecting business to increase even more than it had in 1913, the directors of HTCo raised the corporate capitalization from seventy-five thousand dollars to three hundred thousand dollars to handle anticipated increases in business and expenses. Little did they realize that 1914 travel in Yellowstone would be down more than twenty per cent from the previous season. Well into the 1914 season, Holm was having some financial difficulties. With reduced visitation, excessive debts incurred during expansion, and financial problems suffered by their banking partner, the company barely made it through the year and prospects for the 1915 operation looked dim. Although Holm expected that the increased business from traffic to and from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco would save his business. But when private autos were allowed into Yellowstone in August of 1915, it was another blow to Holm’s enterprise, but he temporarily revived and continued service through the 1915 season. However, by that time the company had gone bankrupt and was unable to operate the following season, leaving no service provider from Cody and the east entrance into Yellowstone. To alleviate this situation, the Park Service authorized the creation of the Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Co. for the 1916 season. This company became the first commercial motorized transportation concern allowed into the park and it journeyed from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad depot in Cody to Lake Hotel where passengers were loaded onto Yellowstone Park Transportation Co stagecoaches for travel into the interior of the park.The following year the stagecoaches were retired and all commercial travel was by auto stages, with YPTCo being the carrier from Cody into Yellowstone. Top Left: Holm Coach in front of the Buffalo Bill monument in Cody. It seemed to be a popular photo op for tourists heading to Yellowstone. [Real-Photo postcard, undated] Top Right: Tex Holm Ready for a Dude Party, Cody, Wyoming [Postcard #D8800, postmarked prior to 1910] . Bottom Left: The Pioneer Yellowstone Guide - "Tex" Holms, Cody Wyo. Holm Transportation Company and the Stanley Steamers In an attempt to modernize his business and reduce travel time from Cody to Holm Lodge, Tex Holm purchased two 5-passenger EMT30 autos from local dealer Jake Schwoob in 1911. Dissatisfied with the performance of the vehicles that year, Tex Holm bought a 12-passenger Stanley Mountain Wagon in 1912 to transport his customers on the 100-mile round-trip journey to the east entrance of Yellowstone. The shiny new red steamer arrived in mid-June with William S. Stanley, nephew of the Stanley brothers, at the helm. The Park County Enterprise (Cody) newspaper claimed the auto was “practically noiseless. It has immense pulling power and is claimed to be the simplest constructed car on the market.” Happy with the Stanley Steamer and its performance on the rugged and primitive mountain roads, Holm purchased three more in 1913. The new vehicles performed admirably for three seasons until the financial stability of Holm Transportation Company crashed in 1915. The Holm company went bankrupt after the 1915 season and the Stanley Steamers went on the auction block in March of 1916 to help pay off the debts incurred by the company. The fate and whereabouts of these historic steamers remains to be discovered. "Stanley Steamers ???? on Barrel Creek on Cody Road to Yellowstone, 1914-15 - Joe Paine." Joe Paine was hired in 1914 to drive one of Holm's Stanley Steamers to and from the East entrance of Yellowstone. Automobiles were not allowed in Yellowstone until August 1915. [Uncredited newspaper photo, Park Co. Wyo. Archives , Buckingham Files] SOMETHING NEW IN YELLOWSTONE Camps Co. Introduces Horseback Tours as 1922 Feature Four Tours this Summer Yellowstone can always be depended on for something new! This year the Camps Company, in addition to its other enterprises, offers an innovation in the form of "14-Day Personally Conducted Horseback Tours." These tours will leave Mammoth Hot Springs (Mammoth Camp) on four dates during 1922 season: July 1st, July 15th, August 1st and August 15th. Each tour will be identical in leadership, equipment and schedule. This arrangement offers such a wide range of starting dates that men and women who have been looking for this sort of tour can fit their vacation into one of those schedules. "Tex" Holm, The Leader. The Camps Company knows from long experience and observation that no inconsiderable part of the success of horseback tours is leadership. For those tours, they have engaged "Tex" Holm to guide and manage each tour. "Tex" Holm has been conducting parties through Yellowstone for over 20 years and knows every foot of the trails and highways. Of equal importance he is fitted by disposition to amalgamate the elements of a party into one harmonious whole. Each tour will be strictly limited in number so that the members will have all the freedom of a private party with a private guide. The tour will appeal to persons who desire to get away from an ordinary tourist experience and revel in healthful exercise, live in the open, and enjoy a scenic adventure of the first order. A big factor is the duration of the trip. The average visitor, who take the regular automobile tour, stays in the park for four and a half days. This is too short. Many guests at the permanent camps stay over for a day or a week. The saddle horse tours will be on the trails and highways for 14 days. Of course, members of these tours will see three times as much as the average tourist, not only because they are in the park three times as long but also because they will visit many places far from the automobile highways. Fourteen Eventful Days. Looking at these tours from the standpoint of healthful recreation, they wil appeal to many as the ideal vacation. Think of 14 days in the saddle and 14 nights in the open! The rides at first are short and grow grdually longer as the tour progresses. The first day's ride is 7 miles. The average for the entire tour is only 12 miles per day. Member of the party will be provided with individual tents and individual beds. All tents, bedding and equipment are new and of the first quality. The cost oif these tours is $196.00 each. This charge includes all expenses for the 14 days beginning and ending at Mammoth Camp. Members of the party will use any railroad they desire to the park and pay their own expenses to Mammoth Camp. Further details will be supplied on application. The Yellowstone News, May 1922, Volume V - No. 5. Newspaper of the Yellowstone Park Camps Co. "Horseback Tours Through Yellowstone Park" Led by Aron 'Tex' Holm Yellowstone Park Camps Co. brochure, 1922

Coaching in Yellowstone - The Bassett Brothers 1881-1898 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 th e author. In The Beginning . . . In the first decade of Yellowstone National Park’s young existence, there were few methods of commercial transportation services available. Roads were crude at best, and lodging facilities were few and rustic. Travel was on horseback and by pack train. In 1879 mail service was established from Virginia City, Montana to the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone Park. George W. Marshall was the first mail carrier and on September 13, 1880, a mail station was established in conjunction with his primitive hotel near the junction of the Firehole River and Nez Perce Creek (approximate location of today’s Nez Perce Picnic area). It was known as the Firehole Post Office and George’s wife Sarah was postmistress for the first two years. Sometime that fall or winter of 1880, brothers William Henry and Ernest Bassett began working as mail carriers on the Virginia City to Firehole route. Both brothers experienced severe travails that winter while trying to traverse the route during the heavy snows and extreme winter temperatures. In late January of 1881 William attempted to travel the route from Firehole to Henry’s Lake through deep and drifting snows and became frostbitten on his hands and toes after falling through the ice on Henry’s Lake. He narrowly escaped death when the stock tender at the mail station spotted him on the lake and rescued William. An article in the Bucks County Gazette of Bristol, Pennsylvania described his adventures thusly: “On the 22nd of January a stock tender on the shore of Henry’s Lake, near Fire Hole, Mon., saw an arm reaching out of a huge snow drift on the other shore of the lake and waving a handkerchief. The stock man went to the rescue and found W.H. Bassett, a young mail carrier, fast in the snow and utterly exhausted. Bassett had started from Fire Hole three days before. The snow was in no place less than three feet deep, and often there were drifts ten feet high. He was obliged to abandon his horse on the first day. Then for two days and nights he fought his way through the snow. Part of the time it was storming and always intensely cold. He lost his way. He hadn’t a mouthful of food. He says “I ate snow so long that I was unable to eat food when rescued, because my throat was too raw to permit swallowing. I knew my feet were frozen, but I was afraid to take off my boots, lest I couldn’t get them on again. I shall only lose two toes and a few fingers.” Articles about the episode appeared in other newspapers across the country, including the Boston Globe and the New York Times. These articles were apparently the result of a letter William sent to his father in Salt Lake about his adventures. William Henry Bassett (W.H. Bassett) and Charles Julius Bassett (C.J. Bassett) seem to have been the prime movers of the operation. There were six Bassett brothers - William Henry, Charles Julius, Charles Henry Bassett II, Fred C. Bassett, Frank A. Bassett, and Ernest Bassett. The Bassett family was headed by father Charles Henry Bassett of New York. By 1845 Mr. Bassett was living in the Mormon community in Navoo, Illinois, where he married Permilia Mindwell Dayton. Driven out of Navoo by angry anti-Mormon mobs, they settled in Iowa before moving to Salt Lake City in 1852. The following year Charles Henry Bassett married Mary Elizabeth Knight. Ernest and William Henry were sons of that marriage, while Charles Henry II, Charles Julius, Frank, and Fred were sons of Permilia. It has been reported that Charles Henry Bassett sired 22-34 children from five wives. By the late 1870s most of the Bassett Brothers had moved to southeastern Idaho, where the Utah & Northern Railroad was slowly making its way north through Idaho to Butte, Montana from Brigham City, Utah. The railroad reached Beaver Canon, Idaho (changed from Beaver Canon to Beaver Canyon in 1884) on September 1, 1879. The town had been established around 1872 along the main stage and freight road from Utah to the mining communities of Montana. Photo from: Our Generations Ancestors Family Association In 1881 the brothers, with William and Chas. Julius (C.J.) in charge, began providing outfitting and transportation services to Yellowstone National Park that included furnishing wagons, horses, tents, tools, food, supplies, and guides. They picked up their passengers from the Utah & Northern Railroad (U&NRR) line at Beaver Canyon, Idaho, near the current town of Spencer, a few miles south of the Montana border. It was about 110 miles from Beaver Canyon to the Lower Geyser Basin, requiring three nights camping to get there, but they advertised the route as being 150 miles shorter than the Virginia City route. An 1881 newspaper ad touting the Bassett Brother’s service proclaimed that Yellowstone was the "The Eden of America!" and that "Light Spring Wagons, Good Teams, Experienced Drivers” were utilized with “Good Hunting and Fishing anywhere along the road." The round-trip cost was $25 to Marshall's Hotel on the Firehole River. Another newspaper touted that, “Travelers can take the comfortable cars of the Utah & Northern in Ogden for Beaver Canyon, where connection can be made with Bassett Bros. through line to the Yellowstone. This line is composed of covered light spring wagons with the best of teams, and passes over one of the best roads in the country. Ad for Bassett Bros., from July 30, 1882, Salt Lake Daily Tribune . This is one of earliest Bassett ads for Yellowstone. Click to enlarge. The Bassett Bros. operation apparently was a success and in August of 1882 the Ogden Standard Examiner exclaimed that, “The vast increase of travel between Beaver and the National Park has necessitated increased facilities, and Bassett Bros. have just put on the stage line four splendid new coaches for the accommodation of the traveling public.” Beaver Canyon, partly described as containing, "scores of blighted hopes." From Crofutt's Overland Guide , by George A. Crofutt, 1890. Click to enlarge. View of Beaver Canyon in 1885 Beaver Canyon: On June 3rd, 1882 the Ogden Standard newspaper briefly described life in Beaver Canyon: “Up to the past spring we could boast of but one saloon, that of Messrs. Bassett Bros, and the boys that are chopping logs used to put in an occasional spree at this saloon, much to the annoyance of the more peacefully inclined citizens; but the Justice of the Peace, Mr. Julius Bassett [CJ], used to get after them and impose a fine with good effects. Another saloon has been erected by Mr. Raymond & Sabin, but not proving a success the building has been sold to Mr. L. Harris who permitted a few dances to be held in it which we think has not been financially profitable, and the owner is now fitting it up as a hotel and restaurant. The Bassett Bros. are now making extensive preparations to carry passengers from this point to the National Park, this summer, and we have no doubt but their line will be extensively patronized by pleasure-seekers who wish to take the shortest route and best road to see the sights of the Yellowstone.” Mary Bradshaw Richards and her husband Jesse Richards traveled from their home in New York City to Yellowstone Park in 1882, and took advantage of the services of the Bassetts. Travel in the park was still primitive at that time and only the Marshall Hotel on the Firehole River and the crude McCartney Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs were available. The couple traveled by train to Beaver Canon aboard the U&NRR. They arrived in the community of Beaver Canon that they described as consisting of "a dozen log houses, two saloons and a big water tank." The hotel was not much more than a small log house. The couple contracted with the Bassett Brothers to take them into the park. The following excerpt offers a glimpse of the Bassett operation: "Our outfit (two persons) consisted of a wall tent, blankets, buffalo skins, axe, hatchet, nails, ropes, hammer and wheel grease; flour, sugar, lard, ham, eggs packed in oats, canned meats, fruits and jellies; a long-tailed frying pan, bake kettle, coffee pot, tin plates, cups and spoons, knives and forks; a capital driver, an accomplished cook, two large balky horses and lastly the all important spring wagons, canvas-covered, large, strong, rather stiff in the joints, but possessing a fitness for its purpose which we soon learned to appreciate. This outfit cost us eighteen dollars per day." "The distance from Beaver Canyon to Lower Geyser basin is about one hundred and ten miles. We are to camp three nights on the route . . . Inside our new home [tent] is our furniture, viz.: a bed of blankets folded on a rubber sheet, our hamper for a table, a wagon seat for a sofa, a candle set in a bottle for an electric light, a tin wash basin, soap and towels on a pile of grass for a toilet room - only these and nothing more . . . A campfire, now having finished its blazing, is at work baking bread and boiling coffee and broiling pine-hen and ham. How hungry we are!" [From Camping Out in the Yellowstone - 1882, by Mary Bradshaw Richards, Univ. of Utah Press, 1994] Undated photo of a Bassett coach crossing stream in route. Many of the wagons/coaches used by the Bassett Brothers seem to have been Studebaker Excursion Wagons, designed for the tourist trade. Although the following ad calls them Concord wagons, they were not Concords. Concord coaches were made by the Abbot-Downing Co. in Concord, New Hampshire, and had specially designed through braces underneath to soften the ride. Serviceable Wagons. The Studebakers have manufactured for the Bassett Bros., Beaver Canyon, Idaho, two elegant Concord wagons. The vehicles, which are four-seated and made to order for special service, were set up yesterday and started for Beaver Canyon, where they will be first on the road into Yellowstone national park. [Salt Lake Herald-Republican , June 9, 1883-06-09] Life on the Beaver Canyon Route . . . What they didn't tell you about in the brochures! "Here our mosquito-netting came into use. The pestiferous things rose in clouds from every ford or marshy place we crossed. They made life almost a burden. We fought them with our hands and bathed our necks and wrists in menthol to keep them away, but to no purpose. They were after us and were going to stay with us. In the dining-room at the dinner-station on the Camas Meadows the window panes were black with them and we were compelled to eat with our veils on, but that did not prevent them from getting into our mouths. For two long hours we were at their mercy--hard, unrelenting, unmerciful mercy. They bit us until our necks, faces and hands had the appearance of being stung by a swarm of bees. Outside of the cabin they were even worse, and appeared in clouds whenever the grass was stirred. We had to keep moving, for the instant we stopped they would light upon our clothes so thick that we could not tell the color of the cloth. After one blow upon the shoulder of our Yankee friend, thirty-four dead mosquitoes were found sticking to his coat. We were all thankful when the driver told us to take our places in the stage for our departure." Beaver Canyon Route excerpt from Parkinson's Wonderland; or, Twelve Weeks In and Out of the United States. Top : Yellowstone National Park Stage Line letterhead, 1885. [ YNP Archives] Right: Yellowstone park Stage Line pass, 1892, signed by CJ Bassett. [author] In 1884, the Ogden Standard reported that business for the Bassett Brothers had doubled and that overnight accommodations had been established along the route for travelers. By 1885 the company was using the name Yellowstone National Park Stage Line. In a letter to a prospective client, the Bassetts quoted a rate of $25 per person to take a nine-day trip via the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Lake, past Sulfur Mountain to the Grand Canyon, over Mary’s Lake, north to Mammoth Hot Springs, and return through the West entrance. Clients saved five dollars if the two-day Mammoth leg was skipped. Around 1886 it appears as though they got out of the camping business and concentrated their efforts on stage transportation to the various hotels, in and out of the park. The route from Beaver Canyon, although lengthy, passed through beautiful country. The road from Beaver followed Miners Creek up Porcupine Pass and ran down West Camas Creek to the broad, wide Camas Valley. Indian Springs, near the small town of Kilgore, was the first overnight stop. The next day travelers journeyed on across the valley, skirting the southern reaches of the Centennial Mountains. The second night was spent at either George Rea’s ranch or the Arangee cabins and Bellevue Hotel of the Arangee Land Co., both located in Shotgun Valley, along the current north shore of Island Park Reservoir. On the third day the stage ventured to the south of Henry’s Lake, over Targhee Pass, stopping for lunch at Dwelle’s (in some accounts this was an overnight stop, and later became known as the Grayling Inn). The route finally passed through the west entrance of the park to the Firehole Hotel in the Lower Geyser Basin. The Firehole Hotel was abandoned in 1891 when the Fountain Hotel opened for business. Modern map showing stage routes from the Utah & Northern Rail line through the west entrance of Yellowstone, and on to the Firehole in the Lower Geyser Basin. The Red shows the route from Beaver Canyon, and the Green the route from Monida, on the border of Idaho & Montana. In 1885, a new road was cut across from the West Entrance, cross-country to Lower Geyser Basin, saving considerable miles to travel. Click to expand. Improvements to the route from Beaver Canyon to the Firehole Hotel, was described in an article in the Salt Lake Tribune , November 14, 1885: “The route to the Yellowstone National Park is to be very much shortened and improved by the time the season opens. The Government is making a direct road from upper Firehole Basin to the west boundary line of the Park at the foot of the mountain. This shortens the distance thirty miles and will give a much easier road in grades. Bassett Brothers are making a new road between Camas Meadow and Riverside Station, on Henry's Fork of Snake River, so as to shorten the distance between Beaver Canon and Riverside ten miles, thus scaling down the distances between Upper Firehole and Beaver Canon forty miles, and bringing it down to seventy miles. Most of the work has been done and the rest will be finished in the early spring. Bassett Brothers are getting a large number of four-horse excursion wagons, made especially for them by Studebaker, to run between Beaver Canon.” Arangee Ranch [From Parkinson's, Wonderland; or, Twelve Weeks In and Out of the United States.] The route from Beaver Canyon, although lengthy, passed through beautiful country. The road from Beaver followed Miners Creek up Porcupine Pass and ran down West Camas Creek to the broad, wide Camas Valley. Indian Springs, near the small town of Kilgore, was the first overnight stop. The next day travelers journeyed on across the valley, skirting the southern reaches of the Centennial Mountains. The second night was spent at either George Rea’s ranch or the Arangee cabins and Bellevue Hotel of the Arangee Land Co., both located in Shotgun Valley, along the current north shore of Island Park Reservoir. On the third day the stage ventured to the south of Henry’s Lake, over Targhee Pass, stopping for lunch at Dwelle’s (in some accounts this was an overnight stop, and later became known as the Grayling Inn). The route finally passed through the west entrance of the park to the Firehole Hotel in the Lower Geyser Basin. The Firehole Hotel was abandoned in 1891 when the Fountain Hotel opened for business. Excerpt from, Parkinson's "Wonderland; or, Twelve Weeks In and Out of the United States ." A variety of stopping points were used along the Beaver Canyon route. A couple of other travel accounts mention Manley's Cabin. It was located somewhere along the Madison River, about half a days' travel between the crossing of Henry's Fork of the Snake River and the Firehole in Yellowstone. Little is known about Manley at this point, but in Edwards Roberts book "Shoshone and Other Western Wonders" published in 1888, he gives an account of Beaver Canyon route and relates the following about Manley's Ranch: "Toward sunset we reached Manley's Cabin. It stands on the left bank of the river and is built of rough-hewn logs, the spaces between which are plastered. On one side the house is flanked by an open corral, where Manley keeps his cattle. On the other extend the open fields across which we had driven, and all around which grow the forests. Tired with our long drive, the simple house seemed a palace of comforts. In the evening we sat around the fire, and Manley told us of his life. It was very uneventful, he said, and in winter was most dreary. The storms were frequent and severe, and he was absolutely cut off from the outside world. In summer the visitors were numerous. Many made the cabin their head-quarters while on hunting trips about the country, and others stopped, as we had, for a night. For a living, Manley supplies the Park hotels with meat, eggs, and milk. In the future he hopes a railroad will reach his land and render it worth a tidy fortune. At present, he told us, life was a struggle, and the income was discouragingly small." Bassett Bros. coach crossing the Snake River enroute to Yellowstone. [From Parkinson's, Wonderland; or, Twelve Weeks In and Out of the United States.] Manley's Cabin, located along the banks of the Snake River in Madison Valley. It has been described as, "Built of logs, rudely plastered together, it is far from an ideal hotel, but seems a very palace of comfort after a long day’s stage-ride." [Photo from Shoshone and Other Western Wonders, by Edwards Roberts. Quote from Harper's Weekly, Vol.32, 1888.] Dwelle's or Grayling Inn Harry F. Dwelle moved from Ohio and settled in an area on the south fork of the Madison River about 5 miles from the West entrance in the early 1880’s. In 1884 he established Dwelle’s Stage Stop to service the Bassett Bros. stages that were running to the park from Beaver, Idaho. In 1898 Dwelle’s Inn (also known as Dwelle’s Madison Fork Ranch and the Grayling Inn) became an overnight stop for the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co. that transported tourists to the park from Monida. Monida & Yellowstone ceased using Dwelle’s Inn after the 1907 season when the UPRR reached the West entrance of the park. By that time Dwelle was also running a general store and saloon. Acting park superintendent S.B.M. Young complained in 1907 that Dwelle’s “…place has been a resort of park poachers…the principle merchandise he deals in is intoxicants.” Parkinson, in his "Wonderland; or, Twelve Weeks In and Out of the United States," describes his visit at Dwelle's: "It was about three o'clock when the stage pulled up at a very pretentious two story log house, and the driver informed us that this was where we would stop over night. No one coming to the door, we walked in and took possession. The reception room was large and airy; in fact, it took up one half of the house and reached from the first floor to the roof. In one end of it were quite a number of bear skins, and hanging on the walls were skins of the otter, mink and various other animals. The bed-rooms were six in number and opened out upon the reception-room. Three were on the first floor and three above them, arranged like cells in a prison. Those on the second tier were reached by a flight of steps and along a balcony. The rooms were all newly furnished and neatly kept. " "The proprietor, Mr. Dwelle, was a bachelor, and was the only person around the place. When he saw us coming he started off to catch a mess of trout for supper. Our Yankee friend and myself, after procuring some fishing-lines, followed him. In crossing a brook the writer made a misstep and fell into the water, which necessitated his returning to the house to dry his clothes. While sitting in front of the stove he was startled by a crash, and looking out of the window saw the back porch in ruins. The ladies, who had retired to their sleeping apartments for a rest, appeared almost immediately in the wildest state of excitement, anxiously inquiring if a cyclone had struck the house. Their fears being quieted they returned to finish their naps. Upon going into the yard we ascertained that a number of horses in prancing around had run against a rope stretched from one of the out-buildings to one of the supports of the porch, and, pulling the latter from its place, the whole structure came down with a crash. It was not long before our Yankee friend was seen returning. He had met with a similar mishap as the writer, only that he had fallen in much deeper water, and did not have a dry thread on him. He went to a hunter's camp, and having built a large fire, dried his clothing. Supper being announced, we all responded to the call, and partook of one of the best meals we had eaten since leaving Portland. After doing full justice to it we returned to the reception-room, when several trappers came in and a very pleasant evening was spent listening to their stories." In 1886 the Union Pacific RR advertised special Yellowstone trips at a cost of $30 from Ogden to the Firehole and return. An extra $12.50 paid the Bassett Brothers to take the visitor on a complete tour around the park, with overnight stays at the various hotels and tent hotels. The trip could be made in 9 days, but the visitor had up to 30 days to complete the tour if desired. It was a busy year for the Bassetts, as they also worked on establishing a new road from Camas Meadows to the Riverside station just inside the park. The road was a more direct route and shortened the journey to about 70 miles. The Bassett operation continued, apparently successfully through the next decade and by the mid-1890s was known as the Union Pacific Stage Line. Reportedly up to 25 coaches were used in the operation. In 1897 the town of Beaver Canyon was moved a few miles south to what became known as Spencer, named after Hyrum H. Spencer, a businessman in Beaver. The harsh weather and winters at Beaver Canyon made life untenable and the residents and businessmen felt Spencer would be a more optimal location. The area was somewhat lower in elevation with less snow and was wide enough to allow more land for expansion of the railroad facilities and other businesses. Many of the buildings were moved south on flat cars, including the depot after the railroad eliminated Beaver Canyon as a stop. The Beaver post office closed in 1898. Early view of the town of Monida. The 2-story, white Summit Hotel (center) burned in 1905. The depot would have been behind the rail cars shown on the right. The town of Monida in 2008, author's photo. According to newspaper articles and other sources, the Bassett operation seems to have remained at Beaver Canyon, despite some sources that claim he moved north to Monida and began using the road through the Centennial Valley. That route skirted the northern shoulder of the rugged Centennial Mountains, continued on past Lakeview and Red Rocks Lakes, climbed over Red Rock Pass, and wound around the north side of Henry’s Lake where it met up with the other route before ascending Targhee Pass. The Bassett Bros. never received a formal lease for their operation in Yellowstone, but operated on yearly permits. They were the primary transportation company to operate through the west entrance from 1881 until 1898 when the Interior Dept. awarded the privilege to the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company, essentially putting the Basset's out of the Yellowstone transportation business. According to a letter CJ Bassett wrote to the authorities in Yellowstone in June of 1898, he desired “to conduct a Transportation business, from Beaver Canyon, to and through the Yellowstone Park.” An answer to his inquiry has yet to be located, but it appears the Bassett transportation operation to Yellowstone National Park ended that year, despite their intentions to continue the business. Figures from the annual YNP Superintendent’s Reports indicate that Bassett carried only 59 passengers in 1896 and 22 in 1897. The superintendent noted in his report for 1898 that “The Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company have seemingly absorbed the business previously conducted by Mr. C.J. Bassett, from Beaver Canyon into the park via the western entrance, as I have no reports of any passengers by his line during the past season, nor has he applied for license to conduct this class of business.” Previous to 1898 the majority of Yellowstone visitors came into the park either with the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. coaches or in private conveyances. The Wylie Camping Co. and other personally conducted camping parties accounted for most of the rest of the business. C.J. Bassett was a conspicuous figure in Idaho politics for some 20 years and died in his home at Boise on November 26, 1918, at about 67 years of age. W.H. Bassett, former postmaster in Lago, Idaho, died in a car accident December 29, 1929 at age 71. He was buried in his hometown cemetery in Lago, Idaho. For more information on the Bassett family and the stage operation, visit these wonderful Bassett family history websites! Bassett Bros Stage Line Bassett Family Genealogies Bassett Bros. Stage Line -2 Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co. William W. Humphrey and Frank Jay Haynes formed the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Line (M-Y) in early 1898. Humphrey boasted of fifteen years stagecoach experience, the last five years of which were served with Yellowstone Park Transportation Co, while Haynes, an astute businessman, had operated photo shops at all the major locations in the park, beginning in 1884. Together, with additional financial backing, they obtained a 10-year lease from the government to operate the stage business from Monida to and through the park. Their guests stayed at the park hotels operated by Yellowstone Park Association. The company also obtained a 10-year contract from the Union Pacific RR to handle all of their Yellowstone Park business. Click on M-Y decal to go to my Monida & Yellowstone Stage page. A Ride Through Wonderland By Georgina M. Synge Sampson Low, Marston & Company , 1892 Enjoy excerpts from this fascinating account by Georgina Synge, who wrote of her journey to Wonderland in early September of 1889. She traveled from Salt Lake City to Beaver Canyon, utilized the transportation services of the Bassett Brothers, and journeyed on to the Firehole Hotel in the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone Park. “We got all our outfit together at last, Messrs. Bassett Bros., who run the stages through the Park Reservation, supplying us at about seventeen dollars per day. This included the hire and forage of the horses, a guide, a lad to drive the wagons, a tent, and cooking utensils, etc. A. was for taking no mattress - "roll yourself up in a rug, and there you are," was his idea. But as I ventured to differ as to the delights of this method, we ended by procuring huge bags filled with fresh hay, which were most comfortable. We also took about eight blankets and a mackintosh cover. A small leather portmanteau contained our changes of raiment and toilet necessities, also such useful things as tools, fishing gear, and a few simple ointments and medicines. We each wore a leather belt with pockets, containing collapsible drinking cups, compasses, knives and string, etc., which we found a great comfort. As for our food, we took a good load of tinned beef and tongue, sardines, flour, biscuits, bacon, coffee, cracked wheat, tinned milk and fruit, and a bottle of Worcester sauce (without which no American table is complete); also two bottles of whiskey and a box of Mormon beer, "in case," as A. remarked, "the water might be injurious." . . . We set forth early in the morning, as we had about thirty miles to ride before reaching a good camping ground . . . How delicious that first meal was, free from all the humdrum conventionalities of life, surrounded by wild stretches of country, with not a human habitation or sign of human life visible. Our bread was baked in a small cast-iron Dutch-oven, something like a gipsy's kettle, the edges of the cover being turned up to hold the hot embers; I never tasted bread more excellent. In this oven, too, we could cook our meat or fish. The men [Bassett's drivers] always ate with us, quite at home and at their ease, as we sat together on the wagon seats round our little camp table. For when you come Far West every man is as good as another, and everybody you meet is a "gentleman," whether it is the boy who blacks your boots, or the rich man who owns millions. I must say we found them well-mannered and agreeable (with the exception of Beesley, whom we afterwards changed), and most eager that we should see everything we could. . . . We reached our first camping ground, in the Camas Meadows - brown grass-covered levels surrounded by mountains - by about five o'clock in the afternoon . . . What fun it was pitching our tent for the first time, and gathering wood for a huge camp fire, and picketing the horses, and exploring our surroundings . . . We started soon after breakfast on the second day, leaving the men to pack up and follow with the wagon . . . Every now and then we crossed a little creek, a tributary of the Great Snake River, the magnificent falls of which we had seen a few days before at Shoshone . . . We passed a log cabin near the latter [Shot Gun Creek] where lives a trapper of renown [probably George Rea]. Elk antlers were suspended over the doorway and ornamented the four corners of the roof, while skins of bear and other beasts were stretched on every available piece of wall. It was late in the evening when we caught a glimpse of the Snake River itself [Henry's Fork of the Snake] . . . We splashed through its shallow bed which here was easily forded, and drew up on the other side, near some log cabins built for the accommodation of passing travelers [Arangee Ranch] . . . [the next day] We had crossed the levels by about twelve o'clock and reached Manley's Cabin, as it is called. This is quite a large abode, with an open corral around it for the cattle, and is built of rough-hewn logs, the interstices being filled in with plaster. After many efforts, we at last attracted the attention of a very dignified-looking old lady in a black silk dress, who, we found afterwards, was the mother of the owner, lately settled there. . . . On leaving Manley's Cabin we crossed the Madison [River] and were once more among the forests . . . Some half-way across the valley we came to the military camp, which is established at the western entrance to the Park Riverside Soldier Station]. Here we were accosted by two soldiers in uniform, who asked us if we had any guns to declare, as, if we had, they must be sealed up, to prevent our using them while passing through . . . [continuing on to Firehole] we descended the other side, the forest received us again and closed in on us; a forest so dark and impenetrable, few rays of sunlight could ever find their way within. We were about four hours riding through this, and it was evening when we at last emerged upon the Fire Hole basin. Here stands quite a little settlement, consisting of the "Hotel," [Firehole Hotel, formerly Marshall's Hotel], the stage agent's house, and a few primitive abodes belonging to men employed there during the summer months. We were too tired to do anything but eat a hearty supper, though the peculiar sulphurous smell in the air, showing how near we were to "Wonderland" at last, made us long for morning to come.” “Toward sunset we reached Manley’s Cabin. It stands on the left bank of the river and is built of rough-hewn logs, the spaces between which are plastered. On one side the house is flanked by an open corral, where Manley keeps his cattle. On the other extend the open fields across which we had driven, and all around which grow the forests. Tired with our long drive, the simple house seemed a palace of comforts. In the evening we sat around the fire, and Manley told us of his life. It was very uneventful, he said, and in winter was most dreary.The storms were frequent and severe, and he was absolutely cut off from the outside world. In summer the visitors were numerous. Many made the cabin their head-quarters while on hunting trips about the country, and others stopped, as we had, for a night. For a living, Manley supplies the Park hotels with meat, eggs, and milk. In the future he hopes a railroad will reach his land and render it worth a tidy fortune. At present, he told us, life was a struggle, and the income was discouragingly small.”

