By Mary Shivers Culpin

National Park Service, Yellowstone Center for Resources

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

YCR-CR-2003-01, 2003

A HISTORY OF

CONCESSION DEVELOPMENT IN

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, 1872–1966

“For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”
Suggested citation: Culpin, Mary Shivers. 2003. “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”: A History of the

Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966. National Park Service, Yellowstone Center for

Resources, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, YCR-CR-2003-01.

Photos courtesy of Yellowstone National Park unless otherwise noted.

Cover photos are Haynes postcards courtesy of the author.
List of Illustrations ...................................................................................................................iv

Preface .................................................................................................................................... vii

1. The Early Years, 1872–1881 .............................................................................................. 1

2. Suspicion, Chaos, and the End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 ............................................ 9

3. Gibson and the Yellowstone Park Association, 1886–1891 ............................................. 33

4. Camping Gains a Foothold, 1892–1899........................................................................... 39

5. Competition Among Concessioners, 1900–1914 ............................................................. 47

6. Changes Sweep the Park, 1915–1918 .............................................................................. 57

7. “The Business of All of Us is a Gamble Anyway,” 1919–1922....................................... 65

8. From Camps to Lodges, 1923–1928 ................................................................................ 71

9. From the Depression to World War II, 1929–1941 .......................................................... 77

10. War-Time Rationing to Post-War Scarcity, 1942–1949 ................................................... 85

11. “More or Less Hardened to Turmoil,” 1950–1955 .......................................................... 97

12. Mission 66—A Concessioner’s Obituary, 1956–1966 ................................................... 105

Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 117

Notes ...................................................................................................................................... 133

Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 150

Index ...................................................................................................................................... 153

Contents
iv “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Map of Yellowstone National Park ..................................................................................................... viii

Chapter 1

Nathaniel Pitt Langford. 1871 ................................................................................................... 1

McCartney’s Hotel, Mammoth Hot Springs. 1885.................................................................... 3

Baronett Bridge. 1913 ............................................................................................................... 3

Park roads around 1916 ............................................................................................................. 4

Philetus Norris. 1889 ................................................................................................................. 5

Chapter 2

Haynes Studio on Parade Ground at Fort Yellowstone. Late 19th century ............................. 12

F. J. Haynes third from left. 1886 ............................................................................................ 12

Mammoth Camp main entrance. 1923 .................................................................................... 13

Mammoth Camp from Jupiter Terrace. 1923 .......................................................................... 13

Mammoth Camp Lodge cabin. 1923 ....................................................................................... 14

Mammoth Camp Lodge cabin interior. 1923 .......................................................................... 14

Mammoth Lodge dining room. 1923....................................................................................... 14

Haynes Studio after relocation to edge of Capitol Hill. ca. 1934 ............................................ 15

Pryor Coffee Shop (Park Curio Shop) at Mammoth Hot Springs. ca. 1930s .......................... 15

Northern Pacific Station, Gardiner, Montana, at Northern Entrance to

Yellowstone. ca. 1910 ....................................................................................................... 15

Canyon Hotel. 1913 ................................................................................................................. 16

Canyon Hotel dining room. ca. 1911 ....................................................................................... 16

Canyon Hotel lounge staircase. ca. 1911 ................................................................................. 16

Canyon Hotel lounge. ca. 1910 ............................................................................................... 17

Canyon Hotel lounge. 1936 ..................................................................................................... 17

Canyon Lodge. 1935 ............................................................................................................... 17

Canyon Lodge lounge. 1929.................................................................................................... 18

Canyon Lodge cabin interior. 1923 ......................................................................................... 18

Old Faithful Inn. 1938 ............................................................................................................. 18

Old Faithful Inn dining room. 1923 ........................................................................................ 19

Old Faithful Inn “Bear Pit.” 1936............................................................................................ 19

Old Faithful Inn lobby. ca. 1904 .............................................................................................. 19

Geyser Water swimming pool—Old Faithful. 1934 ................................................................ 20

Old Faithful Lodge sleeping cabins. 1928............................................................................... 20

Lake Hotel. ca. 1905................................................................................................................ 20

Lake Hotel dining room. ca. 1900 ........................................................................................... 21

Lake Hotel dining room. 1925................................................................................................. 21

Lake Hotel lobby. 1923 ........................................................................................................... 21

Lake Lodge. 1929 .................................................................................................................... 22

Sylvan Lunch Station on Cody road. ca. 1925 ........................................................................ 22

Sylvan Pass Lodge on Cody road. 1924 .................................................................................. 22

Wylie Camp. ca. 1910 ............................................................................................................. 23

Wylie Camp single tent cabin. n.d. .......................................................................................... 23

Wylie Camp single tent cabin interior. 1912 ........................................................................... 23

Illustrations
 v

Wylie two-compartment tent interior. 1912............................................................................. 24

Wylie dining tent interior. 1912 ............................................................................................... 24

Upper Geyser Basin Hotel. 1889 ............................................................................................. 27

Cottage Hotel. 1888 ................................................................................................................. 28

National Hotel, Mammoth Hot Springs. After 1884 .............................................................. 30

Chapter 3

Yancey’s Hotel. 1905 ............................................................................................................... 35

Uncle John Yancey. Date unknown ......................................................................................... 35

Lake Hotel. ca. 1895................................................................................................................ 37

Fountain Hotel. n.d. ................................................................................................................. 38

Chapter 4

Erecting Lunch Station chimney. 1905 ................................................................................... 40

Ole Anderson's coated specimens site on Mammoth Hot Springs. 1883 or 1884 ................... 41

Fountain and Specimen House, Mammoth Hot Springs. ca. 1900.......................................... 41

Mail Carrier residence. 1917 ................................................................................................... 42

Steamer E. C. Waters, Yellowstone Lake. n.d. ........................................................................ 42

Old Boathouse—Lake. n.d. ..................................................................................................... 42

Steamship Zillah. 1890 ............................................................................................................ 43

Klamer Store at Upper Geyser Basin. Before 1907 ................................................................ 44

Stereograph of Monida and Yellowstone stage. 1912 ............................................................. 45

Stereograph of Wylie Camp at Canyon. 1912 ......................................................................... 45

Chapter 5

Mammoth Hotel front desk. ca. 1908 ...................................................................................... 47

Hotel Company waiters. n.d. ................................................................................................... 47

Norris Hotel. 1904 ................................................................................................................... 48

Old Faithful Inn. 1912 ............................................................................................................. 49

Old Faithful Inn bedroom. 1917 .............................................................................................. 49

Old Faithful Inn bathroom. 1912 ............................................................................................. 50

Canyon Hotel. 1914 ................................................................................................................. 53

Lyall and Henderson Store—Mammoth Hot Springs. ca. 1914 .............................................. 54

Rear of Lyall and Henderson Store—Mammoth Hot Springs. ca. 1914 ................................. 54

J. E. Haynes residence and studio. 1917 ................................................................................. 55

Chapter 6

Loading of stage coaches at Mammoth Hotel (formerly National Hotel). Pre-1914 .............. 57

Buses and touring cars. 1920s ................................................................................................. 59

Yellowstone-Western Stage Company bunkhouse. 1917 ........................................................ 61

Yellowstone Park Boat Company. 1917 .................................................................................. 62

H. W. Child residence. Build in 1908. 1917 ............................................................................ 64

“Chinaman’s” house in Gardner Canyon. 1917 ...................................................................... 64

Chapter 7

Yellowstone Park Camp Company tents—Upper Geyser Basin. 1917 ................................... 65

Camp Roosevelt. 1922............................................................................................................. 66

Camp Roosevelt interior. 1922 ................................................................................................ 66

Heavers at Mammoth Lodge. 1925 ......................................................................................... 67

Roosevelt Lodge cabin interior. 1929...................................................................................... 69

Illustrations
vi “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Park Curio shop at Mammoth Hot Springs. 1917 ................................................................... 70

Chapter 8

Charles Hamilton in front of Lower Geyser Basin Store. n.d. ................................................ 71

Hamilton’s Auto Camp Store—Old Faithful. 1929 ................................................................. 71

Stairs and skids at Lake Yellowstone Boat Company. 1936.................................................... 72

Boats at Lake. 1922 ................................................................................................................. 72

Devil’s Kitchenette. 1929 ........................................................................................................ 73

Yellowstone Park Transportation Company. 1917 .................................................................. 73

Old Faithful Lodge. 1928 ........................................................................................................ 74

Old Faithful Lodge lobby. 1928 .............................................................................................. 74

Old Faithful Lodge cabins. 1983 ............................................................................................. 74

Old Faithful Lodge recreation hall. 1928 ................................................................................ 74

Old Faithful Lodge dining room. 1929.................................................................................... 74

Old Faithful Lodge employees. 1928 ...................................................................................... 75

Chapter 9

Concessions buildings behind the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. 1936.................................. 78

White bus at canyon rim. 1931 ................................................................................................ 78

Indian goods at Lyall’s Store at Mammoth. n.d....................................................................... 79

Old Faithful area—housekeeping office and cabins. 1934 ..................................................... 80

Mammoth Lodge being demolished. 1949 .............................................................................. 82

Mammoth Motor Inn. 1953 ..................................................................................................... 83

Mammoth dining room. 1937 .................................................................................................. 83

Chapter 10

Lake cabins. n.d. ...................................................................................................................... 85

Fishing Bridge cafeteria. 1929 ................................................................................................ 87

Haynes Photo Shop. 1951 ....................................................................................................... 89

Hamilton’s Upper Geyser Basin Store. 1951 .......................................................................... 89

Lake Hotel. 1953 ..................................................................................................................... 91

Roosevelt Lodge and Haynes Store. 1950............................................................................... 94

Pryor Filling Station at Canyon Junction. 1947 ...................................................................... 95

Chapter 11

Mammoth swimming pool. 1912 ............................................................................................ 99

Service Station at Mammoth Hot Springs. 1951 ................................................................... 101

Lake Lodge lobby. 1953 ........................................................................................................ 102

Canyon Lodge. 1958 ............................................................................................................. 103

Canyon Lodge cabins. 1958 .................................................................................................. 103

Chapter 12

Bridge Bay. 1964 ................................................................................................................... 106

Mammoth Motor Inn cabin. 1951 ......................................................................................... 107

Canyon Hotel fire. 1960 ........................................................................................................ 111

Old Faithful Inn bedroom. 1968 ............................................................................................ 112

Grant Village marina. 1960s .................................................................................................. 113
 vii

Preface

In 1994, The History of the Construction of the

Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966

was published. During the course of that project, I

found the research very interesting, voluminous in size,

and, surprisingly, to be of interest to many people.

When I began researching “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”: A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1996,

I already knew that the research would be interesting

and that there would be large amounts of material to

review. I had no idea, however, of the richness and

the possibilities for other projects that this study would

present.

“For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”:

A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone

National Park, 1872–1996 focuses on the development of the concession operations from before the park

was established through the Mission 66 era. Originally,

the project was to include concessions history through

1985 and serve as a portion of the administrative history for the park. However, the project was changed

to address only the development of the concessions in

the park. The collection of documents used for this

manuscript will be deposited in the Yellowstone National Park Archives for further uses, including the

writing of an administrative history.

The manuscript collection will be beneficial to

anyone writing a company or business history of the

different concessioners; the collection is rich in material relating to aspects of social history and tourism in

the West; the collection offers aspects of visitation to

national parks; the history of individual hotels; the

history of camping, including early auto camping; foreign appreciation of the natural parks in the United

States; or many other related topics.

An additional study, focusing on the history of

administration of Yellowstone National Park, is scheduled for future publication. The topics covered range

from military, conservation, administration, education,

and interpretation, to water.

The main purpose of “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”: A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1996

is to develop a historic context in which to evaluate

the significant resources associated with concession

development in the park. In addition to fulfilling the

main purpose, the study should provide information

for the Divisions of Interpretation, Concessions, and

Maintenance, and the branches of Cultural and Natural Resources. The information will also be of interest

to the park concessioners.

My thanks extend to many across the West. I am

indebted to the superintendent and staff at Yellowstone

National Park, particularly former employees Laura

Joss, Chief of the Branch of Cultural Resources, Cultural Resource Specialist Catherine Lentz, Curator

Susan Kraft, and Library/Museum Technicians

Vanessa Christopher and Anne Lewellen, and current

employees Elaine Hale, Cultural Resource Assistant,

Dr. Ann Mary Johnson, park archeologist, and last but

certainly not least, Archivist/Historian Lee Whittlesey, who worked with me on research aspects of the

project and for his general and willing assistance in

many areas. I would like to express my appreciation

to the park’s Chief of Business Management, Edna

Good and her staff for the interest they have shown in

the project and to Barry Cantor, Director of Engineering, Xanterra Parks and Resorts. A very special thanks

to the Assistant Regional Director, Cultural Resources

and Partnerships, Intermountain Regional Office,

Rodd Wheaton, who was always available to offer information from his wealth of knowledge of the park

resources. I would also like to thank Joe Swartz of the

National Archives, College Park, Maryland, for his

assistance in enabling me to complete my research in

a timely manner. My thanks go to Beth Kaeding of

Yellowstone National Park and to Marti Succec whose

editorial assistance contributed greatly toward the

completion of this study. In preparing the final version, Yellowstone's former historic architect Lon

Johnson, the current Cultural Resource Branch Chief

Sue Consolo Murphy, and editors Roger J. Anderson,

Alice Wondrak Biel, Tami Blackford, and Sarah

Stevenson contributed editorial and administrative

support. Funding from both Yellowstone National Park

and the NPS Intermountain Regional Office made this

printing possible.

My sincere thanks goes to Marian Albright

Preface
viii “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

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Schenck, who was always available for extensive research questions, just a quick call, or for providing an

adjustment to one’s perspective. Marian knew many

of the figures associated with the concession history

and her background knowledge was invaluable.

Finally, I wish to extend a special tribute to all

of the major concessioners that over the years added

character, humor, architecturally significant buildings,

and interesting tales to the Yellowstone story. Their

contributions have helped to make the park a special

place in the minds of not only the American people,

but to many across the world.
The Early Years, 1872–1881 1

CHAPTER ONE

The Early Years

1872–1881

The Organic Act creating Yellowstone National

Park on March 1, 1872, not only preserved the park’s

wonders “from injury or spoilation” and retained them

“in their natural condition,” but also set the area aside

as a “pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment

of the people.” These two precepts provided the foundation and influenced the development of both concession and conservation policy in the National Park

Service. In more instances than not, Yellowstone

National Park became the proving ground for many

of the new policies.

Providing “for the benefit and enjoyment of the

people” became a major issue for the young Department of the Interior after the creation of the park in

1872. Requests for permission to build hotels immediately began to arrive in Washington. How to address the existing facilities in the northern portion of

the park was also an issue.

Wording in Yellowstone’s Organic Act established the precedent for private enterprise in the park

and gave some parameters for granting leases:

The Secretary may in his discretion, grant

leases for building purposes for terms not exceeding ten years, of small parcels of ground,

at such places in said park as shall require the

erection of buildings for the accommodation

of visitors; all of the proceeds of said leases,

and all other revenues that may be derived from

any source connected with said park, to be expended under his direction in the management

of the same.1

Two months after the creation of the park, the

Secretary of the Interior appointed Nathaniel P.

Langford, resident of Montana Territory and one of

the leaders of the Langford-Washburn-Doane expedition into the Upper Yellowstone, as Yellowstone’s first

superintendent (an unpaid position). Langford, who

Nathaniel Pitt Langford. 1871.
2 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

at the time of his appointment was a U.S. bank examiner for the states on the West coast and the territories,

did not reside in the park and only visited during 1872

and briefly in 1874. Despite this, he recognized some

of the potential problems in providing services for the

visitor. In his 1872 annual report, he pointed out the

need for good wagon roads to the different wonders,

which, in turn, would encourage the leasing of hotel

sites, thus providing revenue for the government and

funds for any needed improvements. Langford, however, turned down several applications for the construction of toll roads believing the government should

construct free roads for the traveling public.2

Also immediately after the park’s creation,

Langford started receiving requests for permission to

construct hotels. In a letter to Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano, he recommended granting

leases to two or three people or, at least to one person

who could provide a “stopping place for tourists” during 1872. He also asked Secretary Delano to clarify

his authority in allowing the construction of a hotel

and “generally, for the protection of the rights of visitors, and the establishment of such rules as will conduce to their comfort and pleasure.”3

Shortly thereafter, however, the Department of

the Interior advised Langford that regulations for managing the park would be forthcoming, but he was at

“liberty to apply any money, which may be received

from leases to carrying out the object of the act of

Congress, keeping account of the same, and making

report thereof to the Department.”4

In addition to Langford’s concern for providing

adequate accommodations for visitors, he faced the

problem of the dealing with different pre-park entrepreneurs—Matthew McGuirk, James McCartney,

Harry Horr, and C. J. “Yellowstone Jack” Baronett—

who resided in the park’s northern section. The men

began almost immediately to pursue claims against

the U.S. government for improvements. While having no personal objection to them as tenants, Langford

did not want to set a precedent by approving their application of pre-emption of property. He believed that

the realty of the park should be held by the government and any facilities should function under Department of the Interior’s rules and regulations. Therefore, Langford believed that the government should

purchase the improvements made prior to March 1872

and that the owners be given “a preference, upon equal

terms, over other applicants for the rental of the premises they have improved.”5

Langford’s cause for concern was prompted by

the quick action of Matthew McGuirk, who, one week

after the Yellowstone Organic Act passed, appeared

before the Gallatin County Clerk, Montana Territory,

to file claim to a tract of land in the newly created

park. McGuirk, a citizen of Wyoming Territory, maintained that he had a valid right to the land he had settled

on in November 1871. Two witnesses gave sworn

testimony of McGuirk’s settlement near the bank of

the Gardner River.6

At the time of his claim, the improvements at

“McGuirk’s Medicinal Springs” were a house, fence,

ditch, and a barn. The site, on Boiling River about

145 yards from where it empties into the Gardner

River, had originally been called “Chestnutville.” It

had first been opened as a camp for invalids, who

mostly suffered from rheumatism. Scientist Ferdinand

V. Hayden, of the U.S. Geological and Geographical

Survey of the Territories and early park explorer, described the 1871 camp as a “party of invalids, who

were living in tents, and their praises were enthusiastic in favor of the sanitary effects of the springs. Some

of them were used for drinking and others for bathing

purposes.” Although he never received title to the

claim, McGuirk ran his operation until 1874 when Superintendent Langford requested his removal from the

park. The improvements were razed in 1889 by Superintendent Moses Harris. Ten years later McGuirk

received a settlement from Congress for $1,000.7

The park’s first hotel, built in the Clematis Gulch

area of Mammoth Hot Springs by Harry Horr and

James McCartney was a one-story, sod-covered log

building, 25 by 35 feet. The November 2, 1871, issue

of the Bozeman Avant Courier described the Horr and

McCartney cabin as “nestled snugly in a gulch, covered with tall straight pines, while running down its

bed and near the cabin, is a stream of water with a

temperature of 40 degrees, while on the other side of

the cabin is a stream having a temperature of 150 degrees.” The reporter, “Buckskin,” predicted “that in

five years from this date these springs will achieve a

world-wide reputation, and two years succeeding will

make the greatest inland resort in the world.”8

The first bathhouse, a tent located near the main

basin on Hymen Terrace in Mammoth Hot Springs,

was built by McCartney over an oblong, human-sized

hole fed by nearby spring water through a hollow

trough. A wooden bathhouse with wooden bathtubs

was constructed later. In 1872, McCartney added a

storehouse and, in the following year, a 16- by 50-
The Early Years, 1872–1881 3

McCartney’s Hotel, Mammoth Hot Springs. 1885.

foot stable and another house.

Three years after McCartney began the hotel/

bathhouse operation, the Earl of Dunraven described

it as a “little shanty which is dignified by the name of

hotel.”9

The Irish Earl of Dunraven, who chronicled

about his travels in the park and the West, predicted

that the springs would “someday become a fashionable place,” but in 1874 it was mostly being frequented

by:

a few invalids from Helena and Virginia City,

and is principally known to fame as a rendezvous of hunters, trappers, and idlers, who take

the opportunity to loiter about on the chance

of getting a party to conduct to the geysers,

hunting a little, and selling meat to a few visitors who frequent the place in summer; sending the good specimens of heads and skeletons

of rare beasts to the Natural History men in

New York and the East; and occupying their

spare time by making little basket-work ornaments and nicknacks...coated with white silicates, they sell to the travelers and invalids as

memorials of their trip.10

By 1874, advertisements for McCartney’s hotel, which was now run by John Engessor, highlighted

“...a handsome club house—bar attached—billiard

hall will be added—number of visitors not large....”

The following year, “Dutch John” Engessor advertised

the hotel as the National Park Hotel and declared the

“fare equal, if not superior, to any other house in the

territory.” However, three years later, Ferdinand Hayden described the fare as “simple, and remarkable for

quantity rather than quality or variety” and the accommodations as “very primitive, consisting in lieu of

bedstead, 12 square feet of floor room” with the guest

providing his own blankets. Until 1880, the hotel offered the only accommodations in the park.

The third privately held business, a toll bridge

near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Lamar rivers, was built by a Scotsman, C. J. “Yellowstone Jack”

Baronett, in 1871 to serve the miners traveling to the

New World Mining District on the Clarks Fork of the

Yellowstone, just east of the park. (In 1870, silver

and lead deposits attracted the attention of many local

miners who had been working earlier discoveries in

the Upper Yellowstone.) Baronett’s well-chosen site,

at a point about 100 feet wide, had sound rock bases

on either bank to provide the footings for rock-filled,

log-crib piers, 20 feet high. One 60-foot span and one

30-foot span bridged the river. The superstructure

consisted of a 10-foot roadway carried on three stringers, which were supported by a pair of queen-post

trusses in each span. In addition to the bridge, Baronett

also constructed several outbuildings.

The bridge was partially destroyed by the Nez

Perce in August 1877 while being pursued through

the park by U.S. Army General O. O. Howard. It was

repaired and remained in service until 1880. In 1899,

Congress awarded Baronett $5,000 for the bridge.11

Superintendent Langford made repeated requests

to the Secretary of the Interior for appropriations to

protect and improve the park, but to no avail. It appears Langford was not aware that during discussions

about establishing the park, Ferdinand Hayden, was

Baronett Bridge. 1913.
4 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

“...compelled to give a distinct pledge that he would

not apply for an appropriation for several years at

least.” Without the pledge, Hayden believed the legislation would not pass.12

In 1873, Langford asked for money to construct

roads, as the opening of roads would attract “men of

entire reliability” to lease sites, which would in turn

“lead them to preserve, in all their beauty, the surroundings of the springs.” Hayden also felt that good

roads would lead to the construction of facilities by

private entrepreneurs and that the government could

use the lease income to maintain the government-built

roads.13

Citing the fact that private enterprise was prepared to start both stage lines and telegraph service in

the park, Langford called upon the Secretary of the

Interior to take the necessary steps “toward opening

the park, granting leases, fixing the rate of charge and

private enterprise will be only too willing to do whatever is needed after that.” However, Secretary

Delano’s December 1873 letter to a potential hotel

lessee applicant, expressed the policy of the Department, “It has been inadvisable to grant leases for any

purposes in said Park until Congress shall by a suitable appropriation, provide for its government, and

for opening it to the public.”14

In early 1874, Langford wrote to the Secretary

of the Interior pointing out the need for protection of

the park and also for a survey to establish the boundary because people wanted to settle nearby. With 500

people visiting the park in 1873 and the prospect of

more visitors coming during the 1874 season,

Langford urged Congress to award an immediate appropriation for the park’s protection. He cited the need

for “commodious public houses” at the Falls, Yellowstone Lake, Mammoth Hot Springs, and in each of

the geyser areas, but he did not think it prudent to grant

the leases to applications already received until “proper

police regulations were established.” Langford believed that hotel owners at the different locations would

be “interested in the protection of the curiosities, and

might be clothed with Government authority for that

purpose.”15 Hayden also suggested that leaseholders

at different park locations could serve as “deputy superintendent...without charge.”16

In response to Superintendent Langford’s urging for park protection and to a petition signed by 72

concerned residents of Montana Territory, Secretary

Delano appealed to Congressman James Blaine for a

$100,000 appropriation to enable the Department to

carry out the wishes of Congress as described in the

act creating the park. Delano asked for an amendment to the Organic Act specifying the term of 20 years

instead of 10 years for leaseholders. The extended

term would bring more money into the Treasury and

could possibly “in a few years reimburse the Government for all the expense that may be incurred by it on

account of the park.”17

Reaction to the proposed amendment was not

long in coming as Harry Horr and James McCartney

applied to the Secretary of the Interior for a lease to

“that portion of the National Park embracing the Mammoth Hot Springs,” citing their earlier claim under

local laws governing Montana Territory. At this time

they also notified the Department that they had conveyed one-third interest in all their rights to Dr. Henri

Crepin.18

The year before, Harry Horr had written to

Montana’s Congressman W. H. Clagett asking for either remuneration for his improvements or a lease, citing the importance of their caretaking of the springs

at Mammoth. Clagett supported Horr’s request and

recommended a 10-year lease. However, Superintendent Langford was not fully supportive of the request.

In his letter to Secretary Delano, he suggested that a

temporary right to occupy the site of the improvement

be granted “with the full understanding that such occupancy does not establish, or imply the existence of

any rights of pre-emption, or priority of claim for a

lease in his favor.”19 Horr responded to Secretary

Delano by stating that he would submit a claim for

reimbursement of the value of his property to ConPark roads around 1916. gress, but that he was “remote from Washington and
The Early Years, 1872–1881 5

may suffer from lack of means to make clear and emphatic the Justice” of his claim. However, he also

asked that this claim for reimbursement not jeopardize the “considerate offer to continue in the temporary occupancy” of the claim.20

The other Mammoth Hot Springs entrepreneur,

Matthew McGuirk, made a similar request to the Secretary of the Interior and received a similar answer

through Superintendent Langford. In both cases,

Langford made it clear that a temporary lease would

cover only cover the site of the improvement and not

the 160 acres that the two men also claimed.

On April 18, 1877, Philetus W. Norris replaced

Nathaniel Langford as Superintendent, and the following day Norris appointed James McCartney assistant

superintendent until he could reach Yellowstone in

June.21 Norris, a Michigan businessman and early park

explorer, visited the park during the summer of 1877

and spent most of his time exploring new travel routes.

He had left the park by the time the Nez Perce came

through in August, but his annual report for the year

mentions the burning of the Baronett Bridge in his

appeal for an appropriation for road and bridge construction. He also mentioned James McCartney when

he addressed the pre-park built facilities. He cited

Baronett’s and McCartney’s operations as having been:

constantly and more beneficially to the public

than to themselves held peaceable possession

of them until the Indian raid, it seems but fair

they should either be paid a reasonable remuneration for surrender of their improvements,

if taken by the Government (which I do not

recommend) or allowed a fair preference in securing ten or twenty years’ leases for bridge

and hotel rights at their respective localities.22

Norris further called upon Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to provide leases for hotel development at the falls of the Yellowstone River, Yellowstone Lake, Firehole geyser basins, and for yacht and

ferry licenses on Yellowstone Lake.23 Perhaps it was

Norris’s well-chosen words or maybe it was Ferdinand

Hayden’s influence, but Congress passed the park’s

first appropriation of $10,000 in June 1878.24

Because of the Nez Perce campaign during the

previous year as well as the continuing potential threat

from the Bannocks, Norris decided to construct a road

to the Lower Geyser Basin instead of building a headquarters building at Mammoth Hot Springs. This

north-south road would not only aid the movement of

the military from Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, to either Henry’s Lake or Virginia City (both west of the

park), but it would also be helpful in transporting the

growing numbers of park visitors.25

Road construction activities occupied much of

Norris’s time in 1878, but he did inspect potential

building sites for hotels, assessing the available water, pastures, and a wood supply. He also looked for

good boat landing sites on Yellowstone Lake for steamboat launches.26

Getting to Yellowstone was as much a problem

as the lack of facilities and roads within the park.

While the park area was within Wyoming Territory,

all entry to Yellowstone was from Montana Territory.

However, no rail lines extended into Montana in the

1870s; the nearest railhead from which travelers could

take a stage was at Corrine, Utah, where the Union

Pacific Railroad ended. The Northern Pacific Railroad lines ended at Bismarck, Dakota Territory. Alternatively, travelers could board a steamboat in St.

Louis for the 3,100-mile journey to Fort Benton, Montana Territory, and then travel by stage to the Yellowstone Valley. While awareness was growing that the

sights of Yellowstone would attract large numbers of

Philetus Norris. 1889.
6 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

travelers, it would be nearly a decade before the Northern Pacific Railroad would become a major player in

advertising the park and developing park concessions.27

Before Yellowstone legislation was introduced

into Congress, many newspaper and magazine articles

extolled the beauties of the Yellowstone area.

Nathanial Langford traveled to the East Coast to

present informative and interesting lectures about the

area in order to solicit support for the park’s establishment. One lecture was given in the home of Jay

Cooke, whose financial firm had floated a loan for the

extension of the Northern Pacific Railroad into Montana. When the Organic Act was introduced in Congress in 1871, Northern Pacific Railroad officials and

their friends assured Congress of the company’s plan

to construct a narrow-gauge connecting rail line to the

park’s northern entrance. However, the year following establishment of Yellowstone National Park, the

Northern Pacific Railroad company collapsed due to

financial problems and halted construction of the rail

line westward. In 1878, Ferdinand Hayden commented that the collapse of the Northern Pacific Railroad “retarded the development of the Park for

years.”28

By 1880, the Northern Pacific had been reorganized under new leadership, first Frederick Billings

and later Henry Villard, and the rail line’s extension

into Montana resumed. At the same time, the Union

Pacific Railroad was extending its narrow-gauge Utah

Northern branch line to within 30 miles of the park’s

western entrance. Hayden believed these new developments would revive Congressional interest in the

park and lead to needed appropriations for the park.29

Good roads and nearby rail lines were crucial to

sustain public attention on the park. In his 1878 annual report, Norris showed his optimism about the

improvements in transportation by comparing detailed

descriptions of the two existing itineraries (Northern

Pacific Railroad and Utah Northern Railroad) and associated costs with the proposed new routes. Without

exhibiting any preference between the two railroads,

Norris suggested that park travelers use both routes.30

By 1879, other park issues occupied Superintendent Norris’s time. By 1879, his displeasure with

the large liquor sales at McCartney’s hotel prompted

him to write a diplomatic letter to Secretary of the

Interior Carl Schurz suggesting a one-year lease on

all or a portion of McCartney’s buildings. He suggested that if McCartney refused, he be ejected from

the park by the military (from Fort Ellis).31

In Norris’s candid letter to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, he explained his reasons for the

discretionary tone of his letter to Secretary Schurz.

