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  • Pryor & Trischman | Geyserbob.com

    History of Anna & Elizabeth Trishman, who operated the Pryor Coffe Shop at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park; and later the Pryor Stores at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Yellowstone Storekeepers - Pryor & Trischman - Pryor Stores 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 Pryor & Trischman Stores - 1908 to 1953 In the Beginning . . . Anna and Elizabeth Trischman were daughters of Ft. Yellowstone post carpenter George Trischman, who came to work in the park in 1899. Upon Ole Anderson’s retirement in 1908, Anna and husband George Pryor purchased the Specimen House at Mammoth that had opened up in 1896. They continued to employ Andrew Wald , who created beautiful sand bottles, until around 1920 or so. In 1912 George Pryor, husband of Anna Trischman, signed over his interests in the store to Elizabeth Trischman and the business became known as Pryor & Trischman. They soon enlarged the business and called their operation the Park Curio & Coffee Shop. They sold ice cream, curios, souvenirs, newspapers, toiletries, coffee, tea, box lunches, and operated a bakery and soda fountain. Left : Specimen House, as purchased by Anna & George Trischman. Leroy Anderson Collection. Right: Pryor & Trischman store in 1917. The addition on the left was basically a mirror image of the original store. YNP #199718-78 Around 1923, they jointly operated a delicatessen with George Whittaker at the new "free auto camp" at lower Mammoth. In 1925 they purchased Whittaker's share on the auto camp operation and added a cafeteria to the operation a few years later. The business was expanded again in 1924 when the women established a small lunch stand at the Devil's Kitchen on the Mammoth Terraces, calling it the Devil's Kitchenette. The Devil’s Kitchen was the deep and narrow cavern of an extinct hot spring. Ladders were built into the vertical cave as early as 1881, and may have been explored with ropes even earlier. It has been said that entering it made one feel as if descending into the depths of the underworld. It was a very popular tourist attraction until closed by the NPS in 1939 Left : The Devil's Kitchen, undated stereoview. Right : Devil's Kitchenette, operated from 1924-1937 Above Left: Park Curio Shop, ca1940, Kropp postcard 13978N Above Right: Cafeteria at the Mammoth Auto Camp, 1939. YNP #185327-414 The Business Expands . . . In 1932 the women branched out and purchased all of George Whittaker's Yellowstone Park Store operations at Mammoth and Canyon. His holdings included an interest in the service station business and general stores at both locations. They now held a monopoly on the store business in the northern portion of the park, with the exception of the Haynes Photo Shops. Charles Hamilton remained in control of the stores in the southern portion of the park. The Pryor & Trischman stores incorporated in 1946 and became known as Pryor Stores, Inc. Anna Pryor held a 2/3 interest in the business, while her sister owned the other third. Formed on October 1, Pryor was President and Trischman Secretary. Above Left : Canyon General Store, 1940s. YNP #47-84 Above Right : Canyon Service Station, 1940s. YNP #47-834 Time for retirement . . . Six years later, after 45 years in business, the women decided to retire and sold out to Charles Hamilton in 1953 for $333,000. According to an insurance audit in September 1950, the Pryor Stores’ property at Mammoth consisted of the Park Curio Shop itself, with a single-story garage and warehouse located behind it, and the general store, service station and single-story employee dormitory located at the rear. Also at Mammoth were the general store, gas station, cafeteria, and dormitory facilities at the Mammoth Auto Camp. The Canyon properties consisted of the single-story general store and gas station, which housed the post office, soda fountain, residence, storage, and a two-story dormitory building located nearby. The women ended up with a profit of just over $100,000 and retired to their home in Los Angeles. Elizabeth Trishman (left) & Anna Pryor (right) at their home in Los Angeles, 1950s, YNP #122107 Anna Pryor died in Los Angeles in 1973 at age 89, and Elizabeth Trischman followed in 1984 at age 98. The Canyon store and gas station were torn down in the early '60s as part of the Mission 66 plan to create a new Canyon Village. The Pryor Coffee Shop at Mammoth was razed in 1984, supposedly due to potential health and safety concerns. The General Store at Mammoth was run by Hamilton Stores until the end of 2002,when Delaware North won the competitive bid process and took over operation of the park stores. The current Mammoth store is the only remaining building in the park from the Pryor & Trischman operation.

  • Prospecting Gold in Paradise | Geyserbob.com

    A short history of gold prospecting and mining in the Yellowstone Park area prior to its establishment as a national park. 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

  • R.C. Bryant | Geyserbob.com

    History of the Robert C, Bryant Camping Co., also known as Bryant Way. They operated in Yellowstone Park from 1906-1912, using portable camps. Camping in the Yellowstone R.C. Bryant 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. The Bryant Camping Company was formed by Rev. Robert Collins Bryant in 1903 and first operated as the Bryant-Spence Tours, with offices in the Monadnock Building, Chicago Illinois. By 1903 there were a number of other companies operating camping tours in Yellowstone National Park that successfully competed with the more expensive hotel tours. These including the Wylie Camping Co ., Shaw & Powell , Tex Holm , the Lycan Company, Blankenship Co., Marshall Bros, and others. Most of these others used the North entrance at Gardiner due to the easy railroad access by the Northern Pacific RR. The Sylvan Pass road from Cody, WY to Yellowstone Lake opened in 1903 allowing easier access from that direction and rail service by the Chicago, Burlington, Quincy & RR . His summer headquarters were moved to the town of Yellowstone at the West Entrance in 1908, later renamed West Yellowstone . He conducted the camping tours with moveable nightly camps and continued yearly through 1912. Downtown Chicago in 1898. The Monadnock Bldg is in the upper right. Robert C. Bryant was born in Brooklyn, NY Feb. 13, 1870. He attended Lafayette College in Easton PA in 1891 and in 1891-95 attended Union Theological Seminary and Auburn Seminary in NYC, a Presbyterian school. He was ordained as a Pastor at the Binghamton Presbyterian church June 4, 1895. Apparently having made himself a career and perhaps feeling more financially responsible, he married Margaret “Maggie” Tims on July 3 of that year. She was a native of Binghamton NY born ca1869. About two years later their son Robert Alfred was born. In 1901 the family moved to Rockford Illinois where Rev. Robert C. Bryant, began his duties as Pastor of the Church of the Christian Union, a Unitarian Universalist church built in 1888. In 1908 the family moved to Chicago, where by at least 1918 he was the pastor of the Green Olive Grove Baptist Church. No doubt many of his early customers on his camping ventures came from within the congregations of the churches at which he served. He passed away 1959 in Southern California, and was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery. The West entrance area of Yellowstone prior to 1908 was called Riverside and was accessed by stagecoach from Monida or Beaver Canyon on the Union Pacific RR’s main line from Brigham City, UT to Butte, MT. It required about a day and a half stage ride from Monida, located on the Idaho-Montana border, to get to the west entrance. It would not be until 1908 that the UP extended a branch line to the fledgling town that was christened Yellowstone, eliminating the long coach ride from Monida. At that time business seemed to pick up considerably for Bryant and advertisements for his services in national newspapers and periodicals become more prominent. Union Pacific Depot at Yellowstone in 1908. [J. Clum Glass Slide] In 1908 Bryant produced a brochure that advertised “The Bryant Way,” an obvious takeoff on his successful competitor the “Wylie Way.” Even though he was widely advertising his services by this time, he apparently neglected to obtain camping permits from the Interior Department during several previous seasons. When he tried to apply in July 1908 he was turned down, probably for this very reason. During those years a number of complaints were filed against his operation and it is said that he sometimes sold tour tickets and then pawned the unsuspecting tourist off on other operators. Nonetheless, Bryant was somehow able to obtain a permit for the 1909 season to resume his business. By this time he now operated a hotel on Park Street in [West] Yellowstone along with a stagecoach line. The hotel was located on Park St., about a block east of the UPRR depot, directly along the route of travelers going into or from Yellowstone Park. Left: "The Inn at the Gate"in 1914. [1914 traveler's account, Univ of Wyo] Right: Main street of Yellowstone ca1916. The Inn at the Gate, behind the horses, became the Shaw & Powell Hotel after 1912. [Real-Photo Postcard] Campbell Guide "The Bryant-Spence Yellowstone Camping Company has an established reputation, gained through six years' service, for the completeness and excellence of camp equipment, the good quality of the table and service, the thoroughness of the sightseeing. The Bryant-Spence Company has its offices in the Monadnock Building, Chicago, with camp headquarters at Yellowstone, Montana, where all tours start. Special arrangements may be made to start from Gardiner, North Gate. The camps are movable, not permanent; each day, as the party travels, camp is broken in the morning and made at another point in the afternoon. Comfortable coaches and saddle horses are provided for the members of the parties. Special wagons carry provisions, baggage, tents, cots, blankets, tables, chairs, stoves, everything to make camp life comfortable. A professional cook accompanies each party, and abundant help to do all the camp work." [Campbell's New Revised Complete Guide and Descriptive Book of the Yellowstone Park, 1909 by Reau Campbell] From the 1909 Bryant "Delightful Camping Trip" brochure: PERSONALLY CONDUCTED TOURS Two circuit tours from Chicago and the East, via Yellowstone, the new western entrance to the Park, and Lander, and through the Yellowstone National Park, are being arranged under the auspices of the Bryant Yellowstone Camping Company. Each of these tours provides for twenty days' camp life in one of the most beautiful regions of high plateaus and ranges of splendid mountain peaks in America. In this region the Wind River, the Gros Ventre and the beautiful Teton Mountains form, day after day, a background for extensive plains, brilliant hued buttes, and a dry air that carries with it tonic properties of untold worth. . . One of these personally conducted parties will leave Chicago via the Chicago, Union Pacific & North Western Line, Monday, July 5th, via the electric-lighted Los Angeles Limited to Salt Lake City, and the Yellowstone Special to Yellowstone, the new western entrance to the Park. Arriving at Yellowstone, the party will make a camping tour of the Park, stopping each day at Bryant camps, and returning leave the Park via the Thumb, thence down the Snake River. ITINERARY OF PERSONALLY CONDUCTED TOURS [1909] The first personally conducted party will arrive at Yellowstone, the new western entrance to the Park, via the Yellowstone Special at 7.00 A. M., July 8th, and at 9.00 A. M. the twenty days' camping trip will begin: First Day . Drive through Christmas Tree Park and along the Madison River to the Lower Geyser Basin. Visit Mammoth Paint Pots, Fountain Geyser, Excelsior Geyser, Firehole Lake, Prismatic Lake, etc. Second Day. Drive to Upper Geyser Basin and spend the day there, visit Old Faithful, Giant Castle, Riverside, Grotto and many others. Return to Lower Basin Camp. Third Day. Drive through Gibbon Canyon to Norris Basin, then north to Apollinaris Spring, passing the Devil's Frying Pan, Beaver Lake, Obsidian Cliff, etc. Fourth Day. Drive through Golden Gate and Silver Gate to Mammoth Hot Springs Fifth Day. Drive twenty miles east to Tower Falls, visiting Yancey's, the Petrified Trees the Lower Canyon, etc. Sixth Day. Drive to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The entire party with carriages and horses will climb to the top of Mount Washburn, 10,300 feet above the sea. Seventh and Eighth Days. Spend visiting the Grand Canyon, the most wonderful, gorgeous natural spectacle in the world. Artist's Point Lookout, Inspiration Point, Falls of the Yellowstone, etc. Ninth Day. Drive to the Lake Hotel, passing Sulphur Mountain, Mud Volcano, etc. Tenth Day. Drive along the shore of the lake [Yellowstone] to the West Thumb, visit the Fishing Cone and the Paint Pots. The road here leaves the stage route, turning south. Camp on Lewis Lake. . . [From that point the tour went into the Jackson Hole country for 10 days before arriving at Lander WY for the rail trip home.] The Bryant Permanent Camp on Jackson Lake A permanent camp has been established on the east shore of Jackson's Lake under the management of Mr. Robert C. Bryant, of the Bryant Yellowstone Camping Company. This camp is ideally located. Directly across the lake are the Teton Mountains. There is a medicinal hot spring on the shore of the lake not far from the camp. The fishing on Jackson’s Lake is unsurpassed and mountain trout are often taken that weigh from five to ten pounds each. Good boats may be had at the camp and a naptha launch will be available. Carriages and saddle horses may be had at reasonable prices and guides for mountain trips or other excursions. The camp will provide a good table and comfortable rooms with every possible convenience. Rates $2.50 per day. Jackson’s Lake is twenty miles south of the Yellowstone National Park. It is reached either from Yellowstone Station at the western boundary of the Park or from Lander, the terminus of the North Western Line. Arrangements may be made for carriages from either of these points by addressing Bryant Tours, 457 Monadnock Block, Chicago, previous to July 1st, and after this date either the above address or Mr. Robert C. Bryant, Yellowstone, Mont., via Ashton, Idaho. [Delightful Camping Trip, 1909 Brochure] Incorporation The business was incorporated as the R.C. Bryant Company on March 2, 1911 in Salt Lake City, Utah with $50,000 capital and they maintained an office in Salt Lake City. The transaction was reported in the March 3, 1911 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune. Officers listed were: R.C. Bryant, president & director; Rodney T Badger, vice-president and director, along with Bryant’s wife M.T. (Margaret Tims) Bryant as a director. According to the 1911 National Park Conference Proceedings held in Sept in Yellowstone, Bryant claimed he had taken 800-900 tourists on his tours through the park that season. The Final Days Sometime in 1912, Robert Bryant sold out his “Bryant Way” camp and hotel operations to the Shaw & Powell Co. Perhaps he was no longer able to effectively compete with Shaw & Powell or Wylie, who by this time had established permanent camps throughout the park. The hotel became the Shaw & Powell hotel, which now gave them lodging facilities at both West Yellowstone and the north entrance at Gardiner. This enabled them to better provide for tours that came in one entrance and departed through another. According to US Federal Census figures, Robert and his wife and son were still living in Chicago in 1920. By 1930 Robert was boarding in San Diego, CA, and although he was listed as “Married,” Margaret was not living with him at the time of the census. Whether by death, divorce, or some other reason is unknown at this time. But in 1934 Robert Bryant, age 64, married Martha Wood Blake, age 49, in Los Angeles. The 1940 census shows the pair living together in Los Angeles. On Oct 26, 1959, Robert Collins Bryant passed away in the Los Angeles area at about age 89. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

  • Camps | Geyserbob.com

    Camping the Yellowstone Click on Link above to begin your tour. Yellowstone Camps 101 The formal hotel system in Yellowstone Park that began in 1883 was designed primarily for the ‘traveler of means' brought in by the railroad companies. The common visitor, or ‘Sagebrushers’, as they were known, were pretty much on their own in regards to lodging and meals, mostly camping along various roadsides. In 1883, William Wylie started the Wylie Camping Company in order to serve this crowd. His rates were considerably less than the hotel's and he offered a more personalized camp experience. Starting with portable camps, he eventually received permission to establish permanent tent camps in 1896 and gradually began building camps at various park locations. Wylie also built lunch stations at Gibbon River, West Thumb, and Riverside. Shaw & Powell entered the business in 1898, utilizing portable tent camps. In 1913 they received permission to establish permanent tent camps at Indian Creek, Old Faithful, Lake, Canyon, Nez Perce Creek, and Yellowstone Lake, just east of West Thumb. Both of these companies also operated stage lines in order to bring visitors directly to their own facilities. In the ensuing years other camping companies entered the scene to compete with Wylie and Shaw & Powell. The main contenders included Tex Holm , Frost & Richard , Marshall Brothers , Old Faithful Camping Co., Bryant Camping Company, Bassett Brothers (probably the earliest camping outfit), Lycan Camping Co., David Curry (later of Curry Camps in Yosemite), and numerous other smaller operations. Mandated changes by the Department of Interior in 1917 brought about the consolidation of the Wylie and Shaw & Powell companies, while the other permanent camp companies were dissolved. With the advent of auto travel and the decreased travel times, many tent camps and lunch stations were closed down after 1916. This new camps company was known as the Yellowstone Park Camping Company (YPCC). YPCC's efforts were concentrated at the major locations in the park - Old Faithful, Canyon, Mammoth, Roosevelt, and Lake. As part of the major changes brought about in 1916-17, their transportation privileges were revoked, and taken over by the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co., headed by H.W. Child . The Yellowstone Parks Camps Company was formed when the Y.P. Camping Co. sold out to Howard Hayes and Roe Emery in 1919. These camp companies were responsible for building lodges with cabins at Mammoth (1917), Roosevelt (1920), Lake , Old Faithful , and Canyon in the early 1920’s. Los Angeles hotelier Vernon Goodwin , with backing by Harry Child, bought the operation in 1924 and renamed it the Vernon Goodwin Co. They established housekeeping cabins and cafeterias at the various auto campgrounds. In 1928 H.W. Child took over complete control of the company and it became the Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Company. Improvement continued to be made at the lodges and camps cabins. In 1936 Child merged the camps company together with his hotel and transportation companies into the Yellowstone Park Co. Mammoth Lodge was closed down in 1940 and Canyon Lodge was shut down in 1956 with opening of the new Mission 66 era Canyon Lodge at its current location. Lake Lodge, Roosevelt Lodge, and Old Faithful continue to operate under the auspices of the current park lodging and transportation concessionaire, Xanterra Parks & Resorts.

  • Henry Klamer | Geyserbob.com

    History of the second general store in Yellowstone National Park that opened in 1897 at Old Faithful geyser basin. It later because the first of the Charles Hamilton general stores. Yellowstone Storekeepers - Henry Klamer at Old Faithful 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. Klamer's Early Days and the Firehole Hotel . . . Henry Klamer became the 2nd general store owner in Yellowstone when he began operation of a general store at Old Faithful in 1897. This was just a year after his sister-in-law Jennie Henderson Ash opened her new store at Mammoth. By the time Henry opened his store he was already a seasoned Yellowstone veteran, having worked in and around the park for at least 16 years. He is known to have been a member of the government road crew under Supt. Philetus Norris as early as 1881. In 1885 he entered into a partnership with G.G. Henderson to operate the Firehole Hotel at Fountain Flats. The hotel was built by George Marshall in 1884 and replaced a structure built in 1880 known simply as Marshall's Hotel. In 1886 Henderson gave up his interest in the hotel and in a complicated set of transactions, the hotel became part owned by The Cottage Hotel Association, and eventually passed into the hands of the Yellowstone Park Association. Marshall's / Firehole Hotel, early 1880s T.W. Ingersoll Stereoview Tour Guiding and Supplying Beef to the Hotels . . . Sometime after Klamer left the Firehole Hotel, he went to work for George L. (G.L.) Henderson and the Cottage Hotel Asso. as a Tour Guide and Driver. The Cottage Hotel opened at Mammoth in December 1885 by the Henderson family and Klamer joined G.L.'s four daughters and one son in the operation of the touring and hotel business. Although the business seemed to be successful, the Henderson's were forced to sell out to YPA in 1889, which had been fighting to gain a monopoly on the park's hotel business. Klamer went to work for John Harvat in 1890, the contractor who supplied beef to the park hotels. The following year Klamer received the beef contract and managed that business for about 10 years. In 1892 Henry Klamer married Mary Henderson, daughter of GL Henderson. Beef corrals and slaughter house on Indian Creek. Henry Klamer general store at Old Faithful Left: YNP #7933C - Right: YNP #02804 Opening of the Second general Store in Yellowstone . . . Klamer received a lease from the Dept of Interior for 2 acres of land near the Old Faithful Geyser in 1896 and began construction of his new general store in the spring of 1897. The building was 20' x 30' in size, with two stories, and very plain looking. The store opened in late June and began serving tourists to the area. He later received a contract to operate the Post Office at his store. The store sold general tourist supplies, curios, groceries, periodicals, books, tobaccos, agate curios, precious stones and later on a wide variety of Indian goods and crafts. A 25' x 40' addition was erected in 1902-03 The business did well and in 1904 the Old Faithful Inn opened up nearby, no doubt greatly increasing his business. Around that time the store was remodeled with the outside sporting knotted and gnarled pine posts, resulting in very nice, rustic effect, similar to the décor of the Inn. A 16' extension was added in 1913-14 Klamer ad, from Wonderland newspaper 3July1903 Left Top : Klamer general store at Old Faithful, Castle geyser in background. Detroit PC12542 Left Bottom : Interior Klamer Store. Detroit PC 12541 Right Top : Klamer general store at Old Faithful, 1912 Right Bottom: H.E. Klamer wooden sign at side of store facing OF Inn, 1913 Bad Times and the Transition to Charles Hamilton . . . Midway through the season of 1914, Henry Klamer died, leaving his wife Mary to take care of the business. Overwhelved by Henry's death and the vast responsibilities of running the business, she called for her brother Walter Henderson to help out. Walter had operated the Mammoth general store for five years with Alexander Lyall and took over as the Manager of the Old Faithful store. With her husband gone and the rest of her family living in Southern California, Mary decided it was time to leave the business and return to family. The following year negotiations began with Charles Hamilton to buy the store. Hamilton was a clerk for the Yellowstone Park Hotel Co., headed by Harry Child. With financial backing from Child, Hamilton made a $5,000 down payment to Mary and carried a note for about $15,000 for the store. Interior approved the deal and 10-year lease was issued to Hamilton on June 15, 1915. Charles Hamilton later expanded the building and his family operated this store until 2002, along with general stores at other locations. On January 1, 2003, Delaware North Co., through a completive bidding process, obtained the general store contract in Yellowstone and operates all the stores in the park. The business is known as 'Yellowstone General Stores'. The legacy of Henry Klamer though, still lives on at Old Faithful. Map of Old Faithful area showing Klamer's Store, OF Inn, and Haynes Photo Studio, ca1909. From Campbell's New Revised Complete Guide of Yellowstone Park, 1909, Published by H.E. Klamer. View my Hamilton Stores page to continue this story . . .