Hotels in the Yellowstone Fountain Hotel - 1891-1916 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 th e author. Fountain Hotel, from a double-oval postcard by FJ Haynes. Construction of the Fountain Hotel began in 1889 by the Yellowstone Park Association on a small rise on Fountain Flats, close to the Fountain Paint Pots, facing Fountain geyser. It has sometimes been called the Fountain Geyser Hotel. It replaced the old Firehole Hotel, located nearby at the junction of Nez Perce Creek and the Firehole River, which was abandoned in June. It became the first overnight stop for travelers from both the north and later the west entrances of Yellowstone. The Fountain Hotel opened in 1891, the same summer YPA opened a new hotel on the shores of Lake Yellowstone. The structure cost $100,000 and featured electric lights, steam heat, and piped in hot water from a nearby hot spring. Capacity was 350 guests and the interior walls were calcimined with material from the paint pots. Eventually the exterior was painted yellow. The park hotel association now had three 1st class hotels in the park to serve park visitors - the National Hotel at Mammoth and Lake Hotel. Reau Campbell, in his Campbell’s Complete Guide to Yellowstone, 1909, describes the Fountain Hotel: “There are electric lights and steam heat, with the cheerful accessory of a log fireplace in the lobby. The house is three stories, with rooms light, cheery and well ventilated. The dining-room is particularly a cheerful one. It has been said that the walls of the rooms were tinted with material taken from the Paint Pots, and from their soft colors we may believe it. The fine sulphur baths of the Fountain are in grateful remembrance of all who have had the good fortune to enjoy them; the water comes from one of the hot springs near the Paint Pots at an elevation sufficient to send the water to the bathrooms on the second floor of the hotel.” The Fountain Hotel.—This elegant and modernly constructed hotel, is pleasantly situated on the east side of the valley, commanding an extended view of the surroundings. Its appointments are tirst class throughout, electric light, steam heat, and the only hotel in the Park having natural hot water baths. It is the first hotel reached by visitors entering the Park from the west. The adjacent streams are stocked with “Loch Leven” and “Eastern brook” trout, and with the many natural curiosities in this vicinity one can profitably spend several days at the “Fountain.” [Haynes Guide, 1898] Map of the Lower Geyser Basin. From Campbells Guide to Yellowstone, 1909 The Fountain Hotel, No. 115. Published by Haynes-Photo in 1908. In the mid-late 1800, "Taking the Waters" was a popular past-time for folks who believed the mineral hot spring waters were a restorative to body and mind. The water that was piped into the Fountain Hotel was also believed by many to have these properties. If you look closely at the photo at left (click to enlarge), one can see the pipeline (center) that ran from Leather Pool to the hotel. The 1905 YPA brochure claimed, "Here also one may obtain the privilege of bathing in the naturally heated waters of Mother Earth, for the baths at the Fountain Hotel are supplied from a pool of hot sulphur water nearby. These baths will be found extremely refreshing and invigorating, and Doctor Howard Mummery, F. R. S., of London, gave it as his opinion that the hot water that supplies the baths at the Fountain Hotel contains properties that will most effectually act as a remedial agent in case of kidney complaints. Bright’s disease and all kindred ailments. These baths should be continued for one or more weeks to obtain the full benefit of their medicinal value." Top: Rare view/sketch of the lobby of the Fountain Hotel. YNP Scrapbook] Bottom: Front of hotel with stagecoaches. Los Angeles Co. Museum, SCWHR-P-002-2498 Top: Fountain Hotel with Coach [YNP Archives #147588)] Bottom: Rare view of the back side of the hotel. [YNP #20129827] The Bears of Yellowstone One of the popular features of Yellowstone National Park was the legion of bears. Early on, bears were attracted to the hotel dumps at all the park hotels, Mammoth excepted. The first "bear shows" originated at the Fountain Hotel garbage dump, perhaps a 100 yards in the woods behind the hotel. According to a 1904 Yellowstone Park Asso. brochure, this iconic bear photo, "was made by the young son of a former manager of the Fountain Hotel." The manager is believed to be Ellis J. Westlake, who served from 1896 through 1900. His son's name was John, who would have been 16-20 years of age during that time. At some point the "Association" and YP Transportation Co. (both were partly controlled by Hary Child in 1901), began using the photo for the bear-in-Circles logo. The original photo showed the bear standing amidst a plethora old tin cans, but they were eventually "photoshopped' to look like cut logs. F.Jay Haynes published the postcard shown below in 1908, and also in latter years. From Our Friends, the Bears, by James E. Tower, Good Housekeeping, 1901 “At the Fountain Geyser hotel the black bears allow the Kodak fiend to get within thirty or forty feet of them, while feeding. I saw seven bears there in a group, including a mother and two cubs. Not even the rattling of the stage and the sound of human voices prevented a large black bear from coming in full view of a stage load of us, in the woods near the Grand canyon. The expression on a black bear’s face when a snap-shot intruder creeps to within thirty or forty feet, is a study. He gives the visitor a side glance, munching the while on his food, as much as to say: "Well, I guess you’re harmless: this piece of meat is too good to leave, and there wouldn’t be a thing left of you, anyway, if you should get too fresh and compel me to make trouble.” Dooley, a silver-tip cub tied to a tree at the Grand canyon hotel, was so wroth because I snapped my camera at him that he "had it in for me,” as the boys say, the rest of the day: glaring at me, turning his back when he thought I was trying to photograph him. He snapped at visitors - quite pardonably. He was to return to the woods and his mamma in the fall, for silver-tips cannot be tamed, it is said.” Bears feeding at an unknown park dump, tourist nearby, ca1910. [Museum of the Rockies, MOR #92-41-2 From: Book of a Hundred Bears , Frederick Dumont Smith, Rand McNally, 1909 And here we saw our first bears. All the Park hotels have a garbage pile, where the refuse from the kitchen is dumped once a day, and here the bears come from the woods for meals “a la cart(e).” The garbage place at the Fountain is some distance from the hotel, and that summer a particularly ugly old she-grizzly and two cubs had taken possession of it, and it was considered unsafe to go near them. Two of the soldier guards stand there with their riHcs anti heavy service revolvers to keep us from approaching too closely and to guard against the bears. This reassures us. We know they are wild bears; that there is no hippodrome about it. Your first sight of a real wild bear there in his native woods gives you just a little thrill. It is not like a caged or menagerie bear. You realize that there are possibilities of danger and when, just at dusk, they came galloping down the hill—three of them, a mother and two half-grown cubs—it was an event. The mother was very suspicious and, when she stood up to sniff for danger, she looked as big as the side of a house. PIPER IS LOST IN THE PARK Missing From the Fountain Hotel Since Monday Night He Mysteriously Disappeared THOUGHT TO BE INSANE Not a Trace of Him Can Be Found and It Is Feared That He Has Fallen Into Some of the Many Bottomless Holes. All Hope of His Rescue Given Up A Squad of Cavalry Has Been Tirelessly at Work on the Search. Special Dispatch to the Standard. - Livingston, August 2, 1900 Another day has gone by and still there has been found no trace of J.R. Piper, [L. R. Piper] the man who wandered away from the Fountain Hotel in the national park last Monday evening. Searching parties, consisting of soldiers, stage drivers, hotel employees and tourists, have scoured the country in the vicinity of the Fountain hotel since Tuesday morning, but they have been able to discover no trace of the missing man. It seems as if the earth had opened and swallowed him, and, indeed, it is not unlikely that he has stumbled blindly into one of the many pools or bottomless cauldrons of seething mud that are so numerous in the Midway geyser basin. So read the headline of Montana’s Anaconda Standard newspaper of August 3rd, 1900 - a Yellowstone mystery that has never been solved. No trace of Piper’s body was ever found and nothing was ever heard of him again. Leroy Piper was a mild-mannered bank cashier at a bank in St. Mary's, Ohio. Piper's "rich uncle" had died the previous year in California, and Piper was on his way west to help straighten out affairs, and hopefully collect his inheritance. Riding a Union Pacific train, he and a few friends stopped at Salt Lake City to make a side trip to Yellowstone Park. They rolled into Yellowstone Station at the west entrance and proceeded to Fountain Hotel for the first night. On the evening of July 30, 1900, Piper wandered downstairs to the dining room. He ate a leisurely dinner, purchased a cigar from the lobby newsstand and stepped into the night to enjoy a pleasant smoke and fresh mountain air on a peaceful evening . . . . . . and disappeared into the mists of time - never to be seen again, and nary a trace of him was ever found. Still a Yellowstone Mystery to this day. The Man Who Wandered Away:- A Yellowstone Mystery, an article by this author, is a vailable in "Annals of Wyoming " Autumn 2008, Vol. 80, No.4 Left: Fountain Hotel in 1896, Keystone-Mast photo Right: Touring car with Fountain Hotel in background, undated. Prior to the opening of the Old Faithful Inn in 1904, guests often stayed two nights at the Fountain with a day trip to Old Faithful in between. After the Inn opened, the stay was only for one night. With the advent of the motorized bus fleet in 1917, travel times were shortened considerably and the trip from Mammoth or West Yellowstone to Old Faithful could be made in a single day, eliminating the need for facilities at Fountain. The hotel closed after 1916, a mere 25 years of operation. It stood empty and deserted for over 10 years when permission was received to tear it down. It vanished into the past in 1928. Today, little remains of the old hotel - a few crumbled concrete foundation walls, water pipe fragments, concrete supports for the old generator cabin, remains of the old bear dump with sparkling pieces of old glass, pottery, and rusted cans. Left: Article about objects found during the demo of the hotel in 1928. [Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Mn., 17Aug1928] Right: Photo of the foundation supports for the old generator house. Photo by author 2005 SLY MOUSE GHOST OF PARK HOTEL The Davenport Iowa Democrat and Leader, June 13, 1928 Yellowstone Park, Wyo - (AP) At six o'clock of every cold, raw, winter evening a bell in room 203 of the Fountain Hotel would ring. Every night at six o'clock a frightened, but conscientious caretaker made his cautious way to room 203, only to find it empty. Finally even the caretaker's earnestness could not stand the spectral twilight calls, and he fled the hotel in the company of a park photographer. The old hotel was remodeled the next spring, and the workers found that a mouse had made its nest in the wall of room 203 over the wire leading to the bell. It had nibbled off the insulation as that every time it touched it the bell rang. The regularity of the ghostly rings testify to the excellent character of the rodent. Even this explanation has not entirely put down the evil reputation of the hotel, and native, park rangers and general park employees have held for 20 years to their belief in the "haunt." Demolition of the building this spring, however, is expected to lay the ghost forever.

Yellowstone's Supporting Railroads Union Pacific RR 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 th e author. The Union Pacific Railroad - Yellowstone's Western Access A Pictorial History of the Early Days Union Pacific Railroad - Beginnings . . . In 1862 President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act that named and directed two companies to construct a transcontinental railroad. The companies would be known as the Union Pacific and Central Pacific. The Act authorized land grants along the rail routes for the railroads as incentive for construction. The Ames brothers, whose shovel business flourished during the ‘Gold Rush’ years, provided the much needed immediate financing. The Central Pacific began construction in 1863 at Sacramento, California and headed east. Union Pacific started at Omaha, Nebraska to head west. The two lines connected in 1869 on May 10 at Promontory, Utah and the famous ‘Golden Spike’ was driven as the official last spike. The company fell into bankruptcy and was sold to a group of investors in 1897 that included railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman. It was Harriman that made the decision in 1905 to run tracks accessing the West entrance of Yellowstone. The Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern . . . The Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern came about in 1897 through a reorganization of the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern RR. That railroad resulted from a merger between the Utah & Northern RR and other small ‘short lines’ in 1889. The Utah & Northern Railway was organized in April 1878 by Union Pacific interests to own and operate the bankrupt Utah Northern Railroad, with the intent to build a rail line from existing tracks in Northern Utah to the gold mines of Montana. Construction began the following year at Brigham City, Utah on a narrow gauge line. The tracks reached Butte on December 26, 1881, after a long lull in construction resulting from the ‘Panic of 1873’ Right Top : Utah Northern bridge at Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls) ca1880 Right Bottom : Union Pacific train crossing trestle enroute to West Yellowstone, undated. Yellowstone Historic Center. The Bassett Brothers began stage service that year to Yellowstone from Beaver, Idaho. Stage service to the park from the Monida station, located along the Montana-Idaho, border began in the 1890’s. The St. Anthony RR began building tracks from the main line at Idaho Falls to St. Anthony in 1899. Six years later UPRR President Harriman decided to open a line from St. Anthony to the west entrance of Yellowstone. The line was completed in November 1907 and the 1st scheduled passenger train arrived in the town of Riverside (now West Yellowstone) on June 11. The Oregon Short Line took over legal ownership of the line from St. Anthony RR in 1911 and in 1935 merged with the Union Pacific RR. Union Pacific provided much of the financing for these ventures Monida The small town of Monida was located along the Montana-Idaho border where Interstate I-15 currently passes through between Dillon, MT and Idaho Falls. The old stage route also passed along that route, along with the Union Pacific RR. There was a post office there between 1891-93 and 1896-1964. The Bassett Brothers continued to haul their stage passengers from Beaver into Yellowstone, while FJ Haynes’ Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co. began hauling tourists into Yellowstone from Monida in 1898 and continued until 1907, when the UPRR extended their lines to the west entrance of the park. The old route to the park roughly followed Montana Route 509 through the Centennial Valley and past Henry’s Lake. It skirted the Centennial Valley, Red Rock Lakes, passed through Alaska Basin and crossed the Divide to Henry Lake; then over Targhee Pass to the west entrance of the park. Left Top : Town of Monida, Real-Photo PC postmarked 1908. Right Top : Summit Hotel in Monida, from 1902 brochure. Right Bottom : Railroad depot at Monida, from undated glass slide. Where Gush the Geysers Cover page from the UPRR pamphlet, "Where Gush the Geysers" published in 1899. This was the first year for this publication and it was produced to publicize not only the Oregon Short Line's route into Yellowstone through the West entrance, but the firm of the Monida-Yellowstone Stage Co. This company began providing reliable stage service from Monida to Yellowstone the previous year, and was viewed as more professional and better financed than the Bassett line. The brochure contained full-color pictures of various park wonders, along with descriptions of the features. Each page was decorated with elaborate and delicate scroll art work. It also included information on the four major hotels available at that time: Fountain, Lake, Canyon and Mammoth. The tour lasted for eight days. Beginnings of West Yellowstone The town was originally called Riverside upon its founding October 23, 1908, even though the town site was two miles from the river. The site was located on Forest Service lands and permission was required for any homesteaders. The first residents were issued permits for stores and homes late in the fall of 1907, but did not actually own the land. Prior to 1908 the area was referred to as ‘the Boundary’, or ‘at the Boundary’. To avoid confusion, the name was changed to Yellowstone on Jan 31, 1910. Confusion continued for years with the town named the same as the park, so the name was changed again in 1920 to West Yellowstone. Above : West Yellowstone depot, from 1910 UPRR brochure. Below Left : Yellowstone Special, undated. Union Pacific’s first passenger train rolled into West Yellowstone in 1908, It has been noted in many history books that the original train arrival was on June 10, but according to Paul Shea of the Yellowstone Historic Center, a rock slide across the tracks delayed the train until the 11th. That day is now celebrated as Train Day. The train became known as the ‘Yellowstone Special’ after WWI, and was equipped with sleeping cars and would arrive in town early in the morning, where passengers could have breakfast before starting their journey into the park. It ran one trip daily during the summer season until the end of the 1960 season when declining passenger numbers could no longer support the service. A second train, the Yellowstone Express began service in 1922 and ran for 20 years. Union Pacific Depot The depot was built in 1909 at West Yellowstone and replaced a rail car that had been used temporarily. Soon after its construction, the Union Pacific described the depot as “built of stone, very substantial, spacious, and artistic. It is electric heated by steam, and provides large waiting rooms, an individual dressing room for ladies, two large fireplaces, drinking fountains, etc. In it are the usual ticket and Pullman offices and the office of the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Co. The trains approach on the south side while the stages receive and deliver passengers under the porte-cochere on the north side.” (From the UPRR Collection of the Yellowstone Historic Center) Tourists were loaded onto stagecoaches of the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co. to tour through the park until 1913, when the service became known as the Yellowstone-Western Stage Co. Beginning in 1917, White Motor Co. auto stages of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. replaced the stagecoaches. The depot was donated to the town of West Yellowstone in 1969, and a private museum opened up in the old depot in 1972. In 2000, the Yellowstone Historic Center leased the depot from the Town of West Yellowstone and spearheaded many major repair and restoration projects. The depot now is the home of the Yellowstone Historic Center Museum. Top Left : Depot, colorized lantern slide by J.P. Clum, 1908. YNP Slide File Top Right : Depot, undated. YP 39 Bloom Bros. postcard. Bottom Left : UP Dining Lodge, Real-Photo postcard. Bottom Right : UP Dining Lodge Interior, Real-Photo postcard. Dining Lodge The first eatery was a crude tarpaper and wood frame building in 1908. It was replaced by the 'Beanery' in 1911 and in 1925 UP had the ‘Dining Lodge’ constructed near the depot. It was a grand structure of stone and timber designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood. Visitors by train would arrive early in the morning and partake in breakfast prior to starting their journey into the park. Diners would be seated in the Mammoth Room, a massive dining room with a 45-foot ceiling, large windows, and a fireplace large enough for a man to stand in. Several hundred people could be seated at one time. Visitors returning from the park could have supper there before they started their train ride home around 6:30 p.m. The Dining Lodge closed, probably during the mid-late 1950’, due to declining visitation. The lodge was donated to the town of West Yellowstone in 1969 and is currently used as an event center, serving as a venue for weddings, gatherings, celebrations, and more. For additional information, visit the Yellowstone Historic Center website. Gilbert Stanley Underwood Underwood became associated with the National Park Service, the UPRR and other park concessionaires in the early 1920’s. He was trained in the California Arts & Crafts movement in 1910-11. Using those concepts he designed buildings that utilized natural and native materials, such as rock and logs, to blend the buildings in with their environment. He designed a multitude of buildings in the western United States including: the Dining Lodge at West Yellowstone; Old Faithful Lodge; lodges at Zion, Bryce, and Cedar Breaks; the Grand Canyon Lodge; Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite; Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood, Oregon; Sun Valley Lodge in Idaho; and the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton. He also designed many other railroad depots for the Union Pacific. G.S. Underwood, ca1925. NPS photo The Union Pacific Bears . . . Walter Oehrle, a commercial artist was hired by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1923 to illustrate the covers of a promotional pieces announcing the opening of Yellowstone each June. The subject was always bears. The UP bears were drawn to look cute, silly, and anthropomorphic. The most common theme of the illustrations is of performance and entertainment. Of the 92 bear illustrations, 37 depict the bears being either mischievous or inept, like clowns. A number of them show the bears performing as artists, or in films, circuses, parades, or beauty pageants. The bears are presented as happily performing for their human visitors.” Images of these happy-go-lucky bear were published in a small pamphlet that was given away by the Yellowstone Park Company. They were later rendered into woodcuts, which graced the inside of the Bear Pit Lounge at Old Faithful Inn for many years. A couple of these woodcuts are still on the walls of the Old Faithful Inn Snack Shop. During a recent remodeling, the images were redone in cut glass,

Gateways to Wonderland Gardiner, Montana 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 th e author. Main street of Gardiner, Montana, 1888. Among the earliest photos of Gardiner. Most of the town burned down the following August. Photo by H.W. Lloyd. This probably Harry W. Lloyd, of the Lloyd & McPherson Saloon. He also served as freighter and notary. He passed in 1957. [Photo courtesy YNP Archives #1397] The Early Days . . . . Gardiner was the 1st gateway community of Yellowstone Park, located at the north entrance of the park at the junction of the Yellowstone and Gardiner rivers. Due to the relatively low elevation (about a mile high) and the presence of the Yellowstone River, easy year-round access was available. All of the other current entrances are snow-bound a good portion of the year. The area was traversed by Native Americans for at least 13,000 years and evidence of their presence has been well-documented along the Yellowstone River and other tributaries. The Yellowstone was also a favorite route of the fur trappers and early expeditions into the park. The Gardiner valley was visited by white men as early as 1829, when Joe Meek and other trappers were attacked by Indians near Cinnabar Mountain. In the 1830s mountain man Johnson Gardner trapped in Yellowstone, particularly around the Indian Creek/Gardner River area, known as Gardner’s Hole. The river and town were named after Gardner and somewhere along the line an “i” slipped into the spelling of the town’s name. In the 1860 prospectors such as George Huston, Jack Baronette, A. Bart Henderson, and Adam Horn Miller traveled along the Yellowstone River into the park searching for the elusive wealth of gold. Discoveries were made along Bear Creek and Jardine and in the northeast portions of the park around the current Cooke City area. Between 1869 and 1871 the expeditions of Folsom –Cook-Peterson, Washburn, Barlow Heap, and F.V. Hayden traversed along the Yellowstone River and through the Gardiner Valley into the depths of the park and began to bring the wonders of Yellowstone into the public eye. Mountain man Joe Meek, the first known Euro-American to explore the area around Gardiner in 1829. James McCartney is believed to be the rider at left, with President Roosevelt (center) and Acting Supt. John Pitcher in April 1903. [Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] James McCartney and Harry Horr, homesteaded 160 acres at Mammoth and built the first crude log hotel at Mammoth in 1871. McCartney’s status in the park and his relations with the authorities were unstable at best and he was encouraged to leave the park on an involuntary basis on claims he was trespassing, and his land and buildings taken from him. McCartney eventually settled along the northern park boundary and Gardner River around 1879 in the area that would become the town of Gardiner. He was the town’s first postmaster in 1880, founded the fledgling town, and later became unofficial ‘Mayor’. He was the man who introduced President Roosevelt at the dedication ceremonies of the new Roosevelt Arch in 1903. It has been said that he laid out the town along the park border to get back at the government for kicking him out of Mammoth and negating his claims. The park boundary line still runs right along the sidewalk of most of Park Street. The Town Grows Up (and out) . . . . In 1883 the NPRR extended their tracks from Livingston MT to Cinnabar, about 3 miles north of town. Anticipating that the line would end up in Gardiner, the community quickly grew. By June of 1883 the town boasted of a population close to 200, consisting mostly of tents, log shacks and 21 saloons, 6 restaurants, 5 general stores, 2 hardware stores and several other types of businesses (and no doubt a few brothels). However, a land dispute between the railroad and 'Buckskin Jim' Cutler prevented the rail line from coming all the way into Gardiner, and the town's growth spurt stopped. L.A. VanHome and Harris Doble discovered the marble and travertine cliffs above town in 1887, but they were not fully developed until the early 1930’s by the NW Improvement Co. Visitors in 1883 traveled up the Yellowstone Valley to Gardiner and made these comments about the fledgling town . . . "We soon leave the Yellowstone River and are in the Gardiner River Valley. We stop for a moment at Gardiner City, a town of perhaps 100 log shanties and tents, where most anything can be had. The majority of establishments are, of course, saloons. Curious signs are here used to entice the unsuspecting traveler to stop within. I was lured into a grog shop by the ambiguous announcement In big letters over the door of “Health Office." Another article claimed that Dr. Tippie's Health Office, "is not as might be supposed from the name, entirely devoted to ameliorating the physical ills of mankind, though so far as dispensing invigorating liquors and soothing cigars, [it] may