Norris had no hope that McCartney would accept the

conditions of a one-year lease. He also knew

Ferdinand Hayden would oppose McCartney’s ejection and that McCartney would have the sympathy of

the miners and military at Fort Ellis “with whom they

habitually...drink and enjoy a frolic instead of hunting Indians; the active sympathy of the Delegate from

Montana and also the most drunken and debased portion of the Mountaineers.”32 Norris feared McCartney

might retaliate by burning the buildings or even ambushing and killing him. In his effort to subdue the

rowdy atmosphere in the Mammoth area, Norris suggested that the Department modify the park governing rules by “prohibiting sale of stimulants upon all

national reservations.”33

Schurz asked Norris to designate a certain boundary for the McCartney site, to inform McCartney that

he was bound by the rules and regulations governing

the park as well as any that might be prescribed, and

to ask McCartney to inform the Department of the

years he wanted the lease.34 Immediately after Norris

arrived in the park in June 1879, he met with

McCartney and explained the new terms. McCartney

informed Norris that he would meet with friends in

Bozeman before giving him his decision.35

By the end of July, McCartney presented several proposals to Secretary Schurz, including securing an appraisal from three appraisers as to the value

of his property, having the government pay him

$30,000 for his improvements for which he would give

up all rights, or securing a free 10-year lease of lands

and springs within a contiguous area plus rights to

“certain springs and bath-houses erected...at a point

near sluice to reservoir.”36 By the time Norris left the

park in September, no action had occurred on the

McCartney issue.

In 1879, 1,030 people visited the park, including many families from nearby Montana and Idaho

who used their own wagons, carriages, horses, and

pack animals. Other visitors included Pennsylvania

railroad officials, military officers from the United

States Army as well as different armies of Europe,

noted American and European scientists, and other

“prominent gentlemen and ladies from various regions.”37

Norris’s annual report for 1897 indicated his op-
The Early Years, 1872–1881 7

timism about pending propositions for hotels at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Lake, and “Soda Butte

Medicinal Springs” in the eastern part of the park.

Overly optimistic, he predicted that a time would come

when the medicinal qualities of Soda Butte Springs

would rival the springs at Hot Springs, Arkansas. In

addition to a bathhouse and hotel at Soda Butte, Norris

even suggested that the lessee could also be the “keeper

of wild and domesticated animals indigenous to the

park.” Other duties Norris envisioned for lessees at

various locations in the park included assisting the

Superintendent in implementing the rules and regulations for the proper management of the park.38

In the first inspection trip to the park by a Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz personally experienced

the need for adequate visitor accommodations. An

account of the 1880 trip written by G. W. Marshall

relates the manner in which the first permit for hotel

purposes was given and how Marshall fared:

Carl Schurz, Sec. of Interior, was out visiting

the Park in 80 and had to sleep out under the

trees near my cabin. One night it rained. He

told me next morning I would have given

twenty dollars ($20.00) to have got into a house

last night and suggested that I should prepare

to keep travelers, said he would see that I got a

permit from the Government and when they

got their leases fixed, would see that I got a

lease. I remained on a permit till last year when

Sec. of Interior granted me a lease for 10 years.

My first year I did not make any thing, second

year came out $180.00 in debt.39

In addition to bright prospects for the hotel business, Marshall and his partner, John Goff, offered travelers more convenient transportation. They brought

the first passengers on their coach line from Virginia

City, Montana, to the Marshall Hotel at the forks of

the Firehole River on October 1, 1880. By this time,

the Utah Northern Railroad had been extended into

Montana from the south, and the Northern Pacific

Railroad now extended into Montana from the east

and was expected to be close to Miles City and Yellowstone River by the coming season.40

Secretary Schurz also favored establishment of

a mail route in the park.41 Before winter set in, G.W.

Marshall and John Goff had built the Riverside mail

station (an earthen-roofed loghouse and barn below

the canyon of the Madison River and on the road to

Henry’s Lake), the mail station at Norris (a “rude,

earth-roofed cabin and barn”), and a “fine-shingle

roofed mail station and hotel with barn and outbuildings” just west of the forks of the Firehole River.42

Norris wrote in his 1880 annual report that he

expected the terms of the leases for hotels to be extended from 10 to 30 years. Perhaps this was in response to Secretary Schurz’s reply to A. W. Hall of

Fargo, Dakota Territory, who had applied for a hotel

lease. Schurz stated “as the law now stands we cannot give leases except for ten years, and that is scarcely

long enough to induce responsible parties to erect

buildings of a sufficiently substantial character.”43

Hall responded that he and his partner had considered

the “ten year term taking our chances of obtaining an

extension of the time of Congress,” and that they were

prepared to build “on a scale commensurate with the

magnificent region.”44 The Halls were highly recommended by Congressman W. D. Washburn of Minnesota, Senator William Windom of Minnesota, and four

other prominent men, but no lease was given.45

By the end of 1881, the Utah Northern Railroad

extended to Silver Bow, Montana (near Butte). A survey was planned for extending a branch line to Virginia City, then along the upper Madison River, and

terminating at the forks of the Firehole River within

the park. The Northern Pacific Railroad lines had

reached the vicinity of Miles City, Montana, and according to Norris, rail officials believed the line would

be within 30 miles of the park by the following year.

Shortly after that, a branch line would extend to the

“mouth of the Gardiner [sic].” Confident that the improved rail routes would make the park more accessible, Norris anticipated “a visit to the Park will become national in character and popular with our people

so they will no longer have to loiter the antiquated

paths to pygmy haunts of other lands, before seeking

health, pleasure, and the soul expanding delights of a

season’s ramble amid the peerless snow and cliff encircled marvels of their own.”46

Despite 10 years having passed since the Organic

Act specified the granting of leases for the erection of

hotels, no formal leases had been granted in the park

(Marshall’s was apparently a verbal permit.). The

McCartney Hotel claim had not been settled, but Norris

gave him written permission to make some improvements to his property. Norris also gave McCartney

written permission for one more year based upon his

adherence to the rules and regulations just approved

by the newly appointed Secretary of the Interior,
8 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Samuel Kirkwood. Kirkwood added a prohibition of

liquor sales to the park rules and regulations, and

McCartney rented his hotel and other buildings for

the season to “a responsible party with a family” and

left for Gardiner where he could sell “grog.”47

During 1881 the groundwork was laid for one

of the important and long-lasting concession leases.

A petition signed by the General Manager and General Land Agent of the Northern Pacific Railroad and

several prominent Fargo, Dakota Territory, businessmen proposed that F. Jay Haynes of Fargo be the official photographer of Yellowstone National Park with

the privilege of erecting a studio in the park. The petition cited the immense circulation and impact that

Haynes’s landscape photography had on attracting attention to that part of the country.48 With encouraging words from the Department of the Interior, Haynes

left for the park at the end of August 1881 for a month’s

work. While there he selected a 10-acre tract of land

that “contains no wonders” near Beehive Geyser on

the west bank of the Firehole River.49

The Department of the Interior policy at the time

prohibited the granting of titles to “any portion of the

soil, nor licenses to persons or companies for toll roads

or bridges, but rather to make and manage all the improvements of a general nature,” however, those of a

“local or private nature” such as hotels, should be left

to private enterprise. Norris continued to suggest a

longer lease term (but not to exceed 30 years) thinking that the longer extension would encourage the

construction of a “better class of structure.”50

The season of 1881 would be Norris’s final one

in the park, although he remained Superintendent until February 1882. Then, with a new presidential administration and a new Secretary of the Interior, politics began to influence the events in Yellowstone.

Unfortunately, the first decade of the nation’s first

national park ended with little progress toward providing for the “benefit and enjoyment of the people.”
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 9

CHAPTER TWO

Yellowstone National Park’s second decade began with great interest by officials in developing the

park for the visitor, but no firm concession policy was

in place in the Department of the Interior. Within 18

months, three different men held the job of Secretary

of the Interior. Because the Department had no real

bureaucracy in place and no official had been assigned

to the only national park, there was little hope that a

concession policy could be formulated. In addition to

the changes in Washington, the very able and experienced Superintendent Norris was replaced by the far

less competent Iowan P. H. Conger.

This change could not have come at a more inopportune time for the fledgling national park. With

the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks drawing closer

to the park, accommodations and local transportation

facilities were totally inadequate to handle the potentially large increase in the number of visitors. Previously, Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz had opposed the idea of exclusive privilege or monopoly,1

but with the political changes in Washington and the

obvious need for immediate visitor facilities, the circumstances were right for choosing an easy course.

By 1882, the Secretary’s office was receiving numerous applications for hotel leases, including one

from a consortium of 10 men, one of who was George

Marshall. The application proceeded through the established process: review by the superintendent who

made recommendations to the Secretary who replied

to the applicants. Secretary Henry Teller’s reply to

this application indicated “a sincere intention to process the proposed lease in an honest and businesslike

manner,” however, the lease application was never

processed and soon another monopolistic proposal was

before the Department.2 This one, which developed

into the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company,

would set the stage for concession policy well into

the twentieth century.

A January 1882 New York Times article identified a syndicate of “wealthy gentlemen, more or less

intimately connected with the Northern Pacific to build

a branch tourist’s line...to the heart of the Yellowstone

National Park, and erect there a large hotel for the

accommodation of visitors.” The list of investors included Senator William Windom of Minnesota,3

Northern Pacific Railroad superintendent Carroll

Hobart, and other prominent men in the MinnesotaDakota Territory area. The article stated that the syndicate planned to erect a 500-room hotel with an investment of $150,000.4

The syndicate’s proposal did not arrive in the

Secretary’s office until late July, and its propositions

were slightly different than described in the newspaper article:

First: The erection of a first class hotel costing not less than $100,000 with such additional

hotels as the wants of the public may require.

Second: The construction and operation of one

or more steamboats on the Yellowstone Lake.

Third: The establishment of stage lines and

livery accommodation for all railroads and

other highways reaching the Park to all points

of interest within the Park.

Suspicion, Chaos, and the End

of Civilian Rule

1883–1885
10 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Fourth: To supply guides and other facilities

necessary to enable visitors to see the wonders

of the Yellowstone Park.

Fifth: All employees of the company to be uniformed and render strict discipline; all changes

of every kind to be scheduled, published and

approved by the Secretary of the Interior; and

all extra charges and fees strictly prohibited.5

Two of the principals, Hobart and Henry Douglas, also asked for the rights to use local materials in

the construction of the boats and buildings, in addition to the use of “refuse and worthless timber” for

fuel.6

The proposal was personally transmitted to the

Department of the Interior by Minnesota Senator William Windom. The Senator followed up with a letter

to the Secretary stating that he “will take occasion to

see you in regard to this matter in a few days.”

Hobart had already met with the Secretary of the

Interior a few days prior to sending the proposal. Thus,

Senator Windom’s political influence and Hobart’s

personal attention paved the way for a timely acceptance of the proposal by the Department of the Interior.7

Within a month of receiving the longer detailed

proposal from Secretary Teller, Superintendent Conger replied that despite their highly placed recommendations, “they ask to cover entirely too much ground.

The National Park is a great Territory and the day is

not distant in my opinion when the franchise they ask

will be worth a very large sum of money, besides [sic]

I believe the Public would be restive were all these

privileges granted to a single Party or Corporation.”8

However, his negative comments about the proposal

were in vain: nearly three weeks before, a contract

for a lease was signed in Washington between Assistant Secretary of the Interior Merritt Joslin and Carroll

Hobart and Henry Douglas. Because Hobart was operating within a narrow timeframe to complete facilities by the opening of the next travel season, he urged

the Secretary to consider his request to use local materials for construction; this was granted.9 By the time

the snow fell in 1882, they had erected a sawmill, cut

needed timber, and begun the foundation for the hotel

at Mammoth Hot Springs.10

The newly signed agreement, which was the

epitome of a monopoly, was the beginning of the park’s

major concessioner, initially the Yellowstone Park

Improvement Company, which was to last almost 100

years. Whether this new venture is considered good,

bad, or indifferent, it marked the first organized approach to the needs of the visitor to the park.

Teller’s optimistic view of the contract with the

Yellowstone Park Improvement Company was not

shared by people in the park nor by General James

Brisbin, the new recipient of the contract for steamboat services on Yellowstone Lake.11 Brisbin complained to a Colorado colleague of Secretary Teller

that Hobart, Douglas, and their new business partner,

Rufus Hatch of New York, “cut under us and have

secured the right to put on all the additional steamers

required in the next ten years together with all sail

boats.” Brisbin went on to state that the agreement

with the new syndicate was not between a “sensible

and good friend Secy. Teller but from the ‘Associate

Secy’ whoever he may be.”12

Despite these sentiments, the Yellowstone Park

Improvement Company moved ahead with its plans.

Carroll Hobart, along with a team of surveyors, engineers, and others, inspected the park in the autumn of

1882. In a strongly worded letter to Secretary Teller,

Hobart advised him to request a substantial appropriation of $500,000 instead of $75,000 in order to make

permanent improvements to the roads and bridges,

stating that “a petty annual appropriation may be made

for fifty successive years, but it will never develop or

improve the Park, because they are exhausted each

year for repairs, practically, and simple maintenance

and salaries for government employees.” Hobart, who

was to become the executive officer of the company

in the park, pledged his personal support backed with

“facts, figures, and reasonings, either in committee or

on the floor of Congress.”13

The following year, the Northern Pacific Railroad completed its branch line to Cinnabar, which was

within a few miles of the northern boundary of the

park. Land acquisition litigation spoiled the railroad’s

intention of terminating at Gardiner, a tent town of

nearly 200 people and 21 saloons, 5 general merchandise stores, and 6 restaurants. Jubilant officials of the

Northern Pacific Railroad marked the completion of

the branch line by hosting several tours of the park for

important people from both the United States and Europe. Visiting journalists advertised the wonders of

the park from London to San Francisco, and newspaper accounts of President Chester Arthur’s trip to the

park in 1883 received wide coverage across the country, introducing the park to many.14

With completion of the terminus at Cinnabar,
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 11

railroad officials began discussing extending the rail

line to Cooke City on the park’s northeastern boundary where the New World mining district was located.

Because the most desirable route would traverse the

park through the Lamar River Valley, the stage was

set for a multi-decade struggle for park protection.

Just after the New Year in 1883, the issue of park

concessioner monopolies was debated in Congress.

Because of the controversy, Assistant Secretary of the

Interior Joslyn sent a modified form of the 1882 lease

for the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company to

the Senate Committee on Territories. This modified

lease denied exclusive privileges to the company but

granted them the use of one section (640 acres) of land

at Old Faithful Geyser and a half section of land at six

other areas in the park at a rent not to exceed two dollars an acre.15 Former Superintendent Nathaniel P.

Langford sent an immediate protest to Senator George

Vest, an important supporter of park protection, denouncing the terms of the modified lease as a “practical monopoly of the entire park.” He pointed out that

such a generous grant of land in the geyser basin and

320 separate acres at the other wonders in the park

could prevent “parties from camping out near the

springs, and deprive them of one of the greatest pleasures of a trip to the Park, if they liked camp life.”

Langford informed Senator Vest that when he and others were working on the initial legislation, they gave

careful consideration to avoiding this sort of grant by

including the term “small parcels of land.”16

In the end, the modified concession lease language was included within the park protection bill that

Senator Vest was trying to get through Congress. After one attempt to deny the Secretary of the Interior

the right to lease any portion of the park, the bill passed,

giving the Secretary the authority to “lease small portions of the ground in the park not exceeding 10 acres

in extent for each tract, no such leased land to be within

one-quarter of a mile of any of the geysers or of the

Yellowstone Falls.”17

On March 9, 1883, Secretary Henry Teller;

Carroll Hobart of Fargo, Dakota Territory; Henry

Douglas of Fort Yates, Dakota Territory; and Rufus

Hatch of New York City signed the modified contract

that agreed to the following:

1. two acres, more or less,—Mammoth Hot

Springs

2. one and one-half acres, more or less—Old

Faithful

3. one and one-half acres, more or less—

Madison River

4. one acre, more or less,—Soda Butte Spring

5. one and one-half acres, more or less,—Tower

Falls

6. one and one-half acres, more or less,—Great

Falls

7. one acre at Yellowstone Lake

8. no parcel within one quarter mile of geysers or

falls

9. build at least a 250 room hotel at Mammoth,

necessary outhouses, furniture, bath and ice

houses and electric-light machinery for cost of

not less than $150,000.

10. at other locations build hotels or other buildings as approved by Secretary

11. Secretary of Interior allowed to grant other

leases of land at other points for same purpose

12. a rental rate of $2 per year per acre

13. procedure for property in case of lease forfeiture

14. submittal of tariff of charges for approval by

Secretary of Interior

15. all employees must obey all park regulations

and rules; all employees must wear a uniform

or badge to distinguish their employment with

company

16. company does not have right to mine or remove any precious mineral, mine coal, cut or

remove timber, except as authorized by Secretary; not to injure or destroy game, natural curiosity or wonder of park

17. may not interfere with visitors access to wonders of park

18. may not transfer lease without approval of Secretary

19. no member of Congress shall be admitted to

any share or part in agreement or derive any

benefit therefrom18

Within a few months, Secretary Teller approved

the plans for the hotel at Mammoth, and, by June,

Hobart reported that the hotel “now approaches

completion and we are now locating and providing

accommodations [sic] for the entertainment of tourists at other points throughout the Park.” Hobart asked

permission to use discarded telegraph lines found

along the Northern Pacific Railroad route through the

Yellowstone Valley. However, plans had already

been approved by the Secretary of War that allowed

the Chief Signal Officer to have the discarded

lines.19
12 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Haynes Studio on Parade Ground at Fort Yellowstone.

Late 19th century.

In Superintendent Conger’s 1883 annual report

to the Secretary, he wrote, “There is much dissatisfaction and resentment manifest amongst the people of

the Territories, especially amongst those living in the

Yellowstone Valley, in the vicinity of the Park, against

and with the claims that the ‘Yellowstone National

Park Improvement Company’ asserts, to wit, that this

company holds the exclusive right and privilege to do

all business of whatever kind or character (aside from

that which is done by the Government) within the limits of the Park.” Conger’s correspondence during the

last few months of 1883 reveals that he was also at

odds with the company’s general manager, Carroll

Hobart.20

At the close of 1883, the president of the

Yellowstone Park Improvement Company tried to

smooth over the bad relations that had developed between Superintendent Conger and Carroll Hobart. In

his first annual report to the Secretary of the Interior,

Rufus Hatch described the recently completed main

portion of the National Hotel, designed by St. Paul,

Minnesota architect, L. F. Buffington, as a “graceful

and elaborate style of architecture.” The 151-room

principal building was 414-feet long and 54-feet deep,

varied in height from three to four stories, and cost

$140,000. Two wings of 250 feet each would be built

when needed, bringing the total cost of the hotel to

$180,000. Hatch reported on the construction of various service buildings at Mammoth and the establishment of hotel camps at Norris, the Upper Geyser Basin, and the Great Falls of the Yellowstone. In anticipation of providing better stagecoach and saddle service in the park, Hatch appealed for more improvements to the roads. Luckily, no accidents occurred

during the travel season despite the terrible condition

of the roads. Hatch expressed a negative opinion on

the construction of railroads within the park, but did

ask for the construction of an assay office at Mammoth Hot Springs, citing the midway location between

the Clarks Fork mines and the mines at Emigrant

Gulch, Bear Gulch, and Crevice Gulch. He ended his

report by reiterating the company’s support for strong

protective measures of the wonders and game in the

park.21

A few weeks later, Hatch wrote to Secretary

Teller denying the rumor that the Yellowstone Park

Improvement Company was constructing a telegraph

line from the Cinnabar railroad terminus to Mammoth

Hot Springs and on to the Clarks Fork. He did state

that his general manager, Carroll Hobart, was instructed to erect poles from Cinnabar to the National

Hotel at Mammoth, but no farther.22

In other actions in 1883, the Wakefield and

Hoffman Company received the contract to deliver

the U.S. mail between Livingston and Cooke City via

Mammoth Hot Springs, resulting in the construction

of a mail station on the East Fork of the Yellowstone

River. Just before the year ended, the general agent,

George Wakefield, requested permission from the

Secretary of the Interior to build two more stations

along the route and for permission to cut hay for the

horses.23 Wakefield and Hoffman also provided stage

service between the Northern Pacific Railroad terminus at Cinnabar, which opened on August 1, and the

National Hotel.24

One final development in 1883 involved F. Jay

Haynes’s application to lease a parcel of land for his

photographic studio, which had been delayed due to

the pending Congressional legislation concerning the

park. In May 1883, Haynes was appointed the official

F. J. Haynes third from left. 1886.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 13

Haynes Postcards

Mammoth and

Gardiner Area

Mammoth Camp main entrance.

1923.

Mammoth Camp from Jupiter

Terrace. 1923.

The history of Yellowstone National Park is, in

many ways, the history of F. Jay and Jack Haynes, a father and son team of photographers who lived and worked

in the park from 1881 through Jack’s death in 1962. The

elder Haynes, immortalized in the book Following the

Frontier with F. Jay Haynes, established the family businesses in the park that included photograph sales, picture postcard sales, guidebook sales, souvenir shops, a

stagecoach company, a bus company, and a camping company. His years in Yellowstone (1881–1921) are commemorated by the place-name Mount Haynes, located

on the Madison River within the park.

F. Jay’s son Jack Ellis Haynes, who grew up at

Mammoth Hot Springs, took over the family business in

1916 and continued to produce photographs (hundreds

of thousands of them) for the rest of his life. Together

the two men marketed and sold Yellowstone to the

nation’s tourists, so much so that Jack referred to himself as “The Postcard Man.” Jack spent nearly all of

his seventy-eight years in the park, and as a result became familiarly known to park residents as “Mr.

Yellowstone.” He worked with Aubrey L. Haines for

many years on the large history of the park that Haines

later published (and dedicated to Jack) after Jack’s death.

The Haynes family postcards, some of which

are depicted here, have been discussed in detail in Richard Saunders’ book Glimpses of Wonderland: The

Haynes and Their Postcards of Yellowstone National

Park (1997). All postcards are courtesy of the author.
14 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Mammoth Camp Lodge cabin

interior. 1923.

Mammoth Lodge dining room. 1923.

Mammoth Camp Lodge cabin. 1923.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 15

Haynes Studio after relocation to

edge of Capitol Hill. ca. 1934.

Pryor Coffee Shop (Park Curio

Shop) at Mammoth Hot Springs.

ca. 1930s.

Northern Pacific Station, Gardiner,

Montana, at Northern Entrance to

Yellowstone. ca. 1910.
16 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Canyon Hotel. 1913.

Canyon Area

Canyon Hotel dining room.

ca. 1911.

Canyon Hotel lounge staircase.

ca. 1911.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 17

Canyon Hotel lounge. ca. 1910.

Canyon Hotel lounge. 1936.

Canyon Lodge. 1935.
18 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Canyon Lodge lounge. 1929.

Canyon Lodge cabin interior. 1923.

Old Faithful Area

Old Faithful Inn. 1938.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 19

Old Faithful Inn dining room. 1923.

Old Faithful Inn lobby. ca. 1904.

Old Faithful Inn “Bear Pit.” 1936.
20 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Geyser Water swimming pool—

Old Faithful. 1934.

Lake and East

Entrance Area

Lake Hotel. ca. 1905.

Old Faithful Lodge sleeping

cabins. 1928.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 21

Lake Hotel lobby. 1923.

Lake Hotel dining room. ca. 1900.

Lake Hotel dining room. 1925.
22 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Lake Lodge. 1929.

Sylvan Pass Lodge on

Cody road. 1924.

Sylvan Lunch Station on

Cody road. ca. 1925.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 23

Wylie Camp. ca. 1910.

Wylie Tent Camps

Wylie Camp single tent cabin. n.d.

Wylie Camp single tent cabin

interior. 1912.
24 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Wylie two-compartment tent

interior. 1912.

Wylie dining tent interior. 1912.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 25

photographer and Superintendent of the Art Department for the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company

with headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs.25

Chaos reigned in 1884. Suspicions about Yellowstone Park Improvement Company’s “steal” of the

park were rampant in the Yellowstone area, the company went through a financial crisis, there was a general state of bad feelings among residents of the park,

and Superintendent Conger was relieved of his job.26

Early in the year, Secretary Teller sent Superintendent Conger a strongly worded letter stating, “I call

your attention to the fact that no parties have been

granted exclusive privileges, as such grants are not

only contrary to law and contrary to the express terms,

of their lease or permitted. It is not the policy of the

government to fill the Park with settlers, but to allow

a sufficient number of hotels to be established to accommodate the visiting public.” Teller also warned

Conger to take prompt action against the hotel company or any others that grazed more than the needed

cows or horses on park lands.27

In January 1884, the Department of the Interior

granted G. W. Marshall a lease for four acres of ground

at the site of the Marshall Hotel, and Marshall responded to Teller with plans for new buildings. In the

meantime, Superintendent Conger complained to

Teller that he “ordered Marshall to vacate his house at

the Fire Hole Basin...for the reason of his outrageous

treatment of tourists.” Conger added that “he refused

to be governed by the rules and orders...and always

has treated the same with contempt...Marshall is a

bad man and I do not believe a respectable man can

be found in this section who is acquainted with him

that would believe him under oath.”28 Unfortunately,

the controversy with G. W. Marshall continued. Plans

for the Marshall Hotel and the cutting of timber for its

construction as well as the unauthorized removal of

his buildings to a new site were not resolved. An additional disagreement between Marshall and the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company about the erection of its tent camps also flared later in the year.29

In March 1884, F. Jay Haynes received a 10-year

lease, which allowed him eight acres of land at the

Upper Geyser Basin and permission to erect any

needed building or buildings for the purpose of preparing photographic views and selling them to tourists. The lease contained the same provisions as the

earlier leases issued with regard to cutting of timber,

approval of rates, and hiring reputable employees. In

July, Haynes’s rates for sales of his photographs were

accepted.30 In October, Haynes received permission

to split his approved eight-acre lease into four acres at

the Upper Geyser Basin and four acres at Mammoth

Hot Springs.31

In April 1884, Secretary Teller granted John L.

Yancey a 10-year lease to operate his Pleasant Valley

Mail Station near the route to the Clarks Fork mines

despite the fact that Yancey had been accused of killing park game a few months earlier.32 Previously,

Yancey had been given verbal permission to operate a

hotel in 1882, but no formal lease had ever been

granted. The 10-acre tract was established with his

facility as the center point.33

In 1882 when Yancey first approached the Superintendent about erecting a mail station, Superintendent Conger had given him verbal permission to

erect two other mail stops, one to George Jackson for

a stop 12 miles east of Yancey’s and another one to

Billy Jump for a stop at Soda Butte. During the autumn of 1883, Conger took over the mail station at

Soda Butte from Mr. Jump for use as a government

station for his assistant.34

Another long-time resident, C. J. Baronett, and

his new partner, J. W. Ponsford, asked for a lease to

use his old toll bridge which spanned the Yellowstone

River on the Cooke City route. According to Baronett,

he had the support of generals Philip Sheridan, William Sherman, and Delos Sackett as well as President

Chester Arthur for receiving a lease or credit for his

contribution of the bridge. In fact, General Sheridan

called it “a great public benefit” in his letter of endorsement for Baronett’s lease to the Secretary of the

Interior.35 However, nothing transpired in 1884 to aid

Baronett.

Despite “opening” the National Hotel and several tent camps during 1883, the Yellowstone Park

Improvement Company began 1884 in financial

trouble. The company found it harder to attract investors due to the restrictive 1883 lease of 10 acres

rather than the more generous terms of 4,400 acres

envisioned by Hatch, Hobart, and Douglas. Consequently, the company found itself in debt for almost $85,000 and unable to make its payroll or pay

off its creditors.36

Livingston businessman George Carver filed a

lien and legally attached the company’s sawmill, a herd

of horses, and 180 head of cattle. President Rufus

Hatch filed for bankruptcy, and a Livingston banker,
26 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

A. L. Love, was appointed receiver. Unhappy with

Hatch and the turn of events, Hobart and Douglas (the

other two signatories to the lease) managed to have

another, more favorable receiver chosen through the

Federal District Court in Wyoming Territory; George

Hulme was selected to be the legitimate receiver.37

Hulme directed the affairs of the Yellowstone Park

Improvement Company through 1884 and 1885 with

the assistance of the resident manager, Carroll Hobart.

Further problems developed when some of the construction workers building the National Hotel staged

a sit-down strike, demanding their long overdue wages

and defending themselves with rifles.

With the completion of the Northern Pacific

Railroad’s branch line to Cinnabar in August 1883,

record numbers of visitors were expected for the 1884

travel season and the hotel strike posed a major problem for the hotel company. Until the strike was settled,

the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company provided arriving tourists with free lodging in three sleeping cars and a hotel car at the Cinnabar terminus; meals

were offered for 75 cents. The company erected large

hotel boarding tents at Norris, the Lower Firehole

Geyser Basin, and the Upper Geyser Basin, which

were rumored to have been provided by the Northern

Pacific Railroad. The erection of these tents in the

Lower Firehole Geyser Basin caused Marshall and

Henderson to complain of “impingement of their rights

under their Lease” and asked the assistant superintendent to take the tents down.38

The Improvement Company’s General Manager

and Vice President Carroll Hobart apologized to Secretary of the Interior Teller for all of the problems, but

pointed out that “it is impossible, in a country so far

removed from law and order, to organize and have

everything work as perfectly as it would in less remote portions of the country.” He called many of the

strikers “unscrupulous,” and hoped the Secretary

would be as “patient as possible under these trying

circumstances.”39 A settlement was finally reached

in late June, in large part due to receiver George

Hulme’s efforts. The hotel formally opened to visitors on July 4, 1884.

After struggling to open the Mammoth hotel,

Hobart faced another problem with Superintendent

Conger who forbade the company’s use of the hot

springs for the bathhouses. Conger drove off the men

repairing the pipes and confiscated the tents belonging to the company.40 Shortly thereafter, Conger requested that the company close the tent camp at the

East Fork of the Firehole River, but he was immediately overruled by the Department of the Interior.41

In August, Hobart received permission to alter

the location of the lease at the Lower Geyser Basin to

the following:

Beginning at a point one hundred feet North

of the end of the foot bridge across the East

Fork of Fire Hole River, near the Government

buildings, thence East 100 feet, thence North

200 feet, thence West 812 feet, thence East 212

feet to the place of beginning, containing one

and one-half acres.42

In November, Hobart submitted a more definite

description for the 1.5 acre site at the Upper Geyser

Basin:

Commencing at a hub twenty-five feet west of

Crystal Creek [present Myriad Creek], at the

intersection of the bluff, thirteen hundred and

twenty feet from Old Faithful Geyser, thence,

running east two hundred and fifty-five and sixtenths feet, thence south two hundred and fiftyfive and six-tenths feet, thence west two hundred and fifty-five and six-tenths feet, thence

north two hundred and fifty-five and six-tenths

feet to the place of beginning. Containing about

11/2 acres.43

A new superintendent, Robert C. Carpenter, arrived in the park late in the 1884 season. In his brief

report to Secretary Teller, he expressed a concern for

the numbers of settlers who lived in the park without

lease or permit. He thought the upcoming cold winter

weather would drive some of them from the park, but

the long-time residents would pose another problem.44

Superintendent Carpenter was particularly concerned about J. C. McCartney’s group of buildings

within the northern boundary near Gardiner. In addition to McCartney’s holdings at Mammoth Hot

Springs, he had built four small houses, one of which

was a saloon, and a large barn used as a livery and

feed stable, and he had fenced 80 acres. Carpenter,

who called McCartney “the boldest and most conspicuous trespasser now within the limits of the Park,” knew

that because McCartney’s site was in Montana Territory, Wyoming officials could not enforce any legal

action. Consequently, Carpenter needed permission to

remove McCartney using his assistants or officers of
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 27

the park or, if necessary, soldiers from the nearest

military post. Carpenter very astutely discussed law

and order on the frontier in his report to Secretary

Teller, “Of one thing I am convinced and that is that if

I cannot summarily deal with the men who thus openly

defy the authority of the Government, it will be impossible to enforce the laws in the Park against offenders who are less conspicuous.”45

In the beginning of 1885, Carroll Hobart began

putting the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company’s

different leases in order. He submitted plans for the

construction of a hotel at the Upper Geyser Basin estimating the total construction cost at about $20,000,

and he received approval for a corrected survey and

hotel plans for the facility at the Great Falls of the

Yellowstone and for a corrected survey for the lease

at the Norris Geyser Basin.46 Shortly after the new

lease was signed, Acting Secretary of the Interior H.