  • Biographies | Geyserbob.com

    Yellowstone Biographies Introduction 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 Biographies: Who's Who in Wonderland's Past Copyright 2020 by Robert V. Goss. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author. The following pages contain a multitude of mini-bios of the Greater Yellowstone area's early pioneers, explorers, exploiters, businessmen, businesswomen, and other folks of interest in Yellowstone' history. Please note that many entries have bracketed numbers at the end, ie: [24:25] These are footnote references. The first number is the reference work, the second number is the page in the reference. These references can be found at the end of the Bios pages, entitled Bios - Bibliographies. References denoted "LE" indicate the Livingston Enterprise (Montana) newspaper. A few common abbreviations: NPRR Northern Pacific Railroad UPRR Union Pacific Railroad YPA Yellowstone Park Association YPHCo Yellowstone Park Hotel Company YNPTCo Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company YPTCo Yellowstone Park Transportation Company YPCo Yellowstone Park Company YPCC Yellowstone Park camping Company or YP Camps Company YPLC Yellowstone Park Lodges & Camps company Comments or Questions? Email me at

  • George Huston | Geyserbob.com

    This is a brief history of one of Yellowstone’s early pioneers. George Huston was among the first to prospect for gold in Yellowsone and became the first permanent white resident of Yellowstone. He was one of the earliest commercial guides, leading pack trips from Mammoth into Yellowstone, and guided Gen. Howard in his pursuit of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce in 1877. Huston was a founding father of the mining camp of Cooke City, was active in the mines at Jardine. 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.

  • Firehole - Marshall's | Geyserbob.com

    History of the Marshall's Hotel and Fire Hole Hotel by the forks of the Firehole and Nez Perce rivers in Yellowstone National Park, from 1879-1891 Hotels in the Yellowstone Marshall's & Fire Hole - 1880-1891 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. Marshall's Hotel - Marshall House George W. Marshall received a 1-year mail carrier contract in 1879 for the Virginia City to Fire Hole to Mammoth Hot Springs route in Yellowstone Park. He noted in his diary that “the Government discontinued [the mail route], at a great loss to me….” Way stations had to be erected or arranged through the Madison Valley, along with spare teams, tenders, etc. It would have been a sizeable investment to get started. He formed the Marshall & Goff Stage Co. with J.A. Goff in 1880 that traveled the mail route, no doubt making use of some of these same facilities. He built a 2-story log house with a 6-room extension at the Firehole River near Nez Perce Creek in 1880 that served as mail station and small hotel. Their first passengers, Robert and Carrie Strahorn, arrived at the unfinished hotel in early October. That year he also erected a mail station at Norris, possibly in the meadow near the soldier station. The Helena Weekly Herald reported on Aug 26 1880, “This week the coaches on Marshall & Goffs mail and express line to the National: Park were started. The coaches are commodious lour-horse vehicles, and the stations are at convenient distances, so that tourists can now make the journey by easy stages to Fire Hole Basin.” The following year, Marshall was operating as the Virginia City & National Park Stage Line. Left: Article about the Marshall & Goff stages. (Click to enlarge) Helena Weekly Herald, Aug 26, 1880 Marshall's First Hotel, 1884. In June 1885, Marshall began construction of a new hotel on the other side of the river, today's Nez Perce Picnic Area. 1881 Map of the Upper & Lower geyser basins. The Fire Hole Hotel (Marshall's) is the center Star. Lower Star is the Old Faithful area, and Star at left is the Riverside Mail Station. Road to left of center Star leads over Mary's Lake pass and down to Hayden Valley, providing access to Lake and the Grand Canyon. (Click to enlarge) [Dept. of Interior Map, Library of Congress] Robert A. & Carrie Adelle Strahorn were Marshall's first passengers in early October of 1880. Robert provides a brief description from his book: A DELIGHTFUL RIDE. “The stage coach, which above all others in my estimation, deserves a friendly handing down to history, was that of the G. W. Marshall Line, which was the first public conveyance to enter Yellowstone National Park. It started on its first trip into the Park from Virginia City, Montana, at daylight of October 1st, 1880, and had, besides the driver, the writer hereof and his joyous and appreciative better half as self-appointed and sole participants in such agreeable pioneering duty. The ride from Virginia to Lower Geyser Basin, now a matter of only about 16 hours, is a fitting prelude to the pleasures of the Park tour itself.” [Strahorn.RE, Montana and Yellowstone National Park, 1881] From Robert A. Strahorn, in Montana and Yellowstone National Park , 1881 PIONEER HOSTELRY. “The National Park House, Lower Geyser Basin, forty-five miles from Henry Lake, or ninety-five miles from Virginia, was reached too late at night to admit of further sight-seeing, and it was with no little reluctance that we closed our eyes in the midst of marvels of which we had heard so much without seeing some of them. We found the pioneer hotel of the National Park to be a neatly and solidly built two-story hewed log structure, then nearing completion, and designed to afford accommodation for from thirty to forty guests. It is romantically located at the foot of high cliffs of the range we had just crossed, with the Forks of Firehole River and a pretty natural lawn in the foreground and a cold rivulet dashing by the door on the right. It is the property of Mr. Marshall, the stage man, who promises a complete and homelike hostelry and good fare for future visitors.” EXPENSES IN THE PARK . "Mr. G. W. Marshall, at the National Park House in Lower Geyser Basin, will transport parties to various points or outfit them at following rates; Three-seated carriage and driver, 88 per day; single-seated rig and driver, 86 per day; saddle horses, 82.50 per d ay for 3 days or more, or $3 for single day; pack animals, 82 per day; attendant who will act as guide, packer and cook, and furnish his own animal, 84 per day. Bedding, tents and board will be furnished to parties on Park tours at very reasonable rates; board at hotel, 83 per day, and at Henry Lake House at same rates; parties of 20 or more can engage board at either hotel at 82.50 per day each. Parties who desire to outfit and board themselves while making excursions in the Park, can buy all necessary provisions, ammunition, fishing tackle and bedding of Mr. G. W. Marshall at a reasonable advance (for freightage) over prices at Virginia City, or cooking utensils, bedding, tents, etc., will be leased on favorable terms to proper parties. From these figures tourists can calculate within a few dollars what a 10 or 12 days’ tour of Wonderland will cost. Our estimate of the entire expense of the trip for one person from Omaha to the Park and return, including horse hire, board or provisions, etc., for 10 days in the Park is from $225 to $250." Thomas Henry Thomas Welshman Thomas Henry Thomas visited Yellowstone the summer of 1884 to explore and sketch and paint watercolors of nature’s Wonderland. His articles and illustrations were published in London’s The Graphic newspaper on Aug 11 and 18, 1888. Thomas (31 March 1839 – 9 July 1915) was a Welsh artist particularly active in Cardiff. He was also interested in botany, geology, history, and archaeology which were often the subjects of his art works. He was a Fellow of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art which was established in 1881, and was a leading force behind the founding of the National Museum of Wales. He continued on to describe Marshall’s Hotel and the local clientele: (Click text box to enlarge). His painting of the exterior and interior of the hotel in 1884 is to the right. Courtesy of the National Museum of Cardiff , Wales. Thomas described the Fire Hole area: “But Henderson’s is not a house to tire of. Our illustration will give in idea of the prettiness of the position—on a narrow island, with a shallow river of slightly tepid water, being chiefly derived from the hot springs, flowing round it, and backed by rocky hills crowned by pines. Beside the house is a hot pool, the water from which is led to the bath-house and into a washing-trough in the hotel, over which sacrilege no doubt the ardent naiad of the spring weeps copiously.” Marshall's Hotel, also known as the Marshall House, Fire Hole Hotel, and National Park Hotel, was the 2nd hotel to operate in Yellowstone (McCartney's Hotel was the first). Marshall began giving tours of the park in 1880 and his tours were the first known to originate from "within the park." The Marshall House also housed the Firehole Post Office, established September 13, 1880. After receiving a 10-year lease from Interior in January 1884, Marshall built a new hotel across the river from his original hotel, near the current Nez Perce Picnic Area. Marshall assigned half the lease to G.G. Henderson in April and the following year sold out to him. The Helena Independent Record observed on June 22, 1884 that, “[Marshall] has begun the erection of his hotel on his lease at Firehole basin in the National Park. He is now accommodating tourists at his old station.” The story will continue below as the Fire Hole Hotel George Washington Marshall Born in Illinois in 1846 (1838 according to his tombstone in Three Forks, MT and 1835 according to two of his obituaries), George Washington Marshall ventured west to California in 1860, where he engaged in the blacksmith trade, operated a livery business, and bought cattle for slaughter. He moved in 1868 and managed a hostelry in Utah and stage stations in Nevada. He married Sarah Romrell in 1875 and in 1876 operated a stage line in Montana between Butte City and Eagle Rock, Idaho. Marshall retired from the Yellowstone hotel business in 1885 and moved to Bozeman. He died Dec. 16, 1917 inn Three Forks, Mont. Sarah Ann Romrell Marshall Sarah Ann Romrell was born July 1, 1859 in St. Louis, Missouri. She married George Marshall in 1874 and later moved with her husband to Yellowstone. In 1880 the Firehole Post Office was established and Sarah served as postmistress for two years. She gave birth to Rose Park Marshall on January 30, 1881, reportedly the first white child born in Yellowstone. In 1881 George left the park for Omaha on business. Expecting to be gone for a month, he stocked up their root cellar with meat and "grub." He later reported that "Soon after my departure one morning two bears came down one mountain, smelling the meat etc in the root house, approaching same and went to digging through the dirt roof. Wife saw it was either kill bears or starve. She took rifle shot one bear through the lungs, he came rolling towards her, she ran in the cabin and closed the door just in time as bear threw himself against it, shaking whole house. He found it useless, however, and left. Wife followed him up the mountain found him breathing hard, shot him through the heart." Sarah passed away Feb. 19, 1929 in Belgrade, Mt. Mattie Culver Near the site of the old hotel is the tombstone of Mattie (Shipley) Culver, wife of park businesssman E.C. Culver. He married Mattie Gillette (nee Martha Jane Shipley) on April 6, 1886. Mattie was born September 18, 1856 in Lowell Mass. They had a daughter named Theda born in Billings June 22, 1887. Culver came to the park in 1887 with E.C. Waters as ‘Master of Transportation’, holding that position until 1892. He and Mattie spent the summers of 1887-88 at the Firehole Hotel (Marshall Hotel) and Ellery became winterkeeper for the hotel during the winter of 1888-89. Mattie suffered through the winter from tuberculosis and died March 2 of that spring and was buried nearby. Her grave and headstone can still be viewed at the Nez Perce picnic area. She was 30 years old at the time. Daughter Theda was sent to Spokane, Wash. to live with relatives. Photos of Mattie Culver grave at the Nez Perce Picnic Area, former Fire Hole Hotel site. Photos by the author, 2009. Fire Hole Hotel G.W. Marshall sold out to partner George Graham Henderson in 1885 and left the park. Henry Klamer, who later married Mary Henderson, daughter of G.L. Henderson, and built a general store near Old Faithful Geyser, bought into the business that summer. They added two plainly-built 8-room, 2-story wooden cottages at either end of the hotel and made other improvements. The Livingston Enterprise on June 20, 1885, noted, “Mr. G.G. Henderson and H. Klamer have formed a partnership to conduct the hotel formerly known as Marshall's at the Forks of the Firehole. It will be henceforth known as the Firehole Hotel” A week later the newspaper reported that they were erecting six cottages of two and four rooms. G.L. Henderson related in the Enterprise on July 18th that year, "I find on the Firehole Hotel register 23 names for last evening and 38 booked for tonight. This hotel can now provide comfortably for 50 people and the proprietors are constructing cottages as fast as possible to double the capacity.” From the Salt Lake Herald, Aug. 24,1885: Bassett Brothers, of Beaver Canyon, Idaho, have increased and improved the equipment of their Tourist Stage Line, running between Beaver Canyon and Fire Hole Basin. They have also established a line of first-class spring wagons for transporting passengers from Fire Hole Basin hotel to points of interest in the Park, and have made a scale of prices for service far below anything heretofore available to tourists. Bassett Brothers’ light spring wagons will leave Beaver Canyon at 7 a.m. and proceed first day to Snake River station, (fifty miles), where passengers will lodge for the night. Leaving Snake River next morning they will reach Fire Hole Basin hotel at 6 p.m. The journey involves an expense of $4 for meals, luncheons and lodging. The return trip is made, leaving Fire Hole Basin at 7 a.m. and stopping over night at Snake River as before, arriving at Beaver Canyon at 2 p.m. of second day. One visitor in 1887 had issues with the notoriously thin walls at many of the early park hotels. He groused that, “The park suggests civilization; yet there are places where one can so quickly get out of the world and feel it too as here. This feeling was not lessened when we viewed the Fire Hole Hotel, where we were to spend two nights. It did not occur to us till afterwards that this was intended as one of the curiosities of the park. The primitiveness of candles was funny, and canvas walls were a novelty till the man in the next room BEGAN TO SNORE and kept it up faithfully all night.” The author did good-naturedly admit that one can sleep well at home, but can’t see Old Faithful except in Yellowstone. [St. Joseph Weekly Gazette, Mo., Oct. 6, 1887] James Dean, who later managed the National Hotel at Mammoth and became supervisor of the YPA hotel operation, served as clerk for the Firehole Hotel from 1885-87. John Fossum was in charge in 1888, Walter Henderson in 1889, and Benton Hatch, brother of Rufus Hatch, managed it in 1890. Sometime in 1886 the Yellowstone Park Association took over the business and operated the hotel until the new Fountain Hotel opened in 1891. The 1891 Superintendent’s Report for Yellowstone noted that the Fire Hole Hotel was vacated around the middle of June and visitors were welcomed at the new Fountain Hotel nearby. The original hotel was later burned down and the two cottages were used by the Army for their summer encampment for a few years. Some of the buildings were reported to be still standing by 1914. Left Above: F.J. Haynes Stereoview of the Firehole cottages: Gibson & Red Cottages. Left: View of the Firehole Cottage and auxiliary tents, 1890 Above: T.W. Ingersoll Stereoview, Firehole Hotel & Stages, 1194. Mrs. Finch Celinda M. Finch and her daughter Coda are somewhat of a hazy figure in Yellowstone’s early history. She is known to have had a tent hotel in the Fire Hole area in 1884, and possibly 1885. In 1885, she received a lease from the Interior Dept for hotel purposes, but she did not construct a formal hotel and eventually her lease was revoked. However, C.T. Hobart, one of the organizers of the Yellowstone Park Improvement Co. in 1883 with Henry Douglas and Rufus Hatch, received government approval for leases of 4400 acres, a monopoly on the park concessions, and almost unlimited use of park resources for their operation. He and Carpenter opened a tent and slab hotel at Firehole in 1884. It is possible that Mrs. Finch managed that operation in 1884-85. The author believes that location was across the current road that passes the Firehole Picnic Area. Mrs. Finch was put in charge of the McCartney Hotel at Mammoth in 1882 and in 1885; she was placed in charge of the Albemarle hotel in Livingston, Mont., and superintended its management under the direction of the Northern Pacific RR. Her whereabouts for 1883 are also unknown at this time. Left: Mrs. Finches Camp Hotel, Fire-Hole Basin, Sept. 1884 Right: Mrs. Finch's, Fire-Hole Basin, Sept. 1884 Both illustrations are from Thomas Henry Thomas' trip to Yellowstone in Sept. 1884. They were published in The Graphic, London, England Aug. 18, 1888. The original artwork is courtesy The National Museum of Cardiff , Wales.

  • Mountain Men in Yellowstone | Geyserbob.com

    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.