have that effect. In 1885 the town’s first public school was established in a small log cabin and the following year the townsite was formally platted by George H. Robinson. On Aug. 31, 1889, a mere three years later most of the town was destroyed by fire, including 19 businesses and 13 homes. It was a terrible loss and setback for the village, but the hardy and resolute residents, did not let the calamity stop the town’s progress. Only a week after the fire the Livingston Enterprise reported many of the citizens were coming to Livingston to acquire loans and building materials. Two weeks after the fire it was reported of Gardiner, “Times are quite lively here now. Buildings are being erected by R. T. Smith, Tom Foley, Joseph Daily, Chris Nuston, Charley Cowel, and in fact all are getting ready to build. It was a great hardship on all the sufferers by the late fire, but they will live through it and the town will be rebuilt.” The schoolhouse, S.M. Fitzgerald's Hotel, some of J.C. McCartney's buildings and a few other structures survived. [“The Great Gardiner Inferno of 1889,” by R.V. Goss, Montana Pioneer , May 2020] Left: Photo of Gardiner, Aug. 18, 1889. Probably the last photo taken of the town just two weeks before the Great Fire of 1889. [Sibley Watson Digital Archive, Univ. of Rochester, NY } Top: The town of Gardiner in 1890, a year after the fire. The Pratt & Hall Store is front and center. C.B. Scott's Saloon & Billiards and the Gardiner Hotel are to the middle right. Ranger Tavern is far left, with a Restaurant & Bakery to its right. [Photo YNP #33307] The year 1893 saw the first bridge constructed across the Yellowstone River, about a half-mile downriver from the current bridge, creating incentive for development on the north side of the river. L.H. Van Dyck and J.H. Deever were arranging for the opening of a meat market and butcher shop in Gardiner, and John Spiker set up a water wheel near the Yellowstone River that would pipe water up to the town using the pressure from the river. Water had previously been hauled up in barrels. Two years later he installed a 75-lite Jenny Dynamo at his water plant and was able to put in electric lights at his hotel. By 1902 the land dispute with Cutler had been resolved and the rail tracks were extended into Gardiner that year, creating a prosperity boom for the town. That same year the newspaper Wonderland was first printed in town but only lasted until sometime in 1905. It is available online and can provide a wealth of information about those early days. First bridge over the Yellowstone in Gardiner in July 1902. It appears little development had taken place on the other side of the river. It did, however, provide good access to the mines at Jardine and Cooke City. [Photo courtesy George Eastman Museum , Rochester, NY] Swinging suspension bridge over the Yellowstone River in Gardiner. Built in 1914, it was located near where the current bridge was constructed in 1930, replacing the old thilling walk above the raging river. A young woman traveling in 1915 described her trek over the bridge: "The following morning we walk over the village, and one interesting place we visit is an extension bridge over the Gardiner river. It is built for pedestrians and is said to hold up to four people, but wait until you walk out to the center, where the bridge swings up and down with each step, while the rushing, foaming water beneath roars until you do not know whether you are going up or down; then you think it will not hold one." [Above Left: Photo courtesy Jeanie LaCombe Gregorich] Above Right: 1918 Photo courtesy YNP, Everett Judson Collection] Left: Photo of Gardiner in 1896. C.B. Scott's Saloon & Billiards, along with the Gardiner Hotel are plainly visible to the right. [Burton Holmes Travelogues, 1908] Right: The town of Gardiner in 1902. the Gardiner Hotel is center, with Tripp & Melloy's Park Saloon to its right, and C.B. Scott's establishment to its left. [Photo YNP #9130] Excerpt From a Newspaper Account of a Tourist's Travel to Yellowstone in Early 1883 "To a Land of Wonders - A Yellowstone Park Expedition SIx Years Ago" (Brooklyn Daily Eagle , Oct. 27, 1889) "Pushing up against the very boundaries of the reservation there is a veritable Shantyville, Gardiner City, an ideal squatter town, with the rudest houses made of unseasoned boards, with not a few tents mingling with the more pretentious huts, huddled together as though the land was valued by the foot and inch. We took the census of the city and found that of the thirty-two houses which made the settlement, twenty-eight were saloons, the other four being the inevitable bakers' and butchers' shops with a private bar attachment, although not wholly given to the local industry. The town had been built in expectation of being the railway terminus, but there were strange hints that the rails would end at Yankee Jim's, some miles below, and the enterprising squatters were trying to unload their real estate on such guiless tourists as came along. The mining boom was being worked, for a little yellow dust had been found in the prospector's pans; the entire region already was staked out in miners' claims, and in vision the citizens were possessed of millions." The Northern Pacific RR Comes to Town . . . The first train arrived in Gardiner on June 20, 1902. Since there was no turn-around yet, the train had to backup to Cinnabar until the following year. The Missoulian newspaper touted on June 26, 1902 that, “The grading of the Park branch extension was completed to Gardiner Saturday [June 21]. A temporary platform is being erected by the Northern Pacific at Gardiner and the first passenger train reached there Wednesday morning. After this date tourists to and from the Yellowstone park will board the cars at Gardiner instead of Cinnabar and will avoid an uninteresting four-mile stage drive over a bad road. The people of Gardiner will not celebrate the advent of the iron horse to that place until July 4, when they promise to do things up in great style.” Construction of the Gardiner Northern Pacific RR depot during the winter of 1902-03. [YNP #161764] In similar fashion, the Gardiner Wonderland newspaper reported on July 3rd that, “For the first time the regular passenger train on the Park branch ran into Gardiner and unloaded its passengers at the temporary depot and platform erected in the western part of town. Many of our citizens went down to greet the train and witness the fruition of their long deferred hopes. It may be now said that Gardiner in the terminus, although it will be some little time before freight, other than car lots, will be unloaded here. It is understood to be the intention to erect both a passenger and freight depot." Robert Reamer, architect of the Old Faithful Inn, designed the building and the firm of Deeks & Deeks was awarded the $20,000 construction contract on April 27, 1903. Above: View of depot, arch, and W.A. Hall store ca1905. [F.J. Haynes Postcard No. 183.] Above: Interior of the Gardiner Depot ca1905. [From original negative, author's collection. No reproduction without permission! ] Left: Interior of the Gardiner Depot in August of 1911. [Courtesy Utah Historical Soc, SHipler Collection] Right: Interior of the depot, ca1908. [Campbell's Guide, 1909] From the Railroad Gazette, April 29, 1904: "The grounds about, and in the rear of the station are nicely parked, there being within the highway loop a lake, lawns and shrubbery. The arch at the park entrance was designed and built by Major H. M. Chittenden, U. S. Engineers . . . and with its massive lines, rough finish and graceful design, is especially attractive. The corner stone of this arch was laid by President Roosevelt at the time of his trip through the park about a year ago. From each side of the arch there extends a stone wall of the same design and material, the one on the western side continuing around the loop to a point near the platform. The station at Gardiner was designed to harmonize with the other structures [Yellowstone]. It is essentially rustic and is built of native materials. The foundations and lower parts of the walls are rough boulders. The walls above, including the platform shelters are made of unbarked logs. The roof trusses, gables and ceilings are finished with similar material. The interior contains a large waiting room with fireplace, ticket office, express office, baggage room and toilet rooms. The rustic effect is also carried out in the interior, the doors, windows, settees, chandeliers, hardware, etc., all being in keeping with the general design. The projecting ends of logs are smoothed and polished, and where lumber is used for finishing it is of high grade and finely polished. Wrought nails, bearing on their heads the trade-mark of the company, are used wherever they will show. The fireplace at the end of the waiting room is broad and forms a pleasing feature of the interior." Above: Train at the depot preparing to unload freight & passengers, ca1905. [Glass slide, author digital collection] Above: View of depot and stages leaving for Yellowstone Park. Real-Photo postcard. Above: View of depot and carriage, 1909. [Photo from Archibald family collection] President Theodore Roosevelt’s Visit . . . . In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt engaged on a grand western tour, taking him to Chicago, north through Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. Roosevelt and his companion, famed naturalist writer John Burroughs, arrived at Gardiner, Montana by train on April 8, 1903. The two men were greeted by their host, acting-superintendent Major John Pitcher. The President, Mr. Burroughs, guide “Uncle Billy” Hofer, and an Army escort toured the park for several weeks. Upon their return, Roosevelt dedicated the stone arch that was being built at the entrance of Yellowstone Park. “Livingston. April 24.—Under a clear sky, surrounded by snow-covered mountain points that give grandeur and beauty to the National park and vicinity, tho cornerstone of the magnificent stone arch now being constructed by the government at the gateway to the nation’s pleasure ground was laid amid pomp and splendor this afternoon. It was a national event and one In which the chief executive of the nation participated. The reception tendered the president and the exercises were a complete success from the reception until the last note of the band died away in the recesses of the adjacent mountains. Tlte weather was all that could be asked for and the day throughout was one that would insure success to the undertaking.” [25Apr1903, Helena Independent Record ] Above: Dedication ceremonies for the Roosevelt Arch, 24Jul1903. Arch is to the left with the town of Gardiner in the background. Roosevelt Arch . . . . The Arch was built out of native stone in view of the new NPRy depot. Hiram Chittenden came up with the idea, and Robert Reamer designed the Arch It was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on April 24, 1903 and by September visitors were able to drive through the Arch via stagecoach to enter the park. Around 1904 a wire fence was built from the Arch north along the boundary as an attempt to protect antelope from being shot by local hunters. The field between the Arch and the Yellowstone Park Transportation buildings was used as a hayfield for elk feeding for many years. A stone gatehouse was built near the Arch in 1921 and used as a check-in station until it was razed in 1966. The Arch is also known as the North Entrance Arch. Dedication of Roosevelt Arch, from the Independent Record , Helena, April 25, 1903: The upper Yellowstone valley never looked better than on this occasion. The residents assisted largely in making the affair a success. They turned out en masse and gave a hearty welcome to the hundreds of visitors that thronged their doors. Gardiner, the gateway to the park, was bedecked in national colors in honor of the occasion. Flags and bunting were everywhere and with the martial music and soldiers from Fort Yellowstone the place took on a military appearance. It was a gala day. The miner, the prospector, the ranchman, all were there and lent valuable aid In making the event Interesting and appropriate. Hundreds of Montana's people were present to greet the president on his return from his visit into the wilds of the park, and to participate in the exercises incident to the laying of the cornerstone. Left: Headline for the dedication ceremony from the Helena Independent Record , 25Jul1903 Right: Construction of the arch, 1902. [YNP #37257] A bit of culture squeezes in amongst the legion of bawdy bar-rooms Top Left: 1st schoolhouse in Gardiner, built in 1885 of logs. It was lucky to survive the ravages of the 1889 fire. [Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] Top Right: The 2nd school built at the east end of Park St. around 1904. constructed of native stone. [Real-Photo postcard] Bottom Right: Around 1915, a 2nd story was added to the 1904 schoolhouse, primarily due to the finances and work of Larry Link and Frank Holem. They postponed payment for their services until the school district could afford it. A new school was built in the area below the Arch in 1951. [Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] Left: Gardiner Union Church was built in 1904-05 as a community church for the benefit of all residents. Fundraising and construction of the building was spearheaded by WA Hall, CB Scott, LH Link, F. Holem. A committee was formed to raise funds, using dinners, bazaars, horse races, games of chance, and other activities. Harry Child of the YPTCo donated the land for the church. Most everyone in town either gave money or donated their labor in the effort. Larry Link hauled the rock and supervised construction. Mr. Kurtz was the stonemason. Construction was completed in July of 1905. Maintenance and upkeep of the building was provided by a women’s group called the Gardiner Guild. In 1948 the church became known as the Gardiner Community Church. [Photo courtesy Gardiner Historic Resource Survey] Left: St. Williams Catholic Church was constructed in 1954. The congregation used a Great Northern rail car for services from 1915 until the 1930’s. According to the Great Falls Tribune on Dec. 24, 1954, "Dedication of the new St. William’s Catholic Church at Gardiner will take place after the first of the year. Although the church is not quite completed, the first mass was celebrated in it last Sunday afternoon by Msgr. John E. Regan, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Livingston, of which Gardiner is one of the missions. He was for many years pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Great Falls." The church was built of travertine from the quarry a few miles above town. [Real-Photo postcard] The Gardiner Opera House aka Eagle's Hall, was constructed in 1910 on the north side of Main St., between 2nd & 3rd Streets. It featured a large hall for staging theatrical performances and moving pictures for the enjoyment of Gardiner residents. It was built from local stone. The Fraternal Order of Eagles was founded in 1898. Gardiner’s chapter, known as an “aerie,” was established six years later in 1904 and dubbed Aerie #669. Meetings were held in the Gardiner opera house. The Gardiner Eagles later took over possession of the facilities until they were disbanded around 1969. The autos were part of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. fleet. They were awaiting gas from the Gardiner Garage's single gas pump across the street. [Photos courtesy Whithorn Collection, Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] Gardiner Post Office The post office was established in Gardiner on February 19, 1880. James McCartney becomes the first postmaster, serving until Sept. 17, 1883. By the early 1900s, the M.H. Link Post Office Store operated the PO. From 1936-1939, J.J. Moore’s store maintained the PO, and from 1939-1960, it was housed in the W.A. Hall store. In 1960, a new post office was completed on West Main St, the first time it had its own building. By 1998 the post office in the growing town had proved too small and a new facility was built on Hwy 89, near the new North Entrance Shopping Center. [Photo, Great Falls Tribune, 21Feb1960] Yellowstone Park Transportation Co moves in south of town . . . . . With arrival of the Northern Pacific to Gardiner, YP Transportation Co. began creating storage facilities for the stagecoaches and horses, and bunkhouses for the stage drivers and related employees. These were created at the southeast of town along the Gardiner River around 1904-05. They were beautifully crafted stone and wood buildings utilizing designs by Robert Reamer. These included the large stable capable of housing 125 head of horses, and an open-sided carriage storage building featuring stone pillars. A duplex structure provided driver bunkhouse and mess facilities. When the transportation system was motorized in 1917, the former carriage house and stables were used for the White Motor Co. automobile fleet. The Butte Daily Post remarked on May 9, 1906 that, “The Transportation company anticipates a large business. The company is erecting a mammoth barn at Gardiner. There are sixty men now employed on the structure, which will house many of the horses used by the company. The company has a great barn at Mammoth Hot Springs, from where all its passengers make the start throughout the park, but it was found desirable to have stables at Gardiner, where stages meet the trains.” Top: Construction of the new horse barns in Gardiner in 1906. It was located in the area in front lf the current bunkhouse. [Photo author's digital collection] Bottom: Horse Barns in Gardiner in 1915. The building has a remarkable resemblance to the current Xanterra Bunkhouse, located closer to the Gardiner River. This building would have been torn down around 1925 during construction of the new concrete auto storage building. No doubt parts of it were used for the bunkhouse. [Photo courtesy Rawhide Johnson] Top: Stage driver's bunkhouse and mess in the foreground. The Carriage House is to its left. followed by the horse barn. 1917 photo by Jack Haynes. [YNP #199718-60] Bottom: Close-up of driver's bunkhouse and mess in 1915. the building survives as an employee duplex for Xanterra Parks & Resorts. [Photo courtesy Rawhide Johnson] Fire at Mammoth and new modern transportation buildings in Gardiner . . . On March 30, 1925, fire broke out in the YPTCo main bus barn at Mammoth, which had been built in 1903-04 and designed by Robert Reamer. Within an hour, the entire barn was a total loss. Included in the damage were the smoldering ruins of about 93 vehicles, including 22 7-passenger White touring cars, 53 10-passenger White buses, and 18 other vehicles. One of the employees described part of the inferno, “Explosion of the large number of presto-light tanks which are part of the equipment of the busses, provided one of the spectacular features of the fire, Mr. Frazer said. Exploding like giant firecrackers, some of the tanks shot into the air a distance of 100 feet, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.” The opening of the summer season would arrive in a mere 2-1/2 months and the vehicles had to be replaced! Harry Child, head of the hotel and transportation companies, quickly got in touch with Walter White of the White Motor Company. Negotiations were soon finalized for the purchase of ninety model 15/45 buses, along with 9 service trucks. The White company scrambled together all their resources and was able to have the new vehicles arrive in time for the opening of the 1925 season. Photo of the tragic fire that destroyed the artistically-designed barn and garage at Mammoth in 1925. [Photo courtesy Bill Chapman] Coincidently, YPTCo had been constructing larger and more modern garage facilities in Gardiner. Although originally scheduled to open in the fall, this project too was rushed to completion in time for the June opening. This new facility included modern mechanics stalls, body and upholstery shops, carpenter shop, blacksmith shop, tire and battery shop, paint shop, and a coal-fired heating plant. The building is still in use and accommodates Xanterra Parks & Resorts Transportation facilities and Human Resource divisions. Around that time, a 2-story stone house was erected next to the driver’s bunkhouse, for the head of transportation, Fred Kammermeyer and his family, as their home had been destroyed in the fire. Top: The transportation garage and shops completed in time for the 1925 season. 1927 view. [Montana Historical Society #H-26469] Bottom: Concrete storage building for the vast auto fleet, also constructed in 1925. It replaced the artistically -designed barn and carriage shed. 1951 view. [YNP #32072] View of Park St. ca1905, from an original negative in the author's collection. No Publication or reproduction without permission. From Left to Right, there is the Park Hotel, the 2-story to the right is "General Merchandise." 2-story bldg in center is a Saloon, advertising Bozeman Beer, Toward the right is a 2-story false front OK Store - groceries, gen. merch. etc., and to its left is the M.H. Link Store. Eventually the Link family took over both buildings. A Trip to Gardiner in 1915 by a pair of Texas Ladies . . . Two young ladies from Denton, Texas describe the Northern Pacific Railroad Depot and Swinging Bridge in Gardiner when beginning a Yellowstone Park tour with the Shaw & Powell Camping Co . Misses Myrtle Cody, Writer of the Article, and Maida Edwards of Denton, were in the party which spent several days in Yellowstone Park" “Tells of Scenic Beauties” “We arrived in Gardiner, Montana, at 5:30 on June 25 [1915]. Gardiner is a typical Western village. It is all built on one side of the street at the north entrance of the Yellowstone Park. We step from out Pullman and we see a beautiful rustic depot built from unhewn pine logs and rough stones. It is a masterpiece of quaint architecture. “The inside of the depot is just as attractive as the outside. The big fireplace in one end of the waiting room with a split log mantle catches our eye. You glance around the room and see on the mantels and walls only decorations of nature, such as pine burrs, curious-shaped pieces of wood, different kinds of stones from the park, and elk horns. At the other end of the room is the ladies’ rest room with all modern conveniences. We would like to rest here awhile, but a twelve passenger coach awaits us at the door, with six big white, impatient horses, ready to carry us to the Shaw & Powell hotel, where we are to spend the night. “We are warmly greeted at the hotel and enjoy our stay overnight. The following morning we walk over the village, and one interesting place we visit is an extension bridge over the Gardiner river. It is built for pedestrians and is said to hold up to four people, but wait until you walk out to the center, where the bridge swings up and down with each step, while the rushing, foaming water beneath roars until you do not know whether you are going up or down; then you think it will not hold one. The coach leaves the hotel at 11:30 for first camp, which is Willow Park, and everyone is ready. The first and second coaches are full, but there is room in the third coach for our party and four more passengers. Denton Record-Chronicle (Texas) Thursday, August 12, 1915 Park Street in the 1920s & 1930s Top Left: Park St. in 1923. The store to the right in front of the old car, is the M.H. Link Store. Eventually the Link family owned the large bldg on the corner also, operating a grocery until 1966. To its left are two Menefee business, probably a saloon and billiards hall. Wm. Menefee drove stage in earlier days and later was a judge in Gardiner. [YNP #11347-7] Top Right: Park St. in the 1930s. To the right is the Grotto Cafe, with a small Lantern Cafe sign lower down. The M.H Link store is to its left, The 2-story bldg down the street is the Welcome Hotel, with a saloon or beer hall to its right. The Park Hotel is the next 2-story, with the Moore Store a few doors down. The W.A. Hall store is at the end of the street. Original photo has been cropped for clarity. [YNP #11347-7a] Bottom Left: Park St. in the 1930s, view from the east end of the street. The Shaw Hotel & Cafe to the right, The 2-story to its left was once the Gardiner Hotel, with what was C.B Scott's Saloon to its left. The Grotto Cafe and M.H. Link Store cab can be seen near the 3rd power pole. [Real-Photo postcard] Below: Park St . in 1939. J.J. Moore's Store to the left, next to the Arch Cafe, the old Park Hotel to its right. The next 2-story is the Welcome Hotel & Cafe, The Ranger Tavern is 3 doors down, in front of the car. Two doors down is the M.H. Link store and then the Grotto Cafe, next to the State 'Theater?'