Muldrow asked the Superintendent to make sure the

company buildings were located on the correct tracts

identified in the lease.

By summer creditors began seeking payment for

goods and services provided to the bankrupt Yellowstone National Park Improvement Company.47

In September, Hobart reported that the company

had used 173,000 feet of lumber in the construction

of the hotel at the Upper Geyser Basin. He projected

the completion of the hotels at Canyon and Lake by

June 1, 1886.48

Unfortunately, the park hotels did not receive favorable publicity. One letter the Department received

described the hotel accommodations as “insufficient,

unsuitable and managed in such a way as to make it

unfit for any but very strong persons to subject themselves to the discomfort and possible danger of occupying them.”49 Upon receiving several complaints

about the condition of the hotels, George Hulme, the

receiver for the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company sent C. V. Sims from New York City to Yellowstone to report on all the affairs of the company. As a

result of Sims’s report, the receiver George Hulme felt

Carroll Hobart should be removed as company manager in the park, citing the fact that Hobart had failed

to get a functioning organization together during the

previous two years. Mr. Hulme also was uneasy because the buildings were not insurable during the transition from one company to another.50

The following week, the new Secretary of the

Interior, Lucius Lamar, received a petition from Rufus

Hatch that supported the removal of Hobart but did

not support the sale of the property. Hatch believed

that new management would turn the business around

and soon produce enough of a profit to satisfy the creditors. He also believed that under the terms of the 1883

lease, the government could not legally sell the property

without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.51

In mid-November, Hulme wrote to Secretary

Lamar requesting that no new leases for hotels be approved. He based his request upon his new re-organization plan, which specified that new management

would go into effect on December 23. He pointed out

that if the new leases were granted, the property of

the Improvement Company “will be practically valueless and the creditors of the Company will suffer a

serious loss.”52

The day prior to the new management taking

effect, the acting Secretary of the Interior sent a letter

to the Improvement Company attorney, John Newton,

stating that “no assurance was given you at that interim further than to the effect that when the Improvement Company could satisfy the Department that it

was in a condition to carry out the terms of its lease

the question as to the desired extension of time would

be considered.” But more important, the Acting Secretary informed him that “the Department has been

urged to take early action upon an application of Mr.

Frederick Billings and others for a lease of ground for

Upper Geyser Basin Hotel. 1889.
28 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Cottage Hotel. 1888.

hotel purposes in the Park.” He did allow Mr. Newton to make an appointment in Washington to present

the views of the Improvement Company.53

The Department was also dealing with other

concessioners’ requests that year. On February 1,

1885, a request for a 10-year lease for 10 acres at

Mammoth was received at the Department of the Interior. The plans were submitted by Eva Mary Errett

proposing construction of the Cottage Hotel. Five days

later, J. A. Clark requested a 10-year lease to construct

the Cottage Hotel.54 Then, on April 2, Walter and

Helen Henderson applied for a lease modification at

Mammoth Hot Springs that was clearly intended to

allow construction of a hotel, the Cottage Hotel. The

application was accompanied by the endorsement of

five assistant superintendents—and J. A. Clark!

Within three months, three people had applied for separate leases to construct the same hotel.55 And, on the

day that the Hendersons sent in their request for approval of the hotel rates, Mr. Clark also sent in a request for approval of rates adding that he had “consulted other parties engaged in the same business and

equally interested in making prices as low as is compatible with the comfort, economy and safety of visitors and a reasonable compensation to them and they

concur in the reasonableness of the charges.”56

Before the hotel was constructed, Clark had

sought permission from Lt. Dan Kingman, the Army

Corps of Engineers officer in charge of road construction, to use the government sawmill for two or three

days to cut his timber for his Cottage Hotel and livery

stable. Kingman denied approval on the grounds that

it was government property and not for the free use of

private parties. However, Kingman knew that Clark

held a valid lease at Mammoth Hot Springs and feared

that if he were denied the use of the sawmill, he would

erect a “building of rough logs and mud, and it will be

an eyesore, and will disfigure the Park.” Thus, he recommended that Clark and any future users furnish the

Engineers with a complete bill of lumber required and

attach a certified check for the cost.57

As a final problem, when F. Jay Haynes arrived

for the 1885 season, he found that Clark’s lease overlapped with his lease. But, before Superintendent

Carpenter arrived in the park for the 1885 season, Clark

selected another site, began building a house, and then

applied to the Secretary for his approval.58 In addition to the problem of Clark’s tract overlapping

Haynes’s tract of land, Arnold Hague of the United

States Geological Survey (and a strong protector of

the park’s resources) objected to Clark’s site for his

hotel. Hague opposed Clark’s use of the broad terrace in front of the National Hotel asserting that it

should be “kept free, and which every person interested in the Park, would be sorry to see occupied.”

He also wrote to Clark “You will show yourself open

to serious criticism if you do not locate your place

where it was intended you should be.”59

It is apparent that Hague had long been in a position that allowed him to at least unofficially review

leases and recommend approvals. When Clark’s lease

first came before Secretary Teller, Hague told the Sec-
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 29

retary that “injury would be done to the springs and

natural curiosities by leasing more grounds upon the

broad open terraces.” Teller and Clark agreed that the

lease should be placed northeast of Capitol Hill.60

By the end of 1885, Clark had moved his recently constructed buildings at the Department’s request. However, by that time, the new Superintendent, David Wear (who was appointed in July 1885),

remarked to Secretary Lamar, “Had I known as much

of Clark at the time as I do now I would not have

recommended that he be granted a lease in the Park.”

These feelings correspond to those of Army Corps of

Engineers Lt. Dan Kingman.61

The Hendersons began construction of the Cottage Hotel in August 1885 and the first wing of the

hotel was near completion by November. (An additional wing would be built later as needed.) The threestory hotel was 40 by 36 feet with a two-story veranda 10 feet wide, stretching across the front and the

east elevation for 70 feet. The rustic log hotel was set

on a wooden foundation. Upon its completion in November 1885, the hotel was described by owner G.L.

Henderson in the Livingston Enterprise, “three stories high, built of round, peeled logs but very finely

finished, [it] is an imposing as well as unique structure.”62

Hague continued to pressure the Department of

the Interior about the kinds and numbers of leases

being awarded in the park. His letter to Secretary

Lamar in June 1885 represents the first comprehensive overview of how best to protect the park from

frivolous leases. Basing his premise that “successful

management of the Park largely depended [sic] upon

the nature of the leases and the character and standing

of the persons to whom such leases are granted,”

Hague suggested a full investigation into the condition of the of the leases and leased lands with recommendations for future transactions. Hague believed

the Interior Department should consider awarding

leases for stage lines between the hotel areas, licenses

for “pack-trains and outfits for the accommodation of

those who wish to leave the beaten tracks and camp

out in the mountains,” and leases for stables, storehouses, and stores. Hague felt that if fewer leases were

granted, it would be easier to manage them and that

would benefit visitors.63

The following month Superintendent Wear made

his own inspection of the park and reported to Secretary Lamar, “I regret to say that I find nearly every

building is erected on ground not embraced in the

leased lots or parcels of land, [and] especially is this

so at the Upper Geyser Basin.” Wear confronted

Carroll Hobart about the placement of his hotel within

300 yards of Old Faithful. Hobart claimed it to be on

the legal tract, but was not able to produce documents

to prove that. Wear learned from Henderson and his

son-in-law, Henry Klamer, that they were seeking an

addition of six acres to their initial lease in order for

their buildings to be located on a legal tract.64

Growing pressure for reform led the Department

of the Interior to appoint Special Agent William Hallett

Phillips to investigate the state of affairs in the park.

After spending six weeks in the park, Phillips’s report

first attacked the lack of Congressional attention to

providing sufficient governing authority for such an

important area and then outlined the conflicts of the

existing territorial jurisdictions.

Phillips opposed the unrelenting pressure on the

Department to allow the building of a railroad to the

Cooke City Mines. Back in 1884, Secretary of the

Interior Teller had not opposed Senate Bill No. 1373,

which granted a right-of-way to the Cinnabar and

Clarks Fork Railroad. In a letter to Senator George

Vest, Teller wrote that the railroad would not “detract

from the beauty or grandeur nor would it interfere with

the operations of the park to a greater extent than the

wagon teams by means of which communications

between the points named is now carried out.”65

Phillips, however, stated in his report, “A railroad through the Park would go far to destroy the

beauty and besides is not demanded by the public.”

He added, “If there is one subject which should be

kept in view more than any other, it is that of preserving the Park as much as possible in a state of nature.”

Phillips reported to Secretary Lamar that “your predecessors have granted a number of leases in various

portions of the Park. It is now plain that many of such

leases were granted to unfit persons and at locations

where they should never have been granted.” He called

upon the Department to use the “discretion conferred

by the Act...sparingly...” in the granting of leases.

Phillips was against the hotel owners also having the

transportation privileges and the right to operate stores.

He recommended that the Department award store

privileges at Mammoth Hot Springs and at one of the

geyser basins.

Phillips found the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company to have abused its right to two acres at

Mammoth Hot Springs by scattering buildings across

almost 40 acres. He found conditions in the “half-
30 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

finished” National Hotel unsanitary and the bathhouse

was an “eye-sore” and recommended removal.

Phillips believed the company had no regard for the

preservation of natural objects of interest. He recommended the company confine its activities to the leased

tract.66

Special Agent Phillips recognized that the

Henderson’s lease overlapped the Improvement

Company’s existing tract, and he recommended that

Henderson be awarded the land in question. He acknowledged the substantial hotel being erected by the

Hendersons but suggested that they remove the “unsightly buildings on or near his [Henderson] lease.”67

Phillips discussed the problem of James A.

Clark’s lease overlapping that of F. Jay Haynes’s and

agreed with Arnold Hague that Clark should never

have been given a lease. However, he did think that a

modification to the lease could solve the problem, but

wanted Clark to remove the bathhouse at once. He

found F. Jay Haynes to be the only lessee at Mammoth Hot Springs to have his affairs in order.

At Norris Geyser Basin, Phillips found that the

tents erected by the Improvement Company were not

on its designated land assignment. Because the lease

required hotel construction in a reasonable amount of

time and because no buildings had been erected on

the site, Phillips called for forfeiture of the lease.68

In the Lower Geyser Basin, Phillips again found

a conflict between legal descriptions and the improvement sites. He noted that George Marshall had been

allowed four acres of land, however, he had never built

on that land, but built across the river. He called the

hotel “unsatisfactory” and recommended changes and

improvements be made to the hotel as well as clearing up the legal tracts.69

Phillips found Hobart’s “undressed pine slab”

hotel at the Lower Geyser Basin, which had cost $450,

to be no more than a “shanty.” Since Hobart did not

have a lease in the Lower Geyser Basin, Phillips recommended that Superintendent Wear have it removed.

He found Hobart’s half-built hotel in the Upper Geyser Basin not located on the correct tract and within a

quarter of a mile of the geysers; however, he found

“the site itself a suitable one for a hotel.” Phillips described the Upper Geyser Basin hotel as having a “very

unsubstantial character and the accommodations for

guests inadequate.” He decided to leave that matter to

the Secretary of the Interior, but suggested that the

Company submit plans for a hotel building by December 1 for consideration.70

He found no problem with F. Jay Haynes’s lease.

He did find “a number of squalid buildings at the Upper Geyser Basin, erected without authority of law,

which should be at once removed.”71

Phillips found that there had been no building

improvements at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, even though the Improvement Company held a

valid lease. However, about one mile from the leased

land, the company had erected a number of tents with

21 beds. Phillips believed that the company had had

National Hotel, Mammoth Hot Springs. After 1884.
Suspicion, Chaos, and End of Civilian Rule, 1883–1885 31

sufficient time to meet the terms of its lease, which

called for a hotel. He believed the company should

be granted a 1.5 acre lease on the site on the tents. He

strongly believed that no buildings should be put at

Point Lookout as “it is too near the finest portion of

the Grand Canon, and buildings erected on the ground

leased would greatly mar the beauty and grandeur of

the scene.” He recommended that no lease be granted

in the immediate vicinity of the Grand Canyon.72

Phillips called for the forfeiture of the other leases

that the Improvement Company held at Soda Butte

Springs and at Yellowstone Lake. The company had

already exchanged its 1883 rights to Tower Fall and

the south bank of the Madison River for the Lower

Geyser Basin and Norris Geyser Basin tracts. Phillips

suggested that in the future all leases in the park should

specify the schedule for completion of improvements.73

Phillips recommended that the 1882 boating

privilege given James Brisbin be revoked because

Brisbin had not put a steam vessel on Yellowstone

Lake. He also recommended revoking Mrs. E.

McGowan’s 1884 grant to complete a telegraph line

from Cinnabar to Cooke City as because only a few

poles had been erected by 1885.74

Phillips made the following recommendations

on new applications:

Elwood Hofer—Calling Hofer the “leading

guide and out-fitter in the Park,” Phillips highly

recommended that Hofer receive a lease. He

called him a man of “high character and in a

very way worthy of the confidence in the Department.”

Hofer’s lease was for two acres at Mammoth

on which he could erect a stable and corral.

Wakefield and Hoffman—Phillips found these

men to be of “high financial” standing and recommended a lease of one acre be given for the

erection of a stable and corral at each of the

geyser basins, at Lake, and at the Falls. He

recommended that they should also be allowed

the privilege of cutting hay and grass at each

point in amounts designated by the Department.

Phillips acknowledged the relationship the firm

had with the Improvement Company for use

of the stable and corral at Mammoth Hot

Springs. The companies had jointly built the

facility, which Wakefield and Hoffman were

willing to buy from the Improvement Company. Phillips supported that approach as the

buildings were not on the actual tract held by

the Improvement Company, and he recommended to Wakefield and Hoffman that they

have a survey done at Mammoth Hot Springs

for the occupied site.

Bassett Brothers—Phillips recommended they

be given a lease to erect a stable and corral on

the west side of the Firehole River at the Lower

Geyser Basin as well as another site to be determined by the park superintendent along the

west entrance road. The Bassett Brothers furnished the transportation for visitors coming

to the park via the Utah and Northern Railroad.

Nelson Catlin—Phillips recommended that he

be given the right to erect a corral and stable at

Mammoth Hot Springs for his business of

transporting people through the park.

C. J. Baronett and J. W. Ponsford—Phillips recommended purchasing the toll bridge for

$1,500 because he believed there should be no

toll bridges in the park.

R. P. Vivian—Phillips thought that the Soda

Butte Springs area did not receive much visitation, thus no lease should be given for a hotel at this location.

George Jackson—Phillips regarded Jackson’s

application for a lease at Soda Butte Springs

in the same way as he did Vivian’s.75

Phillips additionally recommended denial of F.

Hass’s request for an observatory, G. Rea’s request

for a natural history museum, Thomas Ludlow’s request for operating a steamboat on Yellowstone Lake,

A. Brown’s request for boat privileges, F. Pettigrew’s

request for erecting a hotel at Yellowstone Lake, J.

Baldwin’s request for erecting a hotel at Yellowstone

Lake, and Mary Fouts’s request for opening a boarding house.76

Another policy issue that arose before the end

of 1885 concerned the sale of liquor in the park. Superintendent Wear sought verification from Secretary

Lamar that the prohibition of liquor sales had not
32 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

changed since the rule had been issued in May 1881,

and he asked whether wines and beer fell within the

rule. Wear found that the rule was being abused, particularly at the Upper Geyser Basin and the Firehole

where drinking and gambling took place in tents.77

At the end of 1885 the park’s largest lessee, the

Yellowstone Park Improvement Company, was in financial trouble, and the Phillips’s report had alerted

Washington to the mismanagement of the park. This

would be the last full year of civilian management for

30 years.
Gibson and the Yellowstone Park Association, 1886-1891 33

CHAPTER THREE

Gibson and the

Yellowstone Park Association

 1886–1891

The second day of January 1886, Charles Gibson

of the newly formed Yellowstone Park Association

(which took over the now bankrupt Yellowstone Park

Improvement Company) met with Acting Secretary

of the Interior H. Muldrow in Washington. Gibson was

asked to provide descriptions of various sites in the

park where he and others desired leases and to supply

estimates for the cost of the buildings scheduled for

erection. This information had previously been requested in October 1885.1

When the Department of the Interior awarded a

new lease to Charles Gibson in 1885, the legal counsel for the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company

tried to delay it by filing a brief that alleged the government was obligated to protect the first lessee. Nevertheless, on March 20, 1886, Charles Gibson and his

partners were awarded a 10-year lease of seven acres

at four different sites: Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris

Geyser Basin, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and

Yellowstone Lake.2 The legal counsel for the Improvement Company filed more protests asking that transactions be delayed until there was a decision from the

Attorney General, but to no avail. According to historian Richard Bartlett, “Now that it (the Yellowstone

Park Improvement Company) had fallen on hard times,

it seemed rather callous of the Northern Pacific people

to abandon him (Rufus Hatch). Yet this is exactly what

they did....” Most of the new investors in the Yellowstone Park Association were “heavy investors” in the

Northern Pacific Railroad.3

In April, Western Union Telegraph Company

sought permission to erect a telegraph line in the park,

but the Department instructed the Superintendent to

award Charles Gibson the right to erect telegraph and

telephone lines between his hotels. This was to be

done by August. For this right, the government would

have free use of the lines.4 By the end of the year,

Gibson reported that telephones had been successfully

installed in all of the hotels.5 Gibson was given permission to erect temporary buildings on the tent site

at Canyon to accommodate visitors during the 1886

season and to establish a store for “sale of supplies

upon ground embraced in his lease.” H. C. Davis, the

manager of the National Hotel, was replaced by

J. N. Strong.6

Included in the supplies that the Yellowstone

Park Association had brought in was $10,000 worth

of liquor. This put Superintendent Wear in a predicament because one of the new Department regulations

prohibited the sale of intoxicating liquors except to

hotel guests for table use and stated that no saloons or

bar-rooms were allowed. Gibson argued that the Department of the Interior had approved his construction plans that had indicated bar-rooms and, thus, he

had been given approval to have them. The situation

was not to be settled in 1886.7

For many years, Congress had been hearing of

the inept management of the park. The reports finally

caused Congress to cancel all funds for administration of the park in early August 1886. The Secretary

of the Interior had no choice but to ask the Secretary

of War to send in the Army. By the end of the 1886, the

U.S. Cavalry was in charge of the park with Captain

Moses Harris replacing D. W. Wear as Superintendent.
34 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

During the spring of 1887, Captain Moses Harris directed the different lessees to clean up around

their properties. This order resulted in the removal of

many unsightly barns, stables, and other shacks.8

During an inspection tour of the park, Harris found

the Marshall Hotel in the Lower Geyser Basin (which

came under control of Yellowstone Park Association

the previous year) and the adjacent outbuildings to be

of “poor and mean construction, and should be replaced by a commodious and well-constructed building capable of accommodating at least one hundred

guests.” He described the buildings as “needlessly

ugly in architectural design, resembling nothing so

much as the section houses of a railroad.” He reported

the Upper Geyser Basin Hotel as “more dilapidated

than last year” and “not worth repairing.”9

In July, a faulty chimney flue caused a fire that

burned the newly built hotel at Norris. A hotel tent

camp and a temporary structure suitable for the accommodation of 60 guests were approved by Captain

Harris and hastily built to accommodate the touring

parties.

Confusion about a change from logs to lumber

for Walter and Helen Henderson’s new addition to the

Cottage Hotel delayed construction. However, the

hotel was sufficiently complete at the end of 1885 for

the Hendersons to welcome the first five registered

guests on Christmas Day 1885 (the guests braved the

winter conditions and swam in Bath Lake),10 and in

February 1886, the Hendersons hosted a “masquerade ball.”11 By 1887, the hotel accommodated 100

guests at $2.50 per night or $10.00 per week. John

Yancey, who operated a small hotel in Pleasant Valley

on the route to the Lamar Valley, could accommodate

20 guests at $2 per day or $10 a week. Yancey’s hotel

continued to attract trout fishing enthusiasts.12 In

December, Secretary Lamar approved the transfer of

James Clark’s livery stable lease at Mammoth Hot

Springs to T. Stewart White, Thomas Friant, and

Francis Leterllier, a Michigan group who had loaned

Clark considerable funds to keep his operation in business. The following year, the Michigan firm transferred

its rights to George Wakefield, who was also an agent

for the Yellowstone Park Association.13

The well-equipped Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, formerly called the National Hotel, was wired for

additional electric lights during 1887, which helped

reduce the risk of fire. At Canyon, temporary facilities accommodating about 70 tourists, under

G. F. Haraden as manager, were still allowed, and permission was given to the company to erect tents at

Lake with the understanding that all debris would be

removed by the end of the 1887 season.14

Harris felt that all of the Yellowstone Park Association hotels, which were under General Manager

E. C. Waters, were well conducted, the food adequate,

and the rooms clean. He did not think their daily

charge of $4 per day or $3 per day for an extended

stay unreasonable, considering the fact that the business was providing a service and supplies in such an

isolated part of the country.

Despite 1887 visitation being somewhat lower

than the year before, numerous visitors arrived in the

park until the end of September. Later arrivals were

accommodated by some of the hotel winter keepers in

the interior of the park and by the Hendersons at the

Cottage Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs.15

Hotel and camping registers indicated the 1888

season set a record for numbers of visitors—6,000.

But, Captain Harris’s 1888 report to the Secretary of

the Interior reveals that he had begun to lose patience

with the Yellowstone Park Association and with

Charles Gibson, in particular. He was disturbed by

the lack of information regarding the ownership of

the company, and he believed that most of the stockholders were associated with the Northern Pacific

Railroad.16 He complained that the company began

the 1888 operations “with great vigor,” but had been

remiss in fulfilling the obligations of constructing the

hotels identified in their lease and were now providing the visitors with inadequate service. Harris recommended to the Secretary that Gibson be given notice of possible forfeiture. He described the condition

of the park facilities and strongly emphasized to the

Secretary that “Eminent men from all parts of the civilized world, scholars, law makers, divines, and soldiers come here, attracted by the fame of this land of

wonders, and by the invitation implied in its dedication as a National Park, to have their senses offended

and their enjoyment of nature’s most wonderful and

beautiful gifts destroyed by the presence of unsightly

filth and rubbish.”17

The nebulous arrangements between Charles

Gibson, of the Yellowstone Park Association, and the

park were clarified in March 1889. All leases held by

Charles Gibson were surrendered to the Department

of the Interior, and the Department issued six new

leases to the Yellowstone Park Association for:
Gibson and the Yellowstone Park Association, 1886-1891 35

Mammoth Hot Springs 3 acres

Norris Geyser Basin 1 acre

Lower Geyser Basin 2 acres

Grand Canon 2 acres

Yellowstone Lake 1 acre

Thumb or Shoshone Lake 1 acre

These new leases specified time limits for

completion of construction of hotels and allowed

manufacturing of bricks, quarrying for stone, and the

use of dead or fallen timber in the construction of buildings in the park. The Yellowstone Park Association

was also given permission to maintain a naphtha

launch on Yellowstone Lake.18

With the increase in visitation and the accumulation of downed timber near the roads, Captain Harris’s replacement in the summer of 1889, Captain F. A.

Boutelle, suggested that designated campsites should

be spaced a few miles apart and inspected daily by the

patrols to help prevent forest fires.19

The photographic work of F. Jay Haynes as well

as his association with the Northern Pacific Railroad

gave the park international publicity. His photographs

and albums were not only sold to visitors, but could

also be seen on different Atlantic steamers, at resorts

in Europe, and in advertisements in Thomas Cook’s

internationally distributed publication Excursionist.

20

Haynes maintained a very open relationship with the

Northern Pacific Railroad, and after the lease agreement was signed between the Secretary of the Interior

and the Yellowstone Park Association in 1889, Haynes

signed an agreement with the Yellowstone Park Association in which he agreed to:

Yancey’s Hotel. 1905.

Uncle John Yancey. Date unknown.

the exclusive sale of such goods as are sold in

the hotels...furnish suitable space or rooms in

any or all hotels desired by [Haynes]...goods

embraced in this agreement are plain and

coloured photographs, photo-gravures, lithographic Souvenir albums, guide books, transparencies, and all similar landscape views of

the Yellowstone National Park, made and published by [Haynes]...[Haynes] to

pay...eighteen per cent of the gross sales of

such goods in the hotels, and in the studio except upon proceeds of portraits of private individuals.21

In 1889, D. B. May of Billings, Montana, received permission to install an elevator or incline at

the Lower Falls. After making a carefully examining

of the plans with Arnold Hague, Captain Boutelle recommended that May’s lease be cancelled, that a more

sensitive location be selected for the incline, and that

no structures or buildings be allowed at the bottom of

the canyon.22 Also in 1889, Ole Anderson received a

personal and non-transferable privilege to “engage in
36 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

the business within the Park of placing small articles

in the waters of the hot springs, to be encrusted with

the deposit left by the water, and of selling such coated

articles to tourists.” (Anderson had been unofficially

selling coated specimens in the park since 1883.) The

Mammoth Hot Springs postmistress, Mrs. Jennie

Henderson Dewing, received permission to sell stationery, photographic views, and other such items in

the post office during her term as postmistress. And,

because the doctor practicing in the park, Dr. Pettigrew,

did not come back after his first year, the Department

authorized the Army medical officer to practice medicine within the park.23

The transportation situation in the park in 1889

was not as good as it had been in previous years, but

the following year, George Wakefield was praised by

the new acting superintendent, Captain F. A. Boutelle,

as running it [transportation concession] almost to

“perfection.” Wakefield willingly paid nearly twice

as much for good horses that were brought in from

Iowa rather than purchase local ones, and he provided

excellent carriages. Because his record was exemplary with no passenger injuries in the seven years he

had operated in the park, Wakefield had a good reputation as a lessee. In 1889, for the first time, Wakefield

offered a daily stage service that allowed stop-overs

in addition to a regular route.

Just prior to the beginning of the 1890 season,

George Wakefield sold his company to the National

Park Transportation Company, a subsidiary of the

Yellowstone Park Association. This marked the beginning of the Yellowstone Park Association acquiring control over a diversity of private activities in the

park. The company had bought the Cottage Hotel in

1889.24

Boutelle was optimistic about Yellowstone Park

Association improving the hotel situation. Instead of

placing blame on the indifference of the company officials toward park problems, Boutelle believed that

the company officers probably had more pressing

matters than giving the park their personal attention.25

While on an inspection of the park, the

company’s acting president, T. B. Casey, recognized

the “bad condition of affairs” and indicated that improvements would be made. Casey saw firsthand the

insufficient equipment, inadequate numbers of accommodations, and management problems. Boutelle informed the company that construction of a road to

Thumb from Old Faithful would probably not receive

appropriations soon. Consequently, despite the fact that

the company had received approval for a hotel at Lake

and at Thumb, it was decided only to cut the timber

during 1890 and build only a portion of the Lake Hotel that year. Work on the Lake Hotel began during

the winter of 1889–1890 and in May 1890, Yellowstone Park Association Assistant Treasurer W.G.

Johnson wanted some minor changes made in the plans

for the location of water closets. He recommended

seeking approval from the builder, R. Cummins and

also the Department of Interior. After receiving numerous complaints about the Lower Geyser Basin

Hotel, the company decided to construct a new hotel

there. They decided that the visitors to the Upper

Geyser Basin could backtrack to the Lower Geyser

Basin and spend the night at the new hotel.26

In July, the Yellowstone Park Association expected the “entire frame of Lake Hotel [to be raised

inside of two days.” The company hoped to install

electric lights during the summer, but had to delay installation until the following spring. The furniture

ordered at the request of E. C. Waters did not meet the

expectations of the Assistant General Manager,

W. G. Johnson. Johnson suggested that it could be

used in the third story of Lake Hotel, but according to

Johnson, the furniture was not good enough for the

Lake Hotel.27

Despite “bad conditions” at the hotels, the wines,

teas, and foods served there were often first-class.

Anxious for publicity, the shipper who supplied the

park hotels with wine wanted to advertise his firm on

a wine list card. This did not happen because Yellowstone Park Association general manager, E. C. Waters,

objected to making “our dining room an advertising

medium.” Among the wines served in the park in 1890

were St. Julien, Pontet Canet, Chateau la Rose, Haut

Sauternes, Chateaau Yquem and Latour Blanc.28 Waters had formerly been in the tea business for 12 years

and was very particular about the quality and types of

tea used in the park; he was willing to pay more for a

superior tea. He preferred to use a New York importer

instead of the having the “very poor stuff” shipped

from St. Paul. Guests were offered Oolong, Young

Hyson, and a good Japan tea.29 Other delicacies ordered in 1890 were sweet breads, oysters, and

truffles.30

By the end of the summer and after Casey’s visit

to the park, W. G. Pearce, Yellowstone Park Association official, was placed in charge of all of the
Gibson and the Yellowstone Park Association, 1886-1891 37

company’s interest in the park, including the responsibility held by former general manager E. C. Waters,

who had been removed from his position by the company. Waters had secured for himself a lease authorizing a general boat business on Yellowstone Lake.

The Yellowstone Park Association wasted no time in

planning its strategy for getting a similar lease.31

Waters hoped to take advantage of the increased visitation and have his steamboat on Yellowstone Lake in

July of the next year. The 10-year lease allowed him

to carry passengers and transport. In addition to Waters, the other directors of the new boat company were

M. B. A. Waters, George Gordon of Livingston,

A. L. Smith of Helena, and J. A. Hays of Beloit, Wisconsin.32

The 1891 season saw major changes in the transportation business. In March, Charles Gibson of the

Yellowstone Park Association appointed George

Wakefield as the Master of Transportation in the park

at a salary of $250 a month, including use of the James

Clark cottage for his family and free board for himself at the hotels. A few weeks later, the Department

of the Interior annulled the lease held by the Yellowstone Park Association for transportation and awarded

it to Silas Huntley of Helena, Montana, effective November 1, 1891.33

Visitation in 1891 seemed off to a better start

than the previous year.34 The Yellowstone Park Association noticed that the profile of the visitors seemed

to be changing, with entire families including small

children coming to the park. The company partially

attributed the change to the positive publicity about

the ease of traveling to and within the park and the

modern conveniences now available in the park. One

could now buy a Boston Herald, Cincinnati Enquirer,

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, or Chicago Tribune at the

Mammoth News Stand!35

During the summer of 1891, different kinds of

fire extinguishers were tested and the question of fire

escapes was discussed. Yellowstone Park Association official W. G. Johnson prepared sketches for potential locations of fire escapes for the Mammoth,

Grand Canyon, and Lake Hotels. Johnson felt that a

wooden escape was just as effective on a frame building as an iron one, but the company officials in Minnesota favored iron ladders without a platform on each

floor. Johnson responded, “I believe it would be politic, however, to go into this matter with more detail.”36

By mid-summer 1891, the construction work on

Lake Hotel was finished; Fountain Hotel and dining

room wing were completed and furnished, with the

exception of the hall carpet en route from New York.