  • Yellowstone Bios R-S-T | Geyserbob.com

    Yellowstone Biographies R-S-T 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. Randall, Dick. Dick Randall came to Miles City, Montana from Birmingham, Iowa in 1884 at age 17. He was a cowboy for some years prior to buying a small herd of horses and settling in Gardiner. He drove stagecoach for Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. during that time and was known as “Pretty Dick.” He also guided hunting parties outside the park. Dick married Dora Roseborough, who was from Kansas. In 1887 they settled on land located about 12 miles north of Gardiner that would later become the OTO Ranch in. In 1898 the OTO Ranch was established and became the 1st dude ranch in Montana. Twelve cabins and a 12-room lodge were built, along with a 2-story saddle room, shower house, laundry area, and powerhouse with a water-powered turbine. The ranch eventually consisted of 7,000 acres. He once led 368 members of the Sierra Club on a horseback pack trip around the park. Their son Gay Randall helped with the operation and wrote an interesting book about life on the ranch and the surrounding wilderness entitled "Footprints Along the Yellowstone." Activities included cattle ranching, horseback riding, big game hunting, and hiking. The heyday of the dude ranch spanned the years 1912 to 1934. The great Depression and the poor economy caused Dick and his wife Dora to sell the ranch in 1932 after 34 years of operation. The buildings went untended and fell into disrepair until 1997 when the Forest Service and volunteer workers began rehabilitation of the buildings and site in general. Randall died in 1957 at age 91. [78] [71c] [www.amizade.org –OTO Ranch] Raymond, Rossiter W. Rossiter Raymond was a member of the Raymond-Clawson tourist party of 1871. He was accompanied by Calvin C. Clawson, A.F. Thrasher, and others, and was guided by Gilman Sawtelle of Henry’s Lake. The group has been recognized as the 1st commercial tourist party to enter Yellowstone. [25L;87] Raynolds, William F. William Raynolds led a military expedition to Yellowstone that became known as the Raynolds Expedition. The party attempted an expedition into the heart of the Yellowstone area in May of 1859. The party included Jim Bridger, Ferdinand Hayden, and others. They traveled down the east side of the Wind River Mountains, but were unable to cross over them. They continued down over Union Pass and attempts to enter Yellowstone from the south also failed due to deep snows. The party ended up going up the west side of the park and down the Madison River to Three Forks. [25L;87] Reamer, Robert. Robert Reamer was born in Oberlin, OH in 1873. After working several different architectural jobs, he wound up near San Diego, CA., where he met Harry W. Child. Child hired Reamer, now age 29, to design the new hotel at Old Faithful. Reamer became a close friend of the Child family for many years. He was responsible for the design of many of the park’s greatest buildings, including the Old Faithful Inn (1903), Northern Pacific Ry Depot at Gardiner (1903), Lake Hotel renovations (1904-1924), Lake Lodge (1920’s), Canyon Hotel (1910-11), and the Mammoth Hotel renovations in 1936-38. Other buildings to his credit include the Child residence at Mammoth, the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. residences in Gardiner, Thumb Lunch Station (1903), Fishing Bridge Hut (1935), North Entrance Ranger Station (1924), Chinese Gardens Cottage (1909), the Bunkhouse and mess house in Gardiner, (1906), YPTCo barn/garage at Mammoth (1903), the Upper Hamilton Store at Old Faithful, and the famous US map in the Map Room of Mammoth Hotel. He continued to design projects for Yellowstone until his death January 7, 1938 at the age of 64. [25L;87] [75] Reeb, George ‘Morphine Charley ’. He was convicted of the stage coach robbery that occurred Aug. 14, 1897 about four miles from Canyon Hotel along the Norris road. He was aided in the robbery by Gus ‘Little Gus’ Smitzer. Famed poacher Ed Howell was hired to track down the perpetrators of the robbery and later received reward money for his actions. Both men were convicted in District Court in Cheyenne, Wyoming the following May and sentenced to 2-1/2 years in the federal pen. George Reeb was indeed addicted to morphine and the jail time cured him of his habit, of which he was grateful. Smitzer was later hired as an irrigator at the Rose Creek Ranch, and served faithfully for a number of years. Smitzer is buried in the Gardiner cemetery and his headstone notes he was born in 1849 and died in 1931. [31] Reese, George W. George Reese was born Oct. 10, 1837 in Piqua, Miami Co., Ohio, and moved later with his family to Illinois and in 1856 relocated to Kansas. He and two of his brothers left Kansas and headed west to the gold country of California, the Black Hills and Montana. George returned to Kansas in 1861 and volunteered for service in the Civil War, serving until its conclusion. After his discharge in 1865 he hauled freight by wagon from Kansas to Montana. He eventually stayed in Montana and was in the Yellowstone gold country as early as 1867 with Lou Anderson, Hubble, Caldwell and another man. They discovered gold in the first stream above Bear Creek and named it Crevice Creek. He returned to Kansas periodically and married Arvilla Disney in November of 1870 in Topeka. However, she died shortly after in August of 1871. He returned to Montana and was living along the northern border of the park at least by 1877 and was present at the gunfight at the Henderson Ranch with the Nez Perce on Aug. 31, 1877. He then guided for Gen. Howard in his pursuit of the Nez Perce and was known as the “Old Guide of the Mountains.” Reese reportedly was involved in numerous Indian fights during his life. His first cabin south of Reese Creek was burned by the Nez Perce in 1877, and he built a house on upper Reese Creek by 1883, but was unable to obtain title to the land. He built a third home and ranch on lower Reese Creek, which was named after him. George Reese married a woman named Arminda Vice on July 5, 1885 in Missouri. George was 47 years old and Arminda was only 16, and they were divorced about the time their youngest child, Ira Jay, was 6 years old. George raised Ira and his other sons Bertrand Samuel and James George. George and Mr. Hoppe established a school in Cinnabar by 1884, and George served on the school board for several years. He was mail carrier from Horr to Aldridge for four years and served as Sunday school superintendent. He was a religious man, taught bible study classes, led the congregation in singing hymns, and played the violin and organ. He was a big game hunter and had many specimens mounted for exhibition. He took one of his displays to the St. Louis Exhibition in 1904. He died May 21, 1913 at an age of 75 years, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery at Livingston. His son James and wife (Margaret Curdy) took over the ranch and lived on it until 1922, when they moved to Hiawatha, Utah. [113] [106d] [32] [YNP Vert. File, Biography, Geo. Wash. Reese, by Helen Frandsen Reese, 1986] [56m;1154] Richardson, James. James Richardson published the 1st park guidebook in 1873 that was entitled “Wonders of the Yellowstone Region”. Much of the information was taken from reports of the Washburn and Hayden expeditions. [25L;88] Richardson, Herbert F. ‘Uncle Tom’ Richardson started out as a Wylie Camp employee until receiving permission in 1896 to build a trail down into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone below Lower Falls. The trail originally consisted of ropes and wooden ladders and required a good dose of fortitude. He rowed visitors across the Yellowstone River just above the current Chittenden bridge site and led them down his trail, at a cost of $1.00 per person. He cooked them all a hearty meal before rowing them back across the river. Uncle Tom had his guide permit revoked in 1903, and construction of the new bridge over the Yellowstone River that year began taking away his business. However, it appears he continued to guide, with permission granted in 1904-06. 1147 people were noted as taking the trip with Uncle Tom in 1905 and he was allowed to erect a tent for his use near the trailhead in both 1904 and 1905. In 1905 the army built wooden stairs down a portion of Tom’s Trail and improved other sections. The following year Richardson was allowed to charge people 50¢ for his guide service, but not for use of his trail, which they could now use on their own. Concrete walks and steel stairways replaced the old wooden stairs in 1965. "Uncle Tom" died at his home in Bozeman on April 22, 1913 due to heart problems. Born in 1854, he was survived by his second wife, a married daughter in Nebraska, and two daughters in Bozeman. [25g] [YNP Army Files Doc.5753-54] [YNP Archives Box 42;20] [32] [Anaconda Standard, 4-23-1913] Rockefeller, Laura Spelman. A foundation was set up in her name in 1918 using funds donated by John D. Rockefeller, and was absorbed into the Rockefeller Foundation in 1929. The foundation donated $118,000 in 1928 to be used by the American Association of Museums for the National Parks. The museums at Old Faithful, Madison, Fishing Bridge, and Norris were built using this money. [25L;88] Rogers, Edmund B. Edmund Rogers was Park Superintendent from 1936 to 1956. [25L;88] Roosevelt, Theodore. Teddy Roosevelt first came west on a hunting trip in 1883 and soon afterwards purchased ranch land in North Dakota. In 1886 he ventured into the northwest corner of the park while on another hunting trip. He met George Bird Grinnell in 1885 and together with other influential sportsmen, created the Boone & Crockett Club in 1888. The organization was formed for the “…preservation of the large game in this country, and…to further legislation for that purpose, and to assist in enforcing the existing laws.” Yellowstone was one of their primary concerns. He visited Yellowstone again in 1890 and for a period of time favored the railroad’s desire to lay their tracks of steel inside the park to Cooke City. He was soon dissuaded from this opinion by his friends in Boone & Crockett. Roosevelt made several other trips to Yellowstone in the early 1890s, but soon the pressures of his political life made those journeys impossible. He became President in 1901 with the assassination of William McKinley. Roosevelt made his most famous trip to the park in 1903 with naturalist friend John Burroughs and was guided by Uncle Billy Hofer. Together they explored the park and saw first hand the condition of the wildlife and the declining buffalo herd. One of their campsites was near Calcite Springs, close to Tower Falls. A legend later sprung up that the group camped under the large tree at what became Roosevelt Camp and lodge. This was however, a promotional scheme devised by the early supporters of the Roosevelt Camp in order to draw business to the location, which was located off the main tour route. Before Roosevelt left the park, he stopped in Gardiner on April 24 and dedicated the new stone arch that was being built at the North Entrance. It was later named after him. The US Forest Service was created during his administration in 1905 and he installed forestry expert Gifford Pinchot as the head of the new U.S. Forest Service. Roosevelt adopted Pinchot’s principle of multiple-use, the nation’s first formal natural-resource policy. The multiple-use policy advocated scientific management of public lands for a variety of uses, including commercial development. Using his presidential powers, Roosevelt set aside a total of 235 million acres of public lands to protect them from exploitation by private interests. [84c] [62i] [25g] Russell, Osborne. Osborne Russell, one of the Rocky Mountain fur trappers in the early 1800s, first trapped in Yellowstone in 1835 and continued until 1939. In 1836 he described the “parting of the waters” at Two Ocean Pass, where water from one lake flowed both east and west of the continental divide. Blackfoot Indians wounded him and a companion near the mouth of Pelican Creek in 1839 and they narrowly escaped capture or death. He later wrote a book describing life in Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains. The book “Journal of a Trapper” is still being published and is widely read. [25g;10] Salisbury, O.J. O.J. Salisbury was born on the shore of Lake Erie, a few miles from Buffalo, New York. He went west at an early age and became a contractor for the Union Pacific on the construction of their new rail line. In the early 1870's he teamed up with his brother Monroe and J.T. Gilmer to purchase 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. Gilmer & Salisbury 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 lines ran from the Canadian border to southern Utah and from the Great Plains to California and Washington. O.J. bought a home in Salt Lake City in the 1880's and spent the rest of his life there. He engaged in politics, as well as real estate, mining, and a farm mortgage loan business. [C.C. Goodwin, "As I Remember Them"] [18t] [25g] [79o;470-71] [25L;91] Sawtell, Gilman. Gilman Sawtell (sometimes Gilman Sawtelle) was the son of Ebenezer and Sally Sawtell, born Dec. 10, 1836 in Groton, Mass. He served with the 8th Illinois artillery in 1861-62 under Col. Farnsworth during the Civil War. He married Carrie Livermore (date unknown) and had a son Eben R. Sawtell in 1866 while living in Jackson County, Iowa. By 1867 the family was living in the west and homesteaded a ranch in the Henrys Lake area in 1867-68 after prospecting in the Nevada City area. In 1868 he built a rough road from his ranch to Virginia City, and five years later was instrumental in completing the road into Yellowstone via Targhee Pass to the Madison River and through the west entrance to the Lower Geyser Basin. The road was known as the Virginia City and National Park Free Wagon Road and conveniently passed by his lodge. It was the first road built into Yellowstone Park. Sawtell conducted the 1st commercial tour in the park in August of 1871, guiding the Raymond-Clawson party. They encountered part of the Hayden Expedition at Canyon. In a newspaper article the following year Rossiter W. Raymond described Sawtell as: "A stalwart, blonde, blue-eyed, jovial woodsman is he, who for years has kept a solitary ranch on the bank of Henry's lake, some sixty miles from the settlement. Half a dozen well built log houses constitute his establishment. There is a comfortable dwelling, a stable, a workshop, a storehouse for skins and game, and an ice house. Mr. Sawtelle's [sic] principal business has been spearing trout, packing them in ice, hauling them in wagons to Virginia City, and even as far as Helena, and disposing of them at handsome prices to the busy population, who haven't time to fish for themselves. A farm supplies him with vegetables and grain, the valleys afford him excellent hay, and land and water all about him swarms with game of every kind." In the 1870-80’s Sawtell caught and sold tens of thousands of pounds of fish from Henry’s Lake and shipped them by rail to markets as far away as Butte and Salt Lake City. The ranch suffered damage in 1877 when the Nez Perce passed through and again in 1878 by the Bannock. The ranch became a stage stop in 1880 when George Marshall began stage service into Yellowstone. Mrs. Sawtell died Dec. 13, 1884 and in 1890 Sawtell transferred his properties to son Eben and lived out his life as a prospector. Eben sold the ranch to Edwin Staley on June 18, 1896 and the area became known as Staley Springs. A nearby mountain was named after him. [25g] [18t] [65e; 5/25/1872, p.4] [YNP H2 History File, Letters] Lt. Schwatka. Lt. Frederick Schwatka was born in Galena, Illinois Sept. 29, 1849, graduated from the US military academy in 1871, and was appointed 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd cavalry. He studied law and medicine and was admitted to the bar in 1875 and received a medical degree in 1876. He took a leave of absence from the military in 1878 and spent most of the next six years exploring the Arctic and the wilds of Alaska. He made a 3,251 mile journey by sled during his travels. He resigned from the military in 1884 and in 1886 lead another exploring expedition to Alaska under the auspices of the New York Times. In 1887 he attempted to become the first person to circumnavigate Yellowstone Park during the wintertime. The New York World newspaper financed the expedition and hired Frank Haynes to document the journey with photos. They were accompanied by scout Ed Wilson and several other men. Winter travel in Yellowstone proved to be much different than in the Arctic, and Schwatka was not prepared for the conditions he encountered. He only made it as far as Norris Geyser Basin when health problems forced an early end to his attempt and he returned to Mammoth. Frank Haynes, Wilson, David Stratton and C.A. Stoddard continued on with the venture, taking the first winter pictures in the park. The men narrowly escaped death in a blizzard while attempting to cross Dunraven Pass. Schwatka wrote several books in the mid-1880’s about his adventures in the Arctic and Alaska. He died in 1892. [25g] [97e] [1p] Scott, Charlie B. C.B. Scott came to Park Co., Montana in 1882 and engaged in the freighting and contracting business near Cooke City for a time. He was one of the five assistant superintendents for Yellowstone National Park in the early 1880’s. He later developed the Scott Water Co. and participated in several other businesses in Gardiner. By 1892 he operated a “billiard and sample room located on Main street and enjoys a liberal patronage from his legion of friends and acquaintances.” He married Adelaide Bigelow in 1904 raised purebred Hereford cattle on a ranch in Tom Miner Basin until his death in 1934. They had a stone house on East Main St. in Gardiner, next to the old Cottage Hotel (west side). In 1904-05 he was active in the fundraising and construction of the community Union Church on West Main St. During the 1914-16 seasons he was a stockholder in the Shaw & Powell Camping Co. In 1924 he became one of the directors of the new Gardiner Light & Water Co. [LE;6/4/1892] [L.Link bio, YNP Vert. Files, Biography] [YNP Archives - Shaw & Powell Financial Records.] Scott, M.D. M.D. Scott was killed in 1885 by lightning while sailing on Yellowstone Lake in the Explorer. [25L;92] Scoyen, Clarence “Pop”. “Pop” Scoyen was born in the Norris Blockhouse on March 4, 1895. He brother Eivind was born there also in 1896 (Eivind was at one time assistant director of the NPS, and Supt. of Glacier and Zion). Pop was a long-standing member of the Gardiner Eagles and American Legion. In his early days he worked as truck driver, dog team chauffeur, ice cutter, winter keeper at the Canyon Ranger Station, and worked for the NPS from 1919-23. In 1923 he went to work for George Whittaker’s general store at MHS until April of 1925. He was then employed by the W.A. Hall store for the next 14 years. He also worked at the Gardiner post office from 1939-43. He then returned to the NPS where he retired in March of 1965. In May of 1923 he married Linnea Britton, and the couple had one daughter named Connie Lee. Mrs. Scoyen died on May 25, 1961. Pop died in 1981. [Conversations with Anne Mitchell] [Park County News; 7/25/1971] Seller, K.R. K.R. Seller was a visitor from Minnesota who was the driver of the first vehicle allowed into the park on July 31, 1915, driving a Model-T Ford. [25L;92] Sevitz, Robert J. Robert Sevitz became a member of the Yellowstone Park Co. Board of Directors in 1959. He was with the Security Bank of Los Angeles, which was providing financing for the company. [25L;92] Shaw, Amos A. Amos Shaw was born June 1, 1848 on the Atlantic Ocean, three days out from Gibraltar, while enroute to Canada. His birthplace was considered legally to be in Michigan, the residence of his parents. He was the son of Amos Shaw (ca1806-1866), a British naval officer and Mary (Cassady) Shaw (ca1809-1871). At 9 years of age Amos began working on the steamer "Globe," plying the waters between Saginaw and Buffalo NY. He was a cabin boy for 4 years and then sailed on the Great Lakes in the summer as a captain of some of the largest vessels, and worked in the lumber woods during the winters until he came to Livingston, Mt. on Dec. 8, 1890. In 1891 he superintended the assembly of the steamboat Zillah for E.C. Waters and the Yellowstone Lake Boat Co. and became the Zillah’s first pilot. He held that position from 1891 through 1893. Captain Shaw married Eunice Conway (1855-1934) on April 20, 1876. He later became part owner of the Shaw & Powell Camping Company . He made his home in Livingston and had a ranch in the Shields River valley. He was married 38 years to Eunice Conway and was survived by their five children. Shaw died Sept. 24, 1913 of heart disease after a year's illness. Prior to his death he traveled to Washington DC where he finally obtained permission to install “permanent camps” in the park, to compete on an equal footing with the Wylie Permanent Camping Company. His sons Arthur and Walter continued on in the camping business after Amos’ death. He and Eunice are buried in the Mountain View Cemetery at Livingston. [25L;92] [83c] [68] [5n] Check my Shaw & Powell Camping Co. page for more info! Shaw, Chester. Leo Chester Shaw, son of Amos Shaw, was born in Burnham, Michigan and moved with his parents to Livingston, Montana in 1890. He served as assistant manager of the Shaw & Powell Company for about 21 years. He took over management of the Shaw Camps in Cooke City following the unfortunate death of his brother Walter in 1925, retiring in 1940. During WW1 he served as a transportation expert with a company working on war-related projects in Alaska. He died in a Portland Oregon hospital in early July, 1944. Chester was survived by his wife Margaret and their two sons William Amos and Richard Chester Shaw. [42e;7/5/1944] Shaw, Walter. Walter Shaw, son of Amos Shaw, assisted in the operation of the Shaw & Powell Camping Co. and became known nationwide as a lecturer and exhibitor of slides and films depicting the Yellowstone region. Walter setup Shaw’s Goose Lake Tent Camp by Goose Lake along the trail to the famed Grasshopper Glacier near Cooke City. The trail to the glacier was twelve miles one-way and required a 10 to 12-hour round-trip on horseback. The savvy traveler could spend the night at Shaw’s Camp and be able to spend more time in the area and not be so rushed. Shaw also maintained a guide service in Cooke City with saddle and packhorses and experienced guides. The trail to the glacier was opened up in 1921 and the camps were in use at least through 1928. The Northern Pacific RR employed Walter during the winters as a promoter and he traveled through the East giving lectures on the beauties of the Rocky Mountain region. Walter and Lillian Shaw ran the Shaw Hotel in Gardiner from 1922 to 1925, when on June 19 he drowned while trying to ford the swollen Gardiner River near town. Friends equipped with spotlights patrolled the river at night hoping to spot his body. Three months later his remains were found ¾ mile south of the Emigrant Bridge. Lillian and her children continued to operate the hotel until it was sold in 1944 to Hugh Crossen and J.D. Winters. His brother Chester took over management of the Cooke City operations. [24d] [39-24] [42e;7/5/1944] [42e;6/25/1925] For additional information on the Shaw family, visit my Shaw & Powell Camping Co. web page. Sheridan, Phillip. Gen. Sheridan was an army general who visited the park in 1882 with a force of 150 men. He cut a primitive trail from Jackson’s Hole to West Thumb, and later recommended military protection of the park. [25L;93] Shively, John S. An important personage in the 1877 Nez Perce foray through Yellowstone in 1877, John Shively, described as an "altogether honest and reliable man," helped guide, albeit under force, the Nez Perce through the wilds of Yellowstone. Chased by the army from their homeland in Oregon, the Nez Perce always seemed to keep a few steps ahead of General Howard in their quest for safety in Canada. Shively and members of the Radersburg tourist party were captured by the Nez Perce in August and held captive for over a week while the Indians negotiated their way through Yellowstone. Eventually he escaped his captors and made his way back to Bozeman to tell of the exciting adventures in Wonderland. Born around 1833 in Pennsylvania, Shively headed west in 1852 to follow the gold rush and eventually landed in Montana Territory. He died February 15, 1889 in Phillipsburg, Montana. [Thrapp, Dan, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography, Vol.III] Simmons, Glen. Glen Simmons was a government employee who in 1942 was the 1st to use a snowplane in to West Yellowstone in 7-3/4 hours. A snowplane was a propeller-driven cab on skis. [25L;93] Simpson, Gov. Governor of Wyoming who proposed in 1955 that the state of Wyoming buy out the YPCo operation and assets and run the concession. The proposal was later defeated. [25L;94] Skinner, Milton Milton Skinner first came to Yellowstone in 1896 as an employee of the Yellowstone Park Association. He later went on to work for the Corps of Engineers overseeing roadwork. He became the 1st Chief Naturalist in 1920. [25L;94] Smith, A.L A.W. Miles purchased a 1/3 interest in the Wylie Camping Co. in 1905 and A.L. Smith bought the other 2/3 interest for silent partner Harry Child. The company was renamed the Wylie Permanent Camping Co. with Miles as president and general manager. [25L;72] Smitzer, “Little Gus”. Gus Smitzer aided in the stagecoach robbery with George Reeb that occurred Aug. 14, 1897 about four miles from Canyon Hotel along the Norris road. Famed poacher Ed Howell was hired to track down the perpetrators of the robbery and later received reward money for his actions. Both men were convicted in District Court in Cheyenne, Wyoming the following May and sentenced to 2-1/2 years in the federal pen. Reeb was indeed addicted to morphine and the jail time cured him of his habit, of which he was grateful. Smitzer was later hired as an irrigator at the Rose Creek Ranch, and served faithfully for a number of years. Smitzer is buried in the Gardiner cemetery and his headstone notes he was born in 1849 and died in 1931. [31] Snyder, Lily. Lily Snyder married Frank J. Haynes in 1878 and began helping with the photography business almost immediately at his studio in Moorhead Minnesota. [25L;94] Sowash, Z.R. ‘Red’. Red Sowash, sometimes spelled Red Siwash, built a saloon in 1884 in the Round Prairie Meadow of Yellowstone, northeast of the present Pebble Creek Campground. He catered to the gold miners enroute to and from the mining fields of Cooke City. He applied for a lease for the ground he occupied in January of 1887 through House Representative J.K. Toole. However, Interior denied the request stating that visitor accommodations were not necessary in that portion of the park and the army removed him in 1887. Red Sowash arrived in Montana around 1875 and engaged in numerous pursuits in Miles City and the area east of Billings, Montana. He made his way to Park County, Montana and Yellowstone where he mined in the mountains of Cooke City, Aldridge, and the Bear Gulch area above Gardiner. "Red" passed away March 5, 1901 at his home in Horr after a short bout of pneumonia. [Anaconda Standard, 3-12-1901] [YNP Army Files Doc.123] [25g] Spence, May. Born circa 1899, May Spence married Charles Hamilton in 1920. Daughter Eleanor "Ellie" May Hamilton was born the following year. Ellie later married Trevor Povah. May Spence Hamilton passed away September 8, 1955. [25L;95] Spiker, John. By 1892 John Spiker was operating a hotel in Gardiner, which included a bar room that was “…well stocked with liquors and cigars.” He completed construction of a water wheel on the Yellowstone River in April 1895 to force water up to the town of Gardiner. Most water was hauled in barrels prior to that time. The following year he began construction of a 75-light Jenny Dynamo at the water wheel. By April of 1897 the electric plant was working and supplied electricity to light up his hotel. [LE:6/4/1892] 4/13/1895; 5/9/1896; 4/24/1897] Stephens, Clarence. Clarence Stephens was one of the assistant superintendents under Supt. Norris from 1879-82 and was briefly superintendent between the administrations of Norris and Conger. Upon Supt. Conger’s arrival, Stephens was replaced by G.L. Henderson as assistant superintendent. On Mar. 2, 1880 Stephens was appointed the 1st postmaster in the park and served at Mammoth, probably in the Norris Blockhouse. He purchased the James Henderson Ranch at Stephens Creek in the early 1880’s, but sold out to George Stephens and Joe Keeney in 1883 and returned east. Stephens Creek was named after him. [25L;96] Stuart, Alex. Alex Stuart was one of the first few residents of the new town of Riverside (now West Yellowstone) located at the west entrance to Yellowstone and built a general store with Sam Eagle. Alex and his wife sold out in 1910 and purchased Charles Arnet’s “The Yellowstone Store.” They incorporated as the Stewart Mercantile Co. in 1915. Stuart also built Stuart’s Garage, selling Texaco gas, oil, tires, and other automotive supplies. He gained the contract to service the buses of YPTCo in 1917. The yellow buses picked up visitors from the Union Pacific rail depot for tours into the park. Mr. Stuart was born Feb. 17, 1880 in Canada and relocated to Montana in 1894, and then in the area that became Riverside in 1901. Alex and his wife Laura (nee Larsen) had a son Walter in 1909, who in 1936, purchased his father's Texaco service station operation. Laura Steward, a native of Norway, died in the fall of 1939. Alex died Feb. 27, 1961 in Ashton, Idaho and was buried next to his wife in the Sunset Hills Cemetery. Stuart, Charles. Born in 1849, Charles Stuart was a member of the US Geological Survey under Arnold Hague for several years in the late 1880’s. He married Helen Henderson, daughter of G.L. Henderson, on Nov. 15, 1887. He had also served as a tourist guide and outfitter for the Cottage Hotel and assisted with construction of the addition to the hotel in 1887. He died in 1929. [LE;11/15/1887;5/28/1887] [1899 YNP Supt’s Report] Thrall, Nelson C. Nelson C. Thrall was a Philadelphia businessman who was one of the founders of the Yellowstone Park Association in 1886 and served as secretary. [25L;97] Thrasher, Augustus F. A.F. Thrasher was a photographer that accompanied the Raymond-Clawson party in 1871 and took a considerable number of pictures in the park around the same time that Henry Jackson did. Unfortunately, the location of his photos or negatives has yet to be located. He operated in Idaho Territory around 1866 and arrived in Montana Territory the following year or so. He operated in both areas over the next few years and visited some of the mining camps in Montana in 1871. After 1872 he reportedly was active in the eastern United States and died sometime in the mid1870's. [25L;97] [Biographies of Western Photographers, Carl Mautz] Toll, Roger W. Roger Toll was Yellowstone Park superintendent from Feb. 1, 1929 to February 1936. He was killed in an unfortunate auto accident near Deming, New Mexico on Feb. 25, 1936. He left a wife and three children. Toll was born October 17, 1883 in Denver, Colorado and earned a degree in civil engineering at Denver and Columbia Universities. He started work in Washington DC in 1908 with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, working the coast of Alaska for a time. He served in the army during WWI, attained the rank of major, and moved to Hawaii after the war. Toll joined the Park Service in 1919 with service as superintendent at Mount Rainier National Park, followed by superintendence at Rocky Mountain NP. From there he moved on to Yellowstone. [25L;97] [National Park Service: The First 75 Years - Biographical Vignettes] Topping, Eugene S. E.S. Topping, operator of the first commercial boat on Yellowstone Lake, was born on Long Island May 15, 1844. He went to sea at age 12 in the ocean merchant service and headed west in 1868 working as prospector, miner, and stock trader. By 1871 he was working the Clark Fork mines and the following year guided Mr. & Mrs. H.H. Stone through the park. Mrs. Stone was reported to be the 1st known woman to visit the geyser basins. Topping and Dwight Woodruff spotted steam from the top of Bunsen Peak in 1872, and upon investigating its source, discovered the Norris Geyser Basin, and in the process, a shorter route to the Lower Geyser Basin. The following year Topping and Nelson Yarnell prospected on the Stinking Water River east of Yellowstone. Topping and Frank Williams were permitted to operate boats on Yellowstone Lake in 1874. They built a small boat and named it the ‘Sallie’, after the 1st two female passengers they carried on the Lake – Sarah Tracy and Sarah Graham. On Aug. 7, 1874 a Bozeman newspaper noted that Topping ". . . has his little craft successfully launched upon the Yellowstone Lake, and intends to accord the privilege of naming it to the first lady passenger." In 1875 Topping built a cabin and boat dock at Topping Point, west of the Lake Outlet. He operated on the lake for two years. He spent much of his time between 1876 and 1880 in the Black Hills mining and sheep trading. He moved to Mandan and for two years had a wood contract with the Northern Pacific Railroad. Back in Yellowstone in 1882, Eugene Topping supervised a road crew that was charged by Supt. Conger with building a new road from McCartney's Hotel to Swan Lake Flats. They continued the road work on to Firehole and built a bridge over the Gardiner River enroute. In 1885 he published a very interesting book entitled “The Chronicles of the Yellowstone – An Accurate, Comprehensive History.” The book contains a lot of early park history, along with information about mining and Indian conflicts in the greater Yellowstone region during the late 1800’s. [97p] [113] [1882 Supt's Report, p4-5] [Bozeman Avant-Courier, 8/7/1874] [56m;1171] See also my Boat History page for additional information. Townsley, John. John Townsley was appointed Park Superintendent in 1975. Toy, Sam Sam Toy, also referred to as Sam Toi, started up a hand laundry business in the old McCartney Hotel in 1902. The business lasted until the winter of 1912 when the building burned down. [30] Train, Edgar H. Edgar H. Train (E.H. Train) was a Helena photographer who has become known for his early Yellowstone stereoviews of scenes of the early 1870's. Whether he actually took photos himself, or purchased photos from other photographers is unknown. He apparently bought Joshua Crissman's print of E.S. Topping's boat the Sallie, taken on Yellowstone Lake in 1874. He went into partnership with Helena photographer Oliver C. Bundy in 1876, who later that year bought out Train. He was born in 1831 in Stockholm, NY and died in 1899. [www.yellowstonestereoviews.com ] Trischman, Anna. Anna Trischman - See ‘Pryor, Anna’ See also my Pryor Store page. Trischman, Elizabeth "Belle". Elizabeth Trischman was born Dec. 22, 1886 at Fort Custer, Montana Territory. She apparently was the twin sister of Harry Trischman, who worked as a ranger in Yellowstone for about 30 years. They moved with the family to Ft. Yellowstone in 1899. In 1912 she joined her sister Anna Pryor in the curio business at Mammoth, after George Pryor left the concern. The two sisters operated the Pryor & Trischman curio/coffee shop for about 45 years. In 1933 they purchased the general stores of George Whittaker located at Mammoth and Canyon. They retired in 1953, sold the operation to Charles Hamilton and returned to their winter home in Los Angeles. Elizabeth never married and passed away in a Glendale hospital on Nov. 20, 1984 at age 98. See also Pryor Stores page. [25h] Turnbull, Charles Smith. Dr. Charles S. Turnbull was the physician with Hayden's US Geological Survey of Yellowstone and the surrounding areas in 1871-73. Born Nov. 10, 1847 to Dr. & Mrs. Laurence Turnbull, he received his Ph.D in 1869 and studied in Vienna a few years later. He served as a surgeon in the Civil War, the Pennsylvania National Guard, and numerous medical facilities in New York and Pennsylvania. [Who's Who in America, 1902]