. The Shaw Hotel & Cafe is toward the end of the street. Photo has been cropped for clarity. [YNP #185327-492] Gardiner continues to grow in the 1920s and on . . . . Hwy 89 was extended into Gardiner on the east side of the Yellowstone River in 1926 and the old original dirt road from Yankee Jim Canyon to Cinnabar and Gardiner that navigated along the west side of the river became a secondary road. A concrete bridge was built over the Yellowstone River at its present site in 1929, tying the two sides of town together, encouraging more growth on the north side of town. Tourist courts began to emerge with motels later following that trend. The face of businesses on Park St. seemed to change regularly over the years. Ownerships changed hands, buildings were remodeled and expanded. And of course, the old nemesis - ‘fire’ - took its toll over the years - the Moore Store on Park St. in 1916, The Wylie Hotel and other buildings on Main St. in 1935, the Shaw Hotel in 1950, and the North Entrance Shopping Center on Park St. in 1971. Moore moved his business next to the Wylie Hotel, fine residences replaced the Wylie Hotel, the shopping center rebuilt and reopened, and the Town Club & Café replacd the old Shaw Hotel. No doubt other buildings added to the carnage along the way. But the town continued to grow and thrive, if even only seasonally. The new bridge over the Yellowstone River built in 1930. A community dance and picnic is held on the bridge to commemorate the opening. [Photo courtesy Ron Nixon Collection , Montana State Univ.] Early Hotels Serving the Needs of Tourist and Locals Alike Gardiner Hotel in center, w/C.B. Scott's Saloon to its left, ca1900. [YNP #37094] Gardiner Hotel This was operated by W.A. Hall in at least 1892. Early Sanborn maps showed a Gardiner Hotel located on Park St., about where the Shaw & Powell hotel was located some years later. In 1892, Hall began a Golden Rule Cash Store in Cinnabar and by 1891 he was proprietor of the Cinnabar Hotel. Hall moved his merchandise operations to Gardiner in 1903. A.L Roseborough was listed as being in charge of the hotel in Nov, 1902. The Gardiner Hotel is a rather ambiguous name, and tracking its history is difficult at best. Gardiner Hotel at right, w/C.B. Scott's Saloon to its left, ca1900. The hay wagon was probably one owned by Scott with delivery to the Army at Mammoth. [Univ. of Montana, Missoula, M81-0432] Park Hotel to the left, and 2-story General Merchandise to its right, part of the bottom of which was the Tripp & Melloy Park Saloon, 1905 [O riginal negative in the author's collection. No Publication or reproduction without permission. Ad for the Park Hotel and saloon, run by Walter Hoppe, son of Hugo Hoppe. [30Apr1903, Gardiner Wonderland] Park St. 1904, Park Hotel left of center, with General merchandise to its right. The other 2-story became the Welcome Hotel. [Stereoview, no markings on front of card.] Fitzgerald - Park Hotel S.M. Fitzgerald, having served as an Ass’t Superintendent in Yellowstone, moved to Gardiner in Jan. 1886. On July 17, 1887, The Livingston Enterprise announced that Fitzgerald, “has nearly completed a large hotel in Gardiner. It apparently was one of the few buildings to survive the great fire of 1889. Known as the Park Hotel, WW Wylie leased it in 1897 for his camping operation. Walter Hoppe purchased it in 1902 and reopened the hotel. The Park Hotel is a rather ambiguous name, and tracking its history is difficult at best, with numerous Park Hotels in Montana, and that it is regularly confused in newspapers with Yellowstone Park hotels. Cottage Hotel, early 1900s. The sign clearly reads Hotel, but the rest is unreadable. [Real-Photo, author's digital collection] Ad for the Dewing Hotel, [18Apr1905, Gardiner Wonderland] Cottage Hotel, early 1900s. The sign clearly reads Hotel, but the rest is unreadable. [Yellowstone Gateway Museum , 2006-044-0168] Dewing Hotel - Cottage Hotel - Gateway Hotel Located on E. Main St, on the north side ( Lot 2, Block 11). Isaac D. McCutcheon, who platted the area, originally owned the property. Augustus T. French purchased the lot on 12/8/1890 from McCutcheon. It was sold to James McCartney the following year. The hotel was in existence by at least 1905 and run by John H. Dewing. At some time the wife of Jim ’One-Eyed’ Parker ran the hotel. John F. Curl and his wife Zona sold their properties in Cooke City and moved to Gardiner around 1915 and ran the Cottage Hotel. John died October 1, 1924. For a time it was operated by Bob & Anne (Sommerville) Jones, and became known as the Gateway Hotel by at least 1950. It is currently used as an apartment complex on Main Street. Welcome Hotel George Welcome established the City Restaurant in Gardiner by 1885, and in early 1886 it was announced he was preparing to open a hotel in conjunction with the restaurant located on Park St. By June 1886 ads for the City Hotel were running in the Livingston Enterprise, with his wife as proprietor and George running the saloon. The hotel burned down in the great fire of 1889. After that, the family seems to have moved to Jardine and conducted businesses in that mining town. He was also at various times a businessman at Horr and Cooke City. At some point a new hotel and restaurant were built and by the mid-1920s, was operated by George Welcome, Jr. until sometime in the 1950s. George passed in 1958. A hotel continued to operate at that location at least into the 1970s. Top Left: View of Park St. in 1939. The Welcome Hotel & Restaurant is the 2-story at the left. Photo cropped for clarity. [YNP #185327-492] Top Right: Park St. in 1960. The Cafe and Hotel sign can be seen mid-left. The Ranger Tavern is at right, with Callison's Walgreen Drugs to its left and Yankee Jim's Souvenir and gift shop next to the Welcome. [YNP #28326-2] Left: 1886 ad for George Welcome's City Hotel & Saloon. [12Jun1886, Livingston Enterprise ] Top : Shaw & Powell Camping Co. Hotel, with guests ready for a 5-6 day tour of Yellowstone. [Yellowstone Gateway Museum #1317] Bottom : Shaw's Hotel & Cafe, 1930s, looking rather rundown. [Author's digital collection] Park St. in Gardiner, late 1940s. Note the Shaw Hotel & Cafe on right. Photo has been cropped for clarity. [YNP #33335] Shaw & Powell Hotel - Shaw Hotel & Cafe The Shaw & Powell Camping Co. initially brought guests into Yellowstone from the north entrance and in 1909 officially opened the Shaw & Powell Hotel in Gardiner to serve their guests before and after their arrival on the Northern Pacific train. They had been leasing the lot since 1907, and the Sanborn Insurance map of Gardiner in 1907 showed a "Gardiner Hotel" on the site at that time. The S&P Hotel may have been remodeled by the Shaw family for their hotel. Previously, the corner was occupied by C.B. Scott. In the early 1920s, the hotel name changed to the Shaw Hotel & Cafe, owned and operated by Walter Shaw and his wife from 1922-25, Walter also guided tours through the park to the Cooke City area where he operated Shaw’s Goose Lake Camp. Walter drowned in the Yellowstone River in 1925 and his family continued to operate the hotel until 1944. At that time it was sold to Hugh Crossen and J.D. Winters who operated it under the name Park Hotel and Café. They sold it to Paul Spradlin a few years later and in 1950 the hotel burned down, killing two persons. Crossen repurchased the property and built the Town Club & Café utilizing the original stone back and side walls. The property changed hands several times until 1969 when it passed into the hands of Don Laubach. The family still operates the business under the name Town Motel, Lounge, and Café sometime into the 2000s, when other parties took it over. It was torn down around 2019 by new owners.. Wylie Hotel, ca1915. Next door is the Moore's Park Store, selling postcards, tourist curios, etc. [YNP #9555] The tragic fire of Jan. 8, 1935. The Wylie Hotel is at the left, and the former Moore's Store at right. [Photo courtesy Jeanie LaCombe Gregorich] Wylie Hotel, Sept. 7, 1914. Note the changes made in first photo. To the left is the Community Church, completed in 1905. [Tourist photo album, author digital collection]] Wylie Hotel W.W. Wylie and his Wylie permanent Camps Co. originally leased the Park Hotel in 1897 from S.M. Fitzgerald for the use of his guest arriving and departing Gardiner. He apparently used this hotel for about 5-6 years. With the arrival of the railroad to Gardiner, Wylie decided to build a new hotel. Construction began in early May and no doubt opened in time for the new season. The Gardiner Wonderland noted in the spring that, “Wylie is building a barn on Stone St. in Gardiner, facing the RR tracks. Work on his new hotel is progressing rapidly. The Wylies had purchased lots on Main St. north of the WA Hall Store to build the hotel.” The hotel was located on West Main St. behind the A.W. Hall store, which also opened in 1903. In mid-July 1905, the Wonderland announced, “W.W. Wylie has commenced the erection of a large annex to the Wylie hotel which will consist of an office and about forty more sleeping rooms.” After the season of 1905, Wylie sold his camping operation to A.W. Miles, who was secretly backed by Harry Child. Miles named the new company Wylie Permanent Camping Co. The Wylie Hotel continued to operate for another 25 years. In 1917 The Wylie and Shaw & Powell Camping Cos. were merged, and the new Yellowstone Park Camping Co. no doubt assumed ownership of the hotel. At some point the hotel also housed the Lark Lunch Room. Little is known of the details of the hotel in later years. Tragically, the hotel burned down on January 8, 1935. Early Businesses in Gardiner Serving Tourists and Townsfolk Early Saloons Top Left: Larry Link Saloon, ca1890. It catered to locals and soldiers from the Park alike. It later became the Ranger Bar. It is located at the far left on photo top right. [CF Finn photo, YNP Archives] Top Right: Park St. in 1890. The Ranger Tavern is at far left, CB SCott's Saloon & Billiards is at right on the corner. The Gardiner Hotel is to it right and Tripp & Melloy's Park Saloon was located right of the hotel (out of photo) Photo cropped for clarity. [YNP #33307] Left: 1903 ad for Lawrence Link's Saloon and Club Rooms. [9Jul1903, Livingston Enterprise ] Right: Tripp & Melloy Park Saloon, ca1900, run by Dan Tripp and Jerry Melloy. It was later run by Harry Lloyd. George mack took over the business in 1910 and installed a barber chair. A wire screen was installed around the chair to keep drunks from falling into barber patrons. [YNP #37097] Top: Tripp & Melloy Saloon with the Park Hotel at its left. Note the barber pole out front, this would date the photo to post-1910. There is a bath house between, probably in conjunction with the barber shop. The saloon continued to operate in a shared space. Bottom Right: Ad for Park Saloon, Tripp & Melloy. [30Apr1903, Gardiner Wonderland ] Ranger Tavern at Left Top Left: Park St. 1939, showing Ranger Tavern, the 3rd bldg from left. The M.H. Link Store is two doors to its right. In the 1890s, the Ranger was oringinally known as the Link Saloon (See above). The Ranger Tavern re-opened after the repeal of prohibition by Roy ‘Two-Spot’ Brown. He built a house on the old Wylie Hotel site [YNP #185327-493] Bottom Right: Interior of Ranger Tavern, undated. [Photo courtesy Dave Pompper] M.H. Link Post Office Store Top Left: M.H. Link Post Office Store, ca1908. Established by Mike H. Link in the early 1900’s, it was located on Park St., the 3rd store from the intersection with Hwy. 89. Otilla Link was postmaster from 1904 to 1908. By the early 1920’s it was known as the M.H. Link Store. Son Hubert later ran the business and expanded it greatly. He sold out to Gordon Evans in 1966. The Billings Gazette announced in June, “Councilman Gordon Evans [Livingston] has announced his resignation. Evans has purchased Link’s Shopping Center in Gardiner and plans to move to Gardiner about the first of July. He also owns Evans Grocery in Livingston.” Evans operated the Gardiner store under the name of North Entrance Shopping Center. Mr. Evans passed away in Feb. 1971, and a mere two months later, the store, operated by his wife, burned down. The store was rebuilt and operated until 1994 when owners Deb & Larry Demaree, opened a new spacious store on Hwy 89 on the site of the Mountain View Motel. Top Right: Interior of M.H. Link Store, 1900. Mike Link was the brother of businessman Larry Link. [YNP #37098] J.J. Moore Souvenir Store Left: J.J. Moore's Souvenir Store, selling, postcards, Yellowstone views, park souvenirs & novelties. Next door is the Wylie Hotel. View ca1916. [YNP #9555] Right: Moore's Park Souvenir Store, 1939, located on the west end of Park St. The W.A. Hall store would be toward its left. The Wylie Hotel burned in Jan. 1935, and Moore had moved his store sometime before that. Image cropped for clarity. [YNP #185327-493] J.J. Moore seems to have started business in Gardiner around 1903 when he operated a jewelry store out of the new W.A. Hall store. By 1904 he advertised “Do you need anything in jewelry or silverware or a pair of new glasses?” He listed himself as a Jeweler and Optician in the ad. At some point in time he moved into his own store on Park Street that burned in 1916. Sometime after that he opened a souvenir shop in the old Park Hotel on Main Street. It was located east of the Wylie Hotel. During the 1914-16 seasons (at least) he was a stockholder in the Shaw & Powell Camping Co. By 1935 the Moore Store moved to Park St., near the W.A. Hall store and his old store was being used as a telephone office. Around that time the business was advertised as being in the Post Office Bldg. Sale items included: ice cream and soft drinks, candies, cigars, fishing tackle, Kodak supplies, views, guide books, park souvenirs, and groceries. Advertising card from the J.J. Moore Souvenir Store. Likely dated 1903-1916. The Van Dyke & Deever meat market opened in 1895 at the corner of 2nd (Hwy89) and Main St. Van Dyck built the stone house across the street from the market for his residence in 1903. By the early 1900s the meat company was doing considerable business supplying beef and pork to the Army at Yellowstone, and by 1902, they were supplying all the park hotels and camps with meat. In May of 1919, Walter J. Hill, of Hill & McClelland Cattle Co., purchased all of L.H. Van Dyck’s holdings in Gardiner and Park County. Van Dyck & Deever Meat Market K-Bar Cafe & Club From the Billings Gazette, April 1, 1972. At least by the 1940s, the business was a bar and café. Jack Taylor purchased the K-bar in 1972 saying, “he bought a combination bar and restaurant last fall, hoping the legislature would authorize gambling as it had been authorized to do by the new constitution. “I’d be fooling if I said I didn’t speculate when I bought this . . I thought this was an ideal time to buy.” [Mt Standard, 27May1973] The K-Bar was later purchased by Dick & Irene Herriford, who operated the bar and restaurant for 20 years before selling the business and building the Absaroka Lodge. [Real-Photo postcard, author collection] Holem & Pilger - Gardiner Garage Frank Holem & Henry J. Pilger built a stone gas station on the corner of 2nd and Main St. around 1925 (across from the current K-Bar). They later greatly expanded the business. In May 1932, the business incorporated as Gardiner Garage Inc., of Gardiner, in Park county, with capital stock of $50,000. Directors were Frank and Minnie M. Holem and Henry J. and Elizabeth M. Pilger, all of Gardiner. Frank Holem had moved to Gardiner in 1893 as an itinerant blacksmith, gradually learning to repair automobiles as time went on. [Photo cropped from company Christmas card, author's collection] Grotto Cafe Located on Park St., near the intersection of 2nd St. first opened in 1905. According to the Gardiner Wonderland in Aug 1905, "The Grotto Cafe recently opened to the public by C.W. Wardloe [Wardlow?], at the old Elk Restaurant stand, is doing nicely with the trade constantly increasing. Mr. Wardlow certainly runs a first-class house, has nothing but the best of cooks, and his tables are supplied with the best the market affords. He desires your patronage. When in town call on him and get a square meal." The building continued to be viewed in photos next to the M.H. Link Store from the 1930-40s, but by sometime in the 1950s an empty lot began appearing. [Real-Photo postcard, cropped for clarity] O.K. Cash Store Located on the corner of Park St. and 2nd in 1900, it was operated by George (G.E.) and Mamie Settergren. Advertisements were common in the short-lived Gardiner Wonderland. Little else is known about the store. The O.K. Grocery Store was operated in the 1890's by Jos. Dailey, but unknown if same building. Top Left: The OK Store, next to the M.H. Link store, ca1905. [Goss Negative] Top Right: Ad for the O.K. Grocery Store, run by Jos. Dailey. [Livingston Enterprise , 25Jan1890] Right: Ad for G.E. Settergren's O.K. Cash Store. [Gardiner Wonderland, 26May1902] C.E. Wilcox Jewelry and Pictures This store was located on Park St. between the Moore Store and Welcome Hotel, in the small building that was once the Deli. It was run by Clarence Eugene "Gene" Wilcox and his wife Gina, beginning around 1927. They sold jewelry, quartz and agates crafts. Gene also specialized in clock repair and published several wildlife postcards. He died in his store in early 1971, preceded by his wife in 1958. An auction for sale of the goods and equipment was held in June 1971. Advertisement from the Gardiner-Gateway Gazette, 30 May 1940 W.A. Hall Store Above: The W.A. Hall Store in the 1930s. Next to it is a gas station operated by the Hall Company, with the Roosevelt Arch to the left. Behind them on Main St., is the Wylie Hotel. [Cropped image from a W.A. Hall Christmas card, author's collection] Bottom Left: Early image of the W.A. Hall Store on West Park St. Their claim to fame was that, "We Sell Everything." [YNP #37081, ca1905] Bottom Right: Undated early photo of the W.A. Hall Store. The window signs indicate a drug store at the right end of building. [Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] W.A. Hall Store William A. Hall built this store in Gardiner near the Arch and rail depot in 1903 and provided all of the basic necessities of life for the tourist, hunter, and resident. The large upstairs was home to many community dances in its heyday. The building was originally designed by architect Robert Reamer, but due to cost and time considerations, the building was modified to simplify and speed up construction. Hall originally ran stores in Cinnabar and Aldridge, but with the opening of the railroad to Gardiner, he started a new store here. The Cinnabar store closed right after his move and he left Aldridge after the coal strike of 1904-05. The store was a Golden Rule store, the forerunner of the J.C. Penny franchise. Hall later moved to Bozeman and his sons Earl, Warren, and James operated the store until 1955 and sold the building in 1961 to Cecil Paris. The building still stands and was home to a variety of businesses, including laundromat, bookstore, coffee shop, video store, TV cable service, and gift shop for many years. In 2008 the Yellowstone Association, the nonprofit education foundation that benefits the park is committed $4 million to buy the property and an adjoining lot and refurbish the 12,000-square-foot building to create its new headquarters. The association spent $2.9 million renovating the building and in April 2009 moved its headquarters from Mammoth to the new facility. The building now houses the offices, an educational store, a visitor information desk, two classrooms and a display on the building's history. Undated photo of the interior of the W.A. Hall Store. [Courtesy Yellowstone Association] W.A. Hall Conoco Service Station, ca1920s. [Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] W.A. Hall Store after it became Cecil's Fine Foods. The Four Bears Curio shop was located at the left end. The large neon signs on the roof lit up that end of town for many a year. [Real-Photo postcards, 1960s] W.S. & A.F. Berry Photographic Studio Above : Deck of Wildflower Post Cards. Published By W.S. & A.F. Berry. Set of 12 Each Measured 5.5" x 3.5" with divided backs. The set of cards were "Made in Germany" and dated 1905. Flowers Include: Harebell, Gentian, Mentzelia, Wild Rose, Monkshood, Lupine, Bitter-Root, Flax, Larkspur, Iris, Indian Paint Brush, and Columbine Above Left : Typical postcard trademarks. The earlier cards used the Red Emblem, front & back, while later cards simply had the credit line on the reverse. William Sanford Berry was born December 1866 in Indiana and passed away December 1948 in Pomona, Calif. Aurinda "Aurie" Sophronia Ferris Berry was born Jun 1872 in Illinois, and passed on October 1950 in Pomona, Calif. The Berry family moved into Gardiner in 1902 and established a photo studio in a tent at the north end of town. According to Ruth Quinn, the couple purchased two lots on Main St. in 1911 and had a new building constructed called the Gardiner Studio.. The husband and wife team produced at least 60 known postcards of the Yellowstone area. Many of them featured beautiful fauna and flora depictions, while stagecoaches were featured in several others. Documentary-type photos were also taken in nearby communities. Larger format photos were vailable, 4x5", 5x7" & 8x10", in either glossy or dull finishes. During the sixteen years they spent in Gardiner, one or both of them established temporary studios in other Montana towns to supplement their income. A son was born in 1912 - Ferris Milton Berry, who spent most of his career in the Air Force. The family moved out of Gardiner in 1918 and according to Find-a-Grave.com, W.S. served as "warden of Sully's Hill Game Preserve at Fort Totten ND; the preserve being established by President Teddy Roosevelt to help rebuild the herds of elk, deer, and bison which had been over hunted nearly to extinction. After several Dakota winters, William decided there was too much pioneering at Fort Totten for a man his age and in 1920 moved his family to sunny Long Beach CA; and in 1926 relocated to Pomona." They passed away in 1948 & 1950 respectively and were buried in the local cemetery. Unfortunately no photos have yet been located of their studio or of themselves. Tourist Camps & Motels Begin to Replace Hotels in the 1920s - 1960s Reifsteck Cabins These were run by Mrs. Viola Reifsteck, perhaps beginning in the late 1920s. According to the Billings Gazette in 1966, "Mrs. Viola Reifsteck, 79, of Gardiner died Tuesday in a Livingston hospital She was born Oct 27, 1886 at e Perry, Iowa. She came to Gardiner in the early 1920's and then operated a tourist court for many years. Her husband, Phillip F., preceded her in death in 1943. Surviving are a son, Lewis, of Gardiner, one grandson and several brothers and sisters." Hy-Grade Cabins - Hy-Grade Auto Court - Hygrade Motel The Hy-Grade Auto Court Co. was founded in May 1931 by Ed Travaskis, D.T. White, and Lawrence McmAhon. Deade White owned and operated the Hy-Grade Motel in Gardener from 1935 until 1964, possibly with Travaskis for a few years. In 1965, the Montana Standard-Post reported the, “HyGrade Motel at Gardiner has been purchased by Levi Haynes of Gardiner and Ray Yardley Jr. of Livingston, from owner Vaughn Kearns. The new owners said the motel will be closed during the winter months. The North Gate Texaco gas station was added in 1948 and operated under a lease to other persons. When Hwy 89 was widened and improved through Gardiner in the early 1970s, the portion of land upon which the gas station was located, was condemned by the state highway dept for the right-of-way. In 1990, the Absaroka Lodge, owned by Dick & Irene Herriford, replaced the old cabin units with new multi-story guest rooms, retaining the unique stone pillars at the entry way to greet motel visitors. Left: Hy Grade Auto Court & Texaco Station. Postcard ca1950s. Center: Matchbook from the Hy-Grade Auto Court Right: Hygrade Motel, early 1970s. Hwy 89 had been widened and Texaco Station removed. Left : Current photo of Absaroka Lodge , with historic stone pillars. Jim Bridger Log Cabins Located at the north end of town on Hwy. 89, George A. Larkin was noted as proprietor of the cabins in March 1940 (The Missoulian ). The same newspaper mentioned David Fraker as owner of the Jim Bridger Motel Court in Dec. 1972. Another paper called it the Jim Bridger Motor Court in 2016. Jim Kemp built the Best Western motel next door and took possession of the Cabins. The central office building was moved in 1991 to make way for the new First Interstate Bank building. In 2019 Delaware North bought out the Best Western Motel, Rusty Rail Restaurant & Saloon, and the Jim Bridger Cabins. The cabins were moved from the premises in 2020 under new owners. Top Left : Jim Bridger Log Cabins, Real-Photo postcard, ca1940s, probably soon after construction. Note the complete lack of vegetation on site. Top Right : Jim Bridger Log Cabins, ca1950s. Real-Photo postcard. Left: Jim Bridger Auto Court, ca1960s postcard. Mountain View Motel In 1940, the Mountain View Cabins were run by Lester J. Spangelo. Morris & Ida Demaree purchased and operated the motel in 1975 until May 1984 when they retired. Many of the units were torn down when the new Gardiner grocery store was built around that time. Larry & Debra Demaree, relatives of the couple, owned and operated the grocery store for many years and it is still in the family. Postcard ca1960s. The Town Motel and Café The Town Cafe sat on the site of the old Shaw & Powell Hotel, dating from the early 1900s. The Shaw family continued to operate the hotel until 1944, when it was sold to Hugh Crossen and J.D. Winters who operated it under the name Park Hotel and Café. They sold it to Paul Spradlin a few years later and in 1950 the hotel burned down, killing two persons. Crossen repurchased the property and built the Town Club & Café utilizing the original stone back and side walls. The motel was built a few years later. The property changed hands several times until 1969 when it passed into the hands of Don Laubach. The family still operates the business under the name Town Motel, Lounge, and Café sometime into the 2000s. Sadly, it was torn down around 2019 by new owners, including the historic stone wall remnants. Left: 1960s postcard view of the Town Cafe & Motel. Right: Town Steakhouse and Motel ad, 1Apr1972, Billings Gazette Wilson Motel - Yellowstone River Motel The Wilson Motel began around 1947 by LeRoy & Agnes Wilson on the east end of Park St. They operated it until 1970 when they retired to Bozeman, Mont., and Sun City Ariz. At that time Paul Deweese took over the motel and operated until his death in 1989. His family has continued to run the motel since that time, changing the name to Yellowstone River Motel at some point. Top Left : The Wilson Motel, postcard ca1950s. Right: Wilson Motel postcard, ca1960s Left : Yellowstone River Motel , current photo. Westernaire Motel Located toward the north side of town, on the east side of Hwy 89, it was owned by Dick & Irene Herriford, owners of the Absaroka Lodge. The motel has been torn down in the past 4-5 years and has been replaced by the Yellowstone Big Rock Inn, also under the auspices of the Absaroka Lodge. Postcards ca1960-70s Change is inevitable. Change is constant. Benjamin Disraeli The End of Rail Service to the Gateway of Wonderland . . . . Scheduled passenger rail service to Gardiner ended in 1948, although freight service, along with an occasional special tourist train continued until 1954-55. Three trainloads of Girls Scouts brought in at the end of Aug. 1955 were reportedly the last train passengers to arrive in Gardiner. Political wrangling caused the beautiful NP depot to be demolished in 1954 by the backward-thinking Park authorities at the time, and another beautiful historic building was lost to history. It was replaced with a rather mundane-looking building that currently houses the public library, Sheriff’s Office, and Water Dept. A small public park occupies the former pond are and a beautiful log shelter with picnic tables has recently been added. The former railroad lands were eventually offered up for sale and a new public school was built on a portion of that land in 1951. Much of the school burned down in November of 1985 and was rebuilt in the ensuing years. The Changing Face of Progress . . . . A boom in the late 1980’s and through the early 2000’s saw much new construction along the Hwy89 section of town. The grocery store moved from Park St. to Hwy 89 on the north side of town and a new Post Office was erected nearby in the past decade. New hotels inundated the town for a period of years, including a Best Western, Comfort Inn, and Super 8, Yellowstone Village Inn & Suites, Absaroka Lodge (Hygrade Site), Yellowstone Park Travel Lodge, Yellowstone Gateway Inn, Yellowstone River Inn (Wilson Motel), and others in the late-2010s. Most of the older-style mom & pop motels from the 1940-50’s era were either shut down or forced to upgrade to compete with the big chain hotels. Park St. in the 1950s & 1960s - Postcard Views Real-Photo postcard, ca late-1940s at left. Notice the empty lot between the 2-story and M.H. Link store, where the Grotto Cafe formerly stood. The postcard on the right, ca1950s, the Town Cafe, with the Town Club occupying the old C.B. Scott bldg on the corner. 1950s postcard at left looking toward the East at dusk. The Welcome Cafe is still at the left, with Yankee Jim's to it right, followed by the Ranger Tavern, the Blue Goose and the Link Store. 1960s postcard at right looking toward the West. The old C.B. Scott building has been replaced by a Texaco gas station. To the left, the Link Store has expanded into the formerly empty lot. The 21st Century Come to Town . . . . The recent trend of converting apartments to vacation rentals has stricken seasonal and permanent renters alike in this land-locked town that has never had adequate rental housing. The town continues to thrive, although changes and uncertainly in the snowmobile policies of Yellowstone Park have lessened that business considerably over the years. And despite the concerns of the anti-wolf crowd, the area continues to attract many hunters in the fall and winter due to the thousands of elk that migrate out of the park into the surrounding Forest Service lands. The wolves, hated by some and adored by others have created their own cottage industry of avid wolf-watchers. In recent years the white-water rafting business has burgeoned and supports at least five businesses catering to this adventure crowd. Hopefully this rampant commercialism will not drive away the very people required to maintain this huge service industry due to lack of affordable housing, as had happened in all too many other resort towns throughout the West. The changes wrought in this small town during the past 30 years have been significant, and the face of the town has been transformed. It is not the intention to delve into this ‘modern’ history. The author will leave that to a future history junkie. From Left to Right: Park St. 1999, by Jim Peaco, NPS; 2009; and a 2010s Google Earth Street View.