The siding for the other wing of Fountain Hotel and

for the Help’s Hall was in progress. R. Cummins supervised the construction of Lake, Fountain, and Canyon hotels.37

Lake Hotel. ca. 1895.
38 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Despite strained relations with Secretary of the

Interior John Noble, the Yellowstone Park Association was pleased overall with the 1891 season. Company President Casey reported that “hotels are well

and economically conducted. The transportation is

Fountain Hotel. n.d. Collection of Mary Shivers Culpin.

excellent. Both give as much and general satisfaction

as could be expected....There is decidedly less fuss

and friction, and as far as I can learn the amount made

on the same business is equal to and perhaps a little

more than it was formerly.”38
Camping Gains a Foothold, 1892–1899 39

CHAPTER FOUR

Camping Gains a Foothold

1892–1899

Politics involving the park reached new intensity in 1892. For much of the year, Washington and

Yellowstone Park Association officials were embroiled

in arguments over and new legislation for the leases

in Yellowstone. Congressional hearings revealed the

extent to which politics affected staffing, strategic road

construction, appropriations, and protection of resources, all of which had implications for concession

development.

In 1891, the Department of the Interior changed

the owner of the lease for the transportation privileges

in the park. The Yellowstone Park Association had

met with Silas Huntley, the new operator, and had reacted positively to his character. However, within a

few weeks of the park’s 1892 opening, Yellowstone

Park Association Vice President and General Manager

W. G. Pearce wrote, “A great many complaints are

being made against the Huntley transportation....”1

Acting Superintendent Captain George Anderson reported to Secretary of the Interior John W. Noble, the

only major complaint was the lack of stop-over privileges and suggested that perhaps tourists who wanted

more time than a regularly scheduled park trip allowed

should use the camping-party approach. While Anderson expressed serious misgivings about the independent camping companies, he believed that “these parties be given greatest latitude consistent with proper

park management.”2

The most organized and long-term company of

this type was the Wylie & Wilson Company operating

out of Bozeman, Montana. The company planned to

introduce a new type of accommodation to supplement their tent camps, a McMaster Camping Car.

W. W. Wylie advertised the camping car, which was

slightly wider and longer than an omnibus, as being

“thoroughly equipped” for the normal 12-day trip,

which allows one “as much time as desired at all points

of interest.” Wylie boasted that he frequently camped

at excellent trout fishing points and that his cost of

$5 per day per person was cheaper than what a hotel

guest had to pay ($10) for a hotel and stage ride.3

Wylie, who had operated in the park since the

early 1880s, tried to negotiate reduced rail line tickets

for his customers who traveled to the park on the

Northern Pacific branch line. He argued that his advertisements on the East and West coasts yielded large

numbers of customers for the Northern Pacific Railroad. The Yellowstone Park Association flatly rejected

Wylie’s request for lowering rates by stating “we

would not care to excite their [investors—Northern

Pacific Railroad] comment by extending special favors to parties proposing to handle park tourist business on a plan antagonistic to their interest.” Wylie

responded in a letter that he understood the company’s

position, but that he was also very aware of past illegal actions in selling liquor. This so angered the Yellowstone Park Association that the company declined

to respond.4

In May 1892, the Norris lunch station burned,

which left the manager providing service to visitors

in tents. Acting Superintendent Captain Anderson favored rebuilding the Norris facility. Although the

Yellowstone Park Association had its architect,

R. Cummins, draw plans for a building at Norris, at
40 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

the end of the season the company instead put its efforts toward getting another site near the geyser basin

rather than building on the old site. The lunch stations located on the Grand Loop Road provided a

noon-day stop on the scheduled park tours. In addition to the one at Norris, there was a lunch station at

Trout Creek, which operated for several years (1888–

91). In 1892, it was abandoned when the Old Faithful

to West Thumb road was completed, but a new lunch

station opened at Thumb.5 Another lunch station operated from Carroll Hobart’s “shanty hotel” for about

10 years. (The hotel was built in 1884 and burned in

1894.)6

A change in president and a new Secretary of

the Interior, Hoke Smith, encouraged the Yellowstone

Park Association to make additional proposals in 1893.

Not knowing how Congressional legislation would

affect the Association, Charles Gibson made plans to

approach the Secretary with a proposal to form a new

company that would authorize the existing leases and

return the transportation company to the Yellowstone

Park Association. Just before the season began, however, the Department granted numerous transportation

privileges to a variety of others and denied these privileges to the Yellowstone Park Association in its lease

in the Lower Firehole. The Yellowstone National Park

Transportation Company headed by Silas Huntley had

the exclusive lease and license for carrying Northern

Pacific Railroad passengers, and George Wakefield

was granted the same privilege for carrying passengers coming in through the west entrance from the

Union Pacific Railroad terminus. Additional grants

were given to W. S. Dixon of Livingston,

M. R. Johnson of Bozeman, A. L. Ryan of Bozeman,

and A. W. Chadbourne of Livingston. W. W. Wylie

also received a permit to conduct camping parties

throughout the park.7

Financial problems faced all of the park lessees

in 1893. After the decline in the U.S. gold reserve

below the $100 million mark, the Yellowstone Park

Association warned its bankers to “be particularly

careful this year about your bank balance. Some of

the western banks may be in trouble.” The company

advised its western banker to keep only a small balance and transfer any excess to the Yellowstone Park

Association office in Minnesota.8

Instead of the expected increase in visitation due

to the World’s Fair, there were fewer visitors than the

year before. Foreign travelers dominated the guest

registers, a fact that company officials anticipated

when they ordered an ample supply of European wines,

noting “indications are that our travel will be nearly

all foreign this year, and as that is the case, we must

be prepared to take advantage of their taste for wines

and to make some money out of it.”9

Visitation prospects for the 1894 season appeared

bleak as spring floods along the rail lines in the Northern Pacific’s Western Division and other rail service

completely stopped until the third week in June. About

the time the trains began to move again, the “Debs

strike” stopped rail service from Ohio to California

from June 26 to July 18. Of course, with a general

economic depression in the country, many people did

not venture far from home. At the end of the year, the

Yellowstone Park Association reported a decrease in

visitation from 1893, which had been a poor year.

Nevertheless, 1894 year-end financial figures indicated

that the company was free of debt and even had a small

cash balance.10

In addition to the decrease in visitation due to

weather and economic conditions, Captain Anderson

noted that perhaps the lack of information about the

park and lack of interest in it, even among the better

educated and informed, could account for some of the

decline. He noted that 60 percent of all foreign travelers came from Germany where the importance of

the scientific aspects of Yellowstone was taught in the

public schools. He urged Secretary Smith to consider

that “some means be adopted for bringing the mass of

the people to realize what a store of wonders and beauties they have within their boundaries. It would be

valuable to them as a part of an education, even if

they should not be able to see the Park for themselves.”11

Captain Anderson believed that the best way to

Erecting Lunch Station chimney. 1905.
Camping Gains a Foothold, 1892–1899 41

see the park was by camping and traveling on horseback, especially for local people and those who could

not afford the “hotel way.” There were, however, negative sides to camping parties—their carelessness about

camp fires, the fact that they often left camp sites untidy, and that many campers wrote inscriptions on park

features. For these reasons, Anderson opposed establishing semi-permanent camping facilities for fear

that the areas would turn “into ill-kept, unsightly structures, fit breeding places for vermin of all kinds.”12

Despite low visitation, much transpired in the

park that year. Good news came to the Yellowstone

Park Association in August 1894. The long-awaited

legislation covering leases in the park was signed by

the President Cleveland. Many changes in the act gave

the company the conditions it desired, including an

increase from 10 to 20 acres for one lessee or company and a decrease in the distance of a leased tract

from geysers (from 1/4 mile to 1/8 mile). These changes

now allowed the construction of a good hotel at the

Upper Geyser Basin. A few months later in November 1894, the old hotel in the Upper Geyser Basin,

which had also been used as a lunch station, burned.13

F. Jay Haynes and John Yancey were each given

new leases in 1894. Haynes in turn signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Yellowstone Park Association, which granted him the privilege of continuing to operate his shop within the Mammoth Hot

Springs hotel as well as exclusive privileges in the

other company hotels, with the exception of the Grand

Canyon Hotel, where water colors and oil paintings

of other artists could be sold.14

Also during 1894, a small parcel of land at Mammoth Hot Springs was leased to Postmaster George

Ash to erect a post office and small store.15 Finally

the park hotels were inspected by C. S. Bihler from

the Chief Engineer’s office of the Northern Pacific

Railroad. Bihler recommended an improvement program for the hotels. He suggested ways to correct

problems with the “V-crimp roofing” used on all hotels, pointed out the costs of relocating the Fountain

Hotel to the Upper Geyser Basin ($33,500 as opposed

to constructing a new hotel for $42,000), and compared the costs of remodeling the Mammoth Hot

Springs Hotel ($51,700) to the construction of a new

modern hotel ($85,000).16

Good weather greeted visitors at the opening of

the 1895 season, but visitation still had not reached

the 7000+ figures of the early 1890s. The Yellowstone Park Association lowered the daily hotel rate

from $5 to $4 in hope of attracting more guests.

Huntley’s transportation company made a generous

attempt to relieve the previous stop-over schedule

problem, now allowing passengers to choose routes

and dictate some schedules.

Among the new permits issued in 1895 was a

permit allowing Ole Anderson to construct a small

building to house his specimen-coating business. He

built an attractive cottage for his business on a site

immediately north of the commissioner’s new residence. Mr. Roseborough, who took over the mail route

from Mammoth to Cooke City from Mr. French, was

given a permit to erect a small building at Mammoth

with the understanding that it would be removed upon

the Superintendent’s request. (It remains today, on a

Fountain and Specimen House, Mammoth Hot Springs.

ca. 1900.

Ole Anderson's coated specimens site on Mammoth Hot

Springs. 1883 or 1884.
42 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

site just north of the Mammoth Clinic.)

E. C. Waters’s boat operation on Yellowstone

Lake was running smoothly, transporting guests from

Thumb to Lake, and he also provided a side trip to

Natural Bridge, just west of the Lake area. Waters also

ran a small shop where he sold grocery items to camping parties and provided blacksmithing to those parties.17

The officials of the Yellowstone Park Association spent much of the year in debate over the issuance of a dividend; thus, no construction occurred in

1895. Without a lease at the Upper Geyser Basin, some

of the officials were worried that another operator

might get a foothold in the area. However, the company did erect a temporary lunch station. The company relinquished its hotel leases at Norris and Thumb

but wanted permission to run lunch stations at both

locations.18

In September 1895, F. Jay Haynes requested a

lease for a tract of land at both the Upper Geyser Basin and at Canyon. It was not long before the Yellowstone Park Association objected to the site that Haynes

had selected at the Upper Geyser Basin. While acknowledging the fact that it did not have a lease in the

area, the company still objected to the site that Haynes

had selected stating that it was immediately in front

of the plot they desired. Surprisingly, the year ended

with the Yellowstone Park Association “working in

perfect harmony in this matter” with Haynes.19

In April 1896, Haynes received an eight-year

lease for two acres at the Upper Geyser Basin with

permission to erect a building or buildings from plans

approved by the Department of the Interior. Just four

days before the agreement was signed, J. H. Dean, the

Yellowstone Park Association General Manager, wrote

to the Association president about a rumor that Haynes

and Huntley were planning to erect log cabins at the

Upper Geyser Basin to accommodate guests, but the

cabins were never built.20

Visitation during the 1896 season did not improve, and Captain Anderson began questioning the

theory that the country was in a depression since all

of the Atlantic steamers were filled with American

tourists going abroad. He noted that the visitors who

did come to the park were staying longer and that more

people were entering the park from Wyoming via the

recently improved road from the south entrance, which

he felt called for some sort of guest accommodations

at Thumb. He also suggested that consideration should

be given to providing accommodations near Soda

Butte and constructing a better hotel at Tower or near

Yancey’s.21

Steamer E. C. Waters, Yellowstone Lake. n.d. Collection

of Mary Shivers Culpin.

Old Boathouse—Lake. n.d.

Mail carrier residence. 1917.
Camping Gains a Foothold, 1892–1899 43

Much to Captain Anderson’s regret, W. W. Wylie

was given permission to erect four permanent tent

camps. While praising all of the lessees in a report to

Secretary Smith, Anderson did state he believed that

having so many operators with different objectives

would be harder to manage. He strongly favored the

idea that “all the interests in the park should be placed

under a single management.”22

Silas Huntley disliked the Yellowstone Park

Association’s idea of guests being encouraged to stay

longer at the different hotel locations as this would

benefit the hotel company, but not his transportation

company.23

While tourists liked to take Waters’s boat trip

from Thumb to Lake, they disliked paying extra for it.

Waters received permission to build several small landing docks, including one on Dot Island where in 1896

he placed some bison, mountain sheep, and elk (all of

which he obtained from outside the park).24

Various other concession improvements were

made during 1896. Mammoth Hot Springs storekeeper, Mrs. Jennie Ash, built a small cottage from

which she was permitted to sell notions and needed

supplies for the tourists. Immediately thereafter, the

old log post office was torn down. After many years

of claims being submitted by J. C. McCartney, Matthew McGuirk, and J. C. Baronett, a bill to reimburse

the men, which had passed the Senate and received a

positive report in the House, was moving forward.

They were to be reimbursed as follows: McCartney—

$4,000, McGuirk—$1,000, and Baronett—$5,000.

Captain Anderson felt the claims were just and hoped

the bill would be signed.25 Captain Anderson also

approved the operation of the “Tourist Supply Store”

managed by E. F. Allen, an Idaho outfit, at the Lower

Firehole Basin. It is not known whether this was in

the Fountain Hotel or at another location. Mr. Allen

advertised groceries, provisions, vegetables, fruits, and

all kinds of camper’s supplies.26 And, as a new potential for income, Yellowstone Park Association President Pearce suggested a trial period of renting bicycles.27 It is not known if the company did indeed

rent bicycles at this time.

The business situation between the Yellowstone

Park Association and the Northern Pacific Railroad

remained unclear, thus, no substantial progress was

made on a building program in 1896. However, the

company did not delay planning for the future. The

well-known architect Cass Gilbert was sent to the park

to assess hotel needs, to make suggestions for improvements to existing buildings, and to present ideas for

new construction.28

The deteriorating relationship between some

stockholders of the Yellowstone Park Association and

the railroad resulted in the hotels closing in September rather than the normal date of October 1. The

stockholders, led by Charles Gibson, resented the

railroad’s position of not needing to make a profit on

the hotels as long as they made a profit on the railroad

service. Because visitation was poor for several years,

the Association continued to loose money.

The business situation did not change at all in

1897, but the visitation numbers increased dramatically, from 4,659 in 1896 to 10,825. Organized camping parties and private parties with their own transportation increased, forcing Captain Anderson to limit

the campers to two days at any one spot. By the beginning of August, all camping and stock grazing between Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner had to be

banned to save the grass for the wintering mountain

sheep and antelope.29

In 1897, Captain Anderson’s replacement, Colonel S. B. M. Young, who served only from June to November 1897, issued new rules for persons traveling

through the park, including specific directions on how

to leave a campsite (clean, with trash either buried or

removed so as not to offend other visitors); a ban on

camping within 100 feet of a road; a ban on hanging

clothing, hammocks, or other similar articles within

100 feet of a road; and a ban on bathing without suitable clothes near a road.30 Colonel Young also issued

instructions for the lessees at Mammoth to not use

any of the previous “dump piles” but to haul such

Steamship Zillah. 1890. The steamship ran between West

Thumb and Lake Hotel.
44 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Company) proposed to start their service for the season of 1898 in Monida, Montana, 60 miles west of the

west entrance to the park. The company planned to

operate in relays with an overnight stop at the Grayling Inn at Dwelle’s, west of the park. They would

use the latest Concord Coaches, Hill Manufacture harnesses, and the best horses obtainable. They proposed

relays throughout the park to allow visitors more time

at different points. A stocktender would service each

station, and the drivers would be trained to act as

guides with no extra charge for side trips. Because

this route would be quicker than the Northern Pacific

Railroad route by two days from New York and because of the probability that they would attract the

Colorado- and California-bound tourists, Haynes and

Humphrey predicted that the company would handle

75 percent of the transportation business in the park

in less than five years. (In 1897, 5,000 tourists had

used first-class service on the Northern Pacific Railroad while only 125 came via Union Pacific Railroad.)

The two men received an affirmance from the Union

Pacific.35

By the end of the 1898 season, the Monida &

Yellowstone Stage Company was well on its way to

an established position in the park. The company had

25 employees, 12 11-passenger Concord coaches, four

three-passenger Concord surreys, 80 horses, and two

Concord buggies. The company constructed barns at

Upper Geyser Basin, Norris, and Mammoth Hot

Springs, and with the approval of the Yellowstone Park

Association they used barns at Fountain, Lake, and

Grand Canyon until they could construct their own.

Additional equipment and employees were kept at

Monida and Dwelle’s, and plans were made to winter

Haynes’s horses outside the park in the physically

lower Centennial Valley.36

Additional lessees, the increase in visitation, and

the rise in the number of private parties and camping

trips necessitated a more tightly managed park by

Captain James Erwin, who had taken over as the acting Superintendent of the park in November 1897.

(Col. S. B. M. Young held the post for only five

months.) Captain Erwin was kept busy making inspection tours of all the different operations, and in

his annual report, he was quite complimentary about

all of the lessees, stating, “No better accommodations

and food are furnished anywhere in the United States,

under like conditions.” He also noted that all food,

with the exception of meat, some dairy products, and

occasional vegetables, must be shipped in. By the end

matter “to a general dump over a cliff above the Gardiner [sic] River, opposite the Government ice

house.”31

A number of construction projects were completed in 1897. Haynes erected his log building at the

Upper Geyser Basin. Anderson called it “the most

beautiful and most appropriate in the park.” H. E.

Klamer built a two-story frame building at the Upper

Geyser Basin (the present Lower Hamilton Store) for

use as a house and store. At Mammoth Hot Springs,

the old dairy buildings about one mile from the hotel

were torn down and the debris burned. A new dairy

facility was erected at Swan Lake Flat out of sight of

the road and in a safe drainage area.32

By the end of the 1897 season, Yellowstone Park

Association officials believed that a new location for

a hotel should be considered in the Tower Fall area

and that a lease should be obtained prior to the Mount

Washburn road being completed.33

Just as the year ended, F. Jay Haynes and

W. W. Humphrey sought permission to transport passengers through the west entrance, most of whom were

expected to arrive at the park via the Union Pacific

Railroad. Hoping to operate under the name “Monida

& Yellowstone Stage Company,” the men assured the

Department of the Interior that they had $20,000 cash

on hand with available resources of up to $50,000, if

needed. They had a verbal agreement with the Union

Pacific that the railroad would advertise and sell tickets for the stage company provided there was an agreement with the Department of the Interior.34 Haynes

and Humphrey (a 15-year stage business veteran and

for the past five years the superintendent of Silas

Huntley’s Yellowstone National Park Transportation

Klamer Store at Upper Geyser Basin. Before 1907.
Camping Gains a Foothold, 1892–1899 45

of 1898, camping parties accounted for about half of

the park’s visitation. In addition to Wylie’s Camping

Company, 23 different independent operators were

given permits to guide camping parties during 1898.37

Wylie established permanent camps at

Apollinaris Spring, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone

Lake, and Canyon; he also operated lunch stations

about halfway between the Lower Geyser Basin and

Norris (a place called “Sleepy Hollow”) and near Yellowstone Lake. E. C. Waters’s Yellowstone Lake Boat

Company received leases for two acres near Lake

Hotel, two acres on Frank Island, two acres on Stevenson Island, one acre on Dot Island, one acre at West

Thumb, two acres at the Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake, two acres at the Dot Island Game Corral,

and an additional six acres to be located by the Superintendent.38

During 1898, the Yellowstone Park Association

received a lease for the Upper Geyser Basin but did

not begin construction of the hotel. The company had

about half the number of guests (2,207) during 1898

as during the previous year, resulting in another loss.

The company estimated it would need about 4,000

guests to be self-sustaining. Despite massive advertising campaigns in both the United States and Europe and with a reduction in the daily rates, visitation

remained low. Some repairs were done during 1898

but no major construction was undertaken.39

After the disappointing 1898 season, the Yellowstone Park Association began to reduce spending by

opening the hotels two weeks later and closing them

two weeks earlier in 1899. At one point it was uncertain whether or not the hotels would be open at all.

The company did not renew their leases for Norris or

Thumb and abandoned the lunch station business altogether.40 In separate unsuccessful attempts,

E. C. Waters and others, as well as H. W. Child, S.

Huntley, and others, tried to purchase the Northern

Pacific Railroad’s interest in the Yellowstone Park Association.41 As the nineteenth century ended, the Yellowstone Park Association was on unstable ground.

Although few major buildings were constructed

during the past few years, the roots of a unique architectural style had begun. Very shortly after its construction, E. C. Waters wanted to copy the style for

his buildings at Yellowstone Lake. Ironically, as the

Yellowstone Park Association’s finances became less

certain, they once again had hired one of Minnesota’s

(and later the country’s) leading architects, Cass Gilbert, to report on the architectural needs of the hotels.

(Documents do not credit which particular company

official hired Gilbert.) Up until that point, the hotels

had been described as “barn-like,” with the large buildings never having received a coat of paint. Just before the season ended in 1899, Gilbert made suggestions for both interior and exterior paint schemes for

Stereograph of Monida and Yellowstone stage. 1912. Stereograph of Wylie Camp at Canyon. 1912.
46 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

the Canyon and Fountain hotels.42 Although these two

buildings were frame ones, the park had numerous

smaller log buildings, and those were beginning to influence architects. Seeking the advice and opinions

of leading architects for the new concession buildings

and the recognition that log buildings were a desirable architectural style would influence not only concessions development in the park, but also the buildings and structures constructed by the government in

the park.

Despite being faced with erratic visitation and

the lack of major construction projects by the

concessioners during the century’s last decade, many

smaller concession developments did take place. Now

catering to the camping crowd as well as the scheduled rail passenger guests, new permanent tent camps,

new stores, new lunch stations and several permanent

camps were built. The new century would see the rise

in new trends for visitation.
Competition Among Concessioners, 1900–1914 47

CHAPTER FIVE

Competition Among

Concessioners

1900–1914

The year 1900 began with an uneasy situation

with major lessees in the park. One issue was the room

and board of the different companies’ employees. In

the past, the Yellowstone Park Association had given

discount rates to both Haynes’s and Huntley and

Child’s transportation drivers and other employees;

most of the employees stayed at the Cottage Hotel,

now owned by the Yellowstone Park Association. The

Association wanted to keep employees separate from

visitors and disliked the drivers and other employees

coming into the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel for billiards or other amusements. The Association’s position on the issue was revealed in a letter from the

company’s park manager to headquarters in St. Paul:

While this class of people is very hard to please

in the matter of meals, though they are served

the same class of food that is served to the tourists, and their complaints are many and mostly

unreasonable ones, and their deportment is often very insulting to hotel managers and employees, yet the Association had some compensation for all this in the price, 50 cents per meal.

While the Yellowstone Park Association liked

the income derived from the meal charges, $8,212.49

in 1899, they decided that if Silas Huntley of the transportation company declined the hotel services for his

employees, then they would retaliate with higher rates

Mammoth Hotel front desk. ca. 1908. Hotel Company waiters. n.d.
48 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

for Huntley’s transportation office rental at the hotel,

and they would begin charging for telegraph services.1

F. Jay Haynes’s Monida & Yellowstone Stage

Company built accommodations for its employees at

Norris, Fountain, Lake, and Canyon, but still needed

boarding service from Yellowstone Park Association

at Upper Geyser Basin, Thumb, and Mammoth. Their

plan called for hiring a married stocktender whose wife

would do the cooking. Haynes felt that his move was

“simply one of economy” and if his expenses “got in

the neighborhood of 50 cents per meal we would much

prefer to have the Ass’n board our men and avoid the

annoyance of running these stations.”2

Two other issues between major lessees were the

schedules and tourist routes. As early as 1901, Haynes

began examining the possibility of better service for

customers by using automobiles between Monida and

Dwelle’s. However, with the cost of cars at about

$3,000 each and the need for between 16 and 20 cars,

it was not yet economically feasible.3 Tensions arose

between the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company

and the Yellowstone Park Association over schedules

and routes within the park for the Monida-arriving

tourists. Haynes pointed out that the hotels were receiving Colorado- and Utah-bound tourists, who normally would not have gone to the park, via the Union

Pacific and the Oregon Short Line. Thus, the Yellowstone Park Association was making money because

of the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company.4 In

other areas, the two major lessees cooperated. For

instance, the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company

signed an agreement with the president of the Yellowstone Park Association to pay $150 per year for use of

the intra-park telephone and telegraph service and for

use of office space in the hotels.5

Other disputes arose between concessioners.

One that would become an ongoing issue was the type

of goods sold at the different establishments. In 1903,

Haynes objected to items for sale in Mrs. Ash’s store

at Mammoth and in E. C. Waters’s store at Lake; he

considered those items an infringement of his privilege to sell park photographic views. He believed Mrs.

Ash took advantage of the fact that she was allowed

to sell the newly popular Kodak film supplies by

stretching her sales to include other photographers

views. Because Haynes’s photographs were not copyrighted, they were being reproduced by many other

firms and publishers. At that time, Haynes was providing both park companies with a 25 percent discount

on his products, including his popular guidebook that

sold about 4,500 copies a year.6

In June 1901, proposed hotel plans were sent

from the Northern Pacific Railway’s Chief Engineer

E. H. McHenry to the Yellowstone Park Association

General Manager of park hotels, J. Dean. One of the

plans, drawn by architect A. W. Spalding, was for a

proposed hotel at the Upper Geyser Basin; another

plan, drawn by St. Paul, Minnesota, architectural firm,

Witsie, Teltz, and Joy, was for the Norris Geyser Basin Hotel (to replace the hotel burned in 1892); and, a

set of 1892 plans, with no architect listed, was for the

Upper Geyser Basin Hotel.7 The question of hotel

construction immediately became an issue after Harry

Child gained one-third interest in the Yellowstone Park

Norris Hotel. 1904.
Competition Among Concessioners, 1900–1914 49

Old Faithful Inn bedroom. 1917.

Association in 1901. Apparently, prior commitments

from the Yellowstone Park Association to its hotel

needs as well as requests from the Department of the

Interior were not clearly detailed prior to the transfer

of stock. Because the hotels never made a real profit

and while the passenger service directly related to the

park had made a substantial profit since 1898 (about

$50,000 per year), Child sought some consideration

in regard to freight rates on supplies and material and

fares paid by Yellowstone Park Association employees from the railway division for which he received a

favorable response.8

In January 1903, E. C. Waters, who several years

earlier had proposed to buy the Yellowstone Park Association, questioned C. S. Mellen, president of the

Northern Pacific Railway Company, on the 1901

change in ownership. Mellen explained, “Certain parties who were interested became impossible in connection with the management of the property, and it

was necessary they should be removed, and in order

to accomplish this we were obliged, temporarily, to

become the purchaser of an interest in the Park Companies, which today only represents one third of the

whole.” Mellen went on to suggest, “It was not the

intention of this Company to remain a stockholder in

either the Transportation or the Hotel Company, and

we shall undoubtedly dispose of our interest at an early

opportunity.”

In August 1903, Mellen and H. W. Child worked

out a deal whereby Child received an equal amount of

stock of the Northwest Improvement Company (a subsidiary company of the Northern Pacific Railroad) for

the cost of $82,179.88.9 During the same year, 1901,

that Child took over the Yellowstone Park Association, Silas Huntley, Child’s partner in the transportation business, died. By a series of stock exchanges

and purchases, Child now owned 50 percent of both

the transportation and the hotel companies; by 1907,

Child held all of the stock of the railroad’s subsidiary,

the Northwest Improvement Company. The Northern Pacific Railroad held Child’s note.

In 1903, the Northern Pacific Railway Company

completed its branch line to Gardiner and erected “a

handsome and comfortable depot,” designed by Robert Reamer. Tourists could now enter the park through

the North Entrance Arch, which had been dedicated

by President Theodore Roosevelt in April 1903, and

know “they are within the bounds of the park.”10

Construction started this same year on the hotel

at the Upper Geyser Basin, the Old Faithful Inn, which

was designed by Robert Reamer. Renovation work

Old Faithful Inn. 1912.
50 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

was also under way on the Lake Hotel. Between the

two projects, 90 men were still working in December,

and the costs had come to $72,416.77 for the Old Faithful Inn and $55,296.02 for the Lake Hotel.11 At the

end of 1903, the Yellowstone Park Association had a

total of 476 hotel rooms accommodating 1,288 guests

with 677 beds and 78 cots; there were 120 tent rooms.12

In 1904, F. Jay Haynes suggested to Union Pacific Railroad’s general passenger agent that if the Oregon Short Line built a line to the west entrance of the

park, perhaps he (Haynes) should consider seeking a

lease to build a hotel, “The Monida,” near the west

entrance. The hotel could be located on the east side

of Christmas Tree Park, on the south bank of the Madison River allowing views of the Madison River and

the Gallatin Mountains. Haynes, whose transportation company would benefit by having a hotel near

the west entrance, believed that because the Northern

Pacific was “making an effort to make the hotel at

Mammoth a resort, there is no reason why a hotel at

this point would not be fully as attractive.”13 In January 1906, Haynes and Child met in Washington regarding Haynes’s interest in securing a hotel lease for

the Madison River site. Because the Department of

the Interior preferred to have the Yellowstone Park

Association operate all of the hotels, Child and Haynes

came to an amicable agreement whereby Child would

accommodate Haynes’s needs. The evidence that a

personal relationship was developing between the two

major concessioners can be seen in their correspondence. The two businessmen began to work together

to fashion the development of modern concessions in

the park.14

The 1905 visitation numbers (26,188) were

double the previous year’s figure. Nearly half of the

visitors toured with licensed camping parties or were

private campers. With the rising popularity of the

camping experience, it wasn’t long before discussions

were held in the offices of the Northern Pacific Railroad and in Washington about buying out the Wylie

Camping Company and extending Wylie’s government

lease for another 10 years.15 Before that could happen, Livingston businessman, A. W. Miles bought out

W. W. Wylie in 1906. He continued to use Wylie’s

name, calling the company Wylie Permanent Camping Company.16

With Child’s purchase of the Northern Pacific

Railroad’s stock in 1907 and Congress passing a law

allowing leases not to exceed 20 years, the Yellowstone Park Association seemed set for a rather stable

period. Visitation was down in 1906–07 from the

record year of 1905 (from 26,188 in 1905 to 17,102 in

1906 to 16,414 in 1907), but the Yellowstone Park

Association and the Northern Pacific Railway made

major efforts to advertise the park through publications such as Land of Geysers and by sponsoring a

lecture series in conjunction with the Department of

the Interior.17

Old Faithful Inn bathroom. 1912.
Competition Among Concessioners, 1900–1914 51

Haynes became upset with Child after the Yellowstone Park Association raised the rates at its hotels from $4.00 to $5.50, and the Wylie Permanent

Camping Company followed suit by raising its rates.