  • Hotels & Lodges | Geyserbob.com

    This is an introduction the varied histories of the hotels in Yellowstone Park from 1872 to the late 1900s. Yellowstone's Hotels & Lodges Click on Link above to begin your tour.

  • Yellowstone Park Transportation C. | Geyserbob.com

    The Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. operated stagecoach lines in Yellowstone from 1892 to 1916. They operated out of the northern entrance, using the Northern Pacific RR depot at Cinnabar, and the Gardiner. They were an all-important element of transportation in Yellowstone's varied history. Coaching in the Yellowstone Yellowstone Park 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. Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. YNPTCo Stagecoach Operations 1892 - 1897 YPTCo Stagecoach Operations 1898 - 1916 YNPTCo Stagecoach Operations 1892 - 1897 Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) transportation privileges were revoked Nov. 1, 1891 after Silas Huntley of Helena received the 10-year transportation franchise on March 29, 1891. He was allowed 14 months to begin operations by the Interior Dept. He brought in his brother-in-law Harry W. Child and Edmund Bach , Child’s brother-in-law. Together they formed the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co. (YNPTCo) which was incorporated May 20, 1892 with capital of $250,000. Aaron and L.H.Hersfield were also partners in the operation, and Huntley became general manager.Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) transportation privileges were revoked Nov. 1, 1891 after Silas Huntley of Helena received the 10-year transportation franchise on March 29, 1891. He was allowed 14 months to begin operations by the Interior Dept. He brought in his brother-in-law Harry W. Child and Edmund Bach, Child’s brother-in-law. Together they formed the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co. (YNPTCo) which was incorporated May 21, 1892 with capital of $250,000. Aaron and L.H.Hersfield were also partners in the operation, and Huntley became general manager. Left : YNPTCo coach at Mammoth Hot Springs, ca1896 [Stoddards Yellowstone Park Travelogue] Right : YNPTCo coach No.46, courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum. In reality, YNPTCo actually began stage operations in March 1891 when George W. Wakefield lost his YPA contract. YPA then leased all of their transportation equipment and facilities to YNPTCo, who appointed Wakefield as President. A year later, the new company purchased the old Yellowstone Transportation Company and the Wakefield & Hoffman operations for $70,000 and was granted exclusive transport of NPRR passengers in Yellowstone National Park. The following February (1893), YNPTCo received leases for six parcels of land in Yellowstone to erect barns, corrals and other facilities. The company began with some 500 horses and 75-100 coaches of various types. In Yellowstone Park How to Travel Through Wonderland Pall Mall Gazette, London, England, July 10, 1897 “The company is divided into departments, and each is presided over by a most competent man. The head stables are at the Mammoth Hot Springs. They consist of several large buildings containing the 550 horses, excepting those which arc going through the park and a number of saddle horses at the various hotels, on which the tourists make short trips. Then there are the long rows of wagon sheds, blacksmith shop, harness shop, saddle shop, repair shop, washing stand, a dozen houses for the drivers, and a hospital for the sick horses. The company employs over 100 men. These include a veterinary surgeon, three blacksmiths, harness maker, wheelwright, washers, painters, stablemen and drivers. The stables and other buildings owned by the company form quite a little settlement of their own, and are always a source of interest to the tourists, who are surprised to see such a plant away up in the mountains. The park season lasts but a little over four months in the year, and the expenses of maintaining such a plant are large. It costs 5.000 dols. a year to paint the coaches, and an equal sum is expended in incidentals, including new tyres, harness, axle grease, horseshoes, etc. The board bill for help alone is 10,000 dols. for the four months and a few days. In that time the horses eat 1,000,000 lb. of oats and the same amount of hay. As the plant now stands, it represents an investment of over 200,000 dols., and with only about a third of the year in which to do business.” YPTCo Stagecoach Operations 1898 - 1916 Harry Child, Huntley, and Bach formed a new company called the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. (YPTCo) in 1898 that took over the operation of the YNPTCo. They received a 10-year lease on March 31. Silas Huntley passed away three years later and his shares reverted to the NPRR’s North West Improvement Company (NWIC). Bach sold his shares to NWIC in 1902 due to health concerns and died of Bright’s Disease in the spring of 1904, leaving Harry Child as the prime operator of the company. Above : YNPTCo coaches ca1903. [Yellowstone Park Association brochure, 1904 Above : YNPTCo Tally-Ho coach #12 loaded with tourists leaving Gardiner and headed to Mammoth Hotel Springs. [W.S. Berry Photo, undated, Montana Historical Society] CHANGED HANDS A New Company Will Handle the Yellowstone Business. 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 or S. S. Huntley and E.W. Bach of Helena, Mont., and H.W. Childs of St. Paul, the consideration being close to $1,000,000. Among the items transferred were the Mammoth Hot Springs hotel recently built for $200,000; the Fountain hotel, $100,000; Grand Canyon hotel, $100,000, and the 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. [The Anaconda Standard, April 6, 1901] With the purchase of the YPA hotel system in 1901 and the deaths of S.S. Huntley in 1901 and E.W. Bach in 1904, Harry Child gained control of all the park lodging and transportation concessions, save the various camping company operations. Between 1903 and 1907, four Concord Tally-Ho coaches were purchased for use on the Gardiner to Mammoth route. Previously, two Tally-Ho had been acquired between 1886 and 1889. In 1901, a Northern Pacific brochure printed a schedule for park tours using the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. coaches. Throughout the stagecoach era standard tours were generally 5-6 days duration, beginning and ending at the north entrance. In later years shorter tours were available, and travelers could eventually enter or exit the park at West Yellowstone and Cody, Wyo. The following is a typical tour schedule for 1901 and similar in later years. TIME SCHEDULE IN THE PARK The following approximate time schedule will give a comprehensive idea of the park itinerary: First Day —Leave Livingston at 8.30 a.m., arrive Cinnabar 10.45 a.m.; leave Cinnabar at 11.00 a.m.; arrive Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel 1.00 p.m., taking lunch, dinner and lodging. Second Day —Breakfast. Leave Mammoth Hot Springs at 8.00 a.m., arriving at Norris at noon for lunch; leave at 1.30 p.m., and arrive at Fountain Hotel, Lower Geyser Basin, at 5.50 p.m. for dinner and lodging. Third Day —Breakfast at Fountain. Leave for Midway and Upper Geyser Basins at 8.00 a. m. Lunch at Upper Geyser Basin. Return from Upper Geyser Basin to Fountain Hotel at 4.30 p. m. Dinner and lodging at Fountain Hotel. Fourth Day —Breakfast at Fountain. Leave for West Arm of Yellowstone Lake at 7.00 a.m. Lunch at lake and leave the lake after lunch for Yellowstone Lake Hotel at lake outlet. Dinner and lodging at Lake Hotel. Fifth Day —Breakfast at Yellowstone Lake. Leave for Grand Caiion at 9.30 a.m. via Sulphur Mountain; arrive Grand Canon at 12.30 p.m. Lunch, dinner and lodging. Sixth Day —Breakfast. Leave Grand Caiion at 10.00 a.m., arrive Norris at 12.30 p.m. Lunch. Leave Norris at 1.30 p.m., arrive Mammoth Hot Springs at 4.30 pm. Dinner. Leave Mammoth Hot Springs at 6.30 p.m., arriving at Cinnabar at 8.00 p.m.; leave Cinnabar at 8.15 p.m., arrive Livingston at 10.30 p.m. Left : The new horse and coach barn at Mammoth, 1903 [YNP Black Scrapbook] Right : Gardiner Wonderland article about the barn dance, 4Jun1903 edition. In 1903 the company built a new coach and horse barn and related buildings at Mammoth, near the current Aspen Lodge site. The barn was a beautiful structure designed by Robert Reamer. Construction began in February and on May 7 the Gardiner Wonderland announced that, “The new transportation barn is nearing completion.” By the end of the month it was announced the building was complete and ready for occupation. A barn-warming dance was held the following week. The Tally-Ho coaches were housed in Gardiner to meet the trains, but most of the other coaches were stored at Mammoth and various locations throughout the park. That same year the Northern Pacific RR opened up passenger service at the depot in Gardiner. Now the Tally-Ho coaches would have a shorter drive to Mammoth. A new Reamer-designed depot was built on the edge of town to host the tourist crowds. Above : YPTCo coaches in front of the Northern Pacific RR depot in Gardiner, 1905. [YNP 22954] In 1906 YPTCo constructed a new horse barn and carriage house, along with a bunkhouse/mess hall for the drivers and workers in Gardiner . They were located where some of the current Xanterra Parks and Resorts facilities are located above the Gardiner River. They were designed by Robert Reamer, using local stone and wood construction. The bunkhouse/mess was originally two separate buildings, but later joined by a breezeway. It still stands and is still used as employee housing by Xanterra. Sadly, the unique barns were torn down in 1926 to make way for the new concrete bus storage barn. The Butte Daily Post announced on May 6, 1906, “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.” Left : The new horse and coach barn at Gardiner under construction, 1906. [Author's digital collection] Right : YPTCo Tally-Ho barn in foreground, with horse barn to the rear. [1914 NPRR brochure] Left : YPTCo barn on left, carriage barn in center, and bunkhouse & mess hall on right. [Original negative, Copyright: Goss Collection] Left Top : 9-Passenger Abbot-Downing coach. [1905 YPA Brochure] Left Bottom : 11-Passenger Abbot-Downing coach. [1905 YPA Brochure] Right : Map of Yellowstone Park and the hotels and road system. The stages typically travelled in a clockwise direction, usually beginning at Mammoth for the YPTCo coaches. [1904 YPA brochure] In 1915, an event occurred that held huge ramifications for Yellowstone and the country. The Panama-Pacific Exposition was being held in San Francisco from February to November. Visitors flocked to the West Coast to view this stupendous fair. Most travelers relied on railroad travel, yet many folks chose to travel cross-country by automobile, many planning on visiting Yellowstone enroute. Anticipating a heavy travel season, all the stage transportation companies purchased additional coaches and horses to meet the demand. Records show that visitation in 1915 reached almost 52,000 tourists, significantly more than the 20,000 of the previous year. Unfortunately, the investment by the companies would last a mere two years, as in 1917 the stagecoaches and horse wagons were banned from the park roads. Above : Real-Photo postcards of the true-to-size replica Old Faithful Inn built by the Union Pacific RR. The rustic interior was used for fine dining at lunch & dinner, and also for twice-daily orchestra concerts with plenty of room for dancing. [Real-Photo poscards, author's collection] Pressure had been building for many years to open the park to autos, but efforts had been unsuccessful. Mid-season 1915, Yellowstone and the Interior Dept. relented and on August 1, the first auto officially entered Yellowstone National Park. Over the previous year the roads and bridges had been improved to allow for motorized traffic. However, autos shared the roads with stagecoaches during 1915 and 1916. It became quite apparent that such a system would not be successful in the long run. The government mandated the conversion to motorized vehicles of all concession vehicles. Late in the fall of 1916, all of the transportation operations were to be consolidated into one company operating under a monopoly lease. These companies, which included Frank Haynes Yellowstone & Western Stage Co ., Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Co., and the Wylie and Shaw & Powell camping company coaches, came under the control of YPTCo and Harry Child. Child arranged with the White Motor Company to purchase 117 10-passenger auto stages to be used in the park beginning in 1917. The Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. kept it same name until 1936, when all the Child and Wm. Nichols' enterprises were combined into the Yellowstone Park Company. Left : Stagecoach passing through the Roosevelt arch in Gardiner, ca1910. [Bloom Bros. postcard #A-6865] Right : YPTCo White Motor Co. auto-stage passing through the Roosevelt Arch in Gardiner, ca1923. [Bloom Bros. postcard YP62] Stagecoach Robberies in Yellowstone: (1) 7/4/1887 - Near Split Rock in Gardiner Canyon - 1 stagecoach. (2) 8/14/1897 - 3 miles west of Canyon Hotel - 6 coaches and 1 military wagon robbed. (3) 8/24/1908 - Near Turtle Rock in Spring Creek Canyon on Craig Pass - 17 stagecoaches and 8 wagons. (4) 7/29/1914 - Shoshone Point on Craig Pass - 15 coaches. (5) 7/9/1915 - 1 mile south of Madison Jct. - 5 coaches. Perhaps the greatest stagecoach hold-up in Yellowstone occurred on Aug 24, 1908, near Turtle Rock, enroute from Old Faithful Inn to Lone Star Geyser and Lake Hotel A single bandit held up 17 coaches and wagons. Upon completetion of his dastardly deed, the hold-up man escaped and was never captured. In an excerpt from the 1908 Yellowstone National Park annual report, the Park Superintendent briefly describes the robbery: "The unfortunate event, the hold-up of seventeen coaches, surreys, and spring wagons on August 24, and the robbery by one man or many of the passengers therein at a point on the main road between Old Faithful Inn and the Thumb of Lake Yellowstone, and about 4 1/4 miles distant from the former, took place about 9 a. m. on August 24 . . . Four of the looted coaches belonged to the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, five to the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company, and eight to the Wylie Permanent Camping Company. As near as can be learned by the separate memoranda handed in by the passengers the losses sustained by them in the robbery aggregated $1,363.95 cash and $730.25 in watches and jewelry. Upon being liberated the first coach of those robbed drove rapidly to the camp of the road sprinkling crew, located about 2 miles east of the hold-up point, where notice was given and a messenger dispatched to Old Faithful Inn—distant 6 miles—with news of the robbery." Upon safe arrival at the Lake Camp, members of the Wylie Camping Company involved in the robbery reflected on their escapade as what would no doubt be the most exciting adventure of their lives. Mr. H.B. Mitchell of Great Falls describes their meeting that evening: “That evening [24Aug1908] we had a meeting of the sufferers ait the lakeside hotel, and adopted resolutions which have already been published . . . “The American people have the faculty of seeing the humorous side of even a serious matter, and this case was no exception. The holdup man was hardly out of sight before we were laughing at each other, and the various incidents that had not seemed so funny while the man had his gun upon us. Besides the association mentioned above, the Wiley [Wylie] tourists organized the "Lone Star Involuntary Benevolent association" in memory of the occasion, and for the fun we could get out of it. I was elected president and the ‘Not on Your Life’ girl, as she was called for the rest of the trip, secretary. We had our inaugural meeting around the camp fire with toasts by various members of the suffering party, songs written for the occasion and general jolity." [Great Falls Tribune, 29Aug1908, p5] Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell reached Butte yesterday. He had the honor of being elected president of the “Lone Star Involuntary Benevolent association," a society to which only those traveling with the Wylie company and who were in the hold-up are entitled to membership. This organization celebrated the event with speeches and much merry-making the evening of the affair at the Lake Hotel camp and still look back upon the hold-up as the real event of their trip. Mr. Mitchell said those In the holdup look back upon it as something not to have been missed—the real event of the trip, and one never to be forgotten. The "Not on Your Life" girl mentioned previously is explained by Mr. Mitchell: "In the last coach were five ladies besides the driver. The first one was Miss Stasia Riley, of Austin, Minn. He demanded her money. *Not on your life,” replied Miss Rilev. 'Here’s a dollar,. and that’s all you set from me." Evidently he admired the nerve for he passed to the next without further demands." [Great Falls Tribune, 29Aug1908, p5] Stage Robbery 9Jul1887 Yellowstone Journal Stage Robbery 15Aug1897 Los Angeles Heraldl Stage Robbery 25Aug1908 Billings Daily Gazette Stage Robbery 30Jul1914 Daily Ardmorite, OK Stage Robbery 16Jul1915 Glascow Courier, MT