Camping in the Yellowstone The Smaller Camping Companies E.V. Blankenship, Alfred Lycan, Marshall Bros., A.W. Chadbourne 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 th e author. Introduction During the early years of Yellowstone’s status as the first national park the administration was conducted by civilian appointees. From the park’s inception in 1872 until 1886 supervision and governance varied between almost none at all to the fairly effective administration of Philetus Norris. Overall though, performance was ineffective and the US Army was brought into the park in 1886 to set things right. Day-to-day activities were supervised by a Cavalry Acting Superintendent with major decisions being referred to the Dept. of Interior. Camping activities in the park were mostly unregulated until the 1890s. The “Army Files” in the Yellowstone NP Archives show correspondence and a permitting system regulating commercial camping parties beginning at least by 1895. Around that time permits were issued (or denied) for “Personally Conducted” camping expeditions, i.e. the permit-holder had to physically be in charge of the camping party through the park. The Army Files indicate that at least 85 individuals applied for camping permits between 1895-1913. And certainly many more operated without the benefit of being officially sanctioned. Some of these permitted persons only conducted trips for one or two seasons. Others, such as Alfed Lycan of Bozeman, the Marshall Bros. of Livingston MT, E.V. Blankenship, the Scott brothers of Gardiner, the Roseborough brothers, and George Wakefield operated for a multitude of years. The camping outfits discussed in my previous web pages generally fell under a different tracking system. In this chapter I will be summarizing the operations of Alfred Lycan , the Marshall Bros. , E.V. Blankenship , and A.W. Chadbourne . Blankenship & Company Edwin V Blankenship (more commonly E.V. Blankenship) operated a moveable camps company in Yellowstone that was based out of Bozeman MT. Records indicate he was in business for at least the years 1896 to 1912. It was originally known as Blankenship & Morgan, but by 1898 became E.V. Blankenship Co. An undated brochure from the company proclaimed: “A Pleasant Sojourn Through Wonderland – Ten Days Camping in the Greatest and Grandest Pleasure Resort in the World.” The brochure explained that a ten-day trip from Cinnabar cost $30 and two weeks on the road from Bozeman was $35. Three-seated covered spring wagons were used with “careful experienced drivers.” The company claimed to have the best cooks obtainable to “satisfy the great appetite that people acquire after a few days’ travel in the Rocky Mountains.” Food was an important part of the camping experience and advertisements for most of the various camping companies generally played up that aspect of the sojourn. Blankenship & Morgan Camping Co. Among the earliest ads for Blankenship. [May 1896, College Exponent, Bozeman College] The company petitioned to be able to leave equipment and supplies at designated campsites in 1909, with the idea of creating permanent sites, but the request was denied. Later requests to built log cabins at their sites were also denied. The Interior was opposed to expanding the permanent camp system any more than necessary. William W. Wylie had obtained the valuable concession for semi-permanent camps in 1893, which by 1898 had become permanent, but it was a risky year-by-year business with no guaranteed permits for future years. By 1912 though, Shaw & Powell and Tex Holm were able to establish some permanent camps in the park and after that time Blankenship seems to have vanished from the Yellowstone scene. E.V. Blankenship, Yellowstone Park Transportation There were six 10-day camp trips scheduled for the summer of 1898. Click to enlarge. [June 1898, College Exponent, Bozeman College] Excerpts Yellowstone National Park - A Pleasant Sojourn Through Wonderland Ten Days Camping in the Greatest and Grandest Pleasure Resort in the World. “A camping trip, especially through the Park, has something about it that is really enticing; it has been so to those who have ever had an opportunity of experiencing the novelty and pleasure of it. After a few days out camping, tourists, who were formerly strangers, form a friendship that is lasting and true, while tourists who go through otherwise, pass through the same routine that they would in city life, without pleasure and without the novelty of camping. “We kindly invite the people, from far and near, to join one of our camping parties through this wonderland. Those who have gone through with the former Blankenship & Morgan, have all expressed their entire satisfaction with our camping plan and the general hospitality shown them throughout. It was our purpose to please the tourists, and as the successors of the company, we pledge our faith and honor that it shall continue to be so.” Blankenship & Co. National Park Camping Excursions Care of: E.V. Blankenship, Lock Box 809 Bozeman, Mont. The Alfred Lycan Camping Company Alfred Lycan, a resident of Bozeman, Montana, operated his camping company in Yellowstone from at least 1895 to 1913. His personally conducted tours, organized in Bozeman or Gardiner, utilized portable camps that departed from Cinnabar until 1902 and Gardiner from 1903-1914, on a regular basis throughout the summer. Tours were generally 1 to 1-1/2 weeks in length. In 1913 the Butte Miner announced that the Lycan Camping Co. had been sold to H.P. Grant and F.L Dissly, both students of the Bozeman Agricultural College (MSU). They continued to operate through the 1913 and 1914 seasons, but still under the Lycan name. Information for 1915 season has not been located. Several ads in the June 1908 editions of the Anaconda Standard quote some general details: “Yellowstone National Park trip covers one week's tour of park. We will furnish wall tents, carpets, wire sprlngs (keeping bed from ground), full bedding outfit, including mattress. Best available cooks. Camp at prominent points. We show our tourists through park. Address at Bozeman, Mont., (before July 1; after that, Gardiner, Mont.) The Lycan Camping Co.” Alfred Lycan, Bozeman Montana [May 1896, College Exponent, Bozeman College] Click to expand. Alfred Lycan Bio Various federal census records indicate that Lycan was born Jan. 24, 1841 in Edgar County, Illinois. He served in the Civil War as a Union Corporal in the 79th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Co. C, serving from July 19, 1862 to June 12, 1865. One tourist account, if true, places Lycan in Montana by at least 1883. Voter registration records compiled by the Bozeman Pioneer Museum show him as a registered voter by 1889 and he appears in the Bozeman census of 1900 as a single man 59 years of age with an occupation as Teamster (federal census records for 1890 are generally unavailable). In 1920 he materialized as a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado and two years later US Veterans Admin records described Lycan as an “Army Invalid” and indicated that he passed away on April 1, 1922, at about age 81. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. Numerous articles in the anaconda Standard newspaper from 1895 indicate Lycan was regularly taking camping tours into Yellowstone Park: Wheel era In the Park. Butte, July 18.—A party composed of cyclists will be here on Monday morning next on their bicycles to enjoy a two-weeks’ tour of Yellowstone National park. They will wheel from here to Bozeman where they will join one of Mr. Lycan's camping parties, with whom they will board, but they expect to make the entire distance on the government roads and their wheels will enable them to take many side trips. The Anaconda Standard,19Jul1895, p5 Miss M.P. Rahilly, who is with Miss Brady, the milliner, Mrs. F. E. Marshall. art instructor at the Agricultural college, and Rev. M. L. Streator left for the park on Monday morning, going with A. Lycan. Mr. Lycan had a party of 22, 16 of these being teachers returning from the Denver convention. Anaconda Standard, 20Jul1895 May 1896 ad for the Lycan Co. in the College Exponent, a student newspaper from the Bozeman College. (Click to expand) Trip Account from 1899 In August 5, 1899 the article below appeared in the Logansport Reporter (Indiana) from an apparently satisfied tour customer who gave some excellent details regarding the Lycan Camping experience. If the narrator is correct in saying that Lycan had made trips to the park for 17 years, it would date his tours to beginning in 1883 with the arrival of the Northern Pacific RR to Cinnabar, Mt, a few miles north of Gardiner. “The Park Outfit: Mr. Alfred Lycan, who lives in Bozeman, is the proprietor of a park outfit. He has made trips to the park for the past seventeen years and is considered the most careful man traveling through the park. His outfit consists of five passenger wagons, strongly built and each and each having four seats very comfortable on the long trip, two freight wagons, one carrying tents and bedding and the other carrying camp stools and feed for the horses, and the cooks’ wagon, containing the provisions, tables and stores. He left July 18th on his first trip this season to the park, with a party of sixteen, and were reinforced at Cinnabar [NPRR depot] by thirteen, making a pleasing party. Everything for the comfort of the party was done. Roomy tents were pitched each night and comfortable beds were placed inside, with covering sufficient for the cold nights. Each tent and bed are numbered and belong to the same person throughout the trip. Mr. Lycan has a competent cook in the person of Mr. Adolph Schmalhausen, of Illinois. This young man has spent three summers in the park with Mr. Lycan and has acquired great skill as a cook, setting before the party as dainty and appetizing morsels as could be given in any hotel. The guide, Mr. B.S. Thresher, of Butte, has made the trips for five summers and is thoroughly acquainted with all points of interest in the park. He is a genial gentleman who becomes a favorite to the party in a short time. For a party going through the park wishing to see it thoroughly and enjoy an outing, a trip in this outfit is advisable, as Mr. Lycan gives the longest trip of any of the park companies. After the first trip he meets his parties at Cinnabar, giving a ten days’ trip through the park for a comparatively small sum, and insuring comfort and courtesy to all.” Another account from 1899 noted that 54 tourists accompanied Lycan around Yellowstone and described some of the sights and accommodations. The woman depicted the guests sitting around for meals “at a long table for fifty-four with boards laid on carpenter’s horses. The crowd had appetites – ready to eat beans, bacon, biscuits, cornbread, syrup, cookies, etc. The biscuits were sometimes a little tough. We called them “sinkers,” hoping the cooks were hard of hearing.” Several ads in the June 1908 editions of the Anaconda Standard quote some general details: “ Yellowstone National Park trip covers one week's tour of park. We will furnish wall tents, carpets, wire sprlngs (keeping bed from ground), full bedding outfit, including mattress. Best available cooks. Camp at prominent points. We show our tourists through park. Address at Bozeman, Mont., (before July 1; after that, Gardiner, Mont.) The Lycan Camping Co.” Left: Anaconda Standard ad, 22Aug1900. Right: Ad from the Helena Independent Record , 22Jul1914. F.L Dissly was listed as the contact person for the Lycan Co. This seem to be the last year of their operation in the park Edward Frank Allen's Guide to the National Parks of America, 1915, quoted the following rates of H.P. Grant, Floyd Brogan and Alfred Lycan, although they may have been using information from 1914: "Regular 7-day trip, price for each member of party, including transportation and board and lodging in camp $30.00. Additional per day for stop-overs at points of interest, for each member of party $2.50. Twenty-one day trip from Gardiner and return by coach, including board, lodging, and transportation, price for each member of party $90.00" Marshall Bros. Camping Company Silas “Si” Marshall was born in Iowa in 1860 and came to Montana by wagon train when he was a young man. He and his brother George E. operated a large cattle ranch near Melville before moving to Livingston in 1882. The men purchased a livery stable in Livingston in 1884 and operated transportation and livery services in the area. They sold the livery business in 1900. The Daily Intermountain in Butte, announced that: “Marshall Brothers disposed of their livery stable today to J. C. Bishop of this city, who will turn the business over to his son-in-law, Frank M. Cain. The price paid for livery stable was $2,100. A portion of the livery outfit to the value of $500 was also included in the deal. Frank Cain is well known here. He has considerable experience in the livery business and will no doubt do well. The Marshall Brothers will go to Cinnabar shortly and will take camping parties through the park during the summer.” Marshall's Livery in Livingston, Mt [Livingston Enterprise, 26Dec1891] According to records in the Yellowstone Historic Center, Silas & George Marshall formed the Marshall Brothers Camping Company by at least 1897 and operated through the 1908 season, possibly longer, escorting tourist parties on camping trips through the park. There are a number of newspaper references to folks being with a Marshing camping party, but no indication was made as to location. They conducted tours of 6 or 7 days and a 10 day trip that included travel to Mt. Washburn. Costs ranged between $30 and $45. Guests were transported in covered coaches that would accommodate 5 or 11 passengers. A toilet tent was made available for private functions. Postcard advertising the Marshall's Camping Parties, postmarked 1909. Click Here to view the reverse side of postcard featuring Lone Star Geyser From the Daily Intermountain, Butte Mt., 19May1900: “Marshall Brothers disposed of their livery stable today to J. C. Bishop of this city, who will turn the business over to his son-in-law, Frank M. Cain. The price paid for livery stable was $2,100. A portion of the livery outfit to the value of $500 was also included in the deal. Frank Cain is well known here. He has considerable experience in the livery business and will no doubt do well. The Marshall Brothers will go to Cinnabar shortly and will take camping parties through the park during the summer.” A Marshall Brother's Camp in Yellowstone. [Livingston Enterprise Souvenir, 1Jan1900] Ad card for the Marshall Bros. Camping Transportation Co., post 1903. "Our Wagons are canopy top for five and eleven passengers. Good cooks and dining room tents. Sleeping tents, all sizes, with canvas carpets, to accommodate two or more people. Beds are comforts, cotton and wool blankets: mattresses on canvas or double cots." After retirement from the camping business Si worked numerous different jobs, including that as manager of the commissary at Mammoth. He seems to have remained a bachelor until 1920, when at age 59 he married Katherine I. Rittle, age 46. Silas became a justice of the peace in Livingston in 1941 and served in that position until his death on Jan. 2, 1944 at about age 83. He was interred in the Mountain View Cemetery in Livingston. George Marshall was born Oct. 13, 1868 in Illinois and married Mabel S. Stephens (born Dec. 11, 1874) in 1899. George passed away July 7, 1922 at about age 54 and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Livingston. By 1930 Mabel was listed in the census as a “Widow” and was living at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone with the George Whittaker family. Mabel died in January, 1935 at about age 61 and was buried next to her husband. Letterhead from Marshall Camps in Yellowstone. 1910 [Livingston Enterprise Souvenir, 1Jan1900] A.W. Chadbourne Allen Wright Chadbourne, more commonly known as A.W. Chadbourne (sometimes spelled Chadbourn), was born in Ohio in 1843 and later drove cattle on the Chisholm Trail from the Rio Grande to the Midwest, was a buffalo hunter out of Ft. Wallace, Kansas for a time and operated freight outfits along the frontier. He married Dolly Jane Masoner in 1879 and came to Montana around 1880-81. In 1882 they purchased a ranch in the area that would soon become the town of Cinnabar and the end of the Northern Pacific RR spur line from their main line at Livingston. According to “The History of Park County (Whithorn, et.al.),” Chadbourne started a company known as the “Yellowstone Park Transportation & Camping Outfit” around that time, and began hauling tourists into the park from the NP railhead at Cinnabar in 1884. He was among the earliest camping concerns to operate out of the northern entrance of Yellowstone. William W. Wylie had preceded him by one year. Chadbourne also ran saddle and pack outfits in the park until 1901. A.W Chadbourne, in his 90s [30Jun1938 Fairfield Times, Mt.] From the Jan 1, 1900 Edition of the Livingston Enterprise Souvenir. Yellowstone National Park Transportation. Just two miles below the entrance to the Park and one-half mile above Cinnabar is located the ranch of A.W. Chadbourn. Owing to its location on the Park pike road, nearness to the terminal depot for Park tourists, and better still to its home supply of fresh meats, vegetables, butter, eggs and milk, it has become a favorite rendezvous for pleasure seeker's in Wonderland. Tourists, seeking an outing by the old “out-of-doors” camping style, here find first-class accommodations with complete camping outfits. Conveyance can be furnished in any kind of vehicle from the finest Concords and Surreys down to the good old farm wagon. Tents, camp chairs, tables, dishes, beds, etc., are always in readiness, and choice vehicles with polite drivers are always in waiting at each incoming train. No embarrassments are ever encountered by stale victuals, as an abundance of freshranch supplies are always at their command. Aside from the above mode of taking pleasure trips there are some hundred head of well broken saddle and pack horses by which hunting or scientific parties find safe and pleasant conveyance. As Mr. and Mrs. Chadbourn have been residents of this country for eighteen years, and have looked to needs of tourists ever since the opening of the Park, there is no doubt but what pleasure seekers will enjoy the many sights in store for them. A homelike air prevails at every camp as well as the desire that all should share equally in the comforts afforded. That the public at large have appreciated the hospitality and accommodations of Mr. and Mrs. Chadbourn is shown by the increasing numbers of their guests, for in past years this, their own original mode of camping in Wonderland, has called forth a patronage from the millionaire down to the laborer, sharing equal pleasures around the camp fire. Top Left: Chadbourne Ranch, near Cinnabar, Mt., along the road to Yellowstone. [1Jan1900 Livingston Enterprise Souvenir] Bottom Left: Chadbourne campsite in Yellowstone. [YNP Archive #18844] With the formation of the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co. in 1892 by Silas Huntley, Harry Child, Edmund Bach and others, Chadbourne and many of the other small, private transportation operators lost some of their transportation rights the following season. The new transportation company had been granted exclusive rights to transport NPRR passengers through Yellowstone. However, in June of 1893 Secretary of Interior Hoke Smith said that transportation privileges would be granted to Chadbourne and several other concerns. So Chadbourne persevered and the Livingston Enterprise noted on June 24, 1893 that he “just added $2,000 worth of Concord coaches and surreys to his park transportation outfit [and] will begin operation around the first of July.” In 1901 Chadbourne traded his camping and transportation business to Yellowstone transportation businessman George Wakefield for his Shields Valley Ranch. The Chadbournes moved to Shields Valley and spent the remainder of their life at the ranch. The small town of Chadborn, located on current Hwy 89 north of Livingston and along the Shields River was named after the couple. Dolly died in June of 1943 and A.W. followed soon after on September 15. Both are buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Livingston. "WONDERLAND" View and Guide Book to YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK" BY W. F. (William Frederick) HATFIELD, 1899, St. Anthony, ID The A. W. Chadbourne Co. is one of the oldest in the Park transportation business, which fact is sufficient to guarantee its patrons good satisfaction. Arrangements with this company can be made for any kind of transportation or accommodations. The Concord coaches and native stock used by this company cannot be excelled. The cost of a camping trip is $25, including everything. This company also furnishes a five and one-half day trip with hotel accommodations at a rate of $35 from Cinnabar and return. Saddle horses $1 per day. A.W Chadbourne Obit [16Sep1943, Billings Gazette]

Camping in the Yellowstone David Curry Camping Co. 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 th e author. DAVID A. CURRY DIES IN SAN FRANCISCO May 5, 1917 Mariposa Gazette “David A. CURRY, founder of the first hotel camp in the Yosemite National Park, whose friends throughout the west number thousands, died Monday [April 30] of this week at the German hospital in San Francisco. Curry, known throughout the west as the "Stentor of Yosemite," was born in Indiana in 1860. He was a graduate of Indiana University and taught school in Utah for four years. He came to California in 1897-98 and a year later founded Camp Curry. From a small beginning of seven tents in 1899, Camp Curry, under the direction of its genial manager, has grown into a tent city accommodating more than one thousand guests. Curry had just completed plans for the 1917 season when his untimely death occurred. His wife, Mrs. Jennie Curry, and three children, survive. The widow and son will manage the resort this year.” Jennie "Mother" Foster, standing in front of Camp Curry in Yosemite, undated. Biography & Early Life . . . Moving backward in time we find that David Alexander Curry was born February 15, 1860, in Bloomington, Indiana, where he received his early education in the common schools of Monroe County and of Winchester, Kansas. He was an alumnus of Indiana University, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1883. After graduating he engaged for several years in teaching, first in the common schools and later in the High School of Greensburg, Indiana. In 1887 he was elected Assistant in the Latin Department of Indiana University, and during the college year 1888-89 took post graduate studies in Harvard University. He resigned in 1888 to commence studying for the ministry in the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Xenia, Ohio. Experiencing theological differences with the faculty, he left and joined with the Congregationalists. On April 6, 1886, he married Miss Jennie Foster, of Bloomington, and their son David Foster Curry was born May 9, 1888. Jennie Etta Foster, born 1861 in Rushville, Ohio, was educated in the Knightstown Indiana High School. Receiving a Degree, B. L. Occupation from Indiana University, she taught in the Bloomington and Knightstown public school. She later served as principal of the Greensburg High School and taught for a time at Indiana University. Life in Utah . . . In the fall of 1891 the Curry family moved to Ogden, Utah to teach in the Gordon Academy, founded by the Congregational Church as a learning refuge from local Mormon orthodoxy. Originally known as the Ogden Academy in 1883, it was also called the New West Academy. David became principal and Jennie taught at that institution for four years. Meanwhile the family continued to grow with the births of Mary Louise on November 29, 1893 and Marjorie Lucille on April 11, 1895. The New West Academy in Ogden. It served as high school and jr. high school in the early 1900s. [Real-Photo postcard, ca1910] The Ogden Academy, later the new West Academy. David & Jennie Curry both started out teaching at the academy in 1891. [Ogden Standard, 28Aug1891] The Gordon Academy, formerly New West Academy in Ogden. David Curry later became the principal. [Ogden Standard, 22Aug1894] Ad for David Curry's Yellowstone camping trip. [Ogden Standard, 27Jun1892] Camping the Yellowstone . . . Meanwhile, the summer after the Currys arrived in Ogden, they decided upon a camping adventure in Yellowstone National Park. While they made plans for this 1892 adventure, a number of their friends and fellow teachers made known their desire to go along. The Currys agreed to organize the trip and advertised in local papers in order to gather enough other participants make a party of 20. His ads solicited "Teachers, students and anybody of good character." Originally scheduled to leave June 27th for 17 days at a cost of $65 that included everything, an ad on June 26 cut the rate to $50 with a scheduled departure of July 4th. The group no doubt visited all of the popular tourist sites and sights in the park and camped at a variety of locations along their route. They apparently had a successful trip and arranged for a second expedition that season and became an annual affair for six more years. By 1895 the operation had expanded to include 37 tourists, transported in five 4-horse covered wagons, one 2-horse wagon, three 4-horse baggage wagons, along with nine teamsters, a cook and four assistants. The entourage typically traveled from Ogden to Idaho Falls via the Oregon Short Line RR where they disembarked to continue the journey by wagon through the west entrance of Yellowstone. Although the Currys had moved to Palo Alto in 1895, they continued to return to Utah and conduct the Yellowstone camping trips through the 1898 season. Back From National Park Incidents of Interesting Trip – Scenic Wonders of Yellowstone Excerpts from the Ogden Standard Examiner, August 3, 1895 “Professor David A. Curry who returned yesterday morning from Yellowstone park whither he went in charge of the large camping party made up of all sections of the country was seen last evening by a Standard reporter. Mr. Curry expressed himself as pleased with the success of the trip and with the scenery witnessed along their route. The party left here July 15th [1895] and was the largest camping party that ever visited the park. From here [Ogden] to Idaho Falls the party went by rail and thence started on eastward by wagons. Arrangements had been made for five four-horse wagons and one two-horse wagon for passengers, besides three four-horse baggage wagons and with these the party pro ceeded comfortably and made good time. “There were thirty-seven tourists in the party who together with the nine teamsters, the cook, and four assistants, made the party number more than half a hundred. In the park region the tourists stopped one or two days at each of the principal places of interest. “Among the interesting incidents of the trip were several adventures with bears . . . it is customary for them to come around the hotels and get food. The managers of the different hotels rather encourage them in this . . . the bears, evidently mistaking the large camp for a substantial hotel, came down to it [the camp] on several occasions and proceeded to help themselves to such provisions as they could find. Naturally, their researches took them to the culinary department, and consequently the cook of the party did not enjoy the trip. The first night when these animals called the cook was at home but he suddenly recollected that he had business elsewhere and spent half the night on top of a covered wagon while several of the shaggy coated creatures rummaged about in his department, upsetting things generally and feasting on about eight pounds of cheese. The tourists were not even awakened as their tents were some distance from the scene of the depredations and the cook was probably to [sic] much frightened to make an outcry. The next eighteen pounds of cheese and a goodly portion of a twenty-five pound tin of butter went to show the bruin’s appreciation of Utah’s dairy product.” Troubles in Wonderland . . . The Yellowstone operation was not trouble free by any means. The Curry family encountered the same basic problem that William W. Wylie of the Wylie Camping Company had faced – that of obtaining permanent camps and acquiring operating permits that lasted longer than one season. There was no financial security in a year-to-year operation and not knowing for sure if the business could continue the following season was a huge liability. Lending institutions typically would not lend money for such operations with no guarantee of long-term viability. The military administration, whose allegiance was typically aligned with the larger hotels, tolerated the camping companies only as a necessary evil and felt those operations were degrading to Yellowstone. The Yellowstone Park Association hotels, backed by the Northern Pacific RR, also exerted much pressure to eliminate their competitors. However, since the camping operations were highly popular with visitors, it was politically difficult to shut them down. Vacationers enjoyed the camping experience not only because of the lower touring costs than the hotel operations, but they took pleasure in the sense of increased camaraderie with their fellow travelers, the leisurely pace, and the feeling of being closer to nature. Although Wylie finally received permanent status for his camping operation in 1896, it would not be until 1913 that another camps company, Shaw & Powell, received permanent camp status. The Ogden Standard Examiner, February 19, 1910 discussed David Curry’s setbacks and successes: “There has developed within the last years a new industry, that of entertaining tourists in the national parks. The business is growing as a greater number of travelers enter the national reserves, attracted by the grandeur and beauty of the scenery and the novelty of “roughing it.” “David A. Curry, formerly principal of Gordon Academy, Ogden, is bore as a reminder of the prosperity that comes to those who cater to the tourists in the parks. He has found the life of concessionaire more enticing that that of school teaching, although he was successful as a pedagogue. “Mr. Curry has a camp in Yosemite, where for ten years; he has been entertaining the pleasure-seekers of California and the outside. Uncle Sam grants him the privilege of caring for not to exceed 200 guests. He hopes to increase the limit to 400, and then he will be happy. “His first experience in this line of endeavor was obtained while he was a resident of Ogden. He conceived the idea of making his vacations profitable by personally conducting parties through the Yellowstone. That was when tourists left the railroad at Idaho Falls and before the line was constructed to the western gate of “Wonderland.” He escorted one party of 38 at a cost of $105 to each member, and made a profit of $700 on the venture, and there forth he saw less of charm in pouring over algebra, rhetoric and science, and resolved to be an owner of a camp in a national park. “But to become a national concessionary, is to favored as few are favored. Mr. Curry says he would have continued his labors in the Yellowstone, but found the park monopolized by the Northern Pacific railroad and its representatives. Though supposedly a government reserve, in which equality is practiced, the Yellowstone was, to all practical purposes, the private property of the railroad and Mr. Curry is of the opinion that the entrance of the Oregon Short Line [UPRR] has done little to break down the barrier set against the man of small means who might be foolish enough to seek a foothold in the park . . . It would be well for a congressional committee to inquire into the monopoly of Yellowstone. No great government tract should be made to serve exclusively the commercial greed of a railroad or any other monopolistic interests.” Bound for California . . . The Curry family left Utah in 1895 and moved west to Palo Alto, California where a relative named Rufus Green was engaged with Stanford University. They were also acquainted with David Jordan, president of Stanford (and former president of Indiana University), where they hoped to take post-graduate work. Instead, through their contacts, David was able obtain a contract in the fall as principal of Sequoia High School in Redwood City while Jennie acquired a teaching position there. They stayed at Sequoia High until the summer of 1899 when the call of Yosemite beckoned. Redwood City Public School, ca1910. The school opened in September 1895. The high school was on the 3rd floor, lower grades 1st & 2nd floors. [Real-Photo postccard] With only 43 Yellowstone camp guests in 1897, and frustrated in his endeavors to establish permanent camps, and unhappy with having to move his family back and forth between California and Yellowstone, David Curry finally gave up his Yellowstone expeditions after the 1898 season and began making plans for a different enterprise closer to home. He envisioned a new camp operation at Yosemite National Park, believing that “Yosemite is less in the control of large interests, and half a dozen camp concessionaires do well.” Ho for the Yosemite . . . Although still principal of Sequoia HS in 1899, David Curry took steps to fulfill that dream. While waiting for the spring term to conclude, Curry sent cousins Rufus Green and Will Thomson ahead to Yosemite to pick out a camp site and make preliminary arrangements for the camp operation. The men chose a spot at the uncrowded east end of the valley near the base of Glacier Point. The views of the upper valley were superb, and its proximity to the major trailheads would prove to be advantageous in future years. That first summer the camp consisted of seven sleeping tents and a larger one to serve as dining room and kitchen. The Curry family moved into the valley after the school session ended and with the assistance of only a cook and students from Stanford University working for room and board, put into place the beginnings of an enterprise that continues to this day. 290 people registered the first year and eighteen more tents were quickly added to handle the unexpected volume of business. Originally called Camp Sequoia, the name was shortly thereafter changed to Camp Curry. The camp continued to prosper and by 1922, Camp Curry had grown to 650 tents, 60 rooms in cottages, a cafeteria, a bakery, an ice plant, a candy kitchen, soda fountain, a studio, laundry, bathhouses, pool, auditorium, bowling alley, pool hall, a post office, and a store. Top Left: The Hutchings Hotel in Yosemite Valley. Among the earliest explorers of the area, James Hutchings open this hotel in 1864. Bottom Left: Curry Camp, ca1905. [Real-Photo postcard, pm1905] Early Days at Camp Curry This early history was penned for the 1964 Yosemite Centennial by Mary Curry Tressider, daughter of David and Jennie Curry. Mary Tressider quotes an account written by her mother in 1948: "In the summer of 1899 David A. Curry and his wife Jennie Foster Curry, both Hoosier school teachers who had come west on the installment plan and finally landed in California, came to Yosemite and established a small camp for the entertainment of guests. They had formerly taken parties through Yellowstone with a movable camp. Both had been given an unusual love for nature and the out of doors through their training in nature lore under Dr. David Starr Jordan at Indiana University where they were both members and graduates of the class of '83. They secured from the Guardian of the Valley (which was then a state park) permission to use the site of the present camp where with their first purchase of seven tents they began their enterprise. As everything had to be transported by wagon from Merced, a hundred miles away, their equipment was scanty-tents with burlap floors, bed springs on wooden legs, mattresses, comfortable and clean bedding, wash stands made from cracker boxes with an oilcloth cover and a calico curtain, a few chairs, and tables. The dining tent seated twenty persons. The only paid employee was the cook, the remainder of the duties about camp being performed by Mr. and Mrs. Curry assisted by two or three Stanford students who worked a certain number of weeks in return for room and board and a week's free vacation in the park . . . The seven tents grew during the first season to twenty-five and the number of guests reached almost three hundred which was considered a very good beginning . . . The guests came chiefly from educational groups, Mr. and Mrs. Curry being known to them through their teaching contacts. Each guest seemed to take a personal interest in the young concern and it was by their personal recommendations to their friends that Camp Curry - as the camp came to be called by its neighbors - had its immediate and steady growth." History of the Firefall . . . The following is reprinted in part from Yosemite Nature Notes, V. XIII, No. 6, June, 1934 by M.E. Beatty, Assistant Park Naturalist: A description of the firefall follows for those not familiar with the practice. A bonfire is built nightly during the summer near the over-hanging rock at Glacier Point, 3254 feet above the valley floor. The wood for the fire consists mainly of red fir bark gathered during the day by a workman from down trees in the vicinity. Approximately one-quarter of a cord of wood is used for the larger bonfires. The pile of bark is ignited about 7 p.m. and a program conducted by a ranger-naturalist is held around the fire between 8 and 9. By 9 o’clock, the time of the firefall, the fire has been reduced to a glowing pile of embers. The signal for the firefall is the extinguishing of the Camp Curry lights at the conclusion of their entertainment. The exchange of calls between Curry and Glacier may be heard from either place, and at the conclusion, the fire tender by means of a long handled shover, slowly pushes the glowing coals over the cliff. This gives the effect of a solid stream of fire, dropping some 1400 feet vertically to an oblique ledge, embers sometimes dropping along this ledge an additional 1000 or 1500 feet. There is no fire hazard as very little vegetation exists on the granite walls. Our positive information starts in 1899, when Mr. and Mrs. David A. Curry established the Curry Camping Company at what is now Camp Curry. David Curry learned of the firefall custom, which had fallen into disuse and decided to revive it for the benefit of his guests. He would occasionally send one of his employees up the trail to Glacier Point to build the fire and push it off. This was done more and more frequently, until it became a nightly occurrence. Mr. Curry’s, “Hello, Glacier” and “Let the fire fall,” delivered with remarkable volume, won for him the title, “The Stentor of Yosemite.” This custom has been continued ever since, although David Curry has passed away. Conclusion . . . Unfortunately, David Curry would not live to see all of those changes noted in 1922. A serious blood infection in his foot developed from a rusty nail incident and he passed on April 30, 1917. Curry would be later remembered by his daughter as "big in body, mind and soul, interested in life and people, simple in his ways and habits, absolutely without any affection, his friendly spirit and genial whole-souledness appealed to people." Jennie, affectionately dubbed Mother Curry, continued in charge of the camp with the aid of her family. Daughter Mary and husband Don Tressider eventually took over much of the day-to-day business while Jennie managed operations in the background. Both Jennie and Mr. Tressider died in 1948 and Mary assumed control of the company until her death in 1970, ending just over 70 years of management by the Curry family. The company, which had became known as Yosemite Park & Curry Company in 1925, passed into the hands of the MCA Corp. in 1973. MCA/YP&CC lost the contract in 1992 due to majority ownership by a Japanese concern and Delaware North has run the operations since that time.