(While upset, Haynes did not think it strange that the

camping company had raised its rates as he had heard

that Yellowstone Park Association had controlling interest in the Wylie Permanent Camping Company.)

Haynes wanted to avoid putting in another class of

hotels for those who could not afford the $5.50 per

night. While good relations between Haynes and Child

resumed, Haynes remained concerned about the high

costs of staying in the park.

All three companies were competing for stage

service into and through the park. Haynes tried to put

a stop to the rumor that Child was also interested in

his stage company: “It has been intimated that Mr.

Child was interested in our Company. For your information I will say that Mr. Child never held one dollar’s

worth of interest in our Company, and it has been my

intention not to combine in any way to the detriment

of the traveling public. Socially, we are on good terms,

but as far as any business matters are concerned we

are absolutely separate.”18

Haynes made plans in 1907 to secure office space

and a business counter in the lobby of the proposed

depot of the Oregon Short Line Railroad at the west

entrance. In addition to planning his space, he reviewed plans for a depot design. Haynes needed an

additional building for an office, three bedrooms, and

a bathroom near the depot, and he requested of the

Union Pacific that the “...style of building should be

in harmony with the depot building. We would be

willing, if it is agreeable to your company, to stand

the expense of a stone building, gotten up in artistic

shape, but not large.”19

Haynes, who had earlier looked at the possibilities of using automobiles between Monida and the west

entrance, sought permission from the Department of

the Interior to conduct a night time experimental ride

in an automobile through the park with Child and the

park superintendent. Haynes believed that it would

not be too many years before automobiles would be

allowed into the park; hence he thought a test ride

would be informative to the automobile manufacturer

about vehicle performance at the different altitudes

and atmospheric conditions. Department of the Interior official W. B. Acker suggested that he should wait

for a few weeks and approach the new incoming Secretary with his idea as it was rumored that a reorganization was in store for the Department.20 However,

another eight years would elapse before automobiles

were allowed into the park.

In 1908, Haynes received permission from the

Department of the Interior to construct a telegraph line

between the newly opened depot at the west entrance

and the Fountain Hotel where it would connect with

the Yellowstone Park Association line that ran between

developed areas in the park.21 He also constructed

numerous buildings around the park in anticipation of

large numbers of tourists coming in 1909. This increase was expected because of the Alaska-Yukon Exposition in Seattle and the accompanying increased

advertising of the park conducted by several railroads.

Probably looking to 1909, Haynes ordered additional

passenger coaches and surreys and planned to purchase

between 50 and 100 new horses. At the west entrance,

he built a coach house that held 64 vehicles and a paint

shop, and he made some additions to his other buildings, painting them all mineral red.22

By 1909, the Department of the Interior was responsible for 12 national parks, many of which also

had extensive concession operations. After visiting

both Yellowstone and Yosemite, Secretary of the Interior R. A. Ballinger announced that the “parks have

ceased to be experimental as to the operation of transportation lines, hotels, and other concessions, because

of the steady stream of travel frequenting them, and

the large profits in most cases should require the devotion of a reasonable share thereof to the maintenance

of the parks.” Thus, for the first time, a use tax that

was based upon gross earnings was imposed on the

concessioners to enlarge the maintenance fund. Also

for the first time, when new leases were written the

rental and franchise charges were proportionate to the

privileges enjoyed. The Secretary planned to create

an accounting and inspection system for concessions.23

Before the 1909 season began, Haynes pressured

the Yellowstone Park Association to house his expected

passengers for the season. Besides the Alaska-Yukon

Exposition in Seattle, a Christian Endeavor group was

meeting in Denver, and the Grand Army of the Republic was meeting in Salt Lake City. Haynes believed many of these people would book an extension

to the park.24 However, the Yellowstone Park Association did not anticipate that the 1909 season would

set a visitation record, and the tension between Haynes

and “Lord Harry” (as Haynes sometimes called Harry

Child) mounted. When he did not get a positive commitment from the Yellowstone Park Association that
52 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

they would take care of his passengers, Haynes appealed to the Department of the Interior for a permit

to operate a system of tent camps or, preferably, log

cabin camps. In addition to covering his immediate

needs, Haynes believed this type of accommodation

would offer a system of “second-class accommodations” to complement the Yellowstone Park Association system of hotels. (Haynes also knew that a Salt

Lake City firm had made such an application for camping and transportation privileges.) In a letter to Secretary Ballinger, Haynes noted that during the summer of the 1905 Portland Exposition more than 26,000

people visited the park, but 15,000 people were refused the cheaper tours because of the lack of a second-class type of accommodation. Haynes believed that

60 percent of the park visitors were of moderate means.25

Previously, Haynes had objected to Ballinger’s

limiting words in his lease, “Continuance hereafter to

be dependent upon manner in which service conducted

and necessity thereof.” Haynes believed that this put

him at the mercy of “Lord Harry” and “Slick Tom”

(Senator Thomas Carter of Montana), both of whom

had better Washington connections. In April, however,

“Lord Harry” approached Haynes about the camping

business. Because Child had recently returned from

Washington, he probably discerned the likelihood of

Haynes getting a permit. Haynes commented that

Child “seems quite anxious that I join in with him and

work in harmony.” One month later, Haynes and Child

signed an agreement for Haynes to buy one-third interest in the Wylie Permanent Camping Company for

a total of $60,000. It was approved by Secretary

Ballinger. This now allowed Haynes to get into the

camping business without having to submit an independent application.26 Park visitation for 1909 did

set a record: 32,545 visitors.

In April 1910, the Department assessed Haynes

use-tax amounts of $940 and $470, respectively, for

his photographic privileges at Mammoth and Upper

Geyser Basin. Because he did not have an exclusive

privilege for the sale of photographs and pictorial souvenirs, he believed that the Department’s use-tax assessment was excessive. Haynes defended the higher

costs of having his postcards done in Germany because, he said, the well-traveled tourists demanded

higher quality. The current park Superintendent, Major Benson, also thought the amount assessed Haynes

was high compared to the other companies.27 In May

1910, the Department of the Interior gave Haynes permission to make additions to his studio located on

Avenue A in Mammoth and to his studio at the Upper

Geyser Basin.28

In 1910, the Yellowstone Park Association began planning an extensive construction program for a

new hotel at Canyon and, later, for a new hotel at

Mammoth. In need of cash, Child wrote the Northwest Improvement Company for a loan to finance the

new projects. Despite the Northwest Improvement

Company’s lean financial position, Elliot agreed to

loan him $100,000 in both 1910 and 1911 (total of

$200,000) with terms of five percent for five years

toward the construction of the Canyon Hotel. Elliot

also strongly indicated that money would be forthcoming for the Mammoth hotel when that project began.29

During 1910, Child decided to upgrade some of

the services at the hotels in order to justify a rate increase for some rooms. The regular charge of $5 a

day still applied, but an approved increase for special

accommodations went into effect on July 15, 1910.

An ordinary room with bath would be $6; a special

room without bath, one that was large with good location and specially furnished, including special table

assignments and service in the dining room, would be

$6; and a special room with bath would be $7. Haynes

disapproved of the new rates (except for the added

charge for a private bath) in a letter to Major Benson,

“I think there should be a uniform charge in the hotels

for rooms, and front rooms should be assigned to ladies and married couples; gentlemen traveling alone

are not as particular. The expense of maintaining a

front room is not more than that of a back room.”30

Despite Haynes’s opposition to the increased

rates, he decided to assist Child in his efforts to raise

capital for the Canyon Hotel construction by paying

his $15,000 note (due to Child on June 1, 1911) in

advance.31

At the end of 1910, the Yellowstone Park Association had eight hotels that included lunch stations,

three dwellings, two commissaries, five root houses,

six ice houses, three laundry and engine rooms, two

storehouses, one bath house, and one water tank and

windmill. The company also operated 116 miles of

telegraph and telephone lines.32 Haynes reported at

the end of 1910 that his stage company had 18 buildings at Yellowstone, Montana (now known as West

Yellowstone); four buildings at Fountain; five buildings at Upper Basin; two buildings at Thumb; three

buildings at Lake; four buildings at Canyon; three

buildings at Norris; and four buildings at Mammoth.

He owned 325 horses, 122 passenger vehicles, and 20
Competition Among Concessioners, 1900–1914 53

miles of telegraph line with 30 miles of leased line

from West Yellowstone to Mammoth.33

In 1911, almost 40 years after Yellowstone had

been established, serious discussions about park issues began when a distinguished group of men representing concessions, park officials, well-known landscape architects, railroad officials, and others interested in the betterment of the national parks met in

Yellowstone for the first National Park Conference.

The new Secretary of the Interior, Walter Fisher, described the past administration of the parks as “unsystematic, unscientific, and uneconomic.”34 This was

not news to Yellowstone concessioners who by this

time had invested millions in the park while the government had made only minimal contributions. Thomas Cooper, Assistant to the President of the Northern Pacific Railroad, responded to Fisher’s comments

by noting that his criticisms were not with the administration but, with Congress who he claimed had been

“parsimonious in its treatment of national parks to a

degree that largely defeats the very purpose of their

creation.” He cited as an example the fact that the

concessioners had been somewhat successful in getting visitors to the parks, but because of a lack of coordination and funding from the government, nearly

one third of the travel season would pass before sufficient sprinkling of the roads would allow comfortable

road conditions for travelers.35

Secretary Fisher discussed visitation and

complimented the railroads for taking the lead in advertising the parks and in facilitating the ease with

which visitors could now travel. Louis Hill, president

of the Great Northern Railway, which had interests in

the newly created Glacier National Park, discussed

their “See America First” campaign and how they

hoped to reach Yellowstone visitation figures in a few

years.36 Haynes called upon Secretary Fisher to consider turning the use tax over to individual parks for

improvements. There was much discussion of the

benefits of regulated monopolies as opposed to a more

competitive system.37

In July 1912, Haynes signed an agreement with

the Department of the Interior for a new relay station,

lunch stop, and stable near Tower Fall. With completion of the Mount Washburn road, this facility would

serve visitors traveling between Canyon and Mammoth.38 An independent operator, Tex Holm of Cody,

used Haynes’s buildings at the Tower Fall location.39

The previous year, Tex Holm had sought a permit to

build permanent log camp buildings in the park, and

in April 1912, he was given permission to build at

Sylvan Lake, Grand Canyon, Norris, Upper Geyser

Basin, and Yellowstone Lake.40

Shortly after the close of the 1912 season, the

second National Park Conference was held at Yosemite

National Park with the same issues raised as the year

before when the officials met in Yellowstone. There

were discussions on automobiles in the parks, lack of

government investment in the parks, the need for a

bureau of national parks, and ideas on how to attract

Canyon Hotel. 1914.
54 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

more visitors. Mr. Child was praised by Senator Flint

of California in his remarks:

the country will [should] adopt plans of encouraging people of the United States to remain at

home and see wonders that we have here that

are just as grand and beautiful as in any other

part of the world, ...two men who have done

great work in bringing to us in this country our

American tourists, keeping them at home. One

is Mr. Child, with the magnificent service that

he has given to the people in the Yellowstone

Park—and the other would be Mr. Harvey...for

the service we have at the Grand Canyon.41

Haynes had high expectations for the 1913 season due to numerous advanced bookings from people

attending the Knights Templar Conclave in Denver,

the National Education Association in Salt Lake City,

and the Christian Endeavor conference in Los Angeles. However, much of his time in 1913 was occupied

with defending the stage company from charges of

violating a clause in his lease; he then faced the cancellation of his stage contract by Secretary of the Interior Lane. Secretary Lane and his assistant Adolph

Miller suggested that Haynes distance himself from

the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company, reorganize, and seek a new permit, all of which Haynes did.42

In 1914, Haynes began operating as the Yellowstone-Western Stage Company. Competition from

Child had been strong before, and Haynes felt that

Child and his former partner, W. Humphrey, were behind the 1913 cancellation of his Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company permit. Nevertheless, while he

was trying to reorganize, he sent his wife a positive

telegram from Washington, “Matters are proceeding

entirely satisfactory [sic]...have had three calls and

one lunch from Lord Harry. Quite like old times indications are he will get on the band wagon and join the

popular theme of reduction that I suggested. Don’t

worry.”43

The strained competitive relationships in Yellowstone were not limited to those of Child and Haynes.

George Whittaker and Mrs. George Pryor were both

vying for the postmaster position at Mammoth. John

Meldrum, the United States Commissioner, believed

that someone from Harry Child’s operation was backing Whittaker’s purchase of the Lyall and Henderson

store at Mammoth in order that Whittaker could slip

into the postmaster’s job. Mrs. Pryor had the support

of the superintendent, Colonel Brett, and most of the

Army officers. Judge Meldrum wrote to Haynes seeking his support, “Now, I know that you are a little prejudiced against women wearing the trousers, but you

know that this State, Wyoming, was the pioneer

proclaimer of ‘Equal Rights’ to the fair sex; and you

also know that Mrs. Pryor is a bright and exceedingly

capable woman.”44

Child announced the transfer of the lease from

Lyall and Henderson to George Whittaker on March

3, 1913, and Child immediately organized a petition

on behalf of Whittaker for the position of postmaster.

In Mrs. Anna Pryor’s letter to Haynes seeking his support for her appointment, she wrote, “Now here is a

Lyall and Henderson Store—Mammoth Hot Springs. ca.

1914.

Rear of Lyall and Henderson Store—Mammoth Hot

Springs. ca. 1914.
Competition Among Concessioners, 1900–1914 55

secret far as I know, [and] it may help you if you do

not know it. Huntley Child bought Park post cards to

sell in the hotels this season and said they would not

handle yours.”45

Obviously the debate over who handled what

merchandise in the different establishments was continuing. In May, Huntley Child complained to Colonel Brett that Haynes was selling “souvenir jewelry

and leather sofa pillows at his stands in the park” which

Child felt interfered with his license. This drew a response from Colonel Brett who quoted the

Department’s decision:

The complaint of Mrs. Ash and Mr. Klamer in

this case is not well founded. Mr. Haynes having the right, under the schedule of rates in

question, to dispose of in the Park all souvenirs [of] embellished park views.46

Brett pointed out to Child that his permit of May

1912 for the Canyon store, which was “revocable at

the will of the Secretary of the Interior” was for “such

articles, knickknacks and tourist supplies as present

conditions at this point require, in order to make proper

provisions for the demands of the traveling public.”47

In 1913, the Shaw and Powell Camping Company was given a permit to establish permanent camping facilities in the park. The move upset the Northern Pacific Railroad’s Vice President, J. M. Hannaford,

who wrote to Child:

It seems to me that the Park authorities allowing construction of buildings of this character

cannot but work to the material disadvantage

of the Hotel Company, and that lobbies, dining rooms, etc. will soon be followed by sleeping quarters, and that you are going to find your

expensive hotels running in competition with

a very smaller investment, and in that way the

value of the securities you have out are going

to be considerably lessened.48

Haynes’s son, Jack, was now taking a more active role in the business. He visited Salt Lake City to

examine the competition’s advertising methods and

to explore the possibility of opening an office there.

The Wylie company and the Shaw and Powell company both maintained a presence there.49

In August, Haynes, who had decided that he

needed better lodging for his employees at Canyon,

submitted plans for a new bunkhouse to replace the

1898 building, which he felt was too near his barn.

With this project Haynes was introduced to the newly

organized system of project review within the DepartJ. E. Haynes residence and studio. 1917.
56 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

ment of the Interior. Secretary Franklin Lane had appointed Mark Daniels as the General Superintendent

and Landscape Engineer of National Parks. He would,

among other duties, review and approve the design

for buildings erected in the parks. Daniels approved

Haynes’s design, but recommended that the building

be set up high enough to allow for some stone foundation and that the pitch of the roof be less than 45

degrees. Having had many years of experience with

Yellowstone winters, Haynes objected to flattening the

roof, citing the snow-load problems. Daniels eventually agreed with Haynes, but only after Haynes disputed Daniels’s comparison with buildings in Switzerland.50

World War I broke out in Europe before the 1914

season was over, but no one knew if it would cause

impacts to the park. With the Army still in control of

park administration, it was unclear unknown if a shift

in the Army’s priorities would impact the management

of the park. However, the hiring of Mark Daniels in

the Department of the Interior brought the appearance

of a more organized approach to park management

and was encouraging to the concessioners.
Changes Sweep the Park, 1915–1918 57

CHAPTER SIX

Changes Sweep the Park

1915–1918

After more than four decades, the Department

of the Interior finally began focusing some attention

on the parks, and there was a strong indication that a

bureau of national parks would be created. While secretaries Walter Fisher and Richard Ballinger had taken

some measures toward creating such a bureau,

Franklin Lane took a giant step in that direction with

his appointment of Stephen Mather as Assistant to the

Secretary of the Interior in 1915. The 3rd National

Park Conference, which convened in Berkeley, California, and coincided with the Panama-Pacific Exposition, outlined a progressive program that greatly affected concessioners.

One of the main topics of discussion at the Park

Conference was how to get people to the parks. While

this issue was nothing new for Yellowstone officials,

it was new to have a Departmental appointee discussing it. Mark Daniels, General Superintendent and

Landscape Engineer, stated that for the parks to be a

success, “We are going to put them to the use for which

they were set aside, in other words, if they are going

to bring in dividends, not only in money, but in health,

happiness, and increased intelligence, they must certainly be visited by the people.” Daniels believed the

three key ingredients to success for parks were transportation facilities, publicity, and accommodations—

Loading of stage coaches at Mammoth Hotel (formerly National Hotel). Pre-1914.
58 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

the same three elements that the concessioners in

Yellowstone and other parks had been investing in for

years. Now, the Department of the Interior appeared

ready to assume more responsibility in these areas,

particularly in publicity. Daniels urged that a bureau

of information be created, and he reported that Secretary Lane had begun a “campaign of publicity” by

securing the services of a nationally known journalist

to steer the effort.1 A good friend of Stephen Mather,

Robert Sterling Yard, had been hired as the national

parks publicity chief. Yard had been the editor of Century and was currently the Sunday editor of the New

York Herald.2

In order to promote accommodations and reach

all classes of tourists, Daniels called for a three-tiered

system of accommodations: (1) a hotel or chalet system for sleeping and dining, (2) a system of permanent camps where the traveler slept in tents but ate in

dining rooms, and (3) facilities for individual campers who rented a tent and cooked their own food. Earlier Haynes had called for an additional type of accommodation—the second-class hotel, perhaps the

antecedent of the lodge system.

Daniels pointed out that private camping parties

would present problems that required new investments

by the government. With hundreds or even thousands

of private campers congregating in a park, municipaltype problems would arise. The park would need to

provide water, electricity, telephones, and a system of

ranger patrols for the campgrounds. Daniels suggested

a “village” prototype and noted that trial examples

were planned in Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier,

and Glacier. Daniels knew the success of this system

was based on sufficient congressional appropriations,

and the justification for increased appropriations was

based on increased visitation.3

Fred Harvey, whose family was a concessioner

in Grand Canyon, frowned on what he perceived as

the prevailing attitude: “In our parks today the man

who is operating the accommodation for the service

of the public is regarded as if he was there simply to

make as much money as he could out of it. He must

be watched.”4 Pointing out that providing good service is no easy task in the remote national parks,

Harvey believed that a regulated monopoly should

protect the companies that had invested large sums of

money in order to provide good accommodations and

service. And he believed that all hotels in a park should

be under one owner. Stephen Mather agreed and added

that park concessioners should be of the very highest

character and “should have the interest on his investments thoroughly protected. He should have his operating expenses deducted, and then the profits should

be divided, possibly 50 per cent to the Government

and 50 per cent to the concessioner.” Mather, being

very new to his position, also knew that what he proposed might not be practical, but thought it should be

tried in some parks. 5

For the concessioners of Yellowstone National

Park, 1915 was also an important year as visitation

more than doubled from 20,250 in 1914 to 51,895 and,

late in the season, automobiles were allowed to travel

throughout the park. The admission of automobiles

would change the character of the visitor experience,

the character of park development, and the investments

of the concessioner. Because Yellowstone’s roads had

been designed for wagons or stages, the immediate

problem would be the mixing of the two different

modes of transportation. The plan issued by Secretary Lane’s office called for the stages to leave 30

minutes after the automobiles had left on their oneway circuit around the Grand Loop Road. 6 Quickly

that year, Holm Transportation Company and the

Wylie Permanent Camping Company applied for permits to allow transport of passengers in motor vehicles.

They were denied on the grounds that the admission

of automobiles was for “pleasure purposes only.” 7

Mammoth Hot Springs store concessioners,

Anna Pryor and Elizabeth Trischman sought permission to sell gasoline and lubricating oils in addition to

numerous items not included in the original lease to

Ole Anderson for coating of specimens. The lease,

which was approved for one year, allowed them to

sell souvenirs, confectionery, fresh fruit, cigars, tobacco, tourist hats and veils, colored glasses, books,

magazines, stationery, along with maintaining a complete soda fountain, coffee, tea, and non-alcohol beverages; but they could not sell automobile-related items

or Indian or fur rugs.8

Haynes was in an awkward position in preparing for the expected record season of 1915. He only

had a one-year permit for his stage company, and he

was faced with purchasing new equipment to meet

increased needs; at the same time, he knew that drastic changes would be taking place in the near future

because of the probable admission of automobiles into

the park. He requested a longer lease from the Department of the Interior and outlined his projected

purchases: 100 new stage horses, 12 eight-passenger

Concord coaches, 100 five-passenger surreys, addi-
Changes Sweep the Park, 1915–1918 59

tional harnesses and other related equipment, 500 tons

of hay and 500,000 pounds of oats, additional lodging, and horse sheds. Despite his presenting a good

case, the Department of the Interior renewed his lease

only for one year.9 At the end of 1915, his

Yellowstone-Western Stage Company owned 472

horses and 228 passenger vehicles.10

The year 1916 was one of profound change for

Yellowstone. The most important change was the creation of the National Park Service in August, with

Stephen Mather selected as the Director. Among those

who had lobbied for the creation of a bureau of national parks was a group of the leading landscape architects in the country. A committee was formed to

support the Congressional legislation and included the

Yellowstone concessioner, H. W. Child, as well as

Frederick L. Olmstead, Enos Mills, Warren Manning,

Percival Gallagher, and Harris Reynolds. They prepared a report about park issues, part of which addressed a question that is just as relevant at the end of

the twentieth century as it was in 1915: the “advisability of establishing a populous village within the

park for concessionaires and employees, or for visitors,” or whether such housing should be built outside

the park, “where, of course, it would not be under the

direction of the government.”11

In the park itself, F. Jay Haynes transferred his

concession business, Haynes Park Studio, to his son,

Jack, in January 1916. (The lease arrangements with

the Department of the Interior remained the same).12

F. Jay Haynes was focusing his time and attention on

the transition of his transportation business from horses

to motors. With additional advertising and promotion by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad

many people were expected to come into the park via

the east entrance. In preparing for providing motor

transport at the east entrance, Haynes and his attorney, J. Hickey, along with A. W. Miles of the Wylie

Permanent Camping Company, Huntley Child, and

representatives of the Shaw and Powell Camping company met in Helena to discuss the formation of the

Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Company.

Most of March was spent comparing different

vehicles. A representative from the White Company

met with the group, and, eventually, it received an order for two 10-passenger buses similar to the buses

used in Glacier National Park. Haynes visited Pence

Auto Company in Minneapolis and ordered five Buick

seven-passenger cars.13 In June, the Cody-Sylvan Pass

Motor Company became official and made up of all

former transportation companies. Fifty shares of stock

were issued: Haynes held 16.5 shares; Huntley Child,

1 share; William Nichols, Huntley Child’s brother-inlaw, 14 shares; A. W. Miles, 10 shares; Leo Shaw, 6.5

shares; John Powell, 1 share; and Haynes’s attorney,

James Hickey, 1 share. Haynes served as president of

the company. Cooperation among the former competitors was high, including the loan of equipment and

sharing of services, particularly at Tower Fall.14

By the end of the summer, park officials termed

the first full season of automobile touring (3,445 automobiles carried 14,930 people for pleasure) a “tremendous success.” They made plans to withdraw all

horse-drawn vehicles from the park roads by the openBuses and touring cars. 1920s.
60 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

ing of the 1917 season.15

Meanwhile, the disposal of the horses and the

horse-drawn vehicles and equipment of the Yellowstone-Western Stage Company kept Haynes busy.

With World War I raging in Europe, Haynes’s attorney, James Hickey, met with representatives of an

English commission who were in this country purchasing horses for military use. The commission members were looking for heavy and strong horses and

did not think that the stage-company horses would do.

They were also very specific in what they would buy,

only dark sorrels or dark bays. However, they suggested that the French commission might be interested,

and they would represent the stage company to the

French. But, after a German submarine sank five ships

off the Atlantic coast, munitions transportation slowed

down somewhat, and Haynes said, “I think this was

the reason why horse buyers held back.” In the spring,

Howard Eaton, an outfitter and owner of the Eaton

Ranch in Wolf, Wyoming, offered to buy some of the

coaches, many of the horses, and all of the harness

equipment.16

Also during the summer of 1916, Mather and

his new assistant, Horace Albright, made a general

inspection of all parks and found an overall lack of

good sanitary systems. Armed with a special report

written by a Department of the Interior special investigator, Mather planned to approach Congress for an

appropriation to cover sanitation and water systems

for all of the parks.17 The special investigator,

J. A. Hill, wrote a scathing report on the camp operations, stating “The manner in which the camps are conducted would not be tolerated in any city large enough

to have a Board of Health.” The hotels received good

marks for being well-managed and well-equipped.

Overall, Hill made some rather profound recommendations for concession operations in the Yellowstone:

1. Have one motor vehicle transportation company.

2. Have one hotel company.

3. Have one camping company.

4. Make Wylie and Shaw & Powell consolidate.

5. Eliminate all horse-drawn vehicles.

6. Permit different companies to haul its own merchandise.18

In late November, the stockholders of the various transportation and camping companies met with

Horace Albright in Chicago to plan for the complete

reorganization of the park transportation system, a

subject that had been discussed at an earlier meeting

with Mather. By the end of the session, the different

concessioners could not reach a consensus so John

Carroll, who represented the Northern Pacific Railroad, suggested that Director Mather “suggest the

terms and propositions deemed by him just and proper

in which the concessioners may participate in the motorization of the Yellowstone National Park.” All

concessioners voted “Aye.”19

In a December meeting in Washington between

the concessioners and Director Mather agreed upon

the reorganization of the transportation business in

Yellowstone:

1. The YP Hotel Company would maintain and

operate hotels in Park.

2. The YP Transportation Company would be

charged with the duty of motorizing the Park

and conducting transportation through the Park;

purchase the “good will” of the Yellowstone

Western Stage Co. for a cash consideration; to

purchase the “good will,” so far as the transportation of tourists is concerned, of the Wylie

Permanent Camping Co. and the Shaw and

Powell Co., and to give in payment therefore

2

/3 of the capital stock of the Wylie Permanent

Camping Co. owned by Haynes and Child,

which stock the Transportation Company agree

to acquire and transfer to Miles and Powell or

one of them, in trust for a new camping company to be formed and known as the Yellowstone Park Camping Company at its par value

which stock shall be fully paid and non-assessable, and issued to Miles and Powell.

3. F. Jay Haynes retires from [transportation] business in Park and the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. having contracted for and completed purchase of his interest in the Wylie Permanent Camping Co. for purpose of transferring it to Miles and Powell.

4. Miles and stockholders of Shaw and Powell

shall form corporation which will establish and

maintain permanent camps in Park.

5. All concessioners are to co-operate and that the

“convenience and pleasure of the public visiting the Yellowstone National Park may be best

served at reasonable expense.

6. The Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Company is dissolved.20

Clearly, 1916 was a year of tremendous change

for Yellowstone National Park. The creation of the National Park Service immediately brought the influence

of Stephen Mather and Horace Albright to park is-
Changes Sweep the Park, 1915–1918 61

sues. The transformation of travel in the park from

the horse-drawn era into the motor age changed forever who came to Yellowstone and how they saw the

park. Added to this was the retirement of F. Jay Haynes,

one of the park’s most influential concessioners, and

the consolidation of the concession companies very

much along the lines that Department of the Interior

Inspector Hill had recommended.

In 1917, the newly organized National Park Service offered a concerted, businesslike approach to the

operation of the national park system. This was in sharp

contrast to the past 44 years when the parks were managed with a miscellaneous group of reservations and

institutions. For the first time, concessions policy

would be examined on a systemwide basis, and conflicting policies on administering the different parks

would be addressed.

It was anticipated that rules and regulations

would be published for the parks. In the Director’s

annual report for 1917, very positive words described

the purpose of the parks:

What benefits for the people of our time and

for posterity in the direction of safeguarding

health and providing recreational facilities are

promised. What splendid recognition is given

to the economic and educational value of our

wonderful playgrounds. The statement

breathes hope and encouragement and inspiration to all who study, enjoy, and love the wild

places and the sublime works of nature.21

Just after the beginning of the New Year, another

national parks conference was held in Washington,

D.C. An entire session was devoted to motor travel to

the parks, and it addressed many of the new and challenging issues facing the National Park Service and

the concessioners—publicity, good roads, good accommodations, reasonably priced gasoline in the

parks, and the designation of a park-to-park highway.22

America’s entry into World War I caused some

uncertainties about expected visitation and a general

unrest in financial markets. Tighter money prevented

the Northern Pacific Railway Company from loaning

the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company additional money to purchase the needed automobile fleet.

However, Huntley Child did secure a loan from the

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad and the

Union Pacific Railroad that enabled the company to

buy 222 vehicles and other needed equipment. The

Northwest Improvement Company also advanced the

Yellowstone Park Hotel Company and the Yellowstone

Park Transportation Company an additional $150,000

on their 1914 loan so that the two companies were in

good financial shape to begin the season of 1917.23

Haynes had turned down an offer to be a partner

in the transportation business, stating:

I had an opportunity of joining the company

and have a minority holding in the stock, but I

did not feel like obligating myself for $250,000

without control in the enterprise, especially one

I did not know much about. Considering the

fact that the Government expect to participate

in the profits to quite an extent and the jitney

business that will develop in competition, I

thought it better to withdraw than to commence

life over again, as I did not feel like beginning

all over and start to make a fortune on borrowed

capital.24

By October, Haynes had sold 406 horses for

$32,490 which left him with a few horses at his ranch

in Lakeview, Montana. Although the Yellowstone Park

Transportation Company assumed it had a right to the

former Yellowstone-Western Stage Company buildings throughout the park, Haynes still had a year remaining on his transportation lease, and he thus used

the buildings for the storage of his wagons and equipment.