  • Yellowstone Bios C-D | Geyserbob.com

    Biographies of Yellowstone's Explorer's, Exploiters, Enthusiasts, & Enterprisers. Yellowstone Biographies C-D 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. Calamity Jane . Calamity Jane was the nickname for Martha Jane Canary, who was skilled with a horse and a rifle. She followed the mining camps and railroad towns in the west during the late 1880’s. She served as a scout for the 7th Cavalry in the Black Hills. Calamity was permitted to sell postcards of herself in the park in 1897 by authorization of Col. S.B.M. Young. She was known to hang out in the park, Gardiner, Livingston, and other towns in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. [31;405n32] Calfee, H.B. Henry Bird Calfee was born Jan. 3, 1848 in Arkansas and first settled in Bozeman, but moved to Missoula in 1885. He came to Montana in 1867, engaging in painting and prospecting. He entered the park as early as 1871, and spent time from 1872-81 taking photographs in the park. He set up a crude tent store at Upper Geyser Basin in 1881 to sell photos. He opened up a Photograph Gallery in September of 1875 where he was ". . . prepared to make the latest styles of Pictures, Rembrandt, Victorie, Cabinet, Promenade. . ." He also sold albums and stereo views of Yellowstone and other points of interest in the West. In 1877 he helped Mrs. George Cowan and her injured husband get back to Bozeman following their harrowing escape from the Nez Perce. Calfee accompanied Supt Norris on his 1880 trip through the park, and Norris named Calfee Creek after him. William Wylie used many of Calfee’s photographs in his 1882 guidebook “Yellowstone National Park or the Great American Wonderland. Calfee also toured the country giving lectures illustrated with lantern slides. Calfee was also a member of the 1873 Rosebud gold prospecting expedition. The party of 149 prospectors and trappers traveled from Bozeman along the Yellowstone R. to Rosebud Creek in search of gold. The group had several violent encounters with the Sioux and wound up with no gold for all their efforts. [113] [79u] [25g] [97s;H.B. Calfee Stereograph Collection] [119b] [97p;119] [Bozeman Avant-Courier 5/27/1875] [56m;1301] Cammerer, Arno B . Arno Cammerer was Stephen Mather’s assistant director from 1919 to 1929 after Horace Albright left the position to serve as superintendent of Yellowstone. Cammerer continued in that position when Albright became NPS director following the death of Stephen Mather. Cammerer became National Park Service director from Aug. 10, 1933 to August 9, 1940. He was born in 1883 in Arapahoe, Nebraska and received his law degree in 1911 from Georgetown University Law School. Under his administration the Historic Sites Act was passed, the National Park Foundation was established, and parks visitation increased from 2 million to 16 million per year. He suffered a heart attack in 1939 while under a tremendous work load and resigned in 1940. Newton B. Drury replaced him as Director. Another heart attack April 30, 1941 took the life of Arno B. Cammerer. [25;23] [National Park Service: The First 75 Years - Biographical Vignettes] Cannon, William C . Wm. Cannon, nephew to a powerful House member, was appointed by Secretary Teller in 1883 as one of the 10 first assistant superintendents. He served under Supt. Conger. [10;236] Carpenter, Frank & Ida . Frank Carpenter and sister Ida were members of the Radersburg party of 1877 that were attacked by Nez Perce in Aug. After being held captive for two days, Frank and his sisters Ida and Mrs. Emma Cowan, were released across the river from Mud Geyser and led to safety by Poker Joe. Frank later wrote a book of his experiences during the ordeal, titled “Wonders of Geyser Land,” later republished by McWhorter and Guie as “Adventures in Geyser Land.” [16a;112-19] Carpenter, Robert . Robert Carpenter was the 4th Park Superintendent serving in 1884-85. He was removed from office when he conspired with the Yellowstone Park Improvement Co. to privatize certain tracts of the park for private and personal use. He opened up the Shack Hotel at Old Faithful with Carroll Hobart in 1885. Carpenter and Hobart also opened a crude hotel at Lower Geyser Basin, near Marshall’s Hotel. Feuding over financial matters with the Hobart brothers caused Carpenter to leave the scene after 1885. [16a;136] [25L;25] Carson, Christophe r 'Kit' Carson was a famed Rocky Mountain explorer who prospected across the Yellowstone area in 1849. The party included Jim Bridger, Lou Anderson, Soos and about 20 others. [97p;16] Chadbourne, Allen Wright A.W. Chadbourne was born in Ohio in 1843 and later drove cattle on the Chisholm Trail and operated bull and mule teams. He married Dolly Masoner in 1879 and came to Montana around 1880. In 1882 they purchased a ranch in the area that would become the town of Cinnabar. He began hauling tourists into the park from the Northern Pacific railhead at Cinnabar in 1884. He also ran camping and saddle outfits in the park until 1901. His company was known as the “Yellowstone Park Transportation & Camping Outfit.” It was noted in 1893 that he added $2,000 worth of Concord coaches and surreys to his outfit. With the formation of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co in 1892, Chadbourne and many of the other small, private transportation operators lost some of their transportation rights after the 1893 season. In 1901 he traded his business to George Wakefield for his Shields Valley Ranch. The small town of Chadborn was named after him. Dolly died in June of 1943 and A.W. followed soon after in September. [LE; 6/24/1893] [117] [71c] See my Smaller Camps webpage for more info on Chadbourne! Chambers, William . He was appointed one of the first assistant superintendents, serving under Supt. Conger. [10;236] Chestnut, Col. J.D . Col. Chestnut founded a small tent camp at Boiling River in 1871 for invalids to soak in the ‘medicinal waters’. The area became known as Chestnutville. Matthew McGuirk took over the area the following year. Chestnut discovered a vein of coal in 1873 in Rocky Canyon, about 8 miles from Bozeman. [25L;26] [97p;70] Chief Joseph . He was one of the leaders of the Nez Perce who accompanied the Indians on the 1877 raid and journey through Yellowstone during their flight from injustice in their homeland of Oregon. He generally avoided violence with the white men whenever possible. He and many of his followers surrendered to the army on Oct. 4 of that year in the Bear Paw Mountains. It is there that he was reported to have stated “… from where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever,” although the speech is generally credited to an enterprising reporter on the scene. [25L;27] Child, Adelaide . Adelaide Child, nee Adelaide Dean, born in October 1861, became the wife of Harry Child in 1883. She was sister to Anna Dean, who married Silas S. Huntley, Child’s partner. Their children were Ellen dean and Huntley. Adelaide died Oct. 17, 1949. [Email conversation with Harry W. Child, 10/3/2004] Child, Ellen Dean . Daughter of H.W. Child, Ellen Dean Child married William Nichols in 1905. Upon his death in 1957, she got involved in company management, becoming Chairman of the Board by 1960. She remained a member of the board until the sale of Yellowstone Park Co. to Goldfield Enterprises/General Baking Co. in 1966. [25L;27] Child, Harry W. Harry Child was born in San Francisco in 1856 and arrived in Montana in 1876. He was considered the “Father” of the lodging and transportation operations in Yellowstone until his death in 1931. Child was a businessman in Helena prior to his arrival in Yellowstone, working in the mining, banking and transportation fields. By 1882 he was managing the Gloster and Gregory silver mines, with his father apparently bankrolling the operations. He married Adelaide Dean in 1883. He formed the Helena, Hot Springs and Smelter Railroad Co. in 1889 with Edmund Bach and two other men. The business was forced into receivership and sold at public auction in 1891. For a time he was also an agent for the Gilmer & Salisbury Stage lines. He began his Yellowstone career in 1892 with the creation of the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Co. (YNPTCo) with Edmund Bach and Silas Huntley, along with Aaron and L.H. Hershfield. In 1898 Child, Huntley, and Bach formed the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. (YPTCo) that took over the operations of the YNPTCo. All of the transportation operations in the park were consolidated into YPTCo under Child’s control after the 1916 season. Child got involved in the hotel business in 1901 when he, along with Bach and Huntley, purchased the YPA. By 1905 Child owned 50% of YPA and the NPRY owned the other half. He formed the Yellowstone Park Hotel Co. in 1909, and bought out the camping/lodge operations in 1928. Child purchased a large interest in the Wylie Permanent Camping Co. in 1905, but was forced to give up his holdings with the consolidations of 1916-17. He took over the T.E. Hofer Boat Co. in 1911 and created the Yellowstone Park Boat Co. He ran all of these businesses until his death in 1931 at La Jolla, Calif., at age 75. Son-in-law Wm. Nichols then took over and all of the operations, which were merged together to form the Yellowstone Park Co. in 1936. The family continued to own the operation until 1966 when the company and assets were sold to Goldfield Enterprises. [25g] [YNP Archives, A17, Box YPC153] [62k; Helena, Hot Springs and Smelter RR Co. files] Child, Huntley . Huntley Child, son of H.W. Child, served as vice-president of Yellowstone Park Hotel Co in 1909 and held a 2% share of the Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Co in 1916. During that time Harry Child became ill and Huntley was trying to manage the business for him. He was an impetuous youth and ran into trouble with NPS Director Mather in 1917. His father soon recuperated and banished him from the park business. He moved to New York, then on to Seattle, eventually dying in La Jolla, Calif. [Email conversation with Harry W. Child, 10/3/2004] Child, Huntley Jr. Huntley Child, Jr., son of Huntley Child and grandchild of Harry Child, came to work for the family business in 1938. He became manager of the Lodge Division of Yellowstone Park Co. in 1949 after Ed Moorman retired at the end of the 1948 season. He became a vice-president of YPCo in the 1950’s, along with John Q. Nichols, son of William Nichols. [25L;27] [Email conversation with Harry W. Child, 10/3/2004] Chittenden, Hiram . Hiram Chittenden was in charge of road design and construction from 1891-93, and 1899-06. He designed the original Chittenden Bridge at Canyon, the Roosevelt Arch and the original Fishing Bridge. During his tenure the Sylvan Pass and Craig Pass roads were completed, the Tower Bridge constructed, and the road over Washburn was completed with a spur to the top. By the time of his departure, over 100 miles of road were being sprinkled with water for dust control. In 1895 he published “The Yellowstone National Park”, a classic history of the early days of the park that is still in print. [25L;28] Chittenden was born Oct. 25, 1858 in Yorkshire, New York. He graduated from West Point in 1884 and joined the Army Corps of Engineers. He later published a 3-volume tome entitled "The American Fur Trade of the Far West." He also published histories on early steamboat travel on the Missouri River and on the life of Father de Smet. He suffered a stroke in 1910 and retired from the military as a Brigadier-General. He died in Seattle Oct. 9, 1917. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] Clark, James A . James Clark constructed a small tent hotel at the base of Capitol Hill in 1885 and was granted a 4-acre lease for 10 years that permitted him to build a hotel and necessary outbuildings. He also established a transportation and guide service that year for his guests. It was a partnership with E.O. Clark and was known as the ‘National Park Hack & Express’. They advertised renting carriages, hacks, and saddle horses, with or without drivers. The Livingston Enterprise noted in 1885 that “Clark’s Town" is located at the foot of Capitol Hill and contains five houses and a number of tents.” By 1886 Clark was operating the ‘Cooke Stage & Express Line’, and received the Mammoth-Cooke City mail and stage contract in 1887. Two years later he was making tri-weekly trips to Cooke, with an overnight stop at the Soda Butte Stage Station. James sold his transportation business in 1889 to A.T. French, who received the Mammoth-Cooke City mail route franchise. Clark was never able to build the hotel as promised in his lease and sold out his hotel interests in 1888 to George Wakefield and the firm of White, Friant & Letellier. Early in 1889 Clark applied for a lease to erect a hotel at Soda Butte, but was turned down by Interior due to his past record. Clark was also involved in several mining ventures at Cooke City. [43m] [LE; 5/15/1886; 6/13/1885; 6/21/1885; 5/28/1887; 6/16/1888; 10/27/1888; 5/29/1889; 12/21/1889] [YNP Army Files Doc. 85] [25g] Clark, John. John Clark was Postmaster at the Firehole PO from 1886-91. [25L;29] Clawson, Calvin C . Calvin Clausen was a member of the Raymond-Clawson tourist party of 1871. He was accompanied by Rossiter W. Raymond, A.F. Thrasher and others, and was guided by Gilman Sawtell of Henry’s Lake. The group has been recognized as the 1st commercial tourist party to enter Yellowstone. [25L;29] Clause, Joe . Joe Clause (Joe Claus) built the first cabin around 1906-07 in the area that would later become West Yellowstone. For a number of years he took camping parties into the park with horses and wagons. In 1918 he offered 5-day trips that included transportation, board, and lodging for $25.00. It was $2.50 extra for each day if a guest wanted to stopover at a given location. Saddle horses were an extra $1.00 per day. [18t] [Ed. Frank Allen, A Guide to the National Parks, 1918] Cody, William. Wm. Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill Cody, helped to found the town of Cody in 1896. He built the Irma Hotel there in 1902 and also established the town’s 1st newspaper. He opened up the Pahaska Tepee Lodge at the east entrance in 1903-04, 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, Holm’s business improved and Cody’s 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. [25L;29] Colpitts, George . George Colpitts was born in 1855 in New Brunswick, Canada, he and his wife Mary arrived in Coulson Mt. (present day Billings) in 1880. They moved to Livingston in 1882, following the progress of the Northern Pacific RR. Within a few years he had opened a blacksmith shop at Gardiner, and later became employed by the Army at Mammoth. He also opened a blacksmith shop in Castle (NE of Livingston) in 1889. Later that year his shop in Gardiner burned down, along with other businesses. George followed old gold miners to Alaska in 1897-98 to seek his fortune. He returned to Livingston in 1898 and eventually set up a shop with Al Robertson - "Colpitts & Robertson, General Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights." Colpitts received a blacksmith contract in December of 1903 for work on the new Old Faithful Inn, which was under construction. He and his helpers made all the wrought iron work for the Inn, including the massive front door hardware, the fireplace clock, screens, tongs, popcorn maker, iron candelabra, and all the guest room door numbers and locks. The job necessitated his opening a second shop in Livingston and using Frank Holem's shop in Gardiner. [18p] Colter, John . John Colter was born ca1774 near Staunton, Virginia and enlisted with Lewis & Clark's expedition October 15, 1803 and became one of their favorite hunters. He traveled with the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1804-06 and on the return trip, met up with Joseph Dickson and Forest Hancock. Lewis & Clark allowed him leave to quit their party and join the two trappers. They returned to the Greater Yellowstone area, probably settling in on the eastern side of the Absaroka Mountains for the winter. Colter later received credit for being the first white man to set foot in Yellowstone. He became a fur trapper and discovered what became Yellowstone Park and Colter’s Hell (near Cody Wyoming, along the Shoshone River) in the winter of 1807-08. A few years later he was forced to `run for his life’ from the Blackfoot after his trapping partner John Potts was killed while traveling near Three Forks, Montana. He is reported to have covered over 300 miles in eleven days – naked and on foot. His only gear was a blanket and broken spear point. In 1810 Blackfoot again attacked him while he was in the company of Andrew Henry and members of the Missouri Fur Co. Eight of the men were killed. He decided afterwards he had enough of the Rocky Mountains and left the country April 22, 1910. He returned to St. Louis, Missouri, taking 30 days for the trip. He married and became a farmer, settling near the famed Daniel Boone. He died in 1813 of jaundice. [25L;30] [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] Comfort, N.W . N.W. Comfort and his wife were permitted to graze cattle in the Blacktail Plateau area in 1879. They had driven and team and 400 head of cattle from Oregon via Henry's Lake and through the park. [25L;30] [1879 Supt's Report] Comstock, Theodore Bryant . Theodore Comstock was a geologist for the Capt. W.A. Jones military expedition of 1873. He was born at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on July 27, 1847 to Calvin J. and Amelia M. (Hanford) Comstock. He graduated from Cornell in 1870 and accompanied an expedition to Brazil as an assistant geologist. Comstock was a professor at a number of institutions between 1871 and 1889, teaching natural science and history, and geology. He participated in geological surveys in Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas. In 1891 he became the founder and director of the Arizona School of Mines in Tucson and served as president of the University of Arizona in 1893. He was involved in numerous mining operations and was a member of a variety of professional societies. [16a;105] [The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter & Brown, Howard, eds., 1904] Conger, Patrick A . Patrick Conger was the 3rd Park Superintendent who served from 1882-84. Hiram Chittenden described his administration as weak and inefficient. Conger resigned July 28, 1884. [16a;136] Cook, Charles W . Charles Cook was a member of the Folsom-Cook-Peterson expedition of 1869. He first headed west to the Colorado gold fields in the early 1860s before moving on to Virginia City, Montana in 1864. He moved to Confederate Gulch the following year and began managing the Boulder Ditch Co., which supplied water to the mines in Diamond City. He hired William Peterson to work for him and later hired David Folsom in 1868. After the Yellowstone Expedition he went into ranching and raised a family near what is now White Sulfur, Montana. He lived a long life and was able to attend the Park’s fiftieth anniversary in 1922. He died five years later at age 88. [31] Cooke, Jay. Jay Cooke became head of the Northern Pacific RR in 1868 and led the company until his bankruptcy in 1873. Prior to the Washburn Expedition, Cooke hired Nathaniel Langford as a sort of publicity agent to help spread the word of the wonders of the western lands that the railroad would be passing through. Cooke City was named after him in their attempts to attract a rail line to the gold mines there. [25L;31] Coulter, John Merle. John Coulter, a member of the Hayden Expedition of 1872, became one of the scientific community's greatest botanists. He accompanied geographer Henry Gannett, ethnologist Wm. H. Holmes, zoologist C. Hart Meriam and others. [10;29] Cowan, George . George Cowan and his wife Emma were members of the Radersburg party of 1877 that was attacked by Nez Perce in late Aug. While being forced to travel up Nez Perce Cr. with Indians, George was shot in the thigh, the head and was left for dead. The shot to the head did not penetrate the skull and Cowan came to and tried to crawl to safety. He was again shot in the thigh and left for dead. He later revived and spent four days crawling to one of the party's abandoned camps. There he found matches, coffee and other staples. He was rescued by Gen. Howard's scouts, but not before his campfire spread and burned him. It was a month before Cowan made it back to Bozeman, but not before the wagon carrying him overturned, dumping him down the slope. Upon finally entering the hotel, his bed collapsed, dropping him to the floor. He managed to survive all these incidents. He wife was released unharmed by the Ne Perce several days after George was first shot. George was born Feb. 10, 1842 near Columbus, Ohio and raised near Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In 1865 he moved out to Montana and settled in Last Chance Gulch in Helena where he engaged in mining and legal work. He was admitted to the bar in 1872 and moved to Radersburg, Montana, where he married Emma J. Carpenter in 1875. The family moved to Spokane in 1910 where George Cowan died in the late fall of 1926. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] [16a;118-20] [30;220-36] Cowan, Emma J . (Carpenter) Emma J. Carpenter (Emma Cowan) was born in 1854 somewhere in the East and moved to Alder Gulch, Montana with her parents during the Gold Rush and Vigilante era in 1864. She first visited the Yellowstone region and the geysers in 1873, making her among the earliest women to visit Yellowstone. She moved to Spokane in 1910 with her husband George and died there on Dec. 20, 1938 at age 84. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] Crandall, Jack . Jack Crandall was a gold prospector who had worked the Crevice Gulch area in 1867-69 with Arch Graham and Findley. Crandall and Findley were killed by Indians in Aug. of 1869 in the Crandall Creek area east of the park. [97p;76] www.wiki.wyomingplaces.org has this to say about Crandall: "Jack Crandall was a roaming prospector, who traveled extensively in the area [Greater Yellowstone]. While in route with a partner to a rendezvous to meet several prospectors’ friends at the headwaters of the Clarks Fork, they were tracked and murdered at their camp while eating by a marauding band of Indians. Their heads were found severed and stuck on one end of their picks with the other end in the ground. The cups belonging to the men had been placed in front of their spitted heads. Their bodies were not found until the following year. This happed near the mouth of Crandall Creek on the east bank. Through the generosity of Caroline Lockhart, a bronze plaque was mounted on a large boulder to mark the graves of these hardy mountaineers." Crissman, Joshua . Joshua Crissman was born in 1883 in Madison Ohio, and came west in the late 1860’s. He was in Bozeman by 1871 and accompanied the Hayden expedition into Yellowstone that year as photographer. He took photos alongside Henry Jackson and had prints made of Yellowstone on his return to Bozeman. His prints were actually produced prior to those of Jackson and became the first publicly viewed photos of Yellowstone. He returned to the park in 1873 and 1874 to take additional photos. By 1879 his photos and stereoviews were being sold by Wm. I. Marshall and others. E.H. Train and C.D. Kirkland also sold Crissman’s views under their own names. Many of his early views were mistakenly attributed to Jackson and he never received the fame or respect due him. He moved to Salt Lake City in the mid-1870’s. By 1880 he had setup a photo shop in Laramie City, Wyoming, but eventually moved to Southern California to do business. He died in 1922. [79u; Joshua Crissman] [119b] Culver, Ellery Channing E.C. Culver was born April 28, 1842 in Shoreham, Addison County, Vermont. He enlisted in the 34th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861 and served in the Civil War for 4 years. Sometime after his discharge, he moved west to Montana seeking gold and was well established in Virginia City by 1871. By 1881 he lived in the areas surrounding Billings and became a businessman in that city in 1884. He married Mattie Gillette (nee Martha Jane Shipley) on April 6, 1886. Mattie was born September 18, 1856 in Lowell Mass. They had a daughter named Theda born in Billings June 22, 1887. Culver came to the park in 1887 with E.C. Waters as ‘Master of Transportation’, holding that position until 1892. He and Mattie spent the summers of 1887-88 at the Firehole Hotel (Marshall Hotel) and Ellery became winterkeeper for the hotel during the winter of 1888-89. Mattie suffered through the winter from tuberculosis and died March 2 of that spring and was buried nearby. Her grave and headstone can still be viewed at the Nez Perce picnic area. She was 30 years old at the time. Daughter Theda was sent to Spokane to live with relatives. In 1892 Culver was appointed US Court Commissioner for Wyoming, with headquarters at Mammoth, serving for 2 years. He was in charge of the Norris Lunch Station in 1893 and went to work for the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. (YPTCo) in 1894. Culver served as the train agent for YPTCo riding the rails from Livingston to Gardiner, giving impromptu talks along the way. He later traveled throughout the country for the Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) giving promotional lectures. He became postmaster in Gardiner on Oct. 4, 1897 and ran the nearby Post Office Store. He gave up those enterprises early in 1904 because of his health. Later in the year he returned to work as the train 'runner'. Health problems again forced him to retire in July 1908. In 1909 he moved to the Sawtelle National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Southern California He died April 17, 1922 and was buried in the National Soldier's Home Cemetery. [LE 4/3/1892] [31;23,65] [15b] [100e;87-122] This story about E.C. Culver comes from the New Zealand Star, April 3, 1897 YELLOWSTONE PARK. Perhaps the most popular man connected with the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, is Captain E. C. Culver, of Gardner. In addition to the duties of justice of the peace, he makes a daily trip on the park train, and personally interviews every man, boy, woman and child who travels on it. He is a walking encyclopedia of park information. He knows the height of every peak, the altitude of every important location, and can give you Professor Hayden's theory of the park's geological formation. Besides all this he is a prince of good fellows, and has a fund of humor which sometimes carries him away when touching up descriptions and legends of the park. Some time ago the captain had an experience which was too good to keep, and he gave it away to a friend in town. He was going from the Springs to Cinnabar, and there were three very bright young ladies on the coach. One of them asked if it were customary to have so many mosquitoes in so high an altitude. The captain assured her that it was not unusual, that they were increasing year by year; that no mosquitoes were ever known in the park until, about eight years ago, a New Jersey schoolma'am had carelessly enclosed some in her trunk and let them out at Mammoth Hot Springs, when, like rabbits in Australia, they became an increasing pest. All agreed that it was remarkable, but one girl seemed to carry a smile of incredulity. As the conversation continued, Mr. Culver was asked what he considered the most remarkable thing in the park. He said that if beauty and grandeur were to be left out of the count, he thought the most remarkable thing was Alum Creek, a little stream putting into the river between the falls and the lake. Originally, he said, the distance between the hotels at the lake and the falls was twenty-six miles, but when they commenced to sprinkle the road between the two places with water taken from Alum Creek some years ago, they soon found the distance between the hotels shortened by about eight miles. As the hotels were then only about eighteen miles apart and the road still shrinking, the superintendent ordered them to use no more water from Alum Creek. And then the captain told another little legend about the creek that was quite well authenticated. Last year, he said, a party went through the park on a camping tour, and a young lady with them came into the park wearing No. 8 shoes. After camping on Alum Creek two days and bathing her feet, she went home wearing a pair of No. 2 gaiters. At this point the girl with the incredulous smile said to him, "Don't you think it would be a good plan to bathe your head in that creek a time or two?" Curry, David A. David Curry was a teacher who began guiding tourists with his wife into Yellowstone using covered wagons in 1892 out of Ogden, Utah. He conducted two tours that first summer. The first was to leave June 27th for 17 days. The $65 cost included everything. His ads solicited "Teachers, students and anybody of good character." Twenty people was the desired number of travelers for the trip. Apparently business was slow that first summer, as on June 26 an ad appeared cutting the rate to $50 with a scheduled departure of July 4th. In 1895 he led a trip consisting of 37 tourists, transported in five 4-horse wagons, one 2-horse wagon, three 4-horse baggage wagons, along with nine teamsters, a cook and four assistants. An ad in 1897 touted an 18-day trip for $76.40, leaving from Ogden. He conducted tours every summer until he and his wife left Yellowstone in 1899 to found the famous Curry Camp in Yosemite National Park. [25L;33] [98; Ogden Standard Examiner: 6/15/1892; 6/26/1892; 8/3/1895; 7/1/1896;] Check out my Curry Camping Co. page for mor info!! Cutler, Robert Eugene. ‘Buckskin Jim’ Robert Cutler's stubbornness and various mining claims around Gardiner prevented the NPRR from reaching the town of Gardiner for 20 years. The railroad was forced to stop at Cinnabar in 1883 because they were unable to obtain the right-of-way through Cutler’s properties that had been leased from James McCartney. Cutler also sublet parcels of the land to other residents, who later claimed to have purchased them from Cutler. NPRy eventually obtained right-of-way and the line continued to Gardiner in 1902. Cutler also had a homestead in Lamar Valley around 1882 with George Jackson that in later years became the site of the Buffalo Ranch. Representatives of Supt. Carpenter forcibly removed Cutler, Jackson and Jack Rutherford in November of 1884. Cutler drew his gun on the two men, but Rutherford stopped him from shooting. Cutler was arrested and received a $75 fine for his actions from the judge in Evanston, Wyoming. He was later elected Justice of the Peace for Cooke City in 1889. Cutler was also involved in a shooting in Gardiner in 1907. After arguments and a fight with Axel Hill and others regarding contract work for Cutler, Hill left and later returned with a gun and shot at Cutler. He missed but Cutler returned fire hitting Hill in the chest and leg. Hill died and Cutler was later acquitted of a murder charge on grounds of self-defense. [31] [LE; 10/12/1889] [115] Curl, John F. John Curl was among the earliest businessmen in the mining camp of Cooke City in 1883 and later moved to Gardiner to operate a hotel in that burg. Curl was born in 1853 in Pennsylvania and moved to Cooke City in 1883 where he operated the Curl House hotel and was involved in the mining business and was in partnership in various mining properties with George Huston and Adam "Horn" Miller. Curl and his wife Zona sold their properties in Cooke City and moved to Gardiner around 1915 and ran the Cottage Hotel on Main Street. The family moved after 2-3 years to Bozeman so that his children Mary Margaret (born 1898) and Thomas (born 1902) could attend college. John died October 1, 1924 at 71 years of age and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Livingston. His pallbearers included W.A. Hall and Herb French. Mary Margaret Ingram died Feb. 9, 1959 and Thomas died in 1961. Dean, James H. James Dean was one of the assistant superintendents under Supt. Conger in 1883, serving until June of 1885. He spent the summer of 1884 with his family at Norris in a small house built for them by the government. However it was unsuitable to withstand the cold, harsh winters and they moved to Mammoth to live that winter. He became clerk at the Firehole Hotel in 1885, serving there for several years. In 1888 he was hired to manage the Cottage Hotel at Mammoth, the year before the GL Henderson family sold the operation to the Yellowstone Park Association. Dean managed the National Hotel in 1891 and was appointed Superintendent of YPA in 1892, having supervision of all the park hotels. His office was located in the National Hotel. He served as president of YPA from at 1896 (or 1898) until 1901, when Harry Child, Edmund Bach and Silas Huntley bought out the company. Around 1902 he resigned from the company and went to live with a nephew Mr. Charles Picken (or Pickings) near Harmony Grove in Maryland. By 1910 James and Rebecca had moved to California and were living in Coronado Beach, near San Diego. James died October 17, 1919 in Coronado Beach after being in ill health and suffering a stroke the previous year. He was about 75 years of age and was survived by his widow. James H. Dean was born around 1844 in New Market, Frederick County, Maryland. His future wife Rebecca T. Pickings (or Picken) was born in Maryland around 1845. By 1869 Dean was living in the town of Frederick, MD and went to work as a steward at the Maryland school for the Deaf and Dumb. The school had just opened the previous year and served about 60 students, 25 of them that had never received any formal schooling. The school taught sign language, the finger alphabet, writing, speech, lip reading, along with vocational skills such as shoemaking, carpentry, printing, dressmaking, sewing, and housework. He held that position until 1877. At that time he went to work for a hotel and restaurant called the Old Dill House in Frederick. By 1879 the hotel became known as the Carlin House, after proprietor Frank B. Carlin. Around 1898 it was renamed Hotel Burgess, after the new owner. In 1883 he traveled to Yellowstone with Rebecca to work as an assistant superintendent. [LE;7/18/1885;10/10/1891; 4/2/1892;12/19/1896; 4/9/1898] [30;300-02] [10;172] [The News, Frederick, Md; 3/1/1888; 5/3/1890; 10/19/1889; 7/30/1894; 12/12/1898; 1/10/1899; 9/29/1902; [Frederick Post; 10/30/1919] Deckard, Frank. Frank Deckard was born December 6, 1874 at Ranier, Oregon, Frank began freighting in Yellowstone at age 17. He married Susan Elnora Hanson on 11/29/1876, but was later divorced. He owned a ranch near Jardine for 35 years that he sold to the government in 1929, but continued to live in Jardine. He was found dead Sunday, Oct. 26, 1930 in his cabin on Buffalo Flat near Jardine. He had a bullet hole through the head above the right ear. A .38 Colt revolver was found in his hand and it was determined that the death was self-inflicted. Services were held in the Gardiner Eagles Hall with Clarence Scoyen officiating. Burial was in the Gardiner Cemetery. [YNP Vert. Files: Deckard; Park County News, 10/30/1930] DeLacy, Walter W . W.W. DeLacy was the leader of a gold-prospecting expedition in 1863 (he called his companions the ‘Forty Thieves’) that discovered Shoshone Lake and its drainage to the Snake River. He compiled the first accurate map of the park two years later. Unfortunately his findings were not published until 1876, long after other maps and charts had been produced by various other expeditions in the early 1870’s. His historical ‘claim-to-fame’ was thwarted by his delay in publishing his findings. DeLacy Creek is named after him. DeLacy was born Feb. 22, 1819 at Petersburg, Virginia. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Maryland and became a railroad surveyor in 1839. He taught for the Navy and spend much time at sea before retiring and returning to civil engineering in 1846. He participated in the war with Mexico, helped engineer the Mullan Road in Montana, and laid out the site of Fort Benton on the Missouri River. He was in the Sioux War of 1867 and participated in numerous other surveys in Montana and Idaho. He later became a city engineer in Helena and died there May 13, 1892. [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] [25L;34] DeMaris, Charles. In 1886 Charles DeMaris discovered and developed the hot springs on the western edge of Cody that still bear his name. DeMaris was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1827 and moved to Chicago with his parents at age nine. He became involving in the building contracting trade and lumber business in Chicago and Michigan. He relocated to Louisiana at the close of the Civil War, but dissatisfied with the area, headed north on a steamboat to Fort Benton and pushed on to Leesburg Basin in Idaho to mine for gold. His efforts were successful and in 1871 he bought cattle and entered the stock raising business. DeMaris sold his mining interests in 1879 and drove his cattle to Montana to graze on lands where Billings now stands. He removed to the DeMaris Hot Springs in 1886 and touted the purported healing qualities of those waters. Around 1895 the future town of Cody was plotted around the Springs area, but various problems caused the town to be moved east to its present location in 1896. DeMaris married Nellie Fitzgerald of Cody in 1898, who assisted Charles greatly in the development of the hot springs. The couple had a son named Charles, born around 1901. Charles Sr. died June 26, 1914 at his home at the Springs. He was 87 years of age and was buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Cody. [Park County Enterprise, 6/2/1914] Dewing, Jennie Henderson Jennie Henderson was the daughter of G.L. Henderson and wife of John Dewing, she operated a general store at Mammoth from 1883-1908. (See ‘Ash, Jennie’ and ‘Henderson, Jennie’) Click Here to read the article I wrote on Jennie Henderson Ash and her General Store for the Spring 2005 issue of Yellowstone Science. Dietrich, Richard. Richard Dietrich was a member of the Helena party during the fateful summer of 1877 when the Nez Perce made their forey through the park. Escaping from a skirmish at Otter Creek, Dietrich, along with Andrew Weikert and Leslie Wilkie made it safely back to Mammoth Hot Springs, but their friend Charles Kenck was killed. Weikert and James McCartney went back to Otter Creek to look for Kenck while Dietrich remained at McCartney's cabin at Mammoth. Yellow Wolf, a member of the Nez Perce, later told what happened to Dietrich, a music teacher from Helena: "It was coming towards sundown when we saw a white man standing in the doorway of a house. We stopped not far from him but did not dismount. We sat on our horses, six or seven of us, thinking. Chuslum Hahlap Kanoot (Naked-foot Bull) said to me, 'My two young brothers and next younger brother were not warriors. They and a sister were killed at Big Hole. It was just like this man did that killing of my brothers and sister. He is nothing but a killer to become a soldier sometime. We are going to kill him now. I am a man! I am going to shoot him! When I fire, you shoot after me.' "Dietrich was killed August 28, 1877 and his body was returned to Helena for burial. [Billings Gazette, 8/26/2002, "Wrong Place, Wrong Time for Music Teacher"] Dingee, William A . William Dingee was a member of the ill-fated Cowen-Radersburg party that visited Yellowstone in the summer of 1877 and was attached by the marauding Nez Perce Indians (see George Cowen). Dingee and A.J. Arnold managed to escape when other members of their party were taken captive. He was born Jan. 1, 1834 at Highland Falls, New York and joined the Colorado gold rush in 1859. He left for Montana during its gold rush and arrived in Bannack on May 17, 1863. He eventually moved to Helena and became a merchant. He died in Helena November 13, 1899 at age 65. [Society of Montana Pioneers Register, Vol. 1, 1899; The NY Times, 11/14/1899 ] Doane, Lt. Gustavus C . Gustavus Doane was born May 29, 1840 at Galesburg, Illinois. He traveled with his parents by ox train to Oregon in 1846. He graduated college in California and enlisted in the Army in 1862 and commissioned first lieutenant in 1864. He retired from the military after the war and served briefly as mayor of Yazoo City in Mississippi. He re-joined the Army in 1868 and was appointed 2nd Lt. in the US Regulars and stationed at Ft. Ellis in 1869. Early in 1870 he was a participant in the massacre of a Piegan village on the Marias River in which 173 Indians were killed, only 33 of which were men. He accompanied the Washburn Expedition of 1870 with a small contingent of soldiers (one sergeant and four privates). The following year he guided the Hayden Expedition into the park. Doane was with the first command to reach the devastated Custer battle site in 1876 and assisted with burial duties. Late that year he and a small crew attempted to float the Snake River from its source to the mouth at the Columbia River. The boat capsized early in the trip and the attempt was given up. He volunteered for Arctic duty late in 1877. In 1878 he married the daughter of the founder of Hunter Hot Springs in Springdale, Montana. He became a captain in 1884 and died in Bozeman May 5, 1892. [15b] [25g;19,26] [Dan Thrapp, Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography] Dobson, David. David Dobson and Wm. Ramsdell approached Jennie Henderson in 1883 to have her sell coated specimens in her post office store on a consignment basis. The two men had received permission to coat various articles in the mineral-laden waters of the Mammoth Terraces. By 1888 Dobson was serving as the mail carrier for the Cooke City route. [25j] Douglas, Henry F. Henry Douglas was the post trader at Fort Yates in the Dakota Territory and apparently had political connections in Washington DC. Douglas and Carroll Hobart filed an application in July 1882 for a 10-year lease on 4400 acres of park land for their exclusive use in constructing and operating a hotel and transportation system. In January 1883 the two men formed the Yellowstone Park Improvement Co. with Rufus Hatch as financier. In March the Secretary of Interior negated their lease, changing most of the exclusive terms and lowering the lease acreage to 10 acres, divided between seven areas. The company went bankrupt in 1885 and was replaced by YPA. [25L;35] Drury, Newton Bishop Newton B. Drury served as NPS Director from Aug. 20, 1940 to Mar. 31,1951. He was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt due to his uncompromising attitude toward anti-conservationists and commercial interest groups. Earlier on he was with the Save the Redwood League in California and served as a research associate with the Carnegie Institution of Washington (1938-43). He resigned in 1951 over differences with the secretary of Interior under President Truman. Drury returned to the Save the Redwoods League in 1959 and was instrumental in the creation of Redwood National Park in 1968 in California. Drury was an honorary vice president of the Sierra Club. He died December 15, 1978. [25L;35] [Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian naturalists and Environmentalists, ed. by Sterling, Harmond, Cevasco, & Hammond] Ducharme, Baptiste . Baptiste Ducharme was born March 15, 1781 near Montreal and joined Gen. Ashley’s expedition of 1822 as a trapper. He trapped for Bonneville in 1823. He became a free trapper in 1824 and claimed to have gone up to the head of the Yellowstone River. He crossed over to the head of the Snake River and came down the Firehole River past the geysers. Ducharme lived in the Rocky Mountains until the early 1840’s. E.S. Topping talked to Ducharme prior to his writing his book in 1885 and Ducharme was still able to describe the many geysers he saw. [97p;14-15] [2] Duret, Joseph . Joseph "Frenchy" Duret was born in France around 1862. He arrived in Stillwater County in 1885 and in the early 1890s owned property in both Gardiner and Cooke City. For five years he hunted and fished, and operated a butcher shop in Gardiner, providing fresh meat to Fort Yellowstone. He moved to the Slough Creek area, just outside of the park boundary around 1899. He was known to poach park animals and seemed to be in trouble with authorities on a regular basis. His wife claimed he had killed upwards of 200 bears in his 20 years on Slough Creek. Frenchy was killed by a grizzly June 12, 1922 that was caught in one of his traps. He apparently shot the bear to finish him off, but as Frenchy approached, the griz came back to life, broke the chain and mauled Frenchy to death. Rangers discovered his body the next day and buried him on his ranch. An article from the Roundup Record Tribune, dated August 4, 1922, described the events surrounding Duret's demise: "Yellowstone park rangers are trailing a huge grizzly bear that recently killed and partly devoured Joseph Duret, sixty, and old-time Montana trapper. Duret's body was found on Slough Creek, near the park, with an arm and a leg partly chewed off. Signs indicated the bear had been caught in one of Duret's traps, but had broken loose when the trapper came by on his rounds. Horace M. Albright, superintendent of the park, said there were evidences of a terrific battle, and a rifle, clawed and chewed, was found near the broken trap. One shot had been fired from the rifle and a bloody trail showed that the man crept a mile and a half after receiving his injuries." [Doris Whithorn, Twice Told on the Upper Yellowstone, Vol. 2] Dwelle, Harry F . Harry 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 Union Pacific RR (UPRR) reached the West entrance of the park. By that time Dwelle was also running a general store. He married Sarah Burnside in 1903. 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.” [18t]