Yellowstone Biographies A-B 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 th e author. Albright, Horace. Horace Albright served as YNP Superintendent from 1919 to 1929, when he became Director of the National Park Service. His term lasted from Jan 12, 1929 to Aug. 9, 1933. He played a huge part in the development of the park under the newly created NPS, including the road improvement program, concession development, and general park protection programs. He resigned in 1933 to become vice-president of US Potash Co. [39-49] Alvarez, Manuel. Manuel Alvarez was born in 1794 in Albegas, Spain and traveled to Mexico in 1818. He went to New York and then down to Missouri, where he crossed the plains to Santa Fe in 1824 where he engaged in trade for several years. He became a free trapper and was associated with Andrew Dripps and the American Fur Co. He led a group of trappers in 1833 through Yellowstone and discovered the geysers along the Firehole River. He left trapping in the Rockies in 1834 and moved back to Santa Fe where he became a trader and politician. He died in July of 1856. [30;46] [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] [30;46] Anceney, Charles. Charles Anceney and his son developed the Flying D Ranch in 1865 in the Spanish Creek area of the Gallatin Mountains. They began with a half-section squatter’s claim. In 1911 H.W. Child became a partner in the ranch. By the 1920’s it was considered one of the West’s great livestock enterprises, controlling a half million acres and supporting up to 20,000 head of cattle at times. Child's son-in-law Wm. Nichols sold off his share of the ranch in 1944 to help pay off YPCo debts to the railroads. Businessman Ted Turner now owns the ranch which is sized at over 113,000 acres. [25L;39] Anderson, Lou . Lou Anderson was a member of a prospecting party in 1867 that discovered gold along the Yellowstone River above Bear Creek. They named the area Crevice Gulch (now Crevice Creek). The party also named Slough Creek and Hell-Roaring Creek. They continued up the river to Pelican Creek and down to Yellowstone Lake. They passed through the geyser basins and exited the park along the Madison River. In 1849-50 Anderson prospected Yellowstone with Kit Carson and Jim Bridger. [97p;16,62-63] Anderson, Louis. Louis Anderson was a member of a trapping party of 40 men in 1839 that was attacked by Piegan Indians near Indian Pond. Five trappers were killed. [30;52] Anderson, Jack Kenneth Jack Anderson was Yellowstone park superintendent from 1967 to 1975. He was born May 24, 1917 in San Luis Obispo, California. He entered the Navy in 1941 and was at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7. In 1946 Anderson gave up the Navy and went back to college while working the summers for the Park Service in Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP. He received a permanent position there as park ranger in 1950 and transferred to Glacier NP in 1957. He later served as superintendents of George Washington Carver Birthplace NM and Grand Teton NP prior to his assignment to Yellowstone. [25L;14][31;463] Anderson, Capt. George Smith. George Anderson became Acting Supt. of Yellowstone on February 15, 1891 and served with the 6th Cavalry in that position until June 23, 1897. Aubrey Haines described him as one of the most capable officers ever to manage Yellowstone’s affairs during the Army years. Anderson graduated from West Point in 1871 and was assigned to the 6th Cavalry as a second lieutenant. He was sent out to the western frontier to aid in the Indian wars being fought all over the west. Until 1877 he was in the saddle most of that time, participating in campaigns in Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. In 1877 he was assigned to be assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy at West Point. This he did until 1881 when he was again called to assist in uprisings in Arizona and Colorado. He was promoted to captain in 1885 and served in Yellowstone beginning in 1891. Around 1900 Anderson, now a colonel, commanded the 13th US Volunteer Infantry and fought in the war in the Philippines. In the ensuing years Anderson commanded numerous regiments. He became a member of the General Staff of the Army. Anderson retired from the Army as general in 1912 after over 40 years of service to his country. He died of heart disease on March 7, 1915 while reading a paper at the University Club. His health had been declining for the past two years. [25L;14] [New York Times; 3/8/1915] Anderson, Ole . Olof Adolf Andersson (Ole Anderson) was born in Ostergotland, Sweden on May 18, 1857. He migrated to the United States in 1880 and Americanized his name to Ole A. Anderson. By 1883 he had settled in Yellowstone and began a business at Mammoth Hot Springs where the Commissioner's House now stands at the base of the Terraces. He began selling what became known as "coated specimens". They were common objects that had been placed in the flowing waters of the Mammoth Terraces and became coated with white, alabaster-like deposits of travertine. Coated specimens included bottles, pine cones, horseshoes, combs, small statues, vases, crosses and other such items. He also sold bottled sand art that was created by Andrew Wald, using colorful sands from various places in the park. Wald also worked with Ole in some capacity during the 1890's and possibly later. In 1891 Ole married Christine Granlund, who had also migrated from Sweden. The couple had two children born at Fort Yellowstone; Arthur in 1892 and Karl in 1895. A third son Roy was born in Helena in 1899. After several years of futile attempts to erect a permanent building at Mammoth to house his enterprise, Ole finally received permission in 1894 to build a store and residence at Mammoth. Ole's new 2-story wooden frame store opened in 1896 and became known as the "Specimen Shop" and was located just to the right of the Commissioner’s House. In April of 1896 Ole received a 10-year lease to operate the business and was permitted to sell ". . . coated specimens, wares, and other curiosities, [including bottled sands] for the accommodation of the tourists and others in the park." Ole's lease was renewed in 1906 and he was allowed the privilege of selling post cards, spoons and other curios, but not general wares. By 1908 Ole had been in business in the park for 25 years and was 51 years old. He decided to sell out his business to George and Anna Pryor, who turned the operation into a coffee and curio shop. Anderson and his family moved to Helena year-round after the sale and he continued in life as a carpenter until his death in 1915. The Specimen House was torn down in 1984. [25m] See my web page on the Specimen House for additional information. Armstrong, James. Shot twice by A drunken David Kennedy on St. Patrick's Day in 1883. The shooting occurred in the old McCartney hotel. James Armstrong survived his wounds with the bullets remaining in his body. [30;270-71] Arnet, Charles A. Charles Arnet was one of the first three residents to receive a permit in 1907 to build a house and business on the land that would eventually become West Yellowstone. He built The Yellowstone Store, the first store in town. It was located in the middle of Park Street and also housed the first post office. At that time (1908), the town consisted of only 6 blocks. Arnet sold the store to Alex Stuart in May of 1910. [18t] Arnold, A. J. A.J. Arnold was a Helena man who became a member of the Radersburg party that visited Yellowstone in 1877. The party was attacked by Nez Perce in August of that year. Ash, George. George Ash was Supt. of the Wakefield Stagecoach Co. in the late 1880’s. By 1892 he was in charge of the YNP Transportation Co. properties at Mammoth. In that year he became the Postmaster at Mammoth. He married Jennie Henderson Dewing in 1893 and together they operated the Post Office Store. In 1896 they built a new general store at Mammoth. After being ill for some time, George passed away in June of 1900 in a Salt Lake hospital. (See also Ash, Jennie H.) [25j] Ash, Jennie H. Jennie Henderson Ash was one of four daughters of famed park interpreter George L. Henderson, born Mar. 13, 1864 as Jeanette Ann Henderson. She began helping her sister Barbara with the Post Office Store in Mammoth at least by 1883 and became Postmistress in 1884. She was also the proprietor of the Cottage Hotel Museum, which mostly functioned as a store. She married John Dewing in 1886, but they later divorced and she married George Ash in 1893, with whom she had two children. In 1895 she obtained a 10-year lease to build and operate a new post office and store at Mammoth, which became the first permanent general store in Yellowstone. Her brother-in-law Alexander Lyall assisted in the construction of the new store. The store was located between the National Hotel and the Cottage Hotel and is currently operated by Delaware North Parks Services. It is the oldest store in the park. Jennie again became Postmistress in 1900 when her husband George became ill and later died. She and her family operated the business until 1908 when she retired and Jennie returned to Southern California, where she had spent many of the previous winters. Her brother Walter Henderson and Alexander Lyall bought the business in 1908 and sold out to former scout George Whittaker in 1913. Jennie lived to be 83 years of age. (See also ‘Henderson, Jennie’) [25j] See my web page on the Mammoth General Store for additional information. Bach, Edmund. Edmund Bach was co-founder of the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co. with Silas Huntley and Harry Child in May of 1892. (Bach's brother Thomas was married to Child's sister Katherine.) Bach was in business with Child in Helena prior to coming to Yellowstone. They, along with others, formed the Helena, Hot Springs, and Smelter Railroad Co. in 1889. The company was forced into receivership and sold at auction in September of 1891. In 1901 the three men bought the YPA from the NW Improvement Co., but Bach sold his shares back to the railroad the following year. [25L-17] [Email conversation with Harry Child, 2004] Bacon, George Harvey. George Bacon was the only known gold prospector to explore the Yellowstone area in 1865. Gold strikes in other parts of Montana left the Yellowstone area somewhat uninhabited that year. [30;73] Baker, Jim & John. Brothers who were members of a trapping party of 40 men in 1839 that was attacked by Piegan Indians near Indian Pond. The group included Louis Anderson, Joe Power, Baptiste Ducharme and L'Humphrie. Five trappers were killed. [30;52] James Baker was born Dec. 19, 1818 in Belleville, Illinois. He went up the Missouri River in 1838 with the American Fur Co., returning to his home state in 1840. He returned to Green River in 1840, accompanying a group of emigrants. He guided various parties over the years and moved to Denver in 1859 and then to Dixon, Wyoming in 1873. He died May 15. 1898. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] Barlow, Capt. John W . Capt. Barlow was an officer of the Corps of Engineers who conducted an exploration of Yellowstone in the summer of 1871. He was accompanied by David P. Heap and the expedition became known as the Barlow-Heap Expedition. They conducted extensive explorations, many times alongside of the Hayden Expedition that summer. Photographer Thomas J. Hine, draftsman W. H. Wood and topographer H.G. Prout added their services, along with some packers, laborers, and a cook. The party was in the park about six weeks. Upon their return to Chicago, the great Chicago Fire destroyed almost all their photographs, meteorological records and specimens. [30;142-50] Barlow was born June 26, 1838 in Wyoming County, New York and graduated from West Point in 1861. He served in the Civil War as artilleryman and engineer. He was assigned to the Military Division of the Missouri in 1869 and surveyed for the Northern Pacific RR in 1872, and fought off a heavy Sioux attack at one point. Barlow served on the International Boundary Commission along the Mexican border from 1874 to 1891, retiring as a brigadier-general. He died in Jerusalem, Palestine Feb. 21, 1914. [A.L. Haines, Yellowstone National Park: It's Exploration and Establishment] Baronett, Collins Jack (John H.) Jack Baronett was born in Glencoe, Scotland ca1829-31 (the June 1880 Fed. Census listed him as age 49), he was also known as Yellowstone Jack and followed several different occupations, including soldier, miner, guide and sailor. As a sailor he jumped ship in China in order to make his way to the goldfields of California and later searched for gold in Colorado, Montana, Alaska, Australia, and Africa. He also served as 2nd mate on a whaling ship to the Arctic Ocean before returning to California in 1855. Baronett participated in the Civil War with the First Texas Cavalry, but left disenchanted to serve briefly with the French under Maximilian in Mexico. He began prospecting for gold in the park and greater Yellowstone area in 1864 and participated in the Yellowstone Expedition in 1866. He was considered for the park superintendent position in 1884 and when the Army took over in 1866, he was the only member of the civilian police force to be retained. He served with Gen. Custer in his expedition to the Black Hills in 1869. He was the builder of first bridge across the Yellowstone River in 1871, near the junction of the Yellowstone and Lamar rivers. A toll was charged to cross, and the bridge was used until about 1903, when a new bridge was built upstream at the current location. Baronett and George Pritchett found the lost Truman Everts, who had wandered for 37 days after being separated from the Washburn Expedition in 1870. Baronett guided the detachment from Ft. Ellis that found Richard Dietrich’s dead body on the doorstep of McCartney’s Hotel during the Nez Perce War of 1877. When the Army took control of the Yellowstone in 1886, Baronett hired on as an assistant superintendent and later became a scout for the Army. In the late 1890s he voyaged to Alaska on a gold prospecting expedition where his schooner capsized. He survived the wreck and returned to Seattle for some time before traveling to Idaho to continue his prospecting career. Frail and suffering from ill-health, Baronett died on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 1906 at the Park County hospital in Livingston, Montana. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery at Livingston, Mt. [31] [108a] [113] [31d] [1880 Fed Census Records, YNP] (Variously spelled: Jack Baronette, Jack Barronett, Jack Barronette, Jack Baronnett, Jack Baronnette, etc.) Baronett, Marion (Nee Marion A. Scott) Marion Scott had been living in Emigrant Gulch and married Jack Baronett on Mar. 14, 1884. Marion Baronett became Postmistress at Mammoth on October 25, 1886 and in 1888 she was permitted to sell photos, stationary, and curios at her office. The store was located on the north side of Capitol Hill near the site of the future Haynes Photo Shop. In October of 1888 Jennie Henderson Dewing took over the Postmistress position. [25j] [YNP Army Files Doc 173] Bassett Brothers. In the first decade of Yellowstone National Park’s young existence, there were few methods of commercial transportation services available. Roads were crude at best, and lodging facilities were few and rustic. The Bassett brothers of southeastern Idaho were one of the early outfits that stepped in to fill this void. There were six brothers who began providing outfitting and transportation services in the park that included furnishing wagons, horses, tents, tools, food, supplies, and guides. In 1881 they began running stagecoaches into the park from the Utah & Northern Railroad (U&NRR) line at Beaver Canyon, Idaho, near the current town of Spencer along Interstate I-15, a few miles south of the Montana border. It was about 110 miles from Beaver Canyon to the Lower Geyser Basin, requiring three nights camping to get there, but they advertised the route as being 150 miles shorter than the Virginia City route. An 1881 newspaper ad touting the Bassett Brother’s service proclaimed that Yellowstone was the "The Eden of America!" and that "Light Spring Wagons, Good Teams, Experienced Drivers” were utilized with “Good Hunting and Fishing anywhere along the road." The round-trip cost was $25 to Marshall's Hotel on the Firehole River. William Henry Bassett (W.H. Bassett) and Charles Julius Bassett (C.J. Bassett) seem to have been the prime movers of the operation. Other brothers involved were Charles Henry Bassett II, Fred C. Bassett, Frank A. Bassett, and Ernest Bassett. The Bassett family was headed by father Charles Henry Bassett of New York. It is said that by the late 1870’s they dominated the outfitting business in Yellowstone. The business became known as the Yellowstone National Park Stage Line in 1888, and operated out of Lago, Idaho. Sometime after 1897 their operation moved north along the rail line to Monida when the Beaver rail facilities closed. During the mid-1890’s the concern was called the Union Pacific Stage Lines, with C.J. Bassett as proprietor. [25g] [Email conversation with Thornton Waite, June 2002] [http://geyserbob.org/trans-bassett.html] For more info, check out my page on the Bassett Bros. camping operation. Bazata, Art. Art Bazata, who had been Property Manager of Yellowstone Park Co., became the new Executive VP and General Manager of the company in 1965. George Beall, president of YPCo, retired from active management to work with a restaurant business in Cleveland, while retaining his positions of president, consultant and director of the park company. Bazata had been with the company for three years prior to his promotion. Earlier he was in the public relations business Denver and was manager of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. He was replaced by company vice-president and treasurer John Amerman in 1967. [25L;18] [Billings Gazette, 23Apr1965] Beall, George . George Beall was hired in 1962 as Executive VP and General Manager of YPCo. The following year he notified the NPS of the company’s refusal to comply with any more Mission 66 objectives. He resigned from active management in 1965 to work with a restaurant business in Cleveland while retaining his positions of president, consultant and director of the park company. Beall had been manager of the hotel division of the Del Webb Corp. in Phoenix before joining Yellowstone Park Co. [25L;18] [Billings Gazette, 23Apr1965] Beaman, John Warren . Beaman (2Dec1845 - 13Dec1903) was the meteorologist for the 1871 Hayden Yellowstone Expedition. He was born December 2, 1845 in North Hadley, Mass. After serving in the Civil War, he studied civil engineering at Renselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. After graduation he went to Yellowstone with Hayden for two years. In 1874 he went to Seal Islands in Alaska with his wife Elizabeth and was the government Seal Agent, in charge of tabulating and verifying seal kills for bounty purposes. His wife was reportedly the first white women on the islands. Beaman later made surveys in the Indian Territory and areas north of that area. He moved to Missouri around 1886 and was in charge of government work on the Gasconade and Osage Rivers. Beaman moved to Washington DC in 1895 and at the time of his death in 1903 he was supervising the construction of a government building for the Treasury Dept. [30;142] [Biographies from Cole County Missouri, http://www.colecohistsoc.org/bios/bio_b.html] Beatee, M.J. He was permitted in 1878 to pasture 300 cattle on Blacktail Deer Cr. by Supt. Norris. [25L;19] Beau, Louis. French trapper Louis Beau may have made a raft trip to Stevenson Island in 1830. [25L;19] Belknap, William W . Secretary of War William W. Belknap conducted an 'investigation' of Yellowstone in 1875. He was accompanied by several other generals, Lt. Gustavus Doane and 24 men of the Second Cavalry. It seems most of the “investigation” consisted of fishing and hunting activities. [30;207] Beltizer, Julius. Julius Beltizer had been guiding in the park since at least 1873 and blazed a trail from the Lower Geyser Basin north to Mammoth in 1874. The Bozeman newspaper noted that he ". . . discovered a trail leading from the Mammoth Hot Springs to the Upper Geyser Basin, by which forty miles in distance is saved, as compared with the old traveled route." Supt. Norris rebuilt this trail into a road in 1878 and called it the `Norris Road.' In 1875 Beltizer operated out of Mammoth as park guide, providing pack outfits for visitors and their luggage. [25L;19] [Bozeman Avant-Courier, 8/7/1874; 8/20/1875] Benson, Amos. Amos Benson built a log saloon and store in 1873 with Dan Naileigh near the ferry-boat landing on the Yellowstone River (near current Livingston, Mt.) The area became known as Benson's Landing and was a popular meeting place for fur trappers, traders, miners, and hunters. The ferry site was near Mission Creek and had been originally put into service by Buckskin Williams opposite the Crow Indian agency. Later on it became a stage station and post office. Another entrepreneur in the area was Hugo Hoppe, was also involved in the saloon and hotel business. [97p;98] [An Illustrated History of the Yellowstone Valley, Western Historical Publishing Co., Spokane, Wash., 1907.] Benson, Maj. H.C. Maj. Benson was Acting Supt. with the Army from November 28, 1908 to September 30, 1910. Benson was born Dec. 8, 1857 in Ohio and graduated from West Point. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1882. He was involved in the Geronimo campaign in 1885-86 and served as superintendent of Sequoia National Park from 1895-97. Benson superintended Yosemite from 1895-97 and served in the Spanish American War. He became a lt. colonel in 1914 and a full colonel in 1915 when he retired from the military. He was recalled during WWI and died in San Francisco September 21, 1924. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] [25L;19] Berry, William Sanford (W.S) & Aurinda Sophronia Ferris Berry (A.F.) The Berry family moved into Gardiner in 1902 and established a photo studio in a tent at the north end of town. According to Ruth Quinn, the couple purchased two lots on Main St. in 1911 and had a new building constructed called the Gardiner Studio.. The husband and wife team produced at least 60 known postcards of the Yellowstone area. Many of them featured beautiful fauna and flora depictions, while stagecoaches were featured in several others. Documentary-type photos were also taken in nearby communities. Larger format photos were vailable, 4x5", 5x7" & 8x10", in either glossy or dull finishes. During the sixteen years they spent in Gardiner, one or both of them established temporary studios in other Montana towns to supplement their income. A son was born in 1912 - Ferris Milton Berry, who spent most of his career in the Air Force. The family moved out of Gardiner in 1918 and according to Find-a-Grave.com, W.S. served as "warden of Sully's Hill Game Preserve at Fort Totten ND; the preserve being established by President Teddy Roosevelt to help rebuild the herds of elk, deer, and bison which had been over hunted nearly to extinction. After several Dakota winters, William decided there was too much pioneering at Fort Totten for a man his age and in 1920 moved his family to sunny Long Beach CA; and in 1926 relocated to Pomona." They passed away in 1948 & 1950 respectively and were buried in the local cemetery. Unfortunately no photos have yet been located of their studio or of themselves. Biddle, Nicolas . Publisher of Captain William Clark's map from the Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804-06. The map was published in 1814. Clark named the large lake at the base of the Grand Tetons Biddle Lake in his honor. The lake is now known as Jackson Lake. [30;5] [16a;331] Billings, Frederick . Frederick Billings became president of the Northern Pacific RR in 1879, the same time rail construction commenced after the 6-year hiatus resulting from the “Panic of 1873”. The city of Billings MT was named after him. Henry Villard replaced him two years later. In 1886 he became one of the organizers of the Yellowstone Park Asso., along with Charles Gibson, Nelson Thrall, and John Bullitt. [25L;19] Binkley, William. Wm. Binkley was believed to have been responsible for the stagecoach holdup on Aug. 24, 1908, on the road between Old Faithful and West Thumb. Almost $1400 in cash and over $700 in jewelry and watches were taken from the tourists. Binkley had previously escaped from the guardhouse at Ft. Yellowstone, where he was being held on a poaching charge. [10;65] [31;153] Black, Leander M. Leander Black was a member of the partnership formed by A. Bart Henderson around 1874 to construct a road from Bozeman to Yellowstone Park and appropriate accommodations. The concern was called the "Bozeman City & Yellowstone National Park Wagon Road and Hotel Company." Attempts to receive a Federal charter and monies failed, along with their grand plans. [30;189] Blackmore, William . William Blackmore, or Lord Blackmore, accompanied the Hayden Expedition of 1872 as an anthropologist. During the trip his wife died in Bozeman. Upon his return he purchased five acres of land in town and deeded it to the city for a cemetery. [30;185] Blanding, James. James Blanding was one of three road crew leaders working on the park roads under Lt. Kingman in 1885-86. He pioneered a new road from Norris to the Grand Canyon, which was completed in 1886. A steep grade on the road became known as 'Blanding Hill.' [31;215] Blankenship, Edwin V. E.V. Blankenship operated a camping company in Yellowstone that was based out of Bozeman. . Records indicate he was in business for at least the years 1897 to 1912. It was originally known as Blankenship & Morgan and later became Blankenship & Co. The company petitioned to leave equipment and supplies at designated campsites in 1909, but the request was denied. Later requests to built log cabins at their sites were also denied. Check out my Smaller Camps webpage for more info!! Bogart, J.V. J.V. Bogart was a member of a partnership formed by A. Bart Henderson around 1874 to construct a road from Bozeman to Yellowstone Park and appropriate accommodations. The concern was called the "Bozeman City & Yellowstone National Park Wagon Road and Hotel Company." Attempts to receive a Federal charter and monies failed, along with their grand plans. [30;189] Bottler Bros. [Boteler] Three brothers, Frederick, Henry and Phillip Bottler, settled near the future site of Emigrant in 1868. Phillip was born Dec. 25, 1837 in Summit County, near Cleveland, Ohio and Fred was born April 10, 1843. Their parents were Catharine and Ernest Bottler. They family later lived in Indiana and Iowa. Phillip enlisted in the Civil War in 1862, but was discharged a few months later due to an injury. He and Frederick headed west in 1865 and established a small ranch in the Gallatin Valley. They sold the ranch a few years later and moved to Emigrant in December of 1867. Their ranch served as a stopping point for early travelers for many years, and also provided guide and hunting services. Frederick was in the geyser basins as early as 1866. Frederick Bottler joined Philetus Norris on a climb to the top of Electric Peak in 1870. Two years later Bottler accompanied the 2nd Hayden Expedition. In 1875 it was reported the brothers killed as many as 2000 elk near Mammoth for the hides and tongues only. The men raised wheat, potatoes, cattle and sheep on their ranch. An 1874 Bozeman newspaper ad proclaimed "Travelers to National Park, Attention! House of Entertainment. Boteler & Bro's Ranch, situated midway between Bozeman and the Mammoth Hot Springs, has been fitted up to accommodate the traveling public to and from the National Park with excellent fare for both man and beast. Good meals, comfortable beds and the best of pasturage for stock can always be had by the traveler. BOTELER & BRO." Fred married Josie Shorthill, a native of Pennsylvania, in 1881. [25g] [2] [3m] [Bozeman Avant-Courier 7/3/1874] [56m;1104] Boutelle, Capt. Frazier . Capt. Boutelle was Acting Park Supt. with the 1st Cavalry from June 1, 1889 to Feb. 15, 1891. [25L;20] He was born Sept. 12, 1840 at Troy, New York to parents James Augustus Boutelle and Emeline Lamb Boutelle. James Boutelle relocated to northern California with a daughter in the 1850s and by 1871 Emeline had married E.F. Gordon and moved to Ontario, Canada. Frazier volunteered in June of 1861 with the 5th New York Cavalry in the Civil War and emerged in 1865 commissioned as a captain. Frazier served at Antietam, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Wilderness, Gettysburg, and the second battle of Bull Run. He re-enlisted in 1866 for the Indian campaign in the West and was an active participant in the Modoc War of 1872-73 in California. In 1873 he married Mary Adolphine Augusto Hayden at Vancouver, Washington and they had one son named Henry Moss Boutelle, born June 17, 1875. Henry was killed in the Philippines during the war in 1899. He again gained rank of captain in 1886. He retired in 1895 and moved to Seattle around 1906. He died there Feb. 12, 1924. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] [Univ. of Oregon Libraries, Hist. Photo. Collection] Bozeman, John. John Bozeman pioneered the short-lived Bozeman’s Trail, which was a short-cut passing through Indian lands east of the Big Horn Mountains from the Oregon Trail to Bozeman. He was killed in 1867 east of Livingston, reportedly by Indians. However, there has been some speculation the murder was committed by whites in an attempt to stir up military action against the Indians. The city of Bozeman, located about 75 miles northwest of the park was established in 1864 and named after John Bozeman. [25L;20] He was born 1835 in Georgia and left his wife and two children to venture west to Cripple Creek, Colorado in 1861. He joined the gold rush to Virginia City in June of 1862. Seeking a shorter route to the mines of Montana, he and John Jacobs were attacked by Sioux that winter east of the Big Horn Mountains, and robbed of all they owned. He led a wagon train along that route in 1863 to the goldfields of Montana and led several parties along "his" route the following year. The Army built forts along the way to help protect the road, but was eventually forced to abandon them due to constant Indian attacks. [Grace R. Hebard, "The Bozeman Trail"] Bracey, Capt. Capt. Bracey was a member of Bart Henderson's Yellowstone prospecting expedition of 1867. [30;77] Bradley, Frank H . Frank H. Bradley was a professor from Knoxville Tennessee and a member of Hayden's Geological Survey of the Territories. He renamed deLacy's Lake to Shoshone Lake. Breck, George. George Breck took over as manager of transportation for YPTCo when W.W. Humphrey left to form the Monida & Yellowstone stage line in 1898 with Franks Haynes. Breck had been prominent in stage transportation in the northwest and continued with YPTCo until his death on March 25, 1914. He had apparently gone into his cabin seemingly perfectly well and when a friend walked into 10 minutes later, Breck was dead. A.W. Miles called him one of the most valued and honored employees in the park. [15b] [1n;3/26/1914] Brett, Col. L.M. Col. Brett was Acting Supt. for the Army from September 30, 1910 to October 15, 1916. In June of 1915 he made a tour around the park in an automobile, to confirm the feasibility of auto travel on park roads. In August he oversaw the entry of motorized vehicles into Yellowstone. He died in Washington DC September 23, 1928 at age 71 as a brigadier-general in the Army. [10;86] [25L;20] Bridger, Jim. Jim Bridger was a famed mountain man, explorer, trapper, guide, and teller of tall tales in the Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone regions in the early to mid- 1800’s. He was born March 1804 in Richmond VA and was hunting and scouting by age 14. He went into the Indian country at age 18 and became one of the founders of the Rocky Mountain Fur Co. in 1822, along with Wm. Ashley, Andrew Henry, Jedediah Smith, and Milton Sublette. Bridger is known to have begun trapping in the Upper Yellowstone area by 1829, and was in and out of the country up until 1860. He established a trading post known as Ft. Bridger in 1843 on Black’s Fork of the Green River. In the spring of 1860 he accompanied the Raynolds Expedition to Yellowstone, but they were unable to enter the southern portion of Yellowstone Park due to the deep snows. He liked to tell a ‘yarn’ and there are dozens of ‘tall tales’ attributed to him, many of which though, originated from other sources. People of his time referred to him as “The Old Man of the Mountains.” He died in Washington, Missouri on July 7, 1881. He was originally buried on his farm near Dallas, south of Kansas City, but in 1906 his bones were moved to Mount Washington Cemetery and a 8-ton stone monument was erected. In addition to his other exploits, the marker claims he discovered the Great Salt Lake in 1824 and the South Pass in Wyoming in 1827. [25g] [2] [Breckinridge Bulletin, CO., 1/7/1907 Brisben, Gen. James S. James Brisben was Lt. Doane's commanding officer during Doane's ill-fated winter exploration of the Snake River in 1876-77. He stationed his troops at Mammoth in 1878 during the Bannock Indian scare. The troop was armed with a Gatling gun. In 1882 Brisben was authorized to operate boats on the Yellowstone Lake, but refused to do so after finding out YPIC also had the same privilege. Brisben was born May 23, 1837 at Boalsburg, Pennsylvania and entered the Civil War as a private in 1861. By the end of the war he attained the rank of colonel, but upon re-enlistment after the war he became a captain. He was commander of Ft. Ellis at Bozeman in 1876 and went to the relief of the beleaguered trappers and hunters at Ft. Pease along the Yellowstone River. E.S. Topping was among the men at Ft. Pease. Brisben later maintained a ranch in Paradise Valley south of Livingston. He died January 14, 1892. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] [25L;21] [30;212] [10;28] Brothers, Henry J . In 1914 Henry Brothers established the Brothers Bathhouse & Plunge in the Old Faithful Geyser Basin across the river from Beehive Geyser. He used hot water from Solitary Geyser to supply the swimming pool and the five smaller hot pools. Brothers Plunge was enlarged in 1923 and a new log building was erected. In 1927 he built a bathhouse at the Old Faithful auto camp, and three years later built facilities at the Fishing Bridge auto camp. This bathhouse included tubs, showers, laundry and irons. He sold out to Charles Hamilton in 1933, who remodeled and enlarged the Bathhouse & Plunge, essentially rebuilding the entire structure. [25;21] Brown, Capt. Oscar J. Capt. Brown was Acting Supt. with the 1st Cavalry from June 23, 1899 to July 23, 1900. [25L;21] Brown, Joe . Joe Brown discovered gold in Bear Gulch, near the park’s northern border east of Gardiner in 1866. It was reported that he took out $8,000 in gold that year. He discovered gold ore on Crevasse Mountain in the 1870’s and sold out to George Eaton in 1885, who built the first quartz mill in the district. A trail up Dome Mountain, near Yankee Jim Canyon, is named after Brown. [25L;21] Bryant, Robert C. Robert Bryant formed a company that was originally known as the Bryant-Spence Yellowstone Camping Co. It began operating out of (West) Yellowstone in 1903, with main offices in Chicago. This camping company conducted tours of the park from the west entrance and Gardiner. Bryant applied for a camping permit in July 1908, but was turned down by Interior. Apparently he had been operating in the park during 1908 and previous seasons without a license and oft-times sold tours and pawned the people off on other operators in the park. A 1908 brochure advertised “The Bryant Way”, an obvious take-off on “The Wylie Way” phrase coined many years earlier. Bryant somehow resumed his camping operation ca1909-10 and also operated hotel and stagecoach operations in (West) Yellowstone. The business was incorporated as the R.C. Bryant Company on May 31, 1910 in Utah. Special wagons accompanied the tours, carrying provisions, baggage, tents, cots, tables, chairs, bedding, and stoves, etc. A professional cook accompanied the trips. The hotel was located on the main street coming out of the park, about a block east of the UP depot. Bryant sold out his camp and hotel operation to the Shaw & Powell Co. in 1912. [25g] [15b] [YNP Army Files Doc. #8021;8022;8506;8510;8516] Check out my Robert Bryant Camping Co. page for more info!! Buffalo Jones, C.J. Buffalo Jones was hired in 1902 to manage the dwindling buffalo herd. At that time the herd numbered less than 50, and only 21-22 by some accounts. 18 buffalo cows were brought in from the Allard Ranch in Montana and 3 bulls imported from the Goodnight Ranch in Texas. A house and corrals were built for Jones just south of Capitol Hill in Mammoth. C.J hired his brother as “buffalo keeper”, but he was later fired for incompetence. Buffalo Jones position was abolished in 1905 and he resigned shortly thereafter. [25L;22] Buffington, Leroy. Leroy Buffington was a St. Paul architect who designed the new National Hotel at Mammoth in 1883. He designed numerous St. Paul mansions and was considered the 'father of the skyscraper.' [10;130] Bullitt, John C. John Bullitt was a Philadelphia businessman who was one of the original organizers of the YPA in 1886. Bundy, Oliver C. Oliver C. Bundy was a Helena photographer who has become known for his early stereoviews of Yellowstone scenes in the early 1870's. Whether he took photos himself, or purchased photos from other photographers is unknown. Bundy arrived in Montana Territory in 1866 and opened a photo gallery in Virginia City in 1872. He went into partnership with Helena photographer E. H. Train in 1876 and later that year Bundy bought out Train. Bundy was born in 1827 and died in 1891. [www.yellowstonestereoviews.com ] Burgess, Felix Felix Burgess was a government scout who was appointed a deputy marshall in 1891, although lack of adequate enforceable laws made his job difficult. Early in that year he assisted in the search for missing scout Ed Wilson. In Feb. of 1894, Burgess and Private Troike, arrested poacher Edgar Howell on Pelican Creek. Howell had at least six buffalo capes hanging near his camp. [31;63-65,445] Buttrey, Frank A . Frank Buttrey started his first store in Aldridge and he later established Buttrey's Stores all through Montana. [25g;144]

Camping in the Yellowstone Yellowstone Park Camping Company - 1917-1919 Yellowstone Park Camps Company - 1919-1927 Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Company - 1927-1936 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 th e author. Yellowstone Park Camping Company - 1917-1919 Huge changes were enacted in Yellowstone beginning with the 1917 season when the new National Park Service mandated a concessions consolidation plan. All of the stagecoaches were retired, and replaced with automobiles stages manufactured by the White Motor Co. All transportation would be run by H.W. Child and his Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. The various smaller camping companies were shut down, and the largest - the Shaw & Powell Camping Co . and the Wylie Permanent Camping Co . were combined into one company. This was known as the Yellowstone Park Camping Co. The hotels were mostly unaffected, except that the Fountain and Norris hotels were shut down as unnecessary due to faster travel time in the new auto stages. The general stores were untouched, but Frank Haynes was forced to sell his transportation operation and former stock in the Wylie Co., leaving him in control of the picture shops in Yellowstone. Left: Possibly the 1st newspaper ad for the new Yellowstone Park Camping Co., 22Jun1917, Salt Lake Tribune . Right: Newspaper ads with the new, "The Camp Way" logo showed up early in the summer of 1917. 3Aug1917, Salt Lake Tribune . A.W. Miles gained 51% of stock in the new camping company, while various Shaw and Powell family members shared the remainder. Many of the former camps were abandoned to avoid duplication of services and a new camp at Mammoth was established. Camps located at Canyon, Lake, Riverside, Tower and Upper Geyser basin were retained, while camps at West Thumb, Willow Park, Gibbon Falls, Nez Perce, and the east entrance (Cody Camp) were abandoned. Riverside Camp closed in 1918 due to WWI and never reopened. The company immediately began using the slogan "The Camp Way," a take-off of the Wylie Way motto. The logo itself was reminiscent of the Shaw & Powell logo. The term Camp Way continued to be used in advertising up into the early 1930s. By 1927-28, most of the permanent camps were beginning to be called lodges instead of camps. The “Wylie Way” slogan was no longer used in Yellowstone, but went into use in 1917 at Zion national Park, where Wm. W. Wylie opened up a new camp - the first lodgings in Zion. Photo of a Yellowstone Park Camping Co. truck hauling employees to a camp in Yellowstone for the summer season. A blurb in one of the company’s brochure boasted, "A hostess at each camp look after the comfort and convenience of women guests. The camp atmosphere is clean, informal and pleasurable. There is nothing rough or coarse. There is no “dressing up.” The employees are young folk from private homes—many of them students and teachers. All sleeping tents are framed, floored, wainscoted and heated. The furnishings, while simple, are absolutely comfortable The beds are of the best quality, full sized. A special nightly feature at each camp is the "Camp Fire" and entertainment and dancing in the recreation pavilion. “Camp Roosevelt” is an extra “stop-over" camp for guests who desire to prolong the standard “four and one-half day tour." The government urges prospective visitors to plan if possible, to stay several extra days in the Park. The weekly .rate, American plan, is $30.00." From The Yellowstone News, Spring 1918, published by the Yellowstone Park Camping Co., New method to revitalize your weary bones: “Are you a member of that annual band of tired business men and women, fagged-out teachers and weary hosts and hostesses, worn by the strainn of a hard social season who are looking, during the summer time, for the road which leads to the three “R’s”—Rest. Recreation, and Recreation? . . . You have "nerves?” Can't sleep nights? Then why hesitate longer? Pack your suitcase with a few warm, rough clothes and some stout shoes, wire the Yellowstone Park Camping Company to reserve accommodations for you. and take the first train to Yellowstone National Park, I wager the first morning’sride will smooth the wrinkles from your brow and soothe your tortured nerves; and after your first night’s rest you will awaken feeling reborn and ready for anything.” Yellowstone Park Camps Company - 1919-1927 Howard Hays and Roe Emery purchased the YP Camping Co. in 1919. Walter White of the White Motor Co. was a silent partner and Hays became president of the company. Harry Child, wanting to buy the company very badly, after having to give up his share of the Wylie Co. after 1916, was hoping to get a good deal. While he was waiting for the $150,000 price to come down, Hays unexpectedly came up with the money, with backing by White. Walter White hid his involvement in the business, as he did not want to antagonize Child, who was one of his large customers for White buses. The new owners expanded operations of the camps by building rustic log lodges and recreation halls at all existing locations except Riverside, which closed in 1918 due to WWI and never reopened. A swimming pool was built at Mammoth Lodge around 1920 and a Boys Forest & Trail Camp was established at Roosevelt in 1921 that included a swimming pool, council house, and eight tent cabins. The camp taught boys the fine arts of fishing, mountain climbing, and studying the flora and fauna. For additional information and photos of these camps & lodges, check my "Hotels" web pages: Mammoth ; Roosevelt ; Canyon ; Lake ; Old Faithful . Above: Camp photos from the YP Camps Co. 1922 brochure.. Right: Description of the five camps, from a 1920 YP Camps Co. brochure. From the Director of the NPS, Stephen T. Mather, in his 1924 annual report Vernon Goodwin takes over the helm of the YP Camps Co. The company was sold in 1924 to Vernon Goodwin of Los Angeles, when Howard Hays retired and sold out due to poor health. The Salt Lake Tribune of May 9, 1924 explains: “The Yellowstone Park Camps Company, controlling the camp system in the national playground, has been sold to Vernon Goodwin, wealthy Los Angeles hotel man, according to an announcement received yesterday 'by Daniel S. Spencer, general passenger agent for the Oregon Short Line railroad, from Horace M. Albright, superintendent of Yellowstone park. The consideration was not made public. The property has been controlled by Howard H. Hays, formerly of Salt Lake, and the sale has the approval of S.T. Mather, director of the national parks service, who recently joined with Mr. Albrlght, Mr. Hays and the purchaser in a discussion of the deal in Los Angeles. All officers of the company, with the exception of Mr. Hays, will remain with the organization, it is understood. The sale of the properties was prompted by the ill health of Mr. Hays, who is preparing, on the advice of a physician, for a rest of about six months.” Harry Child kept his involvement in the new company quiet, much as White had done five years earlier. The purchase now cost Child four times what it would cost him in 1919. Goodwin became company President and A.L. Smith served as Secretary/Treasurer. Ed Moorman, who had previously served as Secretary/Treasurer was brought into the deal and became Manager. The company opened the Sylvan Pass Lodge in 1924, located near the East Entrance. The lodge, along the route from Cody to Lake Hotel, provided meals in a log lodge and guests could stay overnight in tent facilities. The lodge operated for ten years. Vernon Goodwin , who had been manager of the Alexandria and Ambassador hotels in Los Angeles, purchased the YP Camps Co. in 1924 for $660,000 with financing by Harry Child. Although it technically became known as the Vernon Goodwin Co. the company continued to be referred to as the YP Camps Co. According to "Greater Los Angeles & Southern California Portraits & Personal Memoranda," Lewis Publishing Company, 1910. Goodwin was "born in Santa Rosa, Cal., Dec. 13, 1871. Chiefly educated in public and high schools. Assistant postmaster of Santa Rosa for three years; resigned to take a law course, and admitted to practice in California Supreme Court, 1894. Principal of grammar school for three years, and later took a special English course at Stanford University. Served as Deputy County Auditor for four years and resigned to accept position with California Gas & Electric Corporation. Came to Los Angeles, 1895; now Secretary of the Bilicke-Rowan Fireproof Building Co., Bilicke-Rowan Annex Co., Alexandria Hotel Co. and Hollenbeck Hotel Co." [Rotarian Magazine, March 1926] The Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Co. This company came into existence sometime in 1927 when Vernon Goodwin Co. changed the name. When Goodwin’s wife died in January 1927, her obit mention Vernon being President of the Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Co. The company continued the operation of lodges and camps at Old Faithful, Lake, Canyon, Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, Mammoth, and Roosevelt. Although the name changed, Goodwin remained in management with the Child enterprises and was listed as president of the YPLC Co while Ed Moorman was retained as general manager. This new company (just in name) invested $300,000 on new buildings at Canyon, Lake and Old Faithful. Cafeterias were also built at the public auto camps at Old Faithful and West Thumb. The trend now was to focus on a lodge operation as opposed to tent facilities. Gradually the historic striped canvas sides and tops were replaced with more conventional wood structures. When Harry Child died in 1931, his son-in-law Wm. Nichols took over the operation and Goodwin became vice president of the YP Hotel Co. The company struggled during the Depression, as did the hotel andother park businesses. Some camps closed for a year or more, but that the camps were less expensive than the hotels was a distinct advantage. For additional information and photos of these camps & lodges, check my "Hotels" web pages: Mammoth ; Roosevelt ; Canyon ; Lake ; Old Faithful . Advertising from the company's 1930 brochure: "From many years' experience, the Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps Company has developed a truly remarkable system and service. The Lodges are located at the main centers of scenic interest. In each lodge, guests come first to a great central building, which house lobbies, dining halls, social assembly rooms, business headquarters, curio shops and many of the usual facilities of hotels and clubs. Surrounding the main buildings are the small lodges—of one-room, two-room and four-room capacity. They are of two types - (1.) log, (2.) rustic clap board - all substantially built, comfortable and well furnished. Each lodge is heated by a rustic wood-burning stove (for nights and mornings are cool in the mountains), the beds are full size and of high quality, the furniture plain but adequate. Lodges are electric lighted, of course. The dining rooms serve wholesome, well-cooked food." Yellowstone Park Company - 1936-1979 In 1936 the Yellowstone Park Lodges & Camps Co. merged together with the other Child-Nichols interests into the Yellowstone Park Company. These interests included the Yellowstone Park Hotel Co., Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., and the Yellowstone Park Boat Co. Wm Nichols was president, Vernon Goodwin vice-president, and Mrs. Harry Child remained a principle stockholder. The company embarked on an ambitious renovation plan which including the razing of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (Old National Hotel). The North Wing was retained and a new lobby/office complex constructed at the end of the wing. A separate restaurant, recreation hall, and cabins were also erected. Many of the tent cabins at Mammoth Lodge were moved to Roosevelt Lodge and the MHS Lodge was shut down in 1940. It was the beginning of a new era for the company in Yellowstone, but the earlier vision of the tent camp operation became a lost relic of history. The National Park Service's Mission 66 plan in the 1950s closed down the beautifully rustic camp at Canyon, and new facilities were constructed at Canyon Village, a mile or two away. Sylvan Closed around 1934, but Roosevelt Lodge, Lake Lodge, and Old Faithful Lodge remain successful operations to this day, under the auspices of Xanterra Parks & Lodges. Top Left: Mammoth Lodge , 1923. Haynes Postcard #23295 Center: Old Faithful Lodge , 1928, Haynes Postcard #28029 Bottom Left: Lake Lodge , 1922. Haynes Postcard #22032 Top Right: Roosevelt Lodge , 1927. Haynes Postcard #27468 Bottom Right: Canyon Lodge , 1922. Haynes Postcard #22032 Of these five lodges, only Roosevelt, Lake & Old Faithful remain.

Yellowstone Biographies H 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 th e author. Hague, Arnold . Arnold Hague was born December 3, 1840 to Rev. Dr. William and Mary B. (Moriarty) Hague in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as a geologist with the US Geological Survey from 1879 until his death in 1917. Hague graduated from Yale and studied at several universities in Germany. He specialized in the geology of Yellowstone beginning in 1883 and continued his surveys of the park through two decades. He and his staff were responsible for naming many of the park features. He was a member of Clarence King's US Geological exploration of the 40th Parallel from 1867-77 and investigated mining and mining processes in Nevada, China, and Guatemala. Hague was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and other professional societies, and authored numerous scientific books and professional papers on the geology of the West. In 1899 he co-authored "Geology of the Yellowstone National Park" and wrote numerous other treatises on geology. [Who's Who in America, 1902; Webster's Biographical Dictionary, 1948; The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, 1904] [25L;46] Hall, William A. W.A. Hall, familiarly known as 'Billy', was born April 30, 1861 and came to Montana from Humansville, Missouri as a foster child of the C.D. Fisher family. He married Lulu F. Brown in 1886 and they had four sons: Arthur W., Earl H., Warren E., and James Raymond. Hall built the W.A. Hall store in Gardiner near the Arch and rail depot in 1903 and provided all of the basic necessities of life for the tourist, hunter, and resident. The large upstairs was home to many community dances in its heyday. The store was a Golden Rule store, the forerunner of the J.C. Penny franchise. Hall originally ran a store in Aldridge, but built a new and larger store in Gardiner with the opening of the railroad to that town. He left Aldridge completely after the coal strike of 1904-05. Hall also operated a Golden Rule store at Cinnabar in the 1890's. The W.A. Hall Company at Cinnabar housed a general store, a beer hall and a restaurant. Hall closed the store down in 1903 when the railroad continued on into Gardiner and the town of Cinnabar was abandoned. Hall later moved to Bozeman and his sons operated the Gardiner store until 1955. Lulu Hall passed away in 1931. The W.A. Hall building was sold in 1961 to Cecil Paris. Reportedly architect Robert Reamer designed the building for Hall. However, there is some doubt about whether the building that was erected actually used the plans drawn up by Reamer. Reamer's blueprints of the store show many design characteristics that were not included in actual construction, perhaps as a means to save both time and money. [25L;101] [71c] [56o;Hall, Warren] [1m;Hall, W.A.] Hamilton, Charles A. Charles Hamilton was founder of the Hamilton Stores business that operated general stores in the park from 1915 to 2002. He was born in 1884 in Winnepeg, Manitoba and went to work for the YPA in 1905. In 1915 he purchased the Klamer store at Old Faithful from Mary Klamer with financial backing by H.W. Child. The following year, with an increasing amount of autos in the park, he went into the service station business with Child. Hamilton opened up his second store and filling station in 1917 at Lake in the old E. C. Waters building in front of the Lake Hotel. Construction on a new store at Lake began in 1919 and was ready for opening in 1922. Hamilton married May Spence in 1920 at the Fort Yellowstone chapel. By the mid-1920’s he had campground stores and filling stations at West Thumb, Fishing Bridge, and Old Faithful. In 1926 he helped form the Yellowstone Park Service Stations (YPSS) with Child and Anna Pryor. The Upper Hamilton store was erected at Old Faithful in 1929-30 using a design by Robert Reamer. He bought out the Brothers Geyser Bath operation at Old Faithful in 1933. His daughter Eleanor May and husband Trevor Povah took over much of the day-to-day management of the business in 1940. In 1953 Hamilton purchased the Pryor & Trischman stores at Mammoth and Canyon, giving him a monopoly on the general store business. He died in 1957 and his family controlled the business through 2002. [25g] [25k] For addition information on the Hamilton Stores, please visit my web page. Hamilton, Eleanor . Eleanor Hamilton was the daughter of Charles Hamilton, she married Trevor Povah in 1940. After her father’s death in 1957, Eleanor (Ellie) and her husband took over the Hamilton Stores operation. [25L;47] Harriman, E.H. E.H. Harriman was president of Union Pacific RR and decided in ca1905 to build a branch line to the western entrance of Yellowstone. The line was opened in 1908 at what would eventually become the town of West Yellowstone. The family donated 14,750 acres of their ranch to the state of Idaho in 1977 for use as a state park. The park was named after the Harriman family. [25L;46] Harris, Capt. Moses . Capt. Harris was the 1st military superintendent of the park. He took charge on August 20, 1886 with the 1st Cavalry, Troop M. The troop consisted of two officers and 50 enlisted men. He hired Jack Baronett as a guide, and James McBride as scout. He served until May 31, 1889. [25L;47] Hartzog, George B. George Hartzog was appointed NPS Director in 1964. He canceled all of the Mission 66 objectives that year. The following year he notified YPCo that the government was going to terminate their contract. [25L;47] Harvat, John . John Harvet was a Livingston area businessman who received the beef contract for the park hotels for the 1890 season. D.B. May held the contract for the two previous seasons. Harvat contracted with Henry Klamer to manage the operation. Klamer himself received the contract the following year and maintained it for the rest of the decade. [25k] Hatch, Benton . Benton Hatch was in charge of the Firehole Hotel in 1890 and became manager of the new Fountain Hotel when it opened in 1891. However, he had differences of opinion on management of the hotel with the Yellowstone Park Association (YPA), and retired from the position in September. He was well-liked by his employees, and 20 of them left with him in a show of support. [LE;10/18/1890;9/12/1891] Hatch, Rufus . Rufus Hatch was one of the original investors and partners in the YP Improvement Co. in 1883, along with Carroll T. Hobart and Henry Douglas. Hatch was born in Wells, York County, Maine in 1832 and later became a grocery clerk in Rockford Illinois. He entered the grain commission business in Chicago in 1854 and amassed a fortune. In 1862 he went to New York to establish a stock brokerage on Wall Street. YPIC went bankrupt and into receivership in 1885. He died in 1893. [25g] [2] Hayden, Ferdinand V . Born in Westfield, Mass. on September 7, 1829, Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1850. He studied medicine at the medical college in Albany, New York before heading west in 1863 to explore the Badlands of Dakota and other areas of the Upper Missouri. F.V. Hayden began the Hayden Survey in 1867 and conducted a geological survey of the new state of Nebraska. The government assumed control of his survey in 1869 and it became known as the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories. He obtained $40,000 from Congress and became the leader of the 1st government-sponsored expedition to Yellowstone in 1871 that explored, named, mapped, and later published accounts of this historic trip. His efforts were of great assistance in the campaign to protect Yellowstone as a National Park. Artist Thomas Moran, photographer Henry Jackson, and other scientists accompanied him on the expedition. Hayden also conducted Yellowstone expeditions in 1872 and 1878. The author of numerous scientific papers and government publications, he retired from government service in 1886 due to health issues and died two years later in Philadelphia. [Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 1-7-1888] [25L;47] Haynes, Bessie. Bessie Haynes was Frank Haynes' oldest daughter, who married Lt. Frederick T. Arnold. She was born around 1880 in Minnesota and passed away 100 years later in Arizona. [25L;46] Haynes, Frank J. Frank J. Haynes (F.J. Haynes, F. Jay Haynes,) was known as the ‘Official Park Photographer’ and was originally employed by the Northern Pacific RR in 1875 to take pictures along their route from Minnesota to the West Coast for advertising and promotional purposes. Frank Haynes was born Oct. 28, 1853 in Saline Michigan and married Lily Verna Synder in 1878. Haynes established a photo studio in Moorhead, Minnesota in 1876 and moved it to Fargo, North Dakota in 1879. Ten years later he moved the studio to St. Paul, Minnesota where it was maintained for many years. In 1884 he obtained leases for 4 acres at both Old Faithful and Mammoth, where he opened his first photo shop in 1884. His son Jack was also born that year. Frank eventually operated Haynes Photo Shops at all major locations in the park. In December of 1885, he joined up with George Wakefield to form the Wakefield & Haynes Stage Co. The concern was short-lived and Haynes sold out in June 1886, but Wakefield continued the operation for several more years in the park as Wakefield Stage Lines. Haynes was a part of the Schwatka winter expedition in 1887 and took the 1st winter pictures of the interior of the park. He and two others finished the trek after Schwatka got sick and turned back. The Haynes Guidebook was first published in 1890 and continued almost yearly until 1966. In 1900 he produced his first set of ‘picture post cards’, and went on over the years producing tens of thousands of these cards and stereoviews, many of which are now collector’s items. Haynes and W.W. Humphrey formed the Monida-Yellowstone Stage Co. in 1898 that operated from the Union Pacific rail line at Monida into the park. It began operating out of Yellowstone (West Yellowstone) in 1908 and became known as the Yellowstone & Western Stage Co. in 1913. In 1909 Haynes made an attempt to break into the hotel business in Yellowstone, but Harry Child offered Haynes one-half of his interest in the Wylie Permanent Camping Co. to keep Haynes from building a hotel. By 1913 Haynes was a stockholder in the Madison Fork Ranch Corp. located near the Madison Basin west of the park. Haynes owned the Cody-Sylvan Pass Co. in 1913 and became president and largest shareholder of the first motorized bus fleet in the park in 1916. That venture was known as the Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Co. and was co-owned by William Nichols, Wylie and Shaw & Powell. That business was taken over by the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. (YPTCo) in 1917. He lost all of his transportation businesses in 1917 when YPTCo was awarded the contract for the transportation franchise in the park. Haynes was also forced to sell off his Wylie shares when the camping companies were reorganized. F.J. retired from the transportation and camping businesses after the 1916 season and turned over the photo shops to his son Jack in the beginning of 1916. Frank passed away on March 10, 1921 at age 68. Supt. Albright renamed Mt. Burley to Mt. Haynes in his honor. [43j] [25g] [18t] [YNP Archives, Box C17] [31] For additional information, please visit my Haynes Photo Shops page. Haynes, Isabel. Isabel Haynes, nee Isabel Nauerth, was manager of Roosevelt Lodge in 1927and married Jack Haynes in 1931. Their only child was a daughter born in November of that year named Lida Marie. She skied competitively in high school and learned to fly while attending college. She had been expected to take over the family business, but unfortunately died in a tragic traffic accident at age 20. Upon Jack’s death in 1962, Isabel operated the Haynes Photo Shops until 1967, when she sold out to Hamilton Stores. In 1970 she donated the company pictures, negatives, and papers to the Montana Historical Society in Helena. Personal and non-business papers were donated to Montana State University at Bozeman. She passed away in 1993 and the estate auction was held that year in Bozeman. [25L;49] Haynes, Jack Ellis . Jack Haynes was son of Frank J. Haynes and born Sept. 27, 1884 at Fargo, Dakota Territory. Jack received his college degree at the Univ. of Minnesota, graduating in 1908 and took over the Haynes photo business in 1916 when his father retired. Jack was commissioned in the US Army Reserve as a 2nd Lt. in 1918. He was an integral part of the Place Names Committee in 1927, and three years later he obtained exclusive rights to sell images of Yellowstone in the park. He was a member of the Masons, Elks, and Rotary clubs. Haynes married Isabel May Nauerth June 11, 1930 and they made their home in Bozeman. Their daughter Lida was born in 1931, but died in a tragic accident in 1952. He was known to many as ‘Mr. Yellowstone’ and successfully operated the Haynes Photos Shops until his death in 1962. Isabel ran the business until 1967 when