Late in 1917, Jack Haynes requested permission

to use the buildings on the one-acre tract near Tower

Fall that had formerly been used by the YellowstoneYellowstone-Western Stage Company bunkhouse. 1917.
62 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Western Stage Company for a picture shop and “information station.” (Haynes had received temporary

permission to run a shop at that location during the

latter part of 1917 as an experiment.) Acting Superintendent Chester Lindsley supported the request because he found motorists who had come over

Dunraven Pass were anxious to have a place to stop

for water and to allow their smoking brakes a chance

to cool off after the six-mile descent. Lindsley considered the Dunraven descent the “worst grade for automobiles in the park.” Haynes planned to specialize

here in the sale of photographs and postcards of the

Buffalo Farm, Tower Fall, Grand Canyon, Mount

Washburn, and the Petrified Trees.25

The sale of merchandise and meals was an issue

in 1917. Anna Pryor and Elizabeth Trischman were

now allowed to sell Indian rugs and postcards (as

agents for Haynes), but they were denied the privilege of selling inexpensive meals—a service that

would be handled by the new Mammoth Hot Springs

permanent camp, which was moving in from Willow

Park and Swan Lake Flats as a consolidation of the

Willow Park and Swan Lake camps.26

In March 1917, George Whittaker and C. A.

Hamilton were authorized to operate general stores in

the Upper Geyser Basin and at Mammoth Hot

Springs.27 Hamilton also rented the old E.C. Waters

store at Lake during the 1917 season. In November,

W. M. Nichols, president of the Yellowstone Park Boat

Company, suggested that C. A. Hamilton buy the store

and dwelling from the boat company, move the buildings at least 100 feet back from Yellowstone Lake to

improve the lake view from the hotel, and make alterations to the store to improve its appearance.28

Following the 1916 reorganization of Yellowstone concessions operations, boat company officials

had re-examined the company in light of recent

changes in its finances and how the visitors traveled

around the park. They found that the company, which

had always had marginal financing, lacked sufficient

funds to pay the interest on the note; more people were

taking their automobiles from West Thumb to Lake

Hotel, bypassing the boat ride; and, most of the boating revenue came from row boats, excursions, and fishing trips. Nichols proposed that the steamer,

E. C. Waters be cut up, transported out of the park and

sold to a railroad company that operated on Coeur

D’Alene Lake. The 600-passenger capacity steamer

was “in good shape, her timbers are sound, and her

machinery and boilers, insofar as we have been able

to discover, are just as good as new. The boat was run

only 10 days after being built.” Nichols also suggested

selling the 150-passenger capacity gas boat, Jean D.

He felt the machinery and boilers of the old Zillah

might be used, but the hull was “too far gone to be of

any use.”29

In 1917, with the administration of the park

changing from the military to the National Park Service, several concessioners wanted to use the stone

“Bachelor’s Quarters” (today’s Albright Visitor Center) in Mammoth. Anna Pryor and Elizabeth Trischman

wanted to convert it into a winter hotel as the hotel

company had been told that a hotel needed to be open

during the winter season “for the accommodation of

tourists who visit the park for the purpose of seeing

the wild animals and enjoying winter sports.” Pryor

and Trischman also wanted to lease one of the stone

troop stables for garage purposes. Huntley Child

wanted to use the Bachelor’s Quarters for concessionemployee quarters and a mess house as well as for

additional hotel rooms for tourists who arrived prior

to the official opening of the season. Both of these

requests were denied.30

After the country’s 1917 entry into World War I,

rumors began to circulate about the park’s possible

closure. Although the park hotels closed early because

of a railroad strike, the camping companies continued

to be open. In December, Mr. Mather wrote to A. W.

Miles, president of the Yellowstone Park Camping

Company, denying rumors that the park would be

closed in 1918. He went on to urge Miles to proceed

with improvements as early in the spring as possible

in order to be ready for the season opening. Mather

Yellowstone Park Boat Company. 1917. wrote, “We expect to operate the entire national park
Changes Sweep the Park, 1915–1918 63

system during the period of the war because we realize the fact that the people of the country must have

rest and recreation in war times as in time of peace.”31

The park also experienced changes in social

mores. During 1917, a friend of Secretary Franklin

Lane from Washington, D.C., visited the park with a

party that included “a colored maid.” The hotel

company’s policy had been to serve the maids in “their

room without any extra charge.” In a letter from Huntley Child to Secretary Lane, Child asked the Secretary if that procedure was agreeable to him. He noted

that in the past “about one colored maid comes to the

Park every three years.” Horace Albright suggested a

response that indicated that Child should take up the

matter in person with the Secretary on his next visit to

Washington, but the new chief clerk, Frank Griffith,

wanted to sidestep the issue and not go on record with

a response to Child’s letter. Assistant Superintendent

Cotter wanted to file the Child’s letter without a reply.32 No reply was given.

The Secretary of the Interior planned to open all

of the parks in 1918, with all hotels, camps, and transportation companies operating as usual.33 However,

by the first of June, Huntley Child and his father, H. W.

Child, convinced Mr. Mather that the lack of sufficient hotel staff, the general unrest in the country,

changes in rail service, and an increase in rail ticket

prices all indicated that it would be a dismal season

for the hotels. After much negotiating, Huntley Child

announced that the hotels would not open. Citing fixed

costs of $125,000, Child suggested that someone else

run the hotels for the season; however, that did not

transpire and the hotels remained closed. At the end

of the season, the hotel and transportation companies

could not meet their interest payments. The hotel company lost $74,640.47, and the transportation company

lost $33,955.57.34

The question of coal mining by the hotel company arose again when the company sought permission to obtain coal from the McMinn mine, which the

Army Corps of Engineers had recently reopened in

the park. (The mine had been closed for about 30

years.) While Director Mather denied use of that particular mine because the deposits were limited, he did

allow the hotel company “to open up any other deposits of coal in the park” under the authorization and

supervision of the National Park Service as allowed

under their concession permit.35

In May, the Secretary published and distributed

a “Statement of National Park Policy” in which he

outlined the first guidelines for running the parks.

These guidelines were based upon the principles that

the parks were “to be maintained in absolutely unimpaired form for the use of future generations,” that

“they are set apart for the use, observation, health, and

pleasure of the people,” and, finally, that “the national

interest must dictate all decisions affecting public or

private enterprise in the parks.” In addressing concessions, the Secretary stated that concessions would

be under “strict Government control” and “confined

to tracts no larger than absolutely necessary for the

purposes of their business.” The policy statement

called for “low-priced camps operated by

concessioners should be maintained, as well as comfortable and even luxurious hotels wherever the volume of travel warrants the establishment of these

classes of accommodations.” He mentioned that as

funds allowed, free camping areas would be built in

the parks. In regard to fees and rates, the Secretary

recognized that the concessioners (for the most part)

had invested great sums of money and “...as the obligation to render service satisfactory to the department

at carefully regulated rates is imposed, these enterprises must be given a large measure of protection,

and generally speaking, competitive business should

not be authorized where a concession is meeting our

requirements.”36

One of the most important elements in the Statement of Policy that affected concession development

as well as park development was the attention given

to architecture and landscape architecture. The Department called for hiring trained people familiar with

landscape architecture who would operate under the

philosophy of harmonizing new development with the

landscape using a “preconceived plan.” 37 While the

concessioners had used prominent architects in the past

and plans for construction had been presented to the

Department for approval, this new policy meant that

trained people would be reviewing development in a

more highly organized manner. These employees

would also make periodic visits to the parks in order

to make recommendations for improvements or new

construction.

The first report on Yellowstone improvements

was prepared by Charles Punchard, Jr., a National Park

Service landscape engineer, in September 1918.

Punchard’s thorough report on the permanent camps

in the park presented general recommendations for all

camps as follows:

1. Topographic map of each camp.
64 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

2. General plan for development of each camp.

3. Competent architect employed by camp company.

4. Installation of proper sanitary facilities.

5. Gravel walks and drives.

6. Policing of camps to ensure cleanliness.

7. Central laundry for all camps.

8. Hot and cold baths, plus private bath in few

tents.

9. Permanent adequate water system.

10. Color of paint to be used on permanent parts

of bldgs.

11. Shingled roofs painted sage green at Mammoth

and dark brown at other camps.

12. Guest tents of a more permanent material and

good design.

13. All buildings to conform to exterior architecture of main building.

14. All buildings and locations need approval by

National Park Service.

15. Submit list of contemplated work for following season at the end of season.38

Punchard did not believe that the same color

needed to be used consistently, but that each camp

should be studied for the selection of an appropriate

color. He recommended “the soft gray” used on the

Child’s house for the Mammoth camp to blend with

the terraces and a “soft warm brown stain” for the Old

Faithful, Canyon, and Lake camps. He strongly suggested not using the brown and yellow paint scheme

currently used. Punchard found that often “A spirit of

‘good enough’ prevailed” as the concessioners tried

to meet their immediate needs, which in most cases

did not meet the newly established principle of harmonizing with nature.39

Another example of the new National Park Service adopting a more businesslike approach in managing of the parks was that the United States Bureau

of Animal Industry was brought in to Yellowstone by

Acting Superintendent Chester Lindsley to inspect the

hotel company’s herd of milk cows from Idaho.

Lindsley had heard that Idaho was not strict with the

enforcement of laws governing diseases of livestock.40

Due to the lack of material and labor during 1918,

new construction was discouraged, but small projects

did occur. Visitation dropped from 35,400 in 1917 to

21,275 in 1918. Only the Upper Geyser Basin, Mammoth, and Canyon camps were opened. George

Whittaker, who kept the post office at Mammoth

opened all year and his store at Canyon opened during the summer season, took over the hotel company’s

garden located at the head of Gardner Canyon at the

request of Director Mather. He sold produce to the

road camps at cost. Hamilton ran his Upper Geyser

Basin and Lake stores. Pryor and Trischman remained

open during the season. 41

During these few short years, some of the most

dramatic and far-reaching changes occurred in Yellowstone and the other parks. Times were changing,

and the parks were keeping a pace with the changes.

The transition from horse to motor vehicles, major

changes in concession companies, transfer of Park administration from military to civilian rule, the beginning of a National Park Service management policy,

and changes in concession activities from to the impacts of world events on the park all made for a different Yellowstone in the next decades.

H. W. Child residence, built in 1908. 1917. “Chinaman’s” house in Gardner Canyon. 1917.
“The Business of All of Us is a Gamble Anyway,” 1919–1922 65

CHAPTER SEVEN

“The Business of All of

Us is a Gamble Anyway”

1919–1922

H. W. CHILD, 1921

A new era for Yellowstone National Park began

in 1919. Horace Albright was selected as the park’s

first civilian superintendent since the 1880s. Albright’s

attention to park development and his mere presence

would directly affect the course of concessions.

National Park Service Director Mather urged the

formation of a National Park Service division of travel

to coordinate with other travel organizations and resorts in the country and to “meet the competition of

Europe from the beginning of its renewed activity”

after the end of World War I. Interest in the national

parks was reflected in the enormous numbers of requests for information pouring into the Washington

office; the office received several hundred requests a

day during the spring of 1919. Thousands of park

visitors traveled across the country by rail, but large

numbers also traveled in their private automobiles,

some staying in the park hotels and permanent camps

while others used their personal camping equipment

in the free campgrounds.

In 1919, 62,261 visitors came to Yellowstone;

this was three times the 1918 visitation figure. Records

show that 10,737 private automobiles brought 39,886

tourists to the park that year, with more than half of

these people bringing their own camping equipment.

During 1919, conventions were held in a number of

parks, and inter-park tours brought in many more

people. The Montana’s Banker’s Association, the National Touring Association, the Western Governor’s

Conference, the Brooklyn Eagle Tour, the International

Association of Rotary Clubs, the Massachusetts Forestry Association, the Travel Club of America, and

members of the United States Chamber of Commerce

all met in the park during 1919.1

Because the popularity of independent and organized camping was burgeoning, the National Park

Service landscape engineer, Charles Punchard, Jr.,

strove to improve the camping companies. With his aid

a complete camp system was planned for Yellowstone.2

Superintendent Albright, who did not assume his

new position until July 1, began making his presence

felt just after the New Year. In a letter to A. W. Miles,

President of the Yellowstone Park Camping Company,

Albright recommended improvements for the various

camps and urged Miles to submit his drawings and

site locations for early approval. After several meetings with Miles in California, Albright had Punchard’s

comfort station and bathhouse drawings sent to him.

Yellowstone Park Camp Company tents—Upper Geyser

Basin. 1917.
66 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

These early National Park Service-designed bathhouses provided eight tub baths and wash basins, two

showers, six toilets, an attendant’s room, and linen

closet in the women’s building and six showers, two

tub baths, five toilets, linen room, and eight wash basins for the men’s building; both buildings housed a

heating plant. These log buildings were designed to

be compatible with the main building in the campground.3

In May 1919, the former head of the United

States Railroad Administration’s Bureau of Service,

National Parks and Monuments, and the former general advertising manager of the Union Pacific and

North Western Railroad, Howard Hays, bought the

Yellowstone Park Camping Company. Director

Mather believed Hays would bring to Yellowstone a

distinct advantage based on his experience in the recreational and educational aspects of travel across the

country.4

During this record year, visitors often found the

campgrounds overcrowded and the hotels and permanent camps “overflowing,” perhaps in part a result of

the Lake facilities being opened on an emergency basis only. However, good service at all locations was

reported by the visitors, despite a severe shortage of

good help.5

Sensing the trend would not change for the 1920

season, plans were made to get Lake Hotel and camp

into good condition before the season opened. The

Lake Camp was being rebuilt and extensive repairs to

the hotel were completed during 1919.6

Camp Roosevelt, which began as a Wylie camp

in 1906 and was renamed in 1913, operated near Lost

Creek for two months during the summer. Mr. Albright

reported that, “This camp is destined to be very popular as a fishing and riding resort. It is in the neighborhood of some of the best fishing waters of the park,

and is a radiating point for numerous very interesting

trails.”7

By 1919, automobile services, gasoline, oil, garages, and repairs were offered at Mammoth Hot

Springs, Lake, Canyon, and the Upper Geyser Basin,

and plans were made to sell automobile parts at these

places the following year.8 The Yellowstone Park

Transportation Company and George Whittaker jointly

operated the filling stations at Mammoth and Canyon

with Whittaker owning the Canyon station and the

transportation company owning the station at Mammoth. The filling stations at Upper Geyser Basin and

Lake were jointly operated by the Yellowstone Park

Transportation Company and Charles Hamilton with

Hamilton owning the two stations.9

The rush of visitors to the parks in 1919 and again

in larger numbers in 1920 led Director Mather to claim

that despite “trying economic conditions throughout

the country, inflated values, increased prices of labor

and materials have caused disturbances in every line

of human activity and contributed to the general unrest of the masses, [and thus] our people have turned

to the national parks for health, happiness, and a saner

view of life.” The visitation across the system broke

the million mark in 1920, with Yellowstone accounting for 79,777 people. Of that number, 30,286 visitors came by rail, and the others traveled to the park

by private automobile.10

With the tremendous increase in the numbers of

travelers to parks across the country and the resulting

impact on concessions and their operations, the

concessioners were praised by the National Park Service for meeting the unusual demands on the park facilities. New regulations required all new construction and any remodeling be approved by the agency’s

Camp Roosevelt. 1922. Camp Roosevelt interior. 1922.
“The Business of All of Us is a Gamble Anyway,” 1919–1922 67

landscape engineer, and Director Mather urged the

concessioners to undertake an “organized scheme of

development” using “intelligent, well-prepared plans

for submission to the landscape engineer.”11

Shortly after Superintendent Albright arrived in

Yellowstone in 1919, he quickly grasped the concession situation and assessed the major companies’ attributes and deficiencies. However, Director Mather

decided to deal personally with the Yellowstone Boat

Company situation. He disliked the company’s uneasy financial position and wanted it to clean up the

Lake area. He wanted to see a thriving boat business in

Yellowstone, something the park had not seen since 1916.

Mather wrote to one of the three owners, Howard

Elliot, President of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and

explained that he had not pursued a change in the situation during the war because other more important

problems faced the park. He recognized that not having scheduled business at Lake diminished the possibilities of a good return, but upon inspection in 1919,

he found the boats and buildings in a “serious state of

disrepair, and in fact I found much of it already useless.” The harsh weather had taken a toll on the boats

beached near the hotel, and the E. C. Waters, anchored

on Stevenson Island, was being beaten to ruins by the

waves. The piers, landings, and buildings were “almost wholly wrecked.” Mather called the buildings

the “most unsightly in the park” and ordered Superintendent Albright to remove them before the 1921 season opened. Mather asked the boat company to either

comply with their contract or sell the property and allow the Interior Department to find a new company to

operate boats on Yellowstone Lake.12

H. W. Child, another of the boat company owners (Warren Delano of New York was the third), believed that Mather had only superficially reviewed the

situation and that during the few days Mather spent in

the park, he had been with parties of personal friends

and most of his attention was to “the social nature of

the trip.” Child felt that Mather “gave us an arbitrary

order and does not consider in any way the effect his

orders will have on the care and handling of the tourists and no argument that I have found seems to penetrate; he is a good deal like President Wilson in his

autocratic ways.” Harry Child wanted to settle the

problem after Albright returned to the park, as he believed the Superintendent had a different view of the

situation from Director Mather. However, Child recognized that Albright would not be in “any position to

criticize his chief and must of course carry out his orders.” Child just hoped that Albright could change

Mather’s views.13

While Child was counting on Albright to support his position on the boat company, he realized that

Albright was there to put the concessions in order and

to get the park ready to meet the needs of the evergrowing numbers of people who wanted to enjoy the

wonders of Yellowstone. Albright wrote a comprehensive, candid report on Child’s Yellowstone Park

Hotel Company and Yellowstone Park Transportation

Company at the end of the 1920 season. The report

identified finances of the companies, the companies’

attitudes toward the government, needed improvements, and recommendations for the betterment of the

park. For the hotel company, Albright concluded:

that the company needed to enlarge the Mammoth hotel dining room, more rooms added

some with baths, and the hotel should be

painted. Old Faithful Inn should be enlarged

by a new wing of rooms, with and without

baths, lobby should be enlarged, and grounds

should be planted with shrubbery and grass;

Lake hotel needs many more rooms with and

without baths, a new annex should be built for

the rooms, lobby, and dining room; the grounds

should be planted and otherwise improved from

the standpoint of landscape architecture. The

old hotel [which Albright called the ‘weakest

link of the chain’] should be painted. Canyon

needs a large dining room, the exterior and roof

need new stain, and the grounds improved. The

old Fountain Hotel and lunch stations at Thumb

Heavers at Mammoth Lodge. 1925.
68 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

and Norris should be dismantled, torn down,

and the valuable lumber salvaged. Dining room

service could be improved by use of more fresh

fruit and vegetables. Company [should] be

directed by Park Service to pay its porters, bellboys, and waiters high enough wages to mitigate the tipping evil to a considerable extent.

That all guiding hereafter be handled by the

National Park Service. This will require about

four more rangers. That the present wood-cutting policy be made permanent and strictly

enforced. That curtailment of service during

the last thirty days of the season be prohibited.

That the basis of compensation for the franchise be changed to two and one half or three

per cent of the gross revenues, in order that ll

branches of the hotel establishment shall bear

their share of the Government tax and in order

to afford an easier means of ascertaining what

the Government should receive.14

In addition to the hotel company needs, Albright

wanted Yellowstone Park Transportation Company to

purchase at least 20 cars for the next season’s operation.15

Albright had been in the park only slightly more

than a year, but he quickly ascertained the problems

and potential problems with concessioners who had

had free reign over the management of their businesses.

He felt that perhaps “threat of competition in the operation of the transportation line or in the maintenance

of gasoline and supply stations would bring these companies in line quicker than anything else.”16

In contrast to his assessment of the Child operations, he found Jack Haynes to be:

one of the best men to deal with that we have

in any national park; not only is he interested

in the development of the parks, but he is also

willing to help in the work of the National Park

Service whenever and wherever possible. I will

say further that no rule or regulation, request

or policy, which has affected Mr. Haynes has

had anything but his respect and strict compliance. I have found it a pleasure to do business

with him at all times, and I wish that all of the

other operators in Yellowstone National Park

were as interested in the work of the Service and as easy to get along with as Mr.

Haynes is.17

Early in 1921, H. W. Child was in a struggle with

Director Mather over reducing the rates he owed the

government in order for his companies to make a

profit. While the previous year the government had

investigated the charges of “double-bookkeeping”

brought against the transportation and hotel companies, the retired company accountant had cleared up

any misconceptions. Child explained to Mather that

through the years he had met his financial obligations

mainly based “entirely on personalities and long standing friendships, and not on any financial report of any

kind.” He pointed out that he had tried to meet the

ever-changing needs of the visitors despite the many

changes in government officials and the railroads. He

wrote, “I might be able to satisfy one set of officials,

but new ones, who come in, have entirely different

views, and this, in a measure, is what has called for

the large expenditures of money by me.” He added

that he and the other concessioners “have been in a

very unsettled frame of mind for quite a number of

years, as the business of all of us is a gamble anyway,

....with the uncertainties in their connections with the

Government, and it is only a question of time before

bankruptcy will hit all of us.”18

In the past, the hotel and transportation companies had not paid a return on their gross receipts as the

camping company and other companies did. Child

paid only on meals, lodging, and passenger transport,

not on gasoline, pictures, and other sales. Mather and

the Department attorney decided that the money owed,

$25,000, would be forgiven, but new percentage rates

would go into effect immediately. The new rates were

2.5 percent of the gross receipts of the hotel company

and four percent of the gross receipts of the transportation company.19

By the end of the year, the matter was still not

settled as Child did not like the terms. Child was upset with the government and fearful of a Congressional

investigation into the concession operation. He hoped

that the upcoming change to a Republican administration would be more favorable to his needs. Child

appealed to Northern Pacific Railroad President,

Howard Elliot, to be liberal in the company’s expectations from his hotel and transportation companies.20

In contrast, Jack Haynes’s rates were readjusted

downward as his company had been paying at a higher

percentage than the other concessioners. His new

contract reflected the same four percent of gross to

the government that Child’s new rate did.21

Sadly, one of the earliest and most respected
“The Business of All of Us is a Gamble Anyway,” 1919–1922 69

concessioners, F. Jay Haynes, died in March 1921. The

park flags flew at half-mast for 30 days in his honor.

In tribute to Haynes, Horace Albright wrote:

While due to his careful management and keen

business acumen, all of Mr. Haynes’s concessions in the park have proven satisfactory from

a financial standpoint. He also had always the

keen sense of obligation towards the park and

its development as the property of the public.

His dealings with the park officials, the public, his employees, and others was always characterized by a spirit of fairness, which stands

out forcibly in the minds of those with whom

he was associated. His splendid photographs

of the park scenery have been widely distributed all over the world for many years, and their

influence in bringing the National Park into its

present prominence is beyond estimate.22

Visitation in 1921 increased visitation to 81,651

people, with the rail travel figures showing a slight

decrease.23 Toward the end of the travel season,

Howard Hays, President of the camping company proposed new services for visitors, housekeeping cabins.

This type of cabin, which was already used at Yosemite

and Mt. Rainier, would offer a furnished room with

beds, wood supply, tables, chairs, and small cook stove.

A new request came before Mr. Albright in 1921.

Jack Haynes requested permission for a former Army

pilot to fly over the park taking aerial photographs.

The pilot also wanted to take passengers up for a fee

of $1 per minute. Albright responded quite strongly:

We are very anxious to keep Yellowstone Park

a wild place, and the one thing that would remove even its distant points from a state of wilderness would be the aeroplane. I think I told

you one time how the use of aeroplanes in the

park probably would affect people who come

year after year and who desire to get away from

all forms of civilization. Imagine, for instance,

that you and I should take a trip into the Upper

Yellowstone for a rest and recreation in that

wonderful wild country. We think we have

gotten away from automobiles, telephones,

mail, and telegrams, and are cooking our bacon over a camp fire and reveling in the spirit

of the wild country. Moose and elk are about

us, grizzly bears are not far away. We are talking about how fine it is to be away from civilization, when suddenly an aeroplane flies over

and drops the Chicago Tribune right at your

feet. Would it not make you sore?24

In late January 1922, H. W. Child sent Albright

the financial reports for both the hotel and transportation company, detailing past record keeping. Child

hoped this report would satisfy any misunderstandings about his past business practices. Explaining that

his transportation company had always assisted the

hotel company with obligations, Child went on to state

that this method of business was common knowledge

in the Department of the Interior. He acknowledged

the proposed new rates suggested by the Department

the previous year, but wanted Mather to analyze the

newly submitted annual report before implementing

the rates. He stated that he was eager “to co-operate

with the Government and work with it in all its Yellowstone Park activities, and I am particularly anxious to meet Mr. Mather’s desires whenever and wherever it is possible.” He added that “I realize that we

have drifted apart on certain matters, and I, thru accustomed methods of doing business, have certainly

had as much, or more, to do with this as anyone, but

all along I have been willing and ready to do the right

thing as I have seen it, always bearing in mind as a

business man that the financial status of my properties must be very carefully watched, as I am engaged

in a hazardous business.” Child reiterated the many

changes in government personnel over the decades he

had been associated with the park, and he reminded

Albright that both he and his wife had worked with

the American Civic Association and others towards

the creation of the National Park Service. He wrote

that he was “thankful now that the Service is so auspiRoosevelt Lodge cabin interior. 1929.
70 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

ciously established and carrying out a definite policy.”

With a willingness to fully cooperate with Mather, he

closed by saying, “We will try as always to keep a

step ahead of the demands.”25

In April, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall responded to Child. Fall wrote that if Child would build

a new Lake hotel this year (1922) and increase his

transportation equipment plus complete a few other

improvements, he would receive a new 20-year contract based upon the earlier stated rates. Fall did recognize the interdependence of the hotel and transportation companies.26 The day after Fall sent the letter,

Child presented his plans for an extensive addition to

Lake Hotel to Albright in Washington. Evidently,

Mather had already approved the floor plans, and much

discussion about this plan had already taken place.

With Child’s acceptance of the contract, Albright sent

the plans to the National Park Service landscape architect, Daniel Hull, with instructions to address them

as soon as possible so the company could begin work

as of June 1 and have the facility completed by December 1.27

In 1922, the Yellowstone Park Transportation

Company had 125 eleven-passenger cars, 29 touring

cars, and numerous freight and gasoline trucks. As a

means of advertising, the company sent several of the

bright yellow cars, so identifiable with the park, on a

tour of the country in the off-season.28

The questions of “who sells what” continued in

1922 when Pryor and Trischman requested permission to open a refreshment booth at the head of the

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces, an idea that Albright

did not altogether oppose. But he did agree with

Mather that no more unnecessary buildings should be

erected in the park. Mather approved the drawings

for the booth, but declined permission to build at that

time. He compromised by allowing Pryor and

Trischman to serve lunches and dinners at their curio

and ice cream parlor, knowing that the hotel dining

room and the camp dining rooms were always congested.

The following year, Pryor and Trischman requested permission to build and operate a “tourist food

shop” in the Mammoth Public Auto Camp and sent

plans drawn by Mr. Merritt Tuttle for approval.

Albright solicited comments from Howard Hays of

the camping company and William Nichols of the hotel

company. Naturally, both objected to the proposal,

citing impingement of their privileges. Hays pointed

out that he had been given permission to open such a

shop at Old Faithful as a “one year experiment” and

that the year was not yet up. He stated that he could

very well have opened it at Mammoth. After hearing

the protests, Mather delayed granting approval.29

Hays believed that a “tourist food shop” would

meet the needs of the ever-increasing class of visitors

known as “campers.” He also felt that the kitchen

service should be extended to provide “hot pies (whole

or by the slice), pastry, doughnuts, sliced roast beef and

pork, bread, bottled milk, and other delicatessen items.”30

Shortly thereafter, Hays received permission

from Albright and Mather to open housekeeping camps

at Old Faithful, Lake, Mammoth, and Canyon for the

1922 season. He was also given permission to operate

a delicatessen at Old Faithful as a one-year experiment.31

At the end of 1922, Albright was proud of the

improvements in the park, particularly in landscaping

by both the government and the concessioners. He

attributed the positive results to the work of National

Park Service landscape architect, Daniel Hull. In

thanking Hull, Albright wrote:

Much of this interest I feel must be attributed

to your own personality which has made you a

popular figure in Yellowstone Park, to your

broad comprehension of our problems which

has won for you the respect and confidence of

everybody here, [and] to your ability to harmonize your work with the practical business

requirements of the park, which has made it

possible to plan improvements with the knowledge that you would not put theoretical obstacles in the way that would delay or make

work impossible on account of greatly increased costs.32

Park Curio shop at Mammoth Hot Springs. 1917.
From Camps to Lodges, 1923–1928 71

Visitation jumped 41 percent in 1923, with

138,352 people enjoying Yellowstone National Park.

Rail traffic accounted for 44,806 of the tourists; about

75,000 tourists used the public campgrounds. The service by the concessioners was considered excellent

with many new improvements completed prior to the

opening of the season. The Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, which had a difficult time keeping up with the demands, purchased an additional 20

new 11-passenger cars, two new 25-passenger cars,

one new two-ton truck, and they bought nine touring

cars from the Yosemite Park Company.1

Taking into account the major investments of the

Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, the Yellowstone

Park Camping Company, and the Yellowstone Park

Transportation Company, the Department issued new

CHAPTER EIGHT

From Camps to Lodges

1923–1928

20-year contracts beginning January 1, 1923. George

Whittaker received a 10-year contract to operate stores

and filling stations at Mammoth and Canyon. C. A.

Hamilton received a 10-year contract to operate stores

and filling stations at Lake, Old Faithful, and West

Thumb. Jack Haynes was operating on a 15-year contract that would end in 1936; Pryor and Trischman’s

contract would end in 1926, and Henry Brothers’s contract for the swimming pool and baths operation at

Old Faithful would end in 1924.2 Near the end of the

1923 season, the Department sent approval for a new

camp company lunch station to be built just inside the

east entrance on site of the old Wylie camp. This would

become the Sylvan Pass Lodge in 1924.3

In order for the National Park Service to keep

abreast of the many different franchises and permits

Charles Hamilton in front of Lower Geyser Basin Store. Hamilton’s Auto Camp Store—Old Faithful. 1929.

n.d.
72 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

issued across the system, Francis Farquhar was hired

at a salary of $6,000 a year to be the official accountant. While the work was not needed for the full 12

months, an annual scrutiny was felt necessary to “enable the service to function intelligently and decide

upon questions of rates, returns to the United States,

earnings and the like in complete justice and fairness

to the operators, the public, and the Department of the

Interior.”4

Knowing that the Yellowstone Park Boat Company privilege would be up for renewal, William

Nichols understood that it was the time to either invest in more boats for better service or lose the contract. Although the company had provided very poor

service and had had few returns in the past, Nichols

was optimistic that the company could be salvaged

with the new Lake Hotel being open and more visitors staying in the area. Recognizing that the existing

facilities were an “eye-sore,” Nichols proposed constructing a new boathouse and purchasing new boats

to augment the speed boat purchased in 1922. Nichols

admitted that the boat company’s stock “isn’t worth

the paper it is written on,” but he bought partner Warren Delano’s stock from the Warren Delano Estate for

$100. The executor of the estate thought the estate

came out ahead! H. W. Child was willing to pay the

Northwest Improvement Company $100 for their

stock.5 At the end of 1923, Superintendent Albright

stated in his annual report that the boat company had

made no improvements that year, thus their franchise

(which was extended for the 1923 season) would not

be renewed unless the company reorganized its finances and purchased equipment to run a general boating business.6

In 1924, Pryor and Trischman received a temporary permit to operate a stand to serve cold drinks

and ice cream to visitors on the terraces; it was known

as the “Devil’s Kitchenette.” They were also given a

10-year contract starting in 1924 to continue operating their curio and ice cream shop, an extension allowing them time to make needed additions to the

store.7 Henry Brothers was also given a 10-year contract in 1924 for the operation of his bathhouse and

swimming pool at Old Faithful.8

Due to failing health, Howard Hays sold the Yellowstone Park Camping Company to Vernon Goodwin

of Los Angeles. Upon his departure, Albright praised

Hays, “Very few men in America know more of the

national parks than Mr. Hays does. He has visited

nearly all of them, and is familiar with their problems.