  • Jardine | Geyserbob.com

    Althoughnot a Gateway to Yellowstone, Jardine Montana was an important gold mining district in the 1870-1920s. The area lay a mere 5 miles from the Gateway town of Gardiner, and created considerable business enterprise for the region, Gardiner, and the Northern Pacific RR. Gateways to Wonderland Jardine, Mont. Gold Mining on the Edge of 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. Undated photo of the Bear Gulch Mining District - Jardine, Montana. Note the row of houses along Bear Creek at far right. Mineral Hill is center, with the main mill below . The quaint small village of Jardine, Montana, was never considered a Gateway to Yellowstone National Park by any means. However, it was an important part of local history, and an economic boom for Gardiner , Cinnabar , and the Northern Pacific RR .The mining history is quite complicated and involved, so only the basics are discussed in this narrative. More extensive information may be obtained from the sources at the bottom of the page. "and finding also a hairless cub, called the gulch Bear.” Eugene S. Topping , in his Chronicles of the Yellowstone, a classic and important history of the greater Yellowstone Valley written in 1885, claimed that in 1863 a group of thirty miners lead by George Huston prospected their way up the Yellowstone River from the mining community of Emigrant Gulch and continued past Soda Butte toward what later became the New World mining district. Attacked by Indians who ran off all their horses, the prospectors cached their excess supplies and continued afoot toward Clark’s Fork with one lone jackass. Finding a few prospects, but no pay, they returned back along the Yellowstone. Topping related that, “On the way they found fair prospects in a creek on the east side of the Yellowstone, and finding also a hairless cub, called the gulch Bear.” Even though today the creek goes by the name Bear Creek, the name Bear Gulch, also referred to as the Sheepeater District, still identifies the classic mining areas around the town of Jardine, Montana. Left : Eugene S. Topping, author of "Chronicles of the Yellowstone." Center : Joe Brown , one of the discoverers and developers of gold in Bear Gulch. Right : George A. Huston, one of the discoverers of gold in Bear Gulch, and a founding Father of Cooke City. Sporadic prospecting around Bear Gulch continued uneventfully the next few years after Huston’s journey until Joe Brown and partners John Zimmerer, Dan Royer, and an unknown man struck rich, gold-bearing gravel in 1866 on a bar at the mouth of Bear Gulch, as it empties into the Yellowstone River. They staked a claim and reportedly took out $8,000 in gold. News traveled quickly in the mining communities and in 1867, Lou Anderson, A.H. Hubble, George W. Reese, Caldwell, and another man discovered gold in a crevice at the mouth of the first stream above Bear Gulch, and named it Crevice Gulch. That same year George Huston returned to the area and built a cabin on Turkey Pen Flats across the Yellowstone River from Bear Gulch. Living on land that later became part of Yellowstone National Park, Huston’s cabin is believed to be the first white residence in Yellowstone. Historic illustrations of early gold mining. At top is a rocker that separated the gold flakes from the gravel, which was afterward panned out. At bottom is an arrastra that used a mule to drag a heavy stone over the ore to crush it, which could then be panned or separated from the host rocks. Meanwhile, placer mining was conducted on gravel bars along the creek, or in ancient channel deposits accessed by tunnels or drifts into the hillsides. During the years 1875-77, Joe Brown and other miners built over 3000 feet of ditch to carry water to the various gravel bars they were working. In either 1870 or 1874, depending on sources, Joe Brown and James Graham discovered quartz gold deposits in upper Bear Gulch on a hill later known as Mineral Hill. Although not developed for several years, the Bozeman Times reported in July 1877 that Wm. Heffner, Joe Brown, and James Graham were successfully crushing ore with a crudely-built, mule-drawn device known as an arrastra, based on a primitive design from the early Spanish and Mexican miners. The paper also noted that George Huston and Stoker Henderson would have their arrastra operating by October. Hard rock mining digs in . . . Hard rock mining escalated in 1878 when Z.H. “Zed” Daniels and three other men began working a quartz lead on Bear Gulch and built an arrastra to process their ore. In July the Bozeman Times reported that George Huston, Jimmy Dewings, and Joe Brown discovered a “fine gold lead . . . [that] panned out one dollar to the pound of rock.” A later article described a 9-foot vein with free gold running through it; a 4-ton run through the arrastra yielded $50 per ton. In 1879 the following mines were recorded at Bear Gulch: Legal Tender (Joe Brown); The Wonder of the World (Beattie, Anderson, and Lovely); The James Graham Lode; Joe Brown & Graham; The Monitor; The Mountain Bride; The Coan & McCauley Lode; The Mountain Chief (Geo. Huston); The Champion Lode; The Summit Lode; The Great Western; Mountain Chief (Brown, Huston, & Graham); and the Home Stake. Various newspapers touted the richness and auspicious future of both Bear Gulch and Crevice Gulch, where similar successes and operations were occuring. The Bismarck Tribune in May of 1879 claimed, “The belief is that erelong Bear Gulch is destined to become one of the richest camps in the Territory.” In April of that year a new town site was being laid out with corner lots going up, a harbinger of anticipated stability and prosperity. Outside investors were now beginning to see the potential of Bear Gulch and as a sign of things to come, George Huston and Dewings sold a third of one of their claims for $3500. Huston went on to concentrate his efforts in the New World Mining District, amassed dozens of claims, and became one of the original founders of Cooke City . Article from the Bozeman Avant-Courier, 22May1879, touting the wonders of the riches of the Bear and Crevice Gulches Major Eaton and the Bear Gulch Placer Co. In 1882 Major George O. Eaton and a man named Sturgess formed the Bear Gulch Placer Co. and filed articles of incorporation in Gallatin County with capital of $40,000. Eaton bought out Brown’s Legal Tender mine and over the next few years purchased other mining properties. His crews tunneled into the canyon walls following old river channels in search for placer gold. Eaton also began hydraulic mining in 1884 on Joe Brown’s 40-acre placer claim on Bear Creek; about three miles below what would later become the town of Jardine. Installing equipment served by 1200 feet of 12-inch pipe with a vertical drop of 400 feet through a six-inch nozzle, it was reported to be the most powerful hydraulic placer operation in the world. Blasting away huge sections of the canyon walls in the quest for auriferous bounty, Eaton realized few riches from his efforts and left a scarred landscape, still visible to this day. Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold. Hydraulic mining developed from ancient Roman techniques that used water to excavate soft underground deposits. Its modern form, using pressurized water jets produced by a nozzle called a "monitor", came about in the 1850s during the California Gold Rush in the United States. Though successful in extracting gold-rich minerals, the widespread use of the process resulted in extensive environmental damage, such as increased flooding and erosion, and sediment blocking waterways and covering farm fields. "Placer Mining in Bear Gulch, Montana. Scenery Along the Northern Pacific Railroad F. Jay Haynes , Publisher, Fargo, D.T." The inscription reads: "Compliments Eaton His Mines(?) The little Giant engine My Father and I visited the scene" (Author unknown) To watch a fascinating video about hydraulic mining, click on this YouTube link. View of Bear Gulch in 1884. The town grew up along both sides of Bear Creek. [Courtesy Montana Memory] Changing direction, Eaton built the first quartz mill in Bear Gulch, a five-stamp combination mill to process the oxidized ores from the various lode claims. The mill operated successfully for about two years, but shut down around 1886 due to internal company dissention and the difficulty in hauling ore to the Cinnabar railhead. Minimal organized mining efforts occurred until 1890 when the firm of E.D. Edgerton and W.E. Jewell of Helena took over the operation and added five stamps to the mill. Operating successfully for three years, the operation was shutdown during the Panic of 1893 and the resulting economic depression. Changing direction, Eaton built the first quartz mill in Bear Gulch, a five-stamp combination mill to process the oxidized ores from the various lode claims. The mill operated successfully for about two years, but shut down around 1886 due to internal company dissention and the difficulty in hauling ore to the Cinnabar railhead. Minimal organized mining efforts occurred until 1890 when the firm of E.D. Edgerton and W.E. Jewell of Helena took over the operation and added five stamps to the mill. Operating successfully for three years, the operation was shutdown during the Panic of 1893 and the resulting economic depression. A new town takes shape . . . By 1895 a few businesses had been established, including a hotel, sample room, general store, and four log cabin residences belonging to George Welcome and two other men. In 1895 a new post office was been established at Crevasse with Mrs. M.E. Cowell as postmistress and on Dec. 9, 1898 the community of Bear Gulch became known as Jardine, when the post office was established with J. B. McCarthy as postmaster. This gentleman also had a general store, while other businesses in town included a hotel, saloon and barber shop. Additional business enterprises followed later in the summer. The hotel in Bear Gulch went into bankruptcy in 1896 and was purchased by Cinnabar businessman W.A. Hall . It came into the possession of John Jervis at some point and was known as the Jervis Hotel. The Anaconda Standard reported on Oct. 31, 1898 that, “John Jervis, a recent arrival from Victoria, B. C. secured a license, Tuesday, to open a saloon at Bear Gulch. Mr. Jervis is interested with Helena parties in mining property in that district.” Walter Hoppe leased the Bear Gulch Hotel from Jervis in September 1899, and operated the hotel until about 1905, whereupon it reverted back to Jarvis. Top Right : Ad for the Bear Gulch Hotel in Jardine ca1900. [R.L. Polk Directory] Bottom Right : "Hotel of Walter M. Hoppe, Bear Gulch," ca1899. [Livingston Enterprise Souvenir, 1Jan1900] Left : Bear Gulch Hotel in Jardine ca1903. [Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR] Right : Bear Gulch Hotel, ca1903. [Underwood & Underwood stereoview] A correspondent writing from the town about the middle of October 1907, stated that 100 buildings were then in existence or in course of construction, and that the mining company contemplated the erection of thirty more cottages. At its peak the town boasted of a population of 500-600 souls. A Cultural Resource Survey of the area conducted in 1982 claimed that, “Within a year [1898-99] there were 130 new buildings, including two hotels, three mercantile establishments, office buildings, a mine company office, a guest house, a school and work started on a new mill. A water system and telephone service soon followed.” A hydroelectric dam was built on Bear Creek in 1903 near the mouth of the creek that produced electricity to the mines, businesses and residents of the Jardine area until 1948. A correspondent writing from the town about the middle of October 1907, stated that 100 buildings were then in existence or in course of construction, and that the mining company contemplated the erection of thirty more cottages. At its peak the town boasted of a population of 500-600 souls. A Cultural Resource Survey of the area conducted in 1982 claimed that, “Within a year [1898-99] there were 130 new buildings, including two hotels, three mercantile establishments, office buildings, a mine company office, a guest house, a school and work started on a new mill. A water system and telephone service soon followed.” A hydroelectric dam was built on Bear Creek in 1903 near the mouth of the creek that produced electricity to the mines, businesses and residents of the Jardine area until 1948. F. Jay Dean Bear Gulch Lodge No. 76, A.O.U.W. Jardine, Mont., 1901 [Author's Collection] Left : Ad for George Welcome, with stores in H orr, Aldridge, & Jardine. [Gardiner Wonderland , 21Aug1902] Right : Ad for the F.J. Dean general merchandise store in Jardine [Gardiner Wonderland , 17Jul1902] A New Mining Era Begins - 1899-1948 . . . By 1895 a few mines and two stamp mills were again in operation. In the midst of the mining operations, despite promising discoveries by Uncle Joe Brown and others, the community remained relatively quiet until 1898, when the arrival of Harry Bush, a native of England and active in the South African mines, arrived and inaugurated a new era in Bear Gulch. Backed in part by Canadian capitalists, he secured a lease on the Legal Tender mine and the Edgerton & Jewell properties on Mineral Hill. Bush organized the Bear Gulch Mining Company in August, 1898, and began buying additional claims that included the Sowash mine on the same vein as the Legal Tender, the Revenue from George Phelps, and five mines from George Welcome. Bush enlarged the Eaton mill to twenty stamps, attracted additional investors, and laid out the townsite of Jardine. New businesses developed and the mining district boomed. With the beginning of the 20th Century close in sight, a new epoch was emerging that would experience the cyclic triumphs and failures, joys and sorrows, so typical of the mining industry. "In March of 1899, Bush laid the foundation for his Revenue (Red) stamp mill, with a ground area of 93 x 120 feet and a height of 103 feet. The foundation of this building contained six hundred perch (perch = 1 cu.yd.) of stone and required 400,000 feet of lumber . . . a five hundred foot tramway ran from the mine to the mill and discharged into a Cammett crusher which pushed it into a 500-ton pocket. The ore was then fed into eight batteries of five stamps each by eight automatic feeders. Eight plates then caught the free gold. This mill was finished in December of 1899 and Bush celebrated with a Christmas party at which 700 guests were entertained by a twelve piece orchestra and fed roasted buffalo.” [Cultural Resource Inventory and Evaluation Project – Jardine, 1982] “[Bush] resolved to give Jardine a Christmas which would linger in the minds of those who attended for years. Accordingly, arrangements were made for a grand banquet in the Revenue Mill on Christmas Day. Mrs. Bush was given charge of the arrangements, and the success which attended the affair is a splendid commentary upon the ability of Mrs. Bush as an entertainer and is a fact showing that Hurry Bush is not the only person in Bear Gulch who makes no mistakes in laying plans.The scene of the banquet was the machine shop of the Revenue Mill, the room being vacant on account of the machinery not yet having arrived. The room was decorated in a manner that rendered it a perfect bower of loveliness. The roof was a solid bank of evergreens, dotted hene and there with electric lights of various hues. Bunting of national colors swung in graceful folds around the room, and the most exquisite cut flowers lent their delightful perfume and beauty to the scene. Harry & Ada Bush [Livingston Enterprise Souvenir , 1Jan1900] The tables were laid for 100 persons and were profusely decorated. At 6 o'clock the banquet began, and it was 10 o'clock before the guests who had assembled to enjoy the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Bush … The menu abounded in delicacies, and every luxury in the line of edibles that could be found in the market graced the tables. As a reminder of early days in Montana, a buffalo had been purchased by Mr. Bush. The juicy steaks and tender roasts of the monarch of the plains in days gone by contributed a share of the feast. Elk and deer, fowl of every description, and products of the salt seas and of the clear waters of the Yellowstone River w ere there in generous abundance. The best of everything was none too good for the guest assembled at the banquet, and it is safe to say that no greater enjoyment was ever had by any crowd than was furnished Christmas Day to the assemblage at Jardine. After the banquet was over, an orchestra of eleven pieces furnished music for the promenade and, as the first strains of the grand march swelled forth, the entire machinery of the Revenue Mill was set in gentle motion. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bush led the march and, to the dropping of the stamps, the host of guests were conducted through every floor of the vast structure, winding the various rooms until the starting point was again reached: then a quadrille was formed. The remainder of the evening was most pleasantly spent and the breaking up of the assembly marked the close of the greatest social event ever held in Montana.” [Anaconda Standard, 31Dec1899] “However, during this period, Harry Bush struggled with problems obtaining ore with sufficient value to run since his most productive mines were tied up in litigation. He continued to process low-grade ore in his mill and problems with other members of the Bear Gulch Mining Company developed. A split in the Bear Gulch Mining Company developed and Bush broke away and formed the Revenue Mining Company, incorporated in Helena on June 21, 1899 . . . By the summer of 1899, Bear Gulch, now renamed Jardine, had two distinct mining groups operating in opposition to each other. These were the old Bear Gulch Mining Company, still under the direction of A. C. Jardine, and the new Bush Company.” [Cultural Resource Inventory and Evaluation Project – Jardine, 1982] In early 1900 creditors began to press Bush for payments on his huge debt load. After much wheeling and dealing, and many negotiations Bush was forced into bankruptcy. On August 18, 1900, Bush's properties including the Revenue Mill, 72,000 shares of Bear Gulch Mining Company stock, 275,000 shares of King Solomon Quartz and Placer Company stock, electric light plant, water plant, guest house and mine office buildings, were sold at auction in Livingston, with the First National Bank of Butte the new owner. The short reign of 'King Harry' rapidly came to an end. In the fall, new directors of the Bear Gulch Mining Company were elected with A.C. Jardine, B.C. VanHouten, and Andrew J. Davis representing Montana, while Alfred C. Blair, W.H. Barnaby, and W.G. Merritt from St. John, New Brunswick and mining and milling resumed. Top Left & Right : Construction of the Revenue stamp mill in Jardine. Bottom Left : Construction of the Revenue Mine Tramway. Bottom Right : Completed construction of the Revenue Stamp Mill [All photos ca1899, from Livingston Enterprise Souvenir , 1Jan1900]] Meanwhile, a collection of local Bear Gulch mining people created a new mining company, as per the Anaconda Standard, Jan. 26, 1903. “NEW COMPANY IN BEAR GULCH Will Carry On a General Mining and Milling Business, Says Articles of Incorporation. The Livingston Post says that a new mining company has been organized for the purpose of operating in the Sheepeater district of Park county. It is known as the Bear Gulch company , the incorporators being Alex Livingston of Livingston and George Welcome, John Jervis, Frank Ackelmire and H D. Andrews of Jardine. These gentlemen are also the directors. The company has a capital stock of $500,000, divided Into 500,000 shares at a par value of $1 each. Of this stock only a small number of shares has so far been subscribed for, the present holders being Messrs. Livingston, Ackelmlre, Welcome, Andrews, Jervis, A.J. Campbell of Butte, and S.H. Crookes of Livingston. The stock is non-assessable.” By March, the new operation was bought out by the Kimberly-Montana Gold Mining Company, operated by a syndicate from Chicago. It was reported that a new 40-stamp mill was being constructed in concert with the soon-to-be completed cyanide plant operation, bringing a total of 80 stamps under the company’s direction. The new management consisted of: P. L. Kimberly, William H. Barnaby, John H. Thompson, Moise Dreyfus, H. M. Ryan, Samuel Deutsch and Miles Finlen. Cyanide Mill in Jardine, 1908 [University of Montana, Missoula] Scene in Bear Gulch, 1899 [Montana Memory Project] Jardine Cyanide Mill Burns [Billings Gazette ,14May1948] The Jardine Gold Mining & Milling Co. takes over . . . In 1914 the Jardine Gold Mining & Milling Co. was formed to take control of the Jardine gold mines and was renamed the Jardine Mining Co. in 1921. By 1906 tungsten was being mined and milled by the various mining properties. The mineral was found in scheelite, a combination of tungsten and lime, occurring mostly in pockets. Wolframite is tungsten and iron, occurring in regular veins. Tungsten ore ran between $1000 to $1200 per ton, making it more valuable than silver. Mining activity was interrupted by an extended period of litigation from 1909 to 1916 and the mines operated continuously from 1923-26 and 1932-36 producing gold, arsenic and tungsten, but tended to operate off and on until 1948. Operations were temporarily suspended in 1942 because of the Federal restrictions on gold mining, but increasing war demands for arsenic led to the reopening of the mines in 1944, which operated until May 8, 1948, when fire destroyed the cyanide plant and the mines closed down in July. High shipping costs of arsenic ore were claimed as a reason for the mining shutdown. About 90 men were abruptly thrown out of work. Production figures from 1899 -1942 indicate that over 155,000 ounces of gold, 27,000+ ounces of silver, 4,000+ ounces of copper, 765,000+ pounds of tungsten and 12,615,000 tons of arsenic were produced. Perhaps an additional 40,000 ounces of gold were produced 1944-48. News article about the closing of the Jardine Mine. [Butte Montana Standard , 5Aug1948] Downtown Jardine, ca1930s [Montana Memory Project] The Mine Office in Jardine, ca1940s. The building still stands and was used as the mine office during the Mineral Hill Mine era in the 1980-90s. [Library of Congress] Entering the modern age of gold mining . . . In 1988 a new era in gold production began when TVX Gold, Inc. of Canada began mining efforts with tunnel/adit development, mill and crusher construction and pre-production activities such as erection of administrative and lab facilities. After much controversy regarding potential environment hazards of a mine so close to Yellowstone and potential pollution of the Yellowstone River fromm Bear Creek, permitting was finally approved and gold production officially began in September of 1889 at the 556-acre Mineral Hill site. The mine operated successfully until early Sept. 1996, when problems of access to new ore bodies dwindling ore supplies from existing workings caused the facility to close and about 130 workers were permanently laid off. Since closure, TVX has removed surface buildings and attempted to restore the area to a natural condition. Treatment of water draining through the tailings pile and from the tunnels continues to be processed to this day. The mine was located two miles from Yellowstone's boundary, five miles by road from Gardiner and produced about 40,000 ounces of gold a year for an approximate total of 260,000 ounces. Today the community supports a small population of about 50 souls and and a few businesses such as outfitting, fishing & hunting guides, and vacation rentals. It is a popular area for hiking, biking, horse riding, skiing, and snowmobiling enthusiasts. Commemorative belt buckle given to employees to celebrate the opening of Mineral Hill Mine on September 26, 1989 [From the author's collection] Left : Article discussing the opening of Mineral Hill Mine in September 1989. [Great Falls Tribune , 23Sep1989] Top : The closing down of TVX Mineral Hill Mine in September 1996, after only about 7 years of operation. [The Missoulian , 5Sep1996] Below : Current view of Bear Gulch and Jardine looking toward Yellowstone Park.