it was sold to Hamilton Stores. There were 13 photo shops in the park at the time of sale. [25L;49] [56o; Haynes, Jack Ellis] Hays, Howard . Howard Hays was born on November 23, 1883 in Metropolis, Cook Co., Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago Law prior to coming out to Yellowstone in 1905 to begin work for the Wylie Permanent Camping Co. as a surrey driver. He served as the traveling passenger agent for the company from 1906-16. In 1915 he married Margaret Mauger of Salt Lake City. Early in 1917 he became employed by the Union Pacific RR, and later the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Tourist Bureau, and the National Parks Bureau of the US Railroad Administration. In 1919 he purchased the Yellowstone Park Camping Co. with Roe Emery, changing the name to Yellowstone Park Camps Co. After becoming ill with tuberculosis, he sold the company in 1924 to H.W. Child and Vernon Goodwin for $660,000. He later went on to become President of the Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP Co. In 1927 Hays purchased the Glacier Park Transportation Co. and ran the company until 1955. During this time hays purchased an interest in the Riverside Press newspaper, in California. He eventually moved up through the ranks to become president of the company, a position he held until his death in early January of 1969. [25L;49] Heap, David Porter . David P. Heap was part of the Barlow-Heap expedition of the Army Corps of Engineering in 1971. They had orders from General Sheridan to make an exploration of Yellowstone Park. They traveled with the Hayden Expedition for a portion of the journey. Beaver Dick Leigh served as a guide while photographer Thomas J. Hine took the first pictures of Old Faithful in eruption. Unfortunately the Great Chicago Fire of 1889 destroyed almost all of Hines' negatives from the expedition and only about 16 are known to have survived. Heap was born March 24, 1843 in Stephano, Turkey. He immigrated to the United States and attended Georgetown College in Washington DC. He graduated from the US military academy in 1864 and served out the remainder of the Civil War on the side of the North. He was promoted to Captain, later to major of engineers in 1882, and lieutenant colonel in 1895. In 1899 he became in charge of the 3rd lighthouse district and depot at Tompkinsville, NY. He authored several treatises on electric lighting and lighthouses. [The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable American; Chronology of Wonderland, Goss] Hedges, Cornelius. Cornelius Hedges first came to Montana in 1864 in search of gold and established a law office in Helena the following year. He was also an editorial writer for the Helena Herald and a member of the Washburn Expedition of 1870. Following the expedition he wrote a series of articles that were published in the Helena Herald describing the wonders of Yellowstone and proposed the appropriation of Yellowstone for public use. [25L;50] Henderson, Barbara Gazelle (Lillie) . Barbara Henderson was born in 1861, she was the daughter of G.L Henderson. She became the park Postmistress on July 5, 1882, shortly after the family’s move to Yellowstone. Together with her sister Jennie, who became Postmistress in 1884, they began the Post Office Store at Mammoth in one of James McCartney’s old buildings. The postal position remained mostly in the family for 35 years. She married Alexander Lyall in 1898, who was the construction contractor for the new general store at Mammoth in 1895-96. Barbara later moved to Southern California to live. [1900 Federal Census, YNP] [25j] Henderson, Abel Bartlett. Bart Henderson was born in Tennessee in 1832 to Gideon B. and Jane Ritchey Henderson. He is believed to have prospected for gold in California and the far west at least by the 1860s. He began prospecting around the Yellowstone Park in 1867, coming up from Jackson’s Hole over Two Ocean Pass, around the east shore of Yellowstone Lake, and downriver into Montana. He discovered gold in the Cooke City area in 1869-70 with Adam ‘Horn’ Miller, Ed Hibbard, and James Gourley. He named Soda Butte and Soda Butte Creek during that trip. With help from James Gourley and Adam ‘Horn’ Miller, he began building a road in 1871 from Bottler’s Ranch near Emigrant to Mammoth. The road later passed into the hands of ‘Yankee Jim' James George. Henderson became the 1st known user of skis in the park when he skied from Stephens Creek to Bozeman in 1871. Bart and his brother Stokely D. (and perhaps a brother named James??), owned a ranch near Stephens Creek, just north of the northern Park border, that came under attack by Nez Perce on August 31, 1877. The ranch was burned and after a short battle, Sterling Henderson (son of Stokely), Joe Brown, George Reese, John Werks, and one other man escaped across the Yellowstone River in a small boat. No relation to George Legg Henderson, Bart died August 4, 1889 at Nelson, BC. [LE;10/5/1889] [32] [25g] Henderson, David Bremmer . David Henderson was the younger brother of George Henderson, he became an Iowa Congressman and Speaker of the House of Representatives. It was his influence that no doubt gained George’s appointment as Asst Supt of Yellowstone in 1882. [25L;50] Henderson, George L . George Henderson, or G.L. Henderson, was born in Oct. 8, 1827 in Old Deer Scotland and immigrated to the US with his family in 1846. The family later settled in Fayette County, Iowa. George and his wife Jeanette Thomas divorced in 1879 after having 10 children. However, five of them died by 1875 due to various causes. He was hired as an assistant superintendent to Supt. Conger in June of 1882 and moved to Yellowstone with his children. He arrived with his son Walter J., aged 20, and daughters Helen L., aged 28, Jennie A., aged 18, Barbara G., age 21, and Mary R., age 12. They moved into the Norris Blockhouse and the following year lived in one of McCartney’s old hotel buildings. The family built the Cottage Hotel at Mammoth in 1885 and Walter and Barbara were listed as the owners on the lease paperwork. He produced a newspaper-style guide to the park called Henderson's Park Manual. Editions were published in 1885 and 1888. George was an avid supporter of the park, conducted tours, and named numerous features in the park. He became known as the 1st Park Interpreter. The Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) bought out the Cottage Hotel in 1889, but George continued to work for his former nemesis until the early 1900’s as a promoter of his beloved Yellowstone. He married Hannah Horton in 1889, but the marriage contract was dissolved twice, the final time in 1898. George died in November 14, 1905 in Chula Vista, CA. [111] [Family Records of James Dean Henderson] Henderson, Helen Lucretia (Nellie) . Born April 25, 1854 in Henderson Prairie, Iowa, Helen Henderson was the daughter of G.L Henderson and became the 1st female stagecoach driver in the park in the mid-1880’s. In her duties she also acted as tour guide and interpreter. She married Charles Stuart Nov. 15, 1887. Helen, also known as ‘Nellie’, worked for the family business at the Cottage Hotel and probably at the general store. The lease for the Henderson business was in her and Walter’s name. [25L;52] [LE;11/19/1887] Henderson, James. James Henderson, brother of Bart Henderson, established a small ranch on Stephens Creek, near the northern border of the park, with his brothers in 1871. In 1877 the Nez Perce Indians burned some of the ranch buildings during their raids through the park. His son Sterling, John Werks, Joseph Brown, George Reese, and Wm. Davis were under attack from the Indians at the ranch for two hours, but managed to finally escape across the Yellowstone River in a small boat. Shortly afterwards Lt. Doane and a detachment from Ft. Ellis arrived and chased the Nez Perce back into the park. The ranch lands became the site of the town of Cinnabar in 1882. The ranch was purchased by Clarence Stephens in the early 1880’s, and was eventually owned by George Huston, C.T. Hobart, and finally the Hoppe family. The lands were transferred to the government in the mid-1920’s. [113] [28g] Henderson, Jennie . Daughter of G.L. Henderson, Jennie Henderson was born March 13, 1864 and took over the Postmistress job at Mammoth from 1884 to 1886. She operated a post office store with her sister Barbara beginning in 1882, in one of James McCartney’s old buildings and became the founder of the first permanent general store in Yellowstone. They sold curios, crystals, agates, petrified wood and ‘coated specimens’. The business later began selling general tourist supplies, clothing, boots, camping gear and supplies, and other tourist necessities. In 1886 Jennie married John Dewing and had two children, George L. and Jessie M., but the marriage later ended in divorce. Marion Baronett took over the Postmistress job and store from 1886 to 1888. In October of that year Jennie was again appointed Postmistress and served until Oct. 1893, when George Ash became Postmaster. George and Jennie were married in June of 1893. In 1895-96 the couple built a new store and post office at Mammoth and lived in the upstairs apartment. Brother-in-law Alex Lyall was in charge of construction of the building. She again became Postmistress early in 1900 after her husband became ill. Several months later George died in a Salt Lake hospital. Jennie received a new 10-year lease for the business in 1905. She retired in 1908 and transferred the lease to Walter Henderson and Alex Lyall. They operated the business until 1913 when George Whittaker purchased it. The business operated under a variety of names: Post Office Store , ca 1883-89; YNP Post Office, ca1889-93; Ash & Henderson, ca1896; Yellowstone Park Tourist Supplies, ca1902; J.H. Ash & Company, ca1907, Yellowstone Park Tourist Supply Co., ca1908; Lyall & Henderson, 1908-1912. Jennie died in 1947 at the age of 83. The store is currently operated by Delaware North Parks Co. [25j] [1900 Federal Census, YNP] Click Here to read the article I wrote on Jennie Henderson Ash and her General Store for the Spring 2005 issue of Yellowstone Science. Henderson, Mary Rosetta . Mary Henderson, born July 15, 1870 in Iowa, was the youngest daughter of G.L. Henderson and was known to have been teaching music in Iowa for part of the year in 1887. She helped her sisters with the Post Office Store at Mammoth and married Henry Klamer in June of 1892. They built and operated the Klamer general store at Old Faithful in 1897. Henry died in 1914 and Mary Klamer sold the store to Charles Hamilton in 1916 and returned to Southern California to live. She died around 1951 at age 81. The Henderson family records note her birth in 1867. (See ‘Klamer, Henry E.’) [LE; 4/2/1892] [25j] [25k] [1900 Federal Census Records, YNP] For additional information on the Klamer family and store please visit my Klamer Store web page. Henderson, Sterling D . Sterling Henderson was son of James Henderson (see above). In 1875 he served as a Stock Herder at Mammoth. He advertised in the Bozeman newspaper that he would be prepared to ". . . take charge of, and herd, the stock of visitors at the Springs. Stock will be called for and delivered at the Springs whenever desired." He was at the Henderson ranch in 1877 when the Nez Perce attacked and burned some of the buildings. [Bozeman Avant-Courier 6/11/1875] Henderson, Walter James . Walter Henderson, born Oct. 5, 1862, was the only surviving son of George Henderson. Walter and his sister Helen were the official leaseholders of the Cottage Hotel that opened in 1885. Early in 1889 he married Eva S. Fitzgerald, daughter of S.M. Fitzgerald. After the hotel was sold in 1889, YPA hired him for the summer to manage the Firehole Hotel. He used his proceeds from the hotel sale to buy an orchard grove and house in Southern California, California. He lived there on a seasonal basis it seems, for a time, and also had a home in Seattle. In 1908 he and his brother-in-law Alexander Lyall purchased the Mammoth store from his sister Jennie. The two men operated the business until 1913 when they sold out to former scout George Whittaker. After Henry Klamer died in 1914, Walter returned to Yellowstone to help Mary manage the Old Faithful general store. [25j] [25k] Herschfield, Aaron & L.H . Aaron Hershfield and L.H. Hershfield were partners with Harry W. Child and Edmund Bach. Together they formed the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co. that was incorporated May 20, 1892 with capital stock of $250,000. The YNPTC actually started operations in March 1891 when George Wakefield lost his Yellowstone Park Association contract. YPA then leased all of their transportation equipment and facilities to YNPTC, who appointed Wakefield as President. They bought out the Yellowstone Transportation Co. (YTC) and Wakefield & Hoffman operations for $70,000 in 1892 and were granted exclusive transport of NPRR passengers. The following February they received leases for six parcels of land to erect barns and other facilities. The company was taken over by the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. in 1898, under Child, Huntley, and Bach. [25g] [LE; 5/28/1892] Hibbard, Alfred T. Alfred Hibbard became one of the first non-family members (with Hugh Galusha) to become a member of the Board of Directors of YPCo in 1956. [25L;52] Hine, Thomas J. Thomas Hine was a Chicago photographer who accompanied the Barlow-Heap Expedition of 1871. He took about 200 photos on glass plates during the trip, including the 1st picture of Old Faithful in eruption. He returned to Chicago after the trip, but the disastrous Chicago fire on October 8-9, 1871 destroyed all but 16 of his prints. They were lost until 1998 when author James Brust accidentally discovered seven of them in a collection at the New York Historical Society. Hine was apparently in business with Thomas Copelin and his stereographs had been produced under the name Copelin & Sons. The same fire also destroyed many of the reports and specimens collected by Capt. Barlow. [14m] [119b] [79u] Hobart, Carroll T . C.T. Hobart was one of the organizers of the Yellowstone Park Improvement Co. in 1883 with Henry Douglas and Rufus Hatch. The company originally received government approval for leases of 4400 acres, a monopoly on the park concessions, and almost unlimited use of park resources for their operation. Hobart was the general manager and his group built the National Hotel at Mammoth on credit. Financial problems caused the company to go bankrupt in 1885, whereupon Hobart opened up crude hotels at the Lower and Upper Geyser Basins with former Park Superintendent Robert Carpenter. [25L;53] Hobart Charles F . Charles Hobart was the contractor brother of Carroll Hobart, he built the ‘Shack Hotel’ at Old Faithful in 1885 with former Supt. Robert Carpenter, who managed the operation. Feuding over financial matters between the Hobart brothers caused Carpenter to leave the scene after 1885. [25L;53] Hofer, Thomas Elwood. T.E.Hofer (Thomas Hofer) came out West in 1872 to Colorado where he mined and carried mail on skis during the winter of 1875-76. He left Colorado in the spring of 1877 and mined a bit in the Black Hills. Finding little promise he headed for Montana where he visited the Custer Battlefield and ran into P.W. Norris on the Yellowstone River. After reading Nathaniel Langford's Yellowstone account and talking to Norris, he was determined to visit Wonderland, but with the Nez Perce on the prowl, he stayed in Bozeman until things calmed down. While there he became friends with N.P. Langford and did odd jobs until 1878 when he finally got to Mammoth Hot Springs in the company of a freight outfit. He made the rounds of park, meeting a variety of trappers, hunters, scouts, and military men. Having some experience with sailboats on Long Island Sound, he decided to build a boat and during the winter of 1879-80 gathered up tools and materials. During the summer of 1880 he stayed in E.S. Topping's old cabin and began construction of his “Sharpie," whip-sawing his lumber in the same pit that Topping had used. He ended up with a 20’ sailboat called the Explorer which he used for a few years to transport tourists around the lake. After leaving the boat unattended for awhile one summer, some campers 'borrowed' it and left it unmoored. The poor craft floated into the Yellowstone River where it eventually went over the falls. Hofer then began guiding and outfitting tourist and hunting parties and was still listed as a registered guide as late as 1889. A newspaper article from 1882 proclaimed "Complete packing out-fit, will make trips to Clark's Fork and Yellowstone Park. Freights transported at reasonable rates. Will be located for the season at Mammoth Hot Springs." Also known as “Uncle Billy”, Hofer was a scout for the army in the early days and assisted with the attempts to increase the size of the buffalo herd. During the winter of 1887 he conducted the first wildlife survey in the park. He traveled 225 miles through most of the major areas of the park, chronicling all the wildlife he encountered along the way. He included large and small game, fish, birds and predators, and his reports were published in Forest and Stream magazine that year. He began trapping a wide variety of park wildlife in 1891 for shipment to the National Zoological Park in Washington DC. He also learned the art of photography while in the park. Hofer eventually applied for a lease to maintain a stable and corral at Mammoth in order to conduct his guiding business. He guided Theodore Roosevelt on several occasions, along other many other notable parties. In 1907 Hofer received a 10-year lease to operate up to 10 power launches and 50 rowboats and dories on Yellowstone Lake. He formed the T.E. Hofer Boat Co. the following year, buying out the E.C. Waters operation. Articles of incorporation were filed in March of 1908, and included three directors: Hofer, W.A. Hall, and C.N. Sargent. His company operated the ferry service with the ‘Zillah’ from West Thumb to Lake Hotel, provided fishing boats to hire for visitors, and operated a small store that sold or rented fishing tackle and appliances, grain, hay, and other basic tourist supplies. Financing for the buyout of the E.C. Waters' business and operation of the company was obtained from H.W. Child and the railroad companies. Hofer apparently was not a great businessman, and by 1910 the company was failing. Child used his financial interests to squeeze Hofer out of the business, and Child created the YP Boat Co. the following year. That was probably a benefit to Hofer as in a short autobiography he admitted that he did not particularly relish dealing with the public and much preferred small and close-knit guiding parties. A newspaper ad in the Gardiner Wonderland newspaper of April 30, 1903 lists an ad by Hofer offering to sell his Gardiner properties. They consisted of two houses on 100’ x150’ lots, containing corrals and sheds. They were listed as “cheapest property in Gardiner.” Hofer later moved to Clinton, Washington where he settled on Sunlight Beach. [15b] [25g] [73h] [1889 YNP Supt’s Report] [84c] [YNP History Files; H2 Hofer Biography] Hoffman, Charles. Charles Hoffman and Charles Wakefield of Bozeman established the Wakefield & Hoffman stage line in 1883 and provided service from Cinnabar to Mammoth and into the park under an exclusive agreement with YPA. They operated from Livingston to Cinnabar until the Northern Pacific RR’s line was open to Cinnabar. They also received the mail contract for the Livingston to Cooke City route and provided daily mail service (during the summer season) to Mammoth beginning in July 1883. The company built a mail station near Soda Butte as the trip from Cinnabar to Cooke City took more than one day. Wakefield bought out Charles Hoffman in Dec. of 1885 and teamed up with Frank Haynes to form the Wakefield & Haynes stagecoach company. [25g] [LE;6/8/1889;6/1/1895] [Daily Enterprise, Liv. Mt;7/6/1883;7/19/1883] [39-49] [43j] Holem, Frank. A prominent and popular businessman in Gardiner, Frank Holem rose up from the depths of the streets of Chicago. Going to work at an early age to help support his family, Frank hawked newspapers, shined shoes, and eventually acquired some blacksmith skills. At the age of 20 left the rough and tumble city streets and landed in Deadwood, SD around 1886 and found work horseshoeing. He moved to Montana in 1892 and Gardiner the following year to become an itinerant blacksmith. Around 1915 he established an automotive repair business and later added a gas station. By 1925 Holem and Henry J. Pilger were operating the Gardiner Garage on the corner of Second and Main streets in Gardiner. Frank's first wife, Margaret A. Williams died in 1918 and Frank married widow Minnie (Ball) Francis. Mr. Holem died January 2, 1940 and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Livingston. Holm, Aron "Tex" . Aron Holm, Tex Holm - See "Camps History." Holmes, Elias Burton. Burton Holmes was a traveler and lecturer who published the classic 15-volume series “Burton Holmes Travelogues," first published in 1912. The books describe interesting and varied lands from around the world. Volume 12 is devoted to Yellowstone Park, along with the Grand Canyon and Moki Lands of Arizona. His Yellowstone travelogue describes life in Yellowstone in the early part of the twentieth century and contains pictures found in few, if any other published books on the park. He was born January 8, 1870 in Chicago to Ira and Virginia (Burton) Holmes and was educated at the Harvard School in Chicago. He traveled to Japan, Algeria, Morocco, Greece, Thessaly, Europe, Hawaii, the Philippines, China, and other countries. [Who's Who in America, 1902] Holmes, William Henry . W.H. Holmes was an anthropologist who was appointed artist for the 1872 Hayden Expedition and studied and illustrated various geologic phenomena in Yellowstone. He also assisted F.V. Hayden with geologic surveys in Colorado from 1872-74. From 1875-79 he continued his studies in Colorado and the southwest, including many of the cliff ruins of ancient Native Americans. He became curator for the aboriginal pottery department in the National Museum from 1882-93, while exploring artifacts of the southwest. He was later curator at the Columbian Museum of Chicago and was head curator of anthropology at the National Museum in 1897. [The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, 1902] Hoppe, Hugo J. Hugo Hoppe served as a scout for the Cavalry, became the first sheriff at Miles City, and established some of the first breweries in Montana. He ranched in Gallatin Valley and eventually moved to Cinnabar. He was permitted to operate a dairy herd near the mouth of the Gardiner River in 1883 to supply the government and the hotels. He received title to a plot of 160 acres in the Cinnabar area in 1886, and again in 1889. By 1886 he was hauling freight for the Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) and engaged in freighting from Cinnabar to Cooke City. The government purchased his ranch in 1925 (some say forcibly) that was located on the south side of the Yellowstone River. It became part of the Game Ranch addition to Yellowstone in 1932. Hoppe Creek, near Electric Peak, was named after him. By 1891 he was a Park County Commissioner. His wife Mary died in November of 1894 and Hugo died in 1895. Both are buried in the Soldier's Plot in Livingston. [YNP Archives, Box A9] [25g] [LE;7/24/1886] [71c] Hoppe, Walter M . Walter Hoppe was born Aug. 6, 1864 in Virginia City to Hugo J. and Mary Gee Hoppe. He is known as the first white male born in Montana. He came to the Upper Yellowstone area in 1883. Walter and Ella E. Fitzgerald were married on May 4, 1896 and had four children; Paul, Pearl, Mildred and Harold. Walter purchased the Fitzgerald Hotel in Gardiner in 1902 and re-fitted and refurnished it for opening in June, operating it for fours years. Around 1989-99, he built the Bear Gulch Hotel in Jardine and operated it for 6 years. He sold the hotel to John Jervis about 1906 and the building burned down in 1942. Walter was engaged in the freighting business at least by 1891, when he received a government contract to haul freight between the rail depot at Cinnabar and Camp Sheridan at Mammoth. He served the mining and business interests in Jardine and his freighting outfit was one of the largest in Montana. The Hoppe family owned a large part of what was the Cinnabar township. The ranch was eventually appropriated by the government and became part of the Game Ranch addition to Yellowstone in 1932. Walter passed away in 1940 and Ella lived until 1968. [LE;3/14/1891; 4/9/1892; 6/14/1902] [71c] [106;41] Horr, Harry Riddle. Harry Horr, also known as Henry Horr, he was born Sept. 20, 1842 in New York. By 1870 he was employed at Fort Ellis as a civilian employee of the post trader’s store. When Truman Everts was lost in the fall of 1870, Horr and two soldiers accompanied George Pritchett back to Yellowstone to help transport Everts to Bozeman. The next year Horr became co-owner of McCartney’s hotel at Mammoth when he and James McCartney filed claims on July 5 at the Gallatin County Courthouse. They also filed claims a month later in Evanston, Uinta County, Wyoming Territory. The claims were later ruled invalid as the territory had never been officially opened to homesteading. He sold or gave up the business to McCartney in 1873. He claimed “I gave the Springs [MHS] the name they now bear.” He married Aurilla Davis in 1880 in Bozeman. Horr later went on to start the Horr Coal Co. with his brother Joseph and uncle, Dr. Asa Horr, in 1883 at an area north of Gardiner. They were unable to actually develop the mines and Harry sold out his interest in 1889. The town of Horr, which later became known as Electric, was named after him. He died in Feb. 1912 in Seattle, WA. [32] [25g] [106d] Howard, Oliver Otis . Gen. O. O. Howard (Nov 8, 1830 – Oct 26, 1909) was the Army general who helped to pursue the Nez Perce during the 1877 wars. His troops blazed a trail over Mary Mountain during the pursuit. That route was used for tourist travel until 1892 when the road over Craig Pass from Old Faithful to West Thumb was completed. The general's son committed suicide in late August of 1885 while visiting the park with his father. Reportedly he was despondent over a breakup with his betrothed. [25L;55] [13r - 9/1/1885] Howell, Bill. Bill Howell began the 1st snowmobile rental business in West Yellowstone in 1968-69 called Yellowstone Tour & Travel. [25L;55] Howell, Ed. Ed Howell was a poacher and resident of Cooke City who was caught in the act of poaching buffalo on Feb. 13, 1894 on Pelican Creek by Scout Felix Burgess and Sgt. Troike. F.J. Haynes and Emerson Hough of Field & Stream magazine documented his capture. The publicity surrounding this event spurred passage of the Lacey Act, which finally provided legal protection to the park’s resources. However, due to the lack of adequate laws at his time of capture, he was released from his confinement at Ft. Yellowstone on April 24 by order of the Secretary of Interior. Supt. S.B.M. Young temporarily hired Howell in 1897 to track down the perpetrators of the robbery of fifteen stagecoaches on the road 4 miles west of Canyon. Howell eventually tracked down George “Morphine Charley” Reeb, who was convicted of the crime, along with Gus Smitzer. Howell moved to Manila, Philippine Islands to start a restaurant business and was mailed $150 as his reward money. [25g] [LE;5/5/1894] Humphrey, Wm. W. W.W. Humphrey helped to found the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co. in 1898 with F.J. Haynes. They were also known under the name Humphrey & Haynes. Haynes bought out his partner in 1913. Humphrey had been manager of Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. (YPTCo) prior to his association with Haynes. George Breck took over his job at YPTCo. [25L;55] Huntley, Silas S. Silas Huntley was born in 1831 in New York and served in the Civil War for three years in the 37th New York Volunteers. He came up the Missouri R. in 1867 to the Montana Territory and went into the stage line business, organizing the 1st stage line between Helena & Ft. Benton. With his cousin Bradley Barlow they controlled almost all the stage lines in Montana. He also operated stage lines in Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California. He retired from the business in 1878 and began raising standard-bred horses. He married Annie Dean, sister of Adelaide Dean (HW Child’s wife). Silas received the transportation contract in Yellowstone in 1891, and the next year he, along with his brother-in-laws Edmund Bach and Harry W. Child, and Aaron and L.H. Hershfield, formed the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co., taking over the operation of the Yellowstone Transportation Co. They were granted exclusive transport of Northern Pacific RR passengers in the park. In 1898 he founded the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. with Harry Child, and Edmund Bach. Three years later he purchased the Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) with Harry Child and Edward Bach. The NW Improvement Co. (NWIC), subsidiary of NPRY, loaned money for the venture. Huntley died in at his home in Mammoth on Sept. 1, 1901 and his shares in YPA reverted to NWIC. His wife later married former park supt. Gen. S.B.M. Young. [25g] [YNP Archives, Box YPC153] [98 - Ogden Standard Examiner, 9/12/1901] Huston, George . George Huston was a gold prospector who is known to have prospected in park areas as early as 1864 when he led a party of 30-40 miners up the Yellowstone River into the Lamar and Clark’s Fork drainages. Later in the year he led another party up the Madison and Firehole rivers. Two years later he led another small group of miners up the Madison River to the geyser basins and prospected around Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, Mirror Plateau, Lamar Valley, and returned to Emigrant via the Yellowstone River. He built a cabin in the fall of 1867 near Turkey Pen Creek along the present Rescue Creek Trail, before the trail rises up into the hills, becoming the first permanent white resident in the park. When Truman Everts was lost on the Washburn Expedition of 1870, it was Huston who carried Everts on his horse to the north side of Yankee Jim Canyon where a wagon could then transport Everts to Bozeman. It was probably his cabin that Jack Baronett and George Pritchett brought Everts to so he could recuperate. In Nov. 1871 Huston assisted Matthew McGuirk in the construction of a house and barns at McGuirk’s Springs on Boiling River. In 1873 Huston assisted John Werks in the rental operation of a string of pack and saddle horses in Mammoth. They later hooked up with Zack Root’s Express from Bozeman to Mammoth, and provided horse and guide service to the geyser basins. Huston operated in the park at least through 1877 and guided the Radersburg party through the geyser basins. He assisted in the search for George Cowen, who was wounded by the Nez Perce and joined Gen. Howard at the Clark’s Fork Mines as a scout for the remainder of the expedition. He was probably with the command at the surrender of Chief Joseph in the Bear Paw Mountains in early October. Huston and Joe Keeney purchased part of the Henderson Ranch at Stephens Creek Nov. 19, 1883, which totaled 116.45 acres. They resold the land later that year to the NPRR and the site became the town of Cinnabar. He was also involved in the Cooke City mining business and in 1884 was one of the incorporators of the proposed rail line from Cinnabar to the mines of Cooke City. His property was known as the ‘Cache of Ore Millsite’, on part of which the Cooke City General Store was built after his death. He died July 4, 1886 in Livingston of typhoid pneumonia and other complications. He was 42 years old and unmarried. An 1877 article in Harper’s Weekly described Huston as “…a man of sterling integrity and indomitable pluck . . . the hero of many a thrilling bear or Indian fight, but told so modestly that you do not suspect him of being the principle actor."