There is still a broad field in the national parks for his

boundless energy, fine personality, and great activity....”9 Goodwin, who immediately took over, inherited an aggressive improvement program.10

In 1925, the Eighth National Park Conference

was held in Mesa Verde National Park. In the sessions on concessions, it was noted that the large numbers of camping tourists now expected to find housekeeping-type facilities in the national parks like those

in municipal campgrounds. The conversion of the

housekeeping facilities (addition of running water and

some limited type of kitchen facility) would put an

additional financial burden on some of the operators.

Nevertheless, Mather believed this kind of service

should be offered, and it was up to each Superintendent to deal with his specific concessioner on this issue. Mather told the group that the housekeeping service had already been started at Yellowstone. Mather

Boats at Lake. 1922. cited a lodge development in Jasper Park, Canada, as

Stairs and skids at Yellowstone Park Boat Company.

1936.
From Camps to Lodges, 1923–1928 73

a good example for the parks; he felt the lodge being

built in Zion was also “admirable.” During the meeting, it was noted that the sanitation developments in

the parks were good examples for the country in general. (In the previous year, incinerators and new water

systems had been built in several areas in Yellowstone11 and during 1925, all of the concession dump

grounds in Yellowstone were cleaned up, with tins and

glass buried and all other garbage not eaten by the

bears burned. As well as tin crushers, incinerators were

used at Upper Geyser Basin, Lake, and Canyon.12 )

A disastrous fire occurred March 31, 1925, at

the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company facilities in Mammoth. It destroyed 53 buses, 35 touring

cars, trucks, spare parts, and the important machine

shop. The company immediately ordered replacement

vehicles and by the opening day, 90 new buses and 10

new trucks were delivered. Albright praised the company in his annual report:

This remarkable performance resulted in giving the transportation line more facilities for

the opening than it would have had had the fire

not occurred. The officers of the company are

to be commended for the courage and vigorous action in making the great expenditures

necessary to completely reestablish the transportation facilities in time for the accommodation of park visitors.13

Meanwhile, the new steel and concrete, fireproof

transportation facility at the north entrance was nearing completion. The big storage garage was finished

Devil’s Kitchenette. 1929.

Yellowstone Park Transportation Company. 1917.

and the new machine shops would be finished

shortly.14

Visitation in 1925 showed a small increase of

10,124 people for a total of 154,282, and the rail service also showed a slight increase with 44,786 visitors.15 As a result of several years of improvements

and much cooperation among landscape architect Dan

Hull, Horace Albright, and the different concessioners,

the park’s developed areas began to take on an attractive appearance. A park visitor wrote, “One thing im-
74 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Old Faithful Lodge. 1928. Old Faithful Lodge lobby. 1928.

Old Faithful Lodge cabins. 1983.

pressed me as I traveled about the park and that was

the unique and picturesque method in which the buildings were built. They were of such simple and rough

style that they formed a unit and part of the scheme of

things there in the forests.” The visitor then requested

information or plans for the log and frame cabins for

his use as a design for a cabin on the Housatonic

River.16

In moving towards a four-tier level of accommodations in the park, major improvements and new

construction at the permanent camps transformed them

into lodge-type developments. Hotels, existing lodges,

the existing housekeeping cabins, and the free public

auto campgrounds were also improved. The use of

the term “lodge” as suggested by Superintendent

Albright received much attention from the

Old Faithful Lodge recreation hall. 1928.

Old Faithful Lodge dining room. 1929.
From Camps to Lodges, 1923–1928 75

concessioners as well as from the Washington office.

Albright wanted to change the name “permanent

camp” to “lodge” in order to distinguish these facilities from camping in the public auto campgrounds.

He believed the term “camp” was overused and confusing to the travelers. With the “permanent camps”

now offering a central building, which housed a dining room, lobby, and recreation hall, Albright argued

that the term was outdated. The different railroad officers, the officers of the Yellowstone Park Camps

Company and the officials of the different touring

groups were all consulted. Most agreed with the new

term “lodge.” Albright sought permission from the

Department to make the change. He thought there

would be no problem with the YP Camps Company

as they had already changed the sign in the window at

their Livingston office to “Yellowstone Lodges and

Camps Company.” 17

In addition to the visitors’ changing preference

for accommodations, other changes in 1920s society

were reflected in the park. For example, the hotel company questioned the mandatory rule that men must

wear a coat at dinner. In response to William Nichols

on the applicability of the rule, Albright said:

I think the National Park Service has full power

to regulate anything it desires to undertake in

the national parks and there will be no question but that we can insist upon the abrogation

of the coat rule if we want to do this and at the

present time it is our disposition to have the

rule abrogated. Mr. Mather was particularly

strong about this matter as he had it brought to

his attention by a very prominent Congressman.18

Albright also suggested that the company purchase an ample supply of “new and good-looking coats

and have them available at each hotel.”19

Again the question of the boat company had not

been settled, and the company operated on a year-toyear permit. Albright believed that the Department

should demand “a complete financial liquidation,” and

that if the company did not reorganize, it should voluntarily withdraw and allow the Department to seek

another boat service.20

In 1926, visitation once again increased significantly (by 18 percent). A total of 187,807 tourists came

to Yellowstone. The striking change in the type of

Yellowstone visitor is seen in the fact that 125,000

people preferred to camp rather than to stay at the hotels and lodges. A small increase in rail travel was

noted.21

Before year’s end, the question of allowing rental

cars in the park arose. An organization called “Drive

Old Faithful Lodge employees. 1928.
76 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Your Own” was pushing for rights in the park that

Child thought should be killed before it got started.

He was also concerned that the Hertz Drivurself Company and “every other jitney outfit in Montana and

the surrounding states would demand the same privilege and how Albright could operate Yellowstone Park

with this bunch of bandits, I do not know.” Child knew

that Albright was against the rental car schemes but

feared the political influence of General Motors. In a

meeting held with park concessioners from across the

system, railroad officials, National Park Service officials and car representatives, the rental car people said

they wanted to target the arriving rail passengers.

Mather feared putting urban drivers onto the park roads

without any experience in mountain driving. He believed it was because of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company’s careful operation that only one

fatality had been recorded since buses had been allowed on the Yellowstone roads in 1917. Albright

added that if someone drove across country to get to

the park, he was probably used to the conditions; however, a few motorists had not been allowed in the park

after the rangers “sized up” their abilities. Other issues concerned Mather and Albright as well, such as

the protection of the Yellowstone Park Transportation

Company, which had invested heavily in equipment

and facilities; their objection to the “more go-as-youplease autoist” hurrying through the parks without

seeing them; the problem of unloading at the hotels at

unexpected times; the lack of preparation on part of

petitioners; the national policy against introducing

competing interests into parks; and the apparent lack

of demand for “drive yourself” cars. Albright stated

that there had never been a request in Yellowstone for

that type of service. The issue was resolved with the

understanding that the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company might consider providing “drive yourself” cars if a demand arose.22

A major landscape improvement occurred in

1926. The National Park Service and the Yellowstone

Park Hotel Company jointly removed all of the telephone lines along the road between Mammoth Hot

Springs and Lake Hotel via Norris and Canyon. New

lines were installed in less conspicuous areas through

the forests or in locations some distance from the

road.23

Improvements continued at the campgrounds and

the lodge areas. The old Fountain Hotel and old Norris

lunch station were taken down and the sites cleaned.

As the 1920s ended, the physical appearance of the

park began to improve.
From the Depression to World War II, 1929–1941 77

On February 1, 1929, Roger Toll, the superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park, was named

as Horace Albright’s replacement in Yellowstone when

Albright assumed Stephen Mather’s position as National Park Service Director. Albright would continue

to monitor the concessioners’ improvement programs

initiated during the past few years.

In March, Jack Haynes entered into a new contract with the government which allowed him to open

a delicatessen and lunch counter at Tower Fall and to

establish motion picture theaters within the park.1

As part of the continuing sanitation program,

U.S. Health Service official, H. B. Hommon, worked

with William Wiggins of the park maintenance staff

to improve the garbage disposal in both the concessions and government areas. Six one-ton trucks and

five teams with wagons made daily rounds to the main

areas of the park and every other day visits to the outlying camps to collect garbage and clean the comfort

stations. The four-ton incinerators at Old Faithful,

Lake, and Canyon burned the garbage for those areas,

and the Fishing Bridge area garbage was sent to the

Lake incinerator. “Bear-proof” garbage cans were installed in the camping areas.2

During 1929, several important Eastern landscape architects visited the park, probably as a result

of the influence of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who was

interested in the park’s aesthetics. Fine Arts Commissioner Ferruccio Vitale made a return visit, and

Grosvenor Atterbury visited the park in the summer.

Vitale suggested numerous improvements throughout

the park but determined that it was most important to

come up with a plan for Mammoth Hot Springs. He

was initially concerned with locating a Mammoth Hot

Springs museum, but he quickly recognized that a site

could not be chosen until a close examination of the

entire development was completed. He was not the

only person with such concerns. Dr. Frank Oastler,

who was interested in the educational aspects of the

park and was a member of the Fine Arts Commission,

suggested that Atterbury also examine the need for a

general plan for Mammoth. Atterbury concluded that

“a restudy of the roads with proper provision for future growth in each case is the only way in which a

proper and permanent site for the Museum, as well as

certain other future buildings such as a Post Office

can be secured.”3

The discussion of a proposed Mammoth plan

caused some uncertainty among the concessioners,

including Anna Pryor, who wanted to make additions

on her property. Director Albright suggested that she

postpone any changes until the Mammoth plan was

under way.4

In response to the need for a Mammoth plan,

Major Gilmore Clark of the Westchester County Park

Commission, of New York, prepared a plan for the

Mammoth area and also to inspected the park for other

landscaping needs.5 Over the next few years, some

aspects of Gilmore Clark’s plan for Mammoth were

adopted, but many were not.

Rail passenger numbers to the park decreased

from 41,697 in 1928 to 38,979 in 1929. However,

total visitation figures for Yellowstone again increased

from 230,984 in 1928 to 260,697 in 1929.6 The early

CHAPTER NINE

From the Depression

to World War II

1929–1941
78 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

1930s was a time of general economic depression

throughout the country. For the first time in years, the

park experienced a drop in visitation, with the decrease

most notable in rail service passengers. The declining trend continued through 1932. Rail traffic in 1932

was down 55 percent from the 1931 figures, and total

visitation was down about 30 percent from 1931 to

157,624. The concessioners suffered losses for three

straight years, with 1932 being the worst; business

losses were 50 to 60 percent of their 1931 business

revenues. The travel and spending trends indicated

people went through the park “as quickly as possible

with the least expense.”

Superintendent Roger Toll predicted that the “experience of this past summer will probably result in

extensive changes in the operations of the hotels and

lodges in order to meet the wishes of the traveling

public.” Toll complimented the concessioners, who,

despite the continuing financial losses, provided services “of the highest order and few complaints were

received despite the fact that the crews were kept to a

minimum.”7 The hotels were particularly affected by

the decrease in rail travel, and the transportation company now had a surplus of buses. Late in 1930, after

several months of negotiation among the

concessioners, Albright and the Department wrote a

new agreement for the sales of particular items in the

park. Much of the agreement covered merchandise,

but food services were covered as well. The agreement called for Haynes to be the sole provider of pictures, postal cards, film, Kodaks, and guide books.8

In 1931, the Yellowstone Park Transportation

Company purchased six Ford roadsters and eight 14-

passenger White buses.9 Construction projects already

scheduled continued, but the long-range program was

stalled. Visitation across the system showed a very

slight increase over the previous year with most visitors camping. Director Albright expressed concern

about the Depression’s effect on the concessioners in

his annual report for 1932:

I have been seriously concerned over the lack

of patronage of the hotels and transportation

lines. These operations, carried on under Government supervision and at rates approved by

the Government, have suffered big losses,

largely because of the decline in rail travel. The

Concessions buildings behind the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. 1936.

White bus at canyon rim. 1931.
From the Depression to World War II, 1929–1941 79

Indian goods at Lyall’s Store at Mammoth. n.d.

public-utility operators render an efficient and

highly essential public service. Many of the

stockholders in these companies have invested

their money solely from a sense of public obligation, in some cases at the urgent suggestion

of Government officials. Several of the individual operators and some companies, too, are

now in dire financial straits, and all aid consistent with Government policy and procedure

must be extended to them in order that their

facilities may be kept available to the public.

During the season we encouraged and occasionally suggested changes in the types of service, special rates to encourage longer stays,

and other measures to attract patronage. To

conserve utility-operator resources and reduce

losses we permitted curtailment of service, and

some plants were authorized to be closed when

it was apparent that the public demand for the

facilities would not justify their availability

during the entire season.10

The only major change in the concessions operation was the naming of William “Billy” Nichols as

president of the hotel and transportation companies in

1931 following the death of H. W. Child.11 A minor

disturbance arose when George Whittaker sold his

interest in the stores and filling stations at Mammoth

and Canyon to Anna Pryor and Elizabeth Trischman

for less than what he had told Jack Haynes he would

sell for; Haynes had even agreed to pay the higher

amount. C. A. Hamilton was also disappointed with

this deal because he had wanted to make an offer on

the Canyon store and filling station. The National Park

Service’s Chief Auditor believed that while Pryor and

Trischman had been successful at Mammoth, extending their business into the park might be another issue. He favored the sale of Canyon operations to

Hamilton.12

The sale of Indian items and foreign-made goods

became an issue in 1932 for the National Park Service nationwide, with the sale of foreign goods being

a particular issue in Yellowstone. During the summer

of 1932, a park visitor purchased an item made in Germany. Upon returning home and realizing the origins

of his “Yellowstone” souvenir, he became furious and

complained to Congressman Robert Simmons, “My

opinion as a good American Citizen, an Ex-service

man who served on foreign soil, fought for the country, think that such goods should be burned or at least

forbidden to be sold on the lands owned and maintained by the government.” According to Jack Haynes,

the parks were not allowed to sell German goods for a

period of time. But in 1931, with “the belief that now

there would be no objection since our new treaty with

Germany was signed.” (C. & A. Richards of Boston

provided a line of art from Germany). C. A. Hamilton,

who had about one percent of his merchandise made

in other countries (mainly Switzerland), believed that

“articles made in Germany, or any other are plainly

marked, and anyone that is adverse to foreign merchandise is certainly not compelled to purchase same.”

He went on to write, “I wonder if the party raising this

complaint refrains from drinking coffee or tea, or ever

uses silk in any form!” Since World War I, not only

did the issue of who sold what remain a problem, but

where merchandise was made was also an issue.13

The slight increase in park travel in 1933 did not

mitigate the losses the operators faced. Rail traffic

now accounted for only 4.2 percent of visitors, with

the hotel business mostly affected. Several actions

were undertaken to protect concessioners from further losses. It was decided that Lake Hotel and Lodge,

Mammoth Hotel, and Roosevelt Lodge would remain

closed during the 1933 season. Old Faithful Inn and

Canyon Hotel offered both the American Plan (room,

meals, and services included in price) and the European plan (only room and services included in price

with meals at additional cost) as a means of lowering

prices for the visitors. Haynes also lowered some of

his prices. In June, Hamilton took over the Brothers

bathhouse and swimming pool operation. Because

the nights were cool, he first decided to enclose the
80 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

pool at Old Faithful with glass, but instead built a new

building over the pool. One other event of note for

that year was the legalization of beer by the state of

Wyoming in May. An April 8, 1933, National Park

Service policy allowed “the sale of wine, beer and

other beverages containing legal percentage of alcohol in national parks and monuments, when consistent with the laws of the state.”14 Thus, beer went on

sale in the park following the repeal of the eighteenth

amendment.

In 1934, park visitation jumped by almost

100,000 people, bringing the total to 260,775 visitors,

but Lake and Mammoth hotels remained closed for

the season. Demand for housekeeping cabins and the

cafeterias increased, and it became apparent that these

were the types of services visitors preferred during

these times.15 In May 1934, a joint meeting of the

superintendents and the operators was held in Grand

Canyon National Park to develop a policy on the establishment of motor camps, housekeeping cabins, and

similar facilities in the national parks. Vernon

Goodwin of the Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps

Company explained that the housekeeping cabins in

Yellowstone were different from what the industry

considered this type of accommodation to be (“a place

where a man can come in with his family and live as

at home, doing washing and cooking”). In Yellowstone, the cabins were more like “shelter cabins, to

relieve the visitors of carrying three things: stoves,

mattresses, and tents.” Goodwin explained that 65

percent of the cabin guests used the cafeterias. He

called the term “housekeeping” a misnomer.16

The group also discussed the possibility that the

government would take over the concessions in the

parks, however, with the poor state of the national

economy no one thought this likely. As for the sale of

Indian-made items and foreign-made items in the concession stores, Superintendent Toll believed that the

sale of foreign-made goods should be allowed, but that

the Secretary of the Interior would not allow the sale

of factory-made Indian goods. Sale of handmade Indian goods would be allowed in the hopes of stimulating the trade of such goods. It was pointed out in

the meeting that a recent Federal Trade Commission

ruling denied the sales or shipment of machine-made

jewelry under an “Indian made” label.17

Because park concessioners were required to

follow many government regulations and standards

and because many parks had a limited travel season,

many of those attending the meeting concluded that

the park operators could not compete with the “mom

and pop” campgrounds or the private auto camps outside the parks. The conference attendees hoped to

devise some cost-cutting methods for building in parks,

with many wanting the government to provide more

assistance with utilities. On the question of air service within the parks, the vote was about equal with

Fred Harvey, a Grand Canyon concessioner, supporting the proposal. The group wrote a resolution recognizing the emergence of air travel:

It is the opinion of this conference that the importance of the airplane problem in connection

with travel to the National Parks should be recognized and that study should be made to determine the extent to which facilities shall be

Old Faithful area—housekeeping office and cabins. 1934.
From the Depression to World War II, 1929–1941 81

provided eventually at Park gateways and to

what extent commercial and private flying over

the Parks should be regulated to the public interest.18

In November 1934, at the park superintendents’

conference in Washington, Secretary of the Interior

Harold Ickes explained his philosophy about concessions and the parks’ role in providing for the enjoyment of the people:

I do not want any Coney Island. I want as much

wilderness, as much nature preserved and

maintained as possible....parks ought to be for

people who love to camp and love to hike and

who like to ride horseback and wander about

and have a real community of interest, a renewed communion with Nature. That is what

they ought to be. I am afraid we are getting

gradually alienated from that ideal. We are becoming a little highbrow; we have too many

roads....they were beginning to demand

showerbaths and running hot and cold water

and all the rest of it. That is perfectly natural.

And that is what I am trying to emphasize.

There is no limit to it. If you give them hot

and cold running water for shower-baths the

next thing they will want will be their breakfasts in bed. Frankly, we don’t want that kind

of people in the park....We must forget the idea

that there is competition between the parks and

the seaside or mountain resorts or that we must

have share of the trade....I suspect that a great

deal of that feeling that we are unduly giving

away to its pressure from the concessionnaires.

I have a lot of sympathy with them. Certainly

with our acquiescence and probably as the result of our urgent representations in many cases,

they have gone into the parks and invested their

money and put up hotels and established various conveniences for tourists. I wish we had

the statutory power and the money to take over

all of these concessions and run them ourselves.19

Ickes continued with his theme that the parks

were not “Coney Islands” and not a place for alien

entertainment. He did not want Indians to be used in

“Wild West” type entertainment, but did support a dignified, legitimate role for Indians, citing Yosemite as

a park that gave preference to hiring Indians. Ickes

disliked the “expensive hotels” calling them the

“wrong concept to begin with.”20 Ickes made himself

abundantly clear—he would prefer that the government own and operate the concessions and that the

experience of the visitors be more consonant with nature.

Concession improvements in Yellowstone had

slowed considerably during the Depression due to lack

of demand and the heavy financial losses incurred by

the owners. Government improvements, however, increased due to public works programs. With the increase in the number of visitors in 1934, the park anticipated that 1935 would produce concession improvements to meet renewed demands. Late in 1934,

Superintendent Toll reminded the operators that extensive alterations would receive the same level of

review as new construction and all exterior painting

needed approval. He issued new orders concerning the

construction, painting, and placement of signs. The

erection of signs on concession buildings and sign

details such as the size of sign, size of lettering, color

of both and type styles needed approval.21

Visitation increased in 1935 to 317,998 people;

even the numbers of visitors arriving by rail increased.

However, Lake Hotel remained closed for the season,

and only one wing of the hotel at Mammoth was open.

Hamilton continued to accommodate early visitors

(beginning May 15) and late-season visitors at Old

Faithful and Lake as he had done the previous year.

Just before the season opened, the concessioners

learned that the Director had approved the sale of alcoholic beverages by the drink at the lodges and hotels, as well as the sale of packaged alcohol goods in

the stores, hotels, and lodges. Because the park complied with Wyoming state law, liquor could not be sold

on Sundays nor to anyone under 21 years of age.

The concessioners responded to the new rule by

changing use areas in some of the buildings. The company stressed that they would serve drinks at a bar.22

At Canyon Hotel and at Old Faithful Inn, the hotel

company planned to serve guests drinks in a wine room

and one main room connected to the dining room.

They planned to also serve guests drinks in their

rooms.23

Cabin accommodations were the subject of considerable discussion in 1935 about cabin accommodations, particularly after National Park Service Landscape Architect Thomas Vint suggested that Mammoth

Lodge be taken down and the hotel converted to a
82 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

lodge-type facility. Vernon Goodwin was eager to determine the needed number of cabins throughout the

park as well as the best design for them. He considered the possibility of following the design of the

Swiftcurrent Cabins in Glacier National Park, but because 100 cabins needed to be built in 1936, cost became a factor.24

The beginning of 1936 was marked by sadness

in the National Park Service ranks with the untimely

death of Superintendent Roger Toll in an automobile

accident in New Mexico. Edmund Rogers, Superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park, succeeded

Toll.

Visitation in 1936 jumped by more than 100,000

people to 432,570; Rail service increased about 28

percent. In June, the hotel, the transportation, the lodge

and camps, the boat, and fuel companies consolidated

under the name Yellowstone Park Company with William Nichols as president and Vernon Goodwin as vice

president.25 Not enough cabins had been built at the

start of the season to accommodate tourists who preferred them to hotels. But, the increased rail traffic

eased the situation somewhat because rail passengers

still preferred to stay in hotels. Lake Hotel, which

had been closed for the past four years, remained

closed in 1936. Plans were made in 1936 for the transformation of the Mammoth Hotel into a lodge-type

facility.26 In 1936, fuel changed from wood and coal

to oil, provided by Conoco Oil Company.27 The transportation division bought 27 new White, stream-lined

14-passenger busses, three Ford Sedans, and two Ford

dump trucks.28

Visitation in 1937 was just short of a half-million (499,242). The Lake Hotel once again opened,

and by mid-July, 43 rooms in the girls’ dormitory were

used as lodge-type guest rooms. The Yellowstone Park

Company focused on the project at Mammoth, which

coincided with an overall redevelopment of the area

as outlined in the earlier park Master Plan. The company installed oil tanks throughout the Park to accommodate the change to oil fuel.29

In 1938, visitation declined to 466,185, but rose

again in 1939 to 486,936. In these years, travel trends

were clearly changing; by mid-summer, hotel sales

were up, and lodge and housekeeping sales were down.

A park official attributed the change to the fact that

many people were beginning to stay outside the park

and come in for day trips.30 Western Air Express,

which operated out of West Yellowstone for a few

years, experienced a 30 percent increase in business

in 1938; 1102 park visitors arrived via Western Airlines. In 1938, the company offered flights over the

park on Saturdays and Sundays, serving 116 passengers, but the service was discontinued in 1939. Another emerging trend was the entry of travel trailers

into the park. Despite an additional $1 entry fee, about

Mammoth Lodge being demolished. 1949.
From the Depression to World War II, 1929–1941 83

500 to 700 trailers had come into the park since 1936.31

A major reorganization of the lodge areas began

in 1939, starting at Old Faithful. After many discussions with architects, landscape architects, engineers,

Yellowstone Park Company managers, and National

Park Service officials, it was decided that all cabins

would have electricity and running water; the cabins

would be spaced 14 feet apart; lap siding would be

used on new cabins; and, in the Old Faithful area,

brown stain would be used with red paint for the window trim, at the suggestion of Landscape Architect

Thomas Vint.32

Late in 1939 at a National Park Service conference was held in Santa Fe, new policies were issued

for park concessioners. One new policy required concession operators to “include with plans of public facilities submitted for approval, details as to cost of

construction, proposed rates, and estimated revenue

expense, and resulting net profit, to provide reasonable assurance of satisfactory operation of the proposed facilities on a socio-economic basis.” The government strongly favored the development of accommodations outside park boundaries; in fact, in many

of the newly created eastern parks, a policy was being

formulated “whereby only the daytime needs of visitors for gasoline, oil, food, and picnic supplies shall

be met by operations within the parks.”33 Another

new policy that received high visibility required the

use of park timber instead of logs in the constructing

new lodges in the park. In a letter to President Franklin

Roosevelt, Secretary Ickes explained that in order to

preserve “the scenic and natural conditions within the

parks and monuments,” only “material salvaged from

clearings for roads, buildings, or other developments,

or from insect and tree disease control and fire hazard

reduction operations” could be used for construction

purposes. He emphasized to the President that “there

is no proposed new construction in Yellowstone that

would utilize [new forest] logs.”34

Early in 1940, the Yellowstone Park Company

decided to erect slightly larger cabins, 14 by 16 feet,

which delighted the Washington office because it

wanted newly constructed cabins to be 12 by 15 feet.

Associate Director Arthur Demaray also liked William Nichols’s experiment of adding small porches to

the cabins.35

In October 1940, Superintendent Rogers asked

the Yellowstone Park Company for a status update on

the recommendations made in 1938 for fire protection in the concessions buildings, particularly retarding the spread of fire and allowing prompt egress of

the guests in the event of a fire. The company had

followed most of the recommendations outlined in the

1938 report, and some action was in progress such as

the installation of fire detectors and installation of some

“Exit” signs. The National Park Service was concerned about the installation of the oil storage tanks

so close to buildings. While the spacing met a municipal code, park officials were worried about the

locations of tanks in areas without facilities for fighting an oil fire. They feared the possibility that “the

temperature of the oil in the tanks [could rise] so that

vapors will be given off which will increase the pressure within the tank and cause a tank rupture.” Park

officials stressed the need for extra fire prevention and

precaution in these areas, and they demanded that no

combustibles be allowed within the dikes built around

the oil tanks. The trees in these areas were removed

as an extra precaution. More hose houses and fire

hydrants were also recommended.36

In August, after seven years as National Park

Service Director, Arno Cammerer resigned, and SecMammoth Motor Inn. 1953. Mammoth dining room. 1937.
84 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

retary Harold Ickes selected Newton Drury for the

post.37 As the world situation became more tense with

the approach of war in Europe, an order was issued

from Washington “restricting employees of the Park

Operators to citizens and those in the process of becoming citizens of the United States.”38 Visitation

broke the half-million mark in 1940 with 526,437

people coming into the park. Visitation would again

rise in 1941 to 581,761, and the park concessioners

remained busy trying to meet visitor needs. With the

lodge improvements completed or underway at Old

Faithful, Lake, (construction of new cabins and installation of new utilities) and Fishing Bridge (new

utilities installed and cafeteria enlarged), the Yellowstone Park Company began addressing needs in the

Tower Fall/Roosevelt Lodge area. The company

wanted to abandon the Roosevelt Lodge development,

but Edmund Rogers refused to consider the idea because he saw a need for facilities in that part of the

park. Rogers wanted to have both a campground and

lodge facilities available for travelers coming in

through Cooke City.39

Also in late summer, C. A. Hamilton requested

permission to build a new store on the site of the Old

Faithful bathhouse/swimming pool, which meant a

total of three Hamilton stores in this development. This

raised the issue of “how far beyond supplying basic

necessities merchandizing in the national parks should

be permitted to expand.” Rogers was opposed to a

third Hamilton store. He believed that “appropriate

curios have a legitimate place in the national park,”

but that “some standard should be established and

some control be maintained over what articles are sold

in the national parks under the guise of park souvenirs.” He knew that many parks had curios that were

indigenous to their area, but did not think this was the

case in Yellowstone—the practice was to stamp the

name “Yellowstone” on any kind of item, the cheaper

the better, and call it a park souvenir. Rogers pointed

out that Hamilton’s recently submitted plans distinguished between the areas of “low quality” and “quality” curios. Rogers told Hamilton to dispose of the

cheaper goods in order to achieve the extra space he

wanted. He believed this was a issue in Yellowstone

and that it was probably systemwide.40

Hamilton also presented his architect’s plans for

a new store at West Thumb in 1941, which drew harsh

comments from the Regional Chief of Planning,

Howard Baker. Baker disliked the use of “gable and

flat roofs, the use of two different kinds of materials

on such a small structure and the introduction of a

few modernistic details.” While not objecting to using concrete, he did contend the building needed to

reflect park character. Baker went on to suggest that

“it would not be out of line at all for the Service to

insist that the operators use the same architect and have

him present to the Service a sketch, probably in perspective, of all of the proposed buildings for our review prior to our giving approval on any one individual structure.41

With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on

December 7, 1941, all improvement programs and

plans Yellowstone National Park changed. The Yellowstone Park Company’s ambitious lodge transformation plans would be put on hold, and concession

activity would become uncertain. Once again, world

affairs would impact the park and its concessioners.
War-Time Rationing to Post-War Scarcity, 1942–1949 85

CHAPTER TEN

War-Time Rationing to

Post-War Scarcity

1942–1949

While the first two years of the 1940s were generally good years for park concessioners, the growing

crisis in Europe and the Far East signaled the approach

of another troubled period for them. The concessioners

could anticipate a dramatic drop in visitation if war

started. They also knew their building program would

be hampered by an insufficient labor force and shortages in materials, tires, and gasoline. But, they could

not anticipate the National Park Service’s response to

the national crisis.

Selective Service registration for men who had

reached the age of 21 by October 17, 1940, began in

the park in July 1941. One hundred fifty-three men

registered at Mammoth, Old Faithful, Lake, and Canyon. The following year, 239 men enlisted during registration, and some park employees in isolated areas

registered by telephone or radio with Wyoming Selective Service offices.