  • Robert Goss - Books & Articles | Geyserbob.com

    Lising of the variety 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 (Note: This not a link) “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 : "The Heart of Gardine r - Historic Saloons, Taverns, and Bars P. J. White, Joe Deveney, Stacey Joy, Robert Goss, and Randy Ingersoll Pat Baltzley, Editor Yellowstone Jack: The Life and Times of Legendary Pioneer Jack Baronett Riverbend Publishing, Copy 2025 (Available from on-line bookstores) “Images of America: Livingston, Montana” Elizabeth A. Watry and Robert V. Goss Arcadia Publishing, Copy 2009 (Avail. from the Publisher & on-line bookstores) “From Sail to Trail - Chronicling Yellowstone’s E.S. Topping” Self-Published, Copy 2008 (Out of Print) “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) 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) “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 “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)

  • Corwin Hot Springs | Geyserbob.com

    Corwin Hot Springs Hotel was a short-lived hotel and Spa (1908-1916) located about 7 miles north of Yellowstone National Park. It was very popular with local Montanans and Yellowstone visitors who could alight from the Northern Pacific RR's Yellowstone Park Line. Gateways to Wonderland Corwin Hot Springs Hotel Taking the Cure 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 . . . The spa, defined as the social aspect of using warm water therapeutically, has a long tradition, not only in this country, but in the world at large. During the 19th century many famous European spas became popular with the well-to-do as social and cultural gathering spaces, in addition to being meccas for health restoration. In this country, Native Americans “took the cure” for thousands of years before white men set foot on these shores. European Americans commercialized this phenomenon of “taking the cure” throughout the eastern United States. Claims were made about these “curative waters” that touted an array of medicinal values that would purportedly benefit a wide variety of ailments, including those of the kidney, bladder, liver, stomach, skin, and nervous diseases. By 1850 resorts such as Saratoga Springs, New York, White Sulfur Springs and Hot Springs in Virginia, and Hot Springs, Arkansas had become celebrated social and cultural “hot spots” for the affluent crowd. Hot Springs Spa at Aachen, Germany, 1682 Commercial spa development continued to spread and expanded into the West with construction of the trans-continental railroads in the early 1870-80s. Hot spring resorts bubbled up across the state and hot spring spas such as Boulder, Alhambra, Norris, Bozeman (Ferris), and the Broadwater became popular destinations where pleasure-seekers could enjoy the recuperative properties and mingle with society. By the late 1890s, Park County, Montana enjoyed the benefits of two hot spring spas – Hunter’s Hot Springs and Chico Hot Springs, originally Emigrant Warm Springs. Around that time Julius LaDuke pioneered a third resort, LaDuke Hot Springs, which slowly developed just south of what is now Corwin Springs. [Excerpts from “Taking the Cure” at LaDuke Hot Springs, by Robert V. Goss, Montana Ghost Town Quarterly, Fall 2010] Planning and Construction Begin . . . In 1908, Dr. F. E. Corwin, resident physician at Chico Hot Springs in Paradise Valley south of Livingston, contemplated building his own hot mineral springs spa in the fashion of those popular in Europe. He visited the hot springs at La Duke, some 7 miles north of Gardiner and shortly after purchased the rights to some of the hot water. In May 1908, Corwin formed the Electric Hot Springs Company with fellow investors. These included, his brother J.W. Corwin, Richard 'Dick' Randall (OTO Ranch), JW and CS Hefferlin (Livingston businessmen), and JH Holliday (Clyde Park hotelier & rancher), who together raised some $175,000 in capital. By December, Billings architects Link & Haire were completing the design plans for the Corwin Hot Springs Hotel, which was to include 72 rooms, a large swimming pool, private plunges, and Spray, Needle and Shower baths that were fed with hot water piped in from La Duke Springs. A contractor was hired and construction soon began. The hotel was to be advertised as a health resort and it was noted that the ". . . curative properties of these waters are of a superior quality, and are peculiarly adapted to the cure of rheumatic affections and the diseases of women . . ." The resort was sometimes referred to as the Electric Hot Springs Hotel. Corwin Hotel under construction, 1909. [Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] The location was a mile or so was north of LaDuke hot springs and just east of the Yellowstone River. At that period of time, the only road to Gardiner and Yellowstone Park traversed the west side of the river. Park Country agreed to have a bridge built over the river for access, with the county and the new company splitting the $13,500 cost. The Northern Pacific RR, whose rails to Gardiner were also on the west side of the river, agreed to build a small depot near the bridge with a design in keeping with the style of the hotel. The hotel was constructed to feature all the modern conveniences, including hot and cold running water in the rooms, along with electric bells, phones and electric lighting. The company built its own electric plant to provide for the hotel. Wooden pipes transported hot spring water from La Duke Springs for the plunge and for the hotel plumbing system. The hot water flowed continuously through the plunge, providing a complete change of water on an almost constant basis. The plunge featured vapor baths, private plunges, and tub baths. There were plans to build a hot house, heated by the spring water to provide fresh vegetables for the guests. Horse-drawn carriages carried the hotel guests to and from the railroad depot. A Butte newspaper headline in December of 1908 descried, “The Carlsbad of the Northwest,” a reference no doubt to the famed restorative springs in Bohemia. The "healing" waters at Corwin were claimed to helpful in the treatment of dyspepsia, stomach trouble, rheumatism, nervous ailments and other maladies. View of the Northern Pacific RR Hot Springs Depot, with new bridge over the Yellowstone River, leading to the Electric Hotel. [Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum ] Electric Hot Springs Hotel, Corwin Springs, Corwin, Mont. [Chas. E. Morris Co., Great Falls. post card, author collection] From Electric Hot Springs Hotel Postcard above: Electric Hot Springs being located on the Northern Pacific Railway makes it easy of access and as it is on the Yellowstone National Park it is surrounded with scenery both grand and sublime. The large swimming pool, the private plunges, spray, needle and shower baths are all supplied by a constant flow from the Medicinal Hot Springs near by. The beautiful surrounding, the natural Hot Springs, the grounds and the buildings, every detail having been carefully planned, all combine to make this the grandest and best health resort in the entire Northwest. All trains stop at the Hotel. Undated view of the Corwin Hot Springs hotel, photo by Jos. Scherieble The hotel was constructed to feature all the modern conveniences, including hot and cold running water in the rooms, along with electric bells, phones and electric lighting. The company built its own electric plant to provide for the hotel. Wooden pipes transported hot spring water from La Duke Springs for the plunge and for the hotel plumbing system. The hot water flowed continuously through the plunge, providing a complete change of water on an almost constant basis. The plunge featured vapor baths, private plunges, and tub baths. There were plans to build a hot house, heated by the spring water to provide fresh vegetables for the guests. Horse-drawn carriages carried the hotel guests to and from the railroad depot. A Butte newspaper headline in December of 1908 descried, “The Carlsbad of the Northwest,” a reference no doubt to the famed restorative springs in Bohemia. The "healing" waters at Corwin were claimed to helpful in the treatment of dyspepsia, stomach trouble, rheumatism, nervous ailments and other maladies. The resort opened around June of 1909 to great fanfare for Gardiner and Park County residents, and in time, the resort also became popular site for conventions and social soirees. Advertisements in January 1910, claimed, “You’ll see so much life and energy, that you’ll feel ten years younger in spite of yourself; you can live reasonable, have a good time and return home with a Clean Bill of Health.” Other ads proclaimed, “Spring is coming, and those old rheumatic pains are apt to begin chasing up and down your bones - better beat ’em to it. There’s a way - Take that trip to Corwin Hot Springs and boil out, before you’re down and out.” Top: Interior of Lobby, showing Post Office and Curio Den, Corwin Springs, Mont. Bottom: Front Veranda of Corwin Hot Springs Hotel, Corwin Springs, Mont. [Postcards, author collection] Top: The Morning Train has just arrived, Corwin Springs, Mont. Bottom: Electric Hot Springs, Corwin Springs, Mont. [Postcards, author collection] Top: Parlor, Second Floor, Corwin Hot Springs, Mont. Bottom: Front View of Interior of the Swimming Pool, Electric Hot Springs Hotel, Corwin Springs, Mont. [Postcards, author collection] However, despite local popularity and the traffic to and from Yellowstone, the resort encountered financial problems not long after the initial opening and by November of 1911, CH Hefferlin, a Livingston banker, acquired a controlling interest in the Electric Hot Springs Company. To help bring in business, ads were placed in the Bismarck (ND) Tribune during the winter of 1911-12, advising folks, “If you have a delicate wife or child, ship them to Corwin away from the blizzards.” Nonetheless, during much of 1912 ads in newspapers featured “Reduced Rates” at the hotel for weekly and monthly guests to entice more business, and during the winter of 1912-13 the resort closed down operations completely. In late April of 1913, an ad in the Butte Miner newspaper announced, Corwin Hot Springs Hotel Reopens May 1st, 1913,” and touted, “A hot mineral water that CURES.” What specifically it cured was not mentioned. Left: Billings Gazette, 12Jul1913 Center: Trade Tokens, Corwin Springs, ca1910s Right: Montana Standard, Butte, 1Aug1930 Tragedy Strikes . . . The resort carried on the next few years, but again in the winter of 1916, it apparently closed up shop. Tragically, on December 1, the Livingston Enterprise published a startling headline, “CORWIN SPRINGS HOTEL IS DESTROYED BY FIRE.” “ The Corwin Hot Springs hotel, erected at a cost of $100,000, was totally destroyed by fire at an early hour this morning . . . The manager, Dr. Craven, was away at the time of the fire, and only the keeper was there.” The cause of the fire was not determined, but electrical wiring was certainly as possible culprit. The structure was reportedly insured for $50,000 and CS Hefferlin boldly announced that he would rebuild with a modern fireproof structure with a number of modern cottages. Apparently the fire insurance they had was inadequate to rebuild and the plan never materialized. The nearby plunge survived the carnage, but the grand architecture of the hotel was forever gone. Aerial view of the hotel, bridge and other buildings at Corwin Springs, ca1910-1916 The Eagle's Nest Ranch . . . By June of 1920, the property came into possession of the Sidebotham family and the new managers reopened the plunge and operated a small tourist camp on the site. The location seemed to be a popular location for large railroad and other company outings. In August of 1927, Walter J. Hill, son of Great Northern RR magnate James Hill, purchased the property along with another 20,000 adjoining acres. He invested several hundred thousand dollars in his new resort, rebuilding the swimming pool as an open-air plunge, building new 4-6 room cabins along the river, and erecting a club house with living room and dining room. It was named the Eagle’s Nest Ranch. In 1926, Highway 89 was extended from Carbella Flats, just above Yankee Jim Canyon to Gardiner, on the east side of the river. So, to accommodate the increasing automobile trade, Hill constructed the unique Tepee gas station along the new road. Eagle’s Nest Ranch Is Attractive Tourist Mecca Eagle's Nest ranch offers the vacationist a well rounded variety of attractions. A nine hole all-grass golf course delights the wielder of the mashle and the driver. An open air plunge of Spanish architecture Is beautifully set near the mountainside and proves to be too much of a lure for the most backward of bathers . . . Probably the first thing to attract the attention of the autolst Is the large, brightly colored Indian tepees on the highway serving as modem service stations for the tourist. The recreation hall is very attractive and well filled while the lounge room of the club house has a decidedly restful atmosphere. A series of cabins, some equipped with fireplaces, are complete in every detail. Saddle horses are at the disposal of guests and pack trips into the mountains give the outdoor enthusiast a real Insight Into the beauties of the country. Fishing and big game hunting are also attractions at Eagle’s Nest ranch. [Augusta News, Mont., 23Jul1931] [Above & Be low Real-Photo postcards from Author's Collection] Left: Whoopee Nite at Corwin [Montana Standard, Butte, 1Aug1930] Right: Swimming Pool, Clubhouse & Cabins, Corwin Hot Springs, Montana Bottom Left: Lounging Room, Clubhouse, Corwin Hot Springs, Montana Bottom Right: Sioux Indian Village, Corwin Hot Springs, Mont. [Real-Photo postcards, Author's Collection] Welch "Sonny" Brogan's Ranch Business continued on until 1944, when Walter Hill suddenly died of a heart attack at age 62. Early in 1946 a portion of the property was advertised “for sale.” It included a, “Ten-acre tract on main highway . . . [with] Six good-sized cabins, plunge, bathhouses and abundant supply of hot mineral water. Excellent fishing and hunting country.” By 1947 Welch “Sonny” Brogan had acquired the property and eventually established what is believed to be the first elk game ranch and became something of the forefather of the modern game farm. By the time game farming became all the rage in the late 1970s and early '80s, Brogan had been at it for about 30 years. He estimated he sold more than 2,500 elk all over the world, sometimes fetching a top price of $5,000 each. Industry experts have said that herds at many of today's commercial elk operations can trace their lineage to Brogan's Cinnabar Game Farm Great Falls Tribune, Apr. 10, 1946 The Church Universal Triumphant eventually purchased the property in September 1981 from Malcolm Forbes and it became a part of the 12,000-acre Royal Teton Ranch. The leaders and followers made preparations for the upcoming end of the world. When the date for “the end” came and went and life continued on as always, there were a few followers, it seems, that were somewhat disappointed. But, that is a whole ‘nother story . . . The pool walls, tattered plunge, and stone chimney of the old clubhouse still stand proudly, mute monuments to the once grand old Corwin Hot Springs Hotel. Left: View of the Corwin Plunge, ca1990 Right: Corwin Plunge, 2014, Google Earth view.

  • Geyser Bob - Stage Driver | Geyserbob.com

    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.

  • Hotels Introduction | Geyserbob.com

    General history of the various hotels that operated in Yellowstone National Park since 1880. Yellowstone Hotels Introduction Copyright 2020 by Robert V. Goss. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author. The earliest hotels in the park were rather crude facilities with only the most basic amenities and services. James McCartney built the first hotel (loosely speaking) at Mammoth, located at the mouth of Clematis Creek. It consisted of two log cabins in 1871, and by 1873 another cabin, stables, and outbuildings were constructed. Visitors used their own bedding and generally slept on the floor. Most of the people visiting at this time were hunters, poachers, miners, curiosity-seekers, or invalids coming to reap the supposed health benefits of the hot springs around Mammoth. Travel to this part of the country was difficult at best, and dangerous at worst, as evidenced by the Nez Perce forays through the Park in 1877. That summer Indians killed Richard Dietrich , one of a party of Helena tourists, while he was standing in the doorway of McCartney`s cabin. Other visitors included "official" exploration parties carried out by various governmental and military agencies for exploration purposes and surveys for potential roads. The railroads also conducted surveys in the park in hopes of laying track to various features, and to the mines in Cooke City. Fortunately these plans never materialized, despite tremendous pressures brought upon the government by the miners, railroad and local citizens hoping to make a profit. The second hotel to be built was by George Marshall near the mouth of Nez Perce Creek in 1880. A crude road had been built from Virginia City through the west entrance to the Lower Geyser Basin in 1873, and a road was cut south from Mammoth by Supt. Norris in 1878. With these primitive accesses, Marshall was able to serve the early tourists to the Upper and Lower Geyser basins. He sold out to G.G. Henderson and Henry Klamer in 1885 and the hotel was renamed the 'Firehole Hotel.` A pair of utilitarian cottages were built next to the hotel to increase capacity. The Yellowstone Park Association assumed control in 1886 and operated it until 1891 when the Fountain Hotel opened up nearby and the old hotel was no longer needed. The year 1883 was a momentous one. The Northern Pacific Railroad had recently completed its transcontinental railway and needed to create a demand for its services. With Yellowstone only 50 miles from their tracks at Livingston, Montana, and the hope for big profits in the tourist trade, the Northern Pacific extended their tracks to Cinnabar , three miles north of Gardiner . The "Park Branch Line" would for this first time, enable wealthy tourists to 'ride the rails` and visit Wonderland. This type of tourist was accustomed to the fancy resorts in the east and Europe and expected the best in accommodations. The existing park hotels were totally inadequate to provide the needs of this newer and more demanding class of tourist. In order to attract these new, affluent visitors, the Yellowstone Park Improvement Co. (YPIC) was formed to provide for a new system of hotels. Carroll T. Hobart , a division superintendent for NPRR, Henry Douglas, and investor Rufus Hatch were the creators of this new company. Their first order of business was construction of a hotel at Mammoth, eight miles from the railroad terminus. Actual construction of the National Hotel started in the fall of 1882, with a partial opening of 141 rooms on August 1, 1883. Visitors were brought from the new railhead at Cinnabar to Mammoth in Wakefield & Hoffman stagecoaches. Completion of the building did not occur until 1886, due in part to a 5-month carpenter`s strike in 1884. Beginning in 1883, YPIC also established tent hotels at Canyon , Old Faithful and Norris to serve the tourist until grander facilities could be built. Financial problems caused YPIC to go bankrupt in 1885, and the Yellowstone Park Association (YPA) was established the following year. Charles Gibson, Nelson Thrall, and John Bullitt formed this new company with financial backing from the Northern Pacific RR. They bought out the National Hotel, and assumed control over the Firehole Hotel and other YPIC properties. Join with me and continue to explore the history of the old hotels and lodges in Yellowstone National Park in these richly illustrated web pages . . . . .

  • Yancey's - Roosevelt Lodge | Geyserbob.com

    Fascinating history of the Yancey's Hotel in Pleasant Valley, Yellowstone National Park. It was run by pioneer John F. Yancey from 1882 until his death in 1903. Also the interesting story of Roosevelt Lodge, beginning in 1917. Flushly illustrated with historic photos. 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 ]

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