At the end of December 1941, after America’s

entry into the war, the rationing of vehicle tires began

across the country; the following month, a rationing

board was created in the park. Tire rationing was followed a few months later by sugar rationing.1

William Nichols, hotel and transportation companies president, began in 1942 trying to be optimistic. In a letter to his park construction manager, B. O.

Hallin, Nichols wrote, “It is too early now, of course,

to say what we can do in the way of construction for

next summer. It all depends on what kind of a season

we can anticipate and I may not know the answer until May. If the War situation does not get too acute, I

think we should have a pretty good season.”2 Nichols

began plans for completing the cabin construction behind Lake Hotel and relocating and remodeling the

Lake Lodge cabins to the Fishing Bridge area. He

had hoped to complete improvements at Fishing

Bridge that year and to bring the area up to the same

standard as the Old Faithful area. He knew that labor

would be a problem, and indeed it was when the Army

began construction of a camp for 30,000 men near

Henrys Lake, in Idaho. This project’s better pay lured

away some of the best park and concession employees. Other park workers were attracted to the construction of the Heart Mountain Relocation Project

near Cody, Wyoming. Nichols also knew that he probably needed to place an order early for plywood and

lumber with Monarch Lumber Company in Bozeman

for a May delivery before the Navy and Army placed

a priority claim on these materials.3

Lake cabins. n.d.
86 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

operations between railhead[s] and hotels in the Parks

are not prohibited and such types of operation does

not fall within the Order’s definition of either charter

or sight-seeing service.” With trains carrying mostly

war material, the Northern Pacific Railroad was limited in the numbers of passenger cars it could attach

to trains. Early in the season, the Northern Pacific

Railroad planned to serve Gardiner, Cody, and, if the

number of travelers justified it, provide an extra car to

Billings and Red Lodge; one car was planned from

Seattle to Gardiner. However, the railroad was quite

concerned with the mixed messages it received from

the different government departments about publicity

on travel and also on the openings of parks across the

country.8

Acting National Park Service Director Arthur

Demaray informed the Northern Pacific Railroad on

June 2 that the National Park Service did not intend to

issue any special notice about whether the parks would

be open for the season. General Passenger Agent

Goodsill found the “attitude taken by the ODT and

NPS is so negative that the situation is bad, and a pall

has been smothering over the travel market, which is

unprecedented and the results are unpredictable.”

Goodsill believed that the National Park Service’s

“hands are tied and they are subordinate to the waremergency bureau of the ODT” and they can’t publicly say “everybody come out and enjoy the parks”

at this particular time. Goodsill urged Nichols to “cut

down to skeleton staffs everywhere and not open any

units not absolutely necessary. Also get ready to close

some, if travel is meager.”9

The Office of Defense Transportation General

Order 10 affected chartered bus tours to the parks, but

some companies quickly reorganized by providing

auto tours with escorts. It seemed to Northern Pacific

Railroad officials that Yellowstone was still a popular

destination point. In early summer many continued

to hope that western states might get some relief from

gas rationing and that rail traffic might provide some

visitors. However, the Northern Pacific Railroad’s

general passenger agent believed, “Adding all favorable factors and setting the total against the unfavorable ones, still leaves a poor season in prospect, with

every reason [to believe] that the Yellowstone Park

Company needs to cut everything to the bone.”10

Government price-freezing regulations, which

would affect the concessioners, came out in June. The

freeze did not apply to “meal prices where the foods

or beverages are prepared and sold for consumption

In February 1942, the National Park Service approved plans with some modifications, for the new

cabin layouts at Lake Lodge, the Mammoth housekeeping area, and West Thumb. The Safety Division

requested spacing of 20 feet between single cabins,

30 feet between double cabins, and water lines for fire

protection in each development. For the West Thumb

development, the Branch of Forestry expressed concern about the “conservation of the fine growth of

spruce in the area” and requested an onsite study of

the area.4 In response to a query by the Chief of Park

Operators Division about the types of cabins in each

park, Yellowstone came up with 44 different types of

cabins.5

In the early spring, the operators began to sort

out what parts of their operations should open for the

season. In assessing the “increasing seriousness of

the war situation and the definite influence on Park

travel,” Anna Pryor proposed to close her auto camp

(present campground) cafeteria and grocery store and

open only the coffee shop and general store at Mammoth. This was approved by the Director.6 In April,

the Director issued guidance to the operators about

services they must provide for the public:

Because of the war situation and the incidental

unpredictable volume of business, the probability of rapidly changing costs, and the difficulty

of securing materials and supplies to maintain

proper standards of service furnished by the

operators for the accommodation of the public

in the national park areas during the coming

season, unusual authority must be vested in

local administrative officials during the war

period. Authority, therefore, is hereby given

to the superintendents . . . to discontinue, curtail, or extend the various authorized accommodations and services of park operators.

Authority is also given to the superintendents

to revise upward or downward all park operators’ rates, except those approved for housing

and bus transportation . . . This memorandum

does not apply to the established fees for automobile licenses, or for entering national park

areas.7

In May, the Office of Defense Transportation

(ODT) issued General Order 10, affecting rail and bus

transportation across the country. The National Park

Service interpreted the order “to mean that Park bus
War-Time Rationing to Post-War Scarcity, 1942–1949 87

on the premises,” nor did it apply “to perishable products such as eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables.” The

regulations stipulated that the highest price charged

in March 1942 would the base price. The National

Park Service recognized that many isolated parks were

not operating in March and thus an exception to the

general regulation provided that “the highest price

charged during such months by the most closely competitive seller of the same class for the same commodity or services or if no charge was made for the same

commodity or service then for the similar commodity

or service most nearly like it, would apply.”11

On June 14, National Park Service Director

Drury released a statement on national parks and

monuments. He stated that the service would be flexible in order to meet the changing needs “of adapting

all civilian activities to the furthering of the winning

of the war.” At that point overall visitation was half

of what it had been at the previous time in 1941. Drury

mentioned that in “Yellowstone National Park, for

instance, the hotels now are about ready for opening,

with nearly 1,000 summer employees on the

company’s payroll. Unless the demand later on justifies reversal of the present plan, the lodges will not be

opened; but the hotels will handle those visitors who

ordinarily would patronize the lodges, at comparable

rates.” He elaborated on General Order 10 and announced that sightseeing tours in the parks would be

eliminated as they are in the “luxury class and not an

integral part of transportation from the visitor’s home

to the park.” He found the Order’s exclusion of the

National Park Service “not entirely an unmixed hardship.” Noting that most of the “choicest portions of

the wilderness parks often are off the automobile roads,

reached by trail,” he advised the public that saddle

horses were available and stated, “Family type vacations, with longer stays at a given location, should lead

to increased horseback riding and hiking.” Director

Drury noted that overall visitation was down, but that

visitation by members of the armed forces had increased and that their entrance fees had been waived.

In many cases, the concessioners offered special rates

for men in uniform. Director Drury ended his release

by stating that he believed:

in wartime the need for maintaining unimpaired

the scenic national parks and the great national

historic shrines is more imperative than ever

before. Even were there no travel to them, it

would be important that they be guarded as an

intrinsic unit of our total national treasure, for

use and enjoyment after the war.12

In mid-July of 1942, the general manager of the

Hamilton Stores, Gar Helppie, requested and received

permission to close the gas stations at Old Faithful

auto camp as soon as the gas supply was exhausted.13

Old Faithful, Mammoth, and Canyon hotels and

the Mammoth cottages closed on August 27 as did all

park transportation. The Old Faithful and Fishing

Bridge cabins and cafeterias remained open until September 10, and, as usual, C. A. Hamilton agreed to

furnish lodging and meals at Lake and Old Faithful

until the middle of October or as long as travel continued. In August 1942, the Weather Bureau service

closed at Mammoth after operating there for 39 years

and relocated to West Yellowstone.14

Late in 1942, the concessioners were advised that

the military was interested in leasing different resorttype facilities across the country for use as rest centers. Each park reviewed the military’s requests. Because Yellowstone was not available year-round, it was

ultimately not considered for the program.15

By the end of 1942, rumors were rampant that

Lake Hotel was going to be demolished. These rumors had spread to area salvage companies, who naturally wanted to bid on the rumored demolition project,

but the superintendent could not confirm the rumor.16

Visitation had dropped from a high in 1941 of

581,761 tourists to 191,830 in 1942, prompting a grim

prediction for the 1943 season. (In fact, only 64,144

people visited Yellowstone in 1943.) None of the hotels, lodges, or cafeterias was scheduled to open in

1943, and the park buses were not scheduled to run.

The park made plans to accommodate only visitors

from nearby areas who had the gas and tire rations to

Fishing Bridge cafeteria. 1929.
88 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

come to the park as well as any cross-country travelers moving to new assignments (such as armed forces

members and their families or people involved in war

work). There was no promotion of travel to the park,

and the operators were asked to provide only limited

services. Tourist cabins were opened at Fishing Bridge

and Old Faithful, and Hamilton again provided meals

and took in guests at both Old Faithful and Fishing

Bridge. Pryor’s coffee shop at Mammoth served meals

and provided some overnight accommodations. Superintendent Rogers noted that the smaller operators

might “be able to meet expenses through their curtailed operations,” but “the Yellowstone Park Company would take a heavy loss this War year due to its

tremendous investments.”17

As part of the war effort, scrap iron drives were

initiated in the park in 1943, and the Yellowstone Park

Company sold 268,990 pounds of scrap, plus 15 tons

of rails and dollies to Murray Baum of Ashton, Idaho.18

In March 1943, Jack Haynes visited local citizens and discussed the possibility of the park not opening for the 1943 season. He reported to Director Drury:

Under present conditions, I think that no one

would be surprised if the park was not opened

at all this summer. He went on to say that if in

the interest of conservation of rubber, gasoline,

food and man power the National Park Service

decided not to open the park, there might be

some people who would complain, but the

National Park Service is strong enough to absorb those complaints easily because its action

would be in line with the all out war effort which

seems to be essential to winning the war.19

Haynes found that some Bozeman and

Livingston citizens to have the same attitude. He told

Drury, “I am gratified to learn that the National Park

Service stands high in the esteem of these neighbors.”

Haynes offered to open with a skeleton crew wherever he was needed, knowing that he was “going to

lose money anyway, and it’s just a matter of degree.”

He wrote Director Drury that he had told Superintendent Rogers in 1942 that “the thing to do was to board

up the park entrances until the war is won.”20

Prior to the 1943 season opening, Hamilton requested a slight increase in room rates and meals in

order to cover his fixed costs. He reported that he had

to pay maids $90 a month and had other fixed expenses such as gasoline, lights, linen, and fuel. He

added that he probably would not be able to take on

any more guests than he had in the past.21 Hamilton

was also concerned about gasoline delivery from Continental Oil Company and suggested to William

Nichols that Yellowstone Park Company rent one of

its tanker trucks on a mileage basis to deliver needed

gas. Hamilton estimated that he had enough canned

goods to supply his winterkeepers, and he would find

a way to secure perishables because he did not think

the vegetable peddler, Happy Lyman, or Wilcoxson

Dairy, or the bakery would make deliveries to the park.

Finally, Hamilton said it was difficult to plan for opening by April 11, as he did not know when power would

be on at Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge.22

In June, Director Drury issued a statement on

available public facilities in the national parks during

the 1943 season. Drury stated that the national emergency would cause some functions to be curtailed, but

“the responsibility for the administration and protection of the national park areas has not been reduced or

materially changed because of the war.” He also stated

that a sufficient force was maintained in the parks “to

protect it adequately and to keep the park and monuments open.” Public campgrounds and museums

would be open and naturalist services would be offered on a limited schedule. He advised visitors that

since the concessioners had to abide by the same OPA

rules regarding meals and housing ceilings and food

rationing, visitors should bring their ration books if

they planned to be in the park for a lengthy stay.23

Despite the grim times, there were many instances of humor. For example, early in 1944,

Hamilton, still at his home in California, wrote to park

officials, Joe Joffe and Fred Johnston, stating that due

to a shortage in points, the one government board

“placed him on a pork diet” during the summer of

1943. He suggested to Joffe that if he was still on

pork rations in 1944, he might substitute with buffalo!24

At the beginning of 1944, however, Hamilton

was worried as he had not received even one application for employment for the upcoming season. And,

as time moved closer to the opening date, Hamilton

reviewed his stock remaining from the previous year.

He noted that souvenirs and curios did not sell well,

but candy, gum, cigars, Pendleton shirts, hunting

knives, liquor, and beer sold very quickly. He still

had a sufficient stock of canned goods for the season,

but would probably have to purchase 10 to 15 sacks

of sugar.25

Hamilton suggested to Superintendent Rogers
War-Time Rationing to Post-War Scarcity, 1942–1949 89

that because gasoline rations were cut to two gallons

per week, perhaps the upper portion of the park should

be closed for the season, and he advised putting barriers across the road at Madison Junction and Norris.

He informed Rogers that if the geyser basin and Lake/

Fishing Bridge were open, he would want to be at his

business to prevent theft. Citing previous thefts at

closed facilities, including the old Fountain Hotel,

Hamilton suggested that he would even remain as a

“watchman” until the winterkeeper returned in the

fall.26 When it was announced that Fishing Bridge

and Old Faithful would be open to the public, Hamilton

responded, “Was hoping the poles would remain across

the roads at Madison Junction and Norris and that my

‘40th’ summer would be confined to fishing. My first

entrance into the Park was the spring 1905.”27

After a meeting in Chicago with the National

Park Service Director Drury, Edmund Rogers announced that Hamilton would operate the Old Faithful store, but no cabins would be opened; the stores

and cabins would be opened at Fishing Bridge; and

Anna Pryor would operate her coffee shop at Mammoth.28 Hamilton experienced an unexpected increase

in the number of visitors at Old Faithful in late May,

three times more than the 1943 numbers. He urged

the government to turn on the power at the campground

because he was being overrun with visitors wanting

to use his washrooms.29 As the summer progressed,

Hamilton began to need meat, cheese, and butter, but

he kept a good attitude, “No one will fight his war

game harder than myself but the picture is getting impossible.”30 Jack Haynes, who planned to open only

his stores at Old Faithful and Mammoth, presented a

positive attitude to Superintendent Rogers, “Please be

assured, however, that if further operations are required, we will be glad to comply.”31

Despite another poor year for the concessioners,

Mr. Hamilton continued to be very generous. He again

led the donations in the park’s Loan Drive (its fifth),

by buying a Series G Bond for $10,000. (The park

quota for 1944 was $28,400.32 ) He also purchased a

Hammond organ for the chapel in Mammoth as a remembrance of the silver anniversary of his marriage

there on September 20, 1920. In remitting a second

check to Rogers for the balance on the organ, Hamilton

noted, “I enclose herewith a check for $202 in order

that our little clan may chant hymns on Easter and

pray for a wayward soul.” The purchase of an organ

during wartime was not an easy task. Organs could

be sold only to churches and educational institutions

and not to private homes or night clubs. Superintendent Rogers, who lived in Denver, arranged for the

purchase through the Wells Music Store, with an allotment for only three during the first quarter of 1945.

Hamilton paid $1,702 for the organ.33

At the beginning of 1945, the concessioners predicted a very grim season indeed. Nichols wrote to

Superintendent Rogers in January recommending that

with the “extreme man-power shortage and the evident feeling in Washington and around the country

that non-essential industries should be discouraged,”

and no accommodations should be offered in the park

during 1945. He pointed out that if the park was not

so isolated or if it was near a military installation, then

it would be able to offer rest and recreation to soldiers. However, because of the restricted rationing of

gasoline and tires, the continued restrictions on rail

and bus travel, and the shortage of labor, “the National

Park Service should receive credit for being realistic

over the situation in advising the public that on acHaynes Photo Shop. 1951. Hamilton’s Upper Geyser Basin Store. 1951.
90 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

count of war restrictions, there will be no accommodations for visitors in Yellowstone National Park next

summer.” Haynes agreed with Nichols up to a point,

but because he had had 25 percent more business in

1944 than in 1943, he was not sure the park should be

totally closed. His position was slightly different from

that of the concessioners who provided accommodations and served meals. He pointed out to Nichols

that he was allotted so much film each year, and, if he

did not open, he would loose his allotment. As Haynes

saw it, even the minimal amount of sales helped offset the fixed depreciation he took on his park properties. Because these depreciations would happen

whether he was opened or closed, he believed (“being

too old to help with the war very much”) he might as

well stay open and continue “plodding along as usual.”

He told Nichols that he would speak to Superintendent Rogers about the plight of the concessioners who

provided accommodations. Evidently, the fact that

Hamilton did not want to open in 1945 really surprised

Jack Haynes. In a letter to Nichols, he wrote, “It is

hard for me to imagine CAH [Hamilton] not wanting

to open up, considering the volume of business he did

in 1943 and 1944, but I’m not too old to learn a lot!”34

Director Drury did not agree with Nichols and

called for the same level of services as was available

in 1944.35 In fact, almost 13 percent (10,898) of the

visitors to the park in 1944 were military men.36 Before the end of the season the war was over, and Director Drury issued the following remarks to the

concessioners:

Now that the war has ended, there will undoubtedly be a considerable immediate increase in

travel to areas administered by the Service.

Accordingly, our concessioners should be

urged to make every effort to meet the demands

of the public for meals, lodging, transportation,

and other public service facilities insofar as

they can within the manpower and other limitations which may still be imposed upon them.

I believe, too, that the concessioners in the park

areas normally closed in early winter should

be asked to keep their public facilities open as

long as possible this year, if justified by public

demands for accommodations, as I feel sure

that there will be many who will desire to visit

those areas this year after the normal travel

season, as we know it before the war, ends.

Park concessioners should also be urged to

begin planning for the necessary rehabilitation

of their public service facilities so that they may

be placed in good condition at the beginning

of the busy season next year.37

In late September, Director Drury wrote to

Nichols acknowledging his letter describing the increased visitation toward the end of the season. Drury

noted that upon the release of gasoline rationing,

Mount Rainier experienced an all-time record high for

the first Sunday in September. He stated that he would

shortly call a conference of the concessioners to discuss problems and to plan for the rush on the parks

expected for 1946.38

By the end of the 1945 season, Yellowstone’s

visitation was 178,296 people, an increase of 108 percent over the 1944 total of 85,347. Superintendent

Rogers noted that even with an increase of gasoline

rationing in the early summer, the park experienced

an increase in visitation as war workers shifted to the

West Coast after the European war ended. Visitation

for the year was up 56.4 percent prior to V-J Day, with

another big surge after V-J Day.39

After several years of falling visitation during

the war, no one could have anticipated the dramatic

increase in visitors to Yellowstone in 1946. During

May and June alone, 199,390 people came through

the entrance stations! During the war years, the

concessioners probably dreamed of the days when

huge numbers of tourists flooded the park, but with

post-war labor problems, continued scarcity of materials, and the general deteriorated condition of park

facilities, they incurred an unprecedented nightmare.40

The lodges and hotels, which had been closed,

needed extensive repairs, and it was impossible to open

them by the time visitors started to arrive in 1946. A

lumber shortage prevented early construction, and

consideration was given to tearing down buildings

around the Mammoth Lodge area to secure the needed

material. Because Monarch Lumber Company in

Bozeman could not furnish the needed supplies, Yellowstone Park Company construction manager B. O.

Hallin received a commitment from Bonner Lumber

Company of Missoula. Unfortunately, heavy snow

and labor troubles prevented an early delivery of materials. At this time, the purchase of lumber for a hotel or resort for amounts under $1,000 did not have to

go through the allocation process handled by the Civilian Production Administration, so Nichols sug-
War-Time Rationing to Post-War Scarcity, 1942–1949 91

gested Hallin prepare cost estimates for the jobs and

be prepared to go to Helena with Huntley Child to

secure the needed lumber.41

In the meantime, Hallin learned that the $1,000

amount must also include labor, so he sought permission from Yellowstone Park Company official Ed

Moorman to tear down two of the old dormitories and

several cabins. That would provide the needed wood

to repair the floors at Roosevelt Lodge and Old Faithful Lodge plus take care of needed repairs at a few

cabins.42 Hallin was able to salvage 5,000 feet of lumber from each building, mostly shiplap 2 x 4s, 1 x 6s,

and 1 x 8s. This amount of material allowed him to

also make repairs at Canyon Lodge. Hallin also supervised the cleanup around the Mammoth housekeeping cabins. In a letter to Nichols, he wrote, “I do not

think that the grounds have ever been cleaned up since

the cabins were built. You can readily see how much

dirt there is when we can find six dump truck loads of

tin cans, bottles, rags, and old stove pipes in one day.”

He planned to do a similar cleanup behind the Mammoth Hotel the following week.43

In January 1946, Director Drury, who favored

showers over tubs, wanted assurance that bathing facilities would be adequate in Yellowstone and urged

the Yellowstone Park Company to install new facilities in other buildings if they could not get the older

bathhouses ready.44

Most of the facilities were opened by June 20,

except for Lake Hotel, which did not open. Haynes

Picture Shop, the cafeteria, and the store in the campground in Mammoth opened later in the summer.

Camp Roosevelt opened by June 20, but a labor shortage caused it to close before the month was over. Only

75 percent of park accommodations were available

for occupancy; consequently, many people stayed in

the surrounding communities or in their autos. Not

only did the Yellowstone Park Company have to cope

with the unprecedented numbers of guests, but they

also received many complaints, which could be attributed mainly to inexperienced help. Prior to the

war, two clerks could manage the reservations, but in

1946 the company had to employ 12 people to accomplish the task. In 1941, the telegraph office had

handled about 200 messages per day; in 1946, the

number had risen to 800 or 900 per day. Finding competent and reliable staff was a post-war problem as

the attitude of “labor expecting to receive high wages

with little work” was prevalent. During June, the Yellowstone Park Company had 260 employees quit for

one reason or another; some were dismissed due to

drunken behavior.45

In March, F. E. Kammermeyer, who had managed the transportation division for more than 25 years,

had returned to get his operation going again—the

buses had not run since 1942. Again Western Air Lines

began regular flights to West Yellowstone, and rail

service resumed after being discontinued during the

war.46

Rumors about Lake Hotel’s fate began again in

June. Assistant to the Superintendent Joe Joffe received an inquiry from S. E. Boyer of Casper, WyoLake Hotel. 1953.
92 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

ming, about possibly buying the hotel for salvage

material so he could build needed homes for veterans.

Joffe responded with the news that the Company

planned to tear down part of the building, but because

materials were scarce, he was sure the Yellowstone

Park Company would use all of it for its own needs.

Joffe portrayed the acute situation in the Park in his

letter, “They are really up against it themselves in trying to meet the demand. The Park is getting travel

exceeding even the wildest expectations, and it is truly

a mad house here. Accommodations are sold out every night, and hundreds of persons are being turned

away.”47 Fortunately, the Yellowstone Park Company

did not have time to start work on the Lake Hotel.

During the summer, Nichols received permission

to remove or tear down the auto repair shop and gas

station buildings at Tower Fall and move the tank and

pumps to use at Roosevelt Lodge. With a change in

the road configuration, the facility was not needed at

Tower. Nichols believed that once a decision had been

reached on the construction of the Northeast Entrance

road, a filling station would be needed at the junction.48

In July 1946, Haynes reported to Superintendent

Rogers that most of his film-processing business was

with park employees and that “the guests of the park

make notoriously rapid trips through the park and do

not stay long enough in one place for us to process

their films.” Thus, he requested permission to eliminate this expensive and unprofitable operation. He

also noted that he was not selling grocery items, operating long-distance telephone service, or operating the

contract postal station at the Tower Fall store.49

In August, Hamilton wrote Anna Pryor proposing to purchase her interests in the park. He reminded

her that he knew that all of her buildings were subject

to demolition just as some of his buildings were, with

the exception of the Fishing Bridge and the Basin Auto

Camp store. In closing the letter, Hamilton wittingly

wrote, “If we can agree, the deal would be all cash

and then you could live the life of Riley until St. Peter

happens to call your number. In the usual turmoil,

C. A. Hamilton.”50 Informing Superintendent Rogers

of his intentions, Hamilton stated that he would construct a modern store at Mammoth on the designated

site and that he thought he and Nichols could “reach

an understanding so that he would take over the cafeteria setup at that point.” He also requested a site at

Gardiner for a warehouse, which he would use as a

central distribution point for all his stores.51

In October, construction manager Hallin began

tearing up the Mammoth tennis court, but by November he had only removed 16 feet of it; the debris was

deposited at the Mammoth dump. Hallin was still

examining all areas in the park for potential salvage,

but Nichols denied Hallin’s request to tear down the

old bunkhouse at West Yellowstone; it was still being

used.52 The other major cleanup was the demolition

of the Shaw and Powell camp buildings in Willow

Park. Built in 1913, the buildings, had been abandoned in 1917.53

A planning conference held in January 1947 to

outline the Yellowstone Park Company’s improvement

program and to prioritize construction, was attended

by park staff and company officials. With the nightmarish year of 1946 behind them, it was imperative

that they prepare for the expected high visitation of

1947 despite the continuing post-war problems. The

company planned to resume projects that had been

planned prior to the war within the constraints of a

continuing shortage of building materials. The

company’s improvement priorities for 1947 were the

installation of additional public bathing facilities at

Fishing Bridge and Old Faithful; installation of toilet

and bathing facilities in the manager’s and cook’s cabins at Old Faithful, Fishing Bridge and West Thumb;

installation of water and sewer systems and bathroom

facilities in the Lake Lodge cabin area; initiation of

planning for buildings at West Thumb; and preliminary discussions on the development at Canyon.54 The

park’s priorities were slightly different from the

company’s. Yellowstone Park Company had prioritized the work at Lake, Old Faithful, and the Canyon

development ahead of West Thumb. But what concerned Superintendent Rogers more was the absence

of an architectural style guideline for all of the

concessioners to follow. The National Park Service

had promised an architectural guideline (being prepared by National Park Service architect Halsey

Davidson) to the Yellowstone Park Company, Mr.

Hamilton, and Mr. Haynes, but it had not been presented by the time of the planning meeting. Superintendent Rogers was afraid that “we may lose the advantage of this initiative if the Service is not able to

present such plans to the concessioners within another

six weeks or less.”55

C. A. Hamilton was the first concessioner to become a victim of the regional architect’s failure to produce the guideline for the West Thumb area in a timely

manner. On February 4, Hamilton sent in plans for
War-Time Rationing to Post-War Scarcity, 1942–1949 93

approval for a type of service station that many major

oil companies were beginning to build. These stations were pre-fabricated to control costs and allow a

minimum set-up time. The pre-fabricated facility

could also be relocated to other sites if necessary.

Assistant Superintendent Fred Johnston urged Regional Director Merriam to have Architect Davidson

finish the architectural guidelines so the park could

comment on Hamilton’s proposal and not delay his

project.

The intent of a National Park Service architectural style guideline was to produce a “design which

would provide harmony in appearance among the various structures to be built by the several concessioners

and also provide some scheme of floor layout which

would permit economical operation of the facilities

during periods of light travel.” Davidson’s work was

not intended to be preliminary drawings for the

concessioner, but only to create a style from which

the concessioner’s architect could work. Yellowstone

Park Company architect, Fred Willson of Bozeman,

agreed that there was a need for “improved building

design.” The park recognized that:

each concessioner wishes to have a certain

amount of individuality reflected in his buildings so that they do not appear to come from

the same mold, and that character should not

be difficult to obtain with a good style of architecture.56

On June 25, Hamilton received the approval for

the preliminary plans for the station. In the interim,

there was much discussion, both philosophical and

technical, about the station’s design. Hamilton’s initial design was for a modern station, but the park

wanted a design that reflected more of a “park feeling.” Park staff believed that the use of “enameled

steel would not be suitable since it would be impossible by texture of construction or color to make this

building harmonize with other buildings in the locality.” They wanted the station to be constructed of reinforced concrete so it would be strong enough to withstand heavy snow loads. Hamilton then began planning the construction of a store at West Thumb. Hillory

Tolson, the acting director, delayed approval for this

plan until the Department of the Interior completed a

concessions policy.57

During the summer, Hamilton sought and received permission to reshingle the roof of the dwelling behind the Lake store as well as the lower store at

Old Faithful. In the approval letter for the reshingling

of the lower store, Rogers advised Hamilton to use

the most economical roofing material since that store

was scheduled for demolition in a few years. He suggested a composition shingle, but the color or color

mixtures would need park approval.58

C. A. Hamilton’s daughter and son-in-law,

Trevor and Ellie Povah, had joined the business in 1945

and needed a place in the Old Faithful area to live.

The first proposal was to move the Fishing Bridge

laundry-and-bathhouse to Old Faithful and remodel it

as a residence. Superintendent Rogers delayed giving final approval for the building relocation, but did

recommend a site in the government apartment and

dormitory area. For the first few years, the young

Povah family lived in two cubicles, separated by a

public hall, just beyond the entrance to the swimming

pool. Later, they rented the winterkeeper’s cottage

while still using the rooms at the pool.59

The Yellowstone Park Company was also involved in the architectural style issue at West Thumb

because of its plans to construct a tourist building.

They were eager for their architect, Fred Willson, to

prepare the drawings.60

In 1947, Secretary of the Interior Julius Krug

paid a visit to Yellowstone and came away with the

feeling that perhaps the Old Faithful swimming pool

should not be scrapped in 1949 as previously decided.

He wrote Director Drury, “I appreciate that the swimming pool is not the sightliest building in the park,

but it certainly is no more grotesque than many of the

others, and it seems to me to be serving a very useful

purpose. I should like to be consulted concerning any

plans you might have for the scrapping of this structure.”61

Earlier in the year, Krug had issued a statement

on safety in the park hotels and called for sprinkler

systems in all old hotels of combustible construction

exceeding two stories. The Secretary also called for

the enclosure of stairways and other open shafts, installation of adequate lighting systems in the enclosed

area, exit doors hung in the direction of exit, installation of panic hardware, and installation of exit lights.

He pointed out that these regulations did apply to the

Old Faithful Inn. The Yellowstone Park Company was

in the process of installing sprinklers in the Old Faithful

Inn and Canyon Hotel at the time of the announcement.62

The Bureau of Public Health had put pressure

on the Yellowstone Park Company to improve its
94 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

kitchen facilities at Roosevelt Lodge after a 1947 inspection. Nichols presented two alternatives to Superintendent Rogers, one in which the Lodge would

be abandoned and the cabins would be moved to Fishing Bridge (a place he believed visitors preferred to

stay), and the other to remodel the existing kitchen at

a cost of $20,000 to satisfy the recommendations of

the Bureau of Public Health. The National Park Service did not want to abandon the Lodge so Nichols’s

proposal to remodel the kitchen was sent to the Bureau of Public Health for approval.63

The Yellowstone Park Company also had to

make a decision on the future of the Lake Hotel. In

the spring of 1948, the company intended to make significant improvements to the older part of the hotel,

but they soon discovered that part of the foundation

under the south portion of the dining room would need

to be redone. There was a shortage of cement and no

labor crew, so the work was not done. The company

decided to do the work in 1949 so the hotel would be

ready for the 1950 season. With Krug’s new regulations on sprinkler systems for the older hotels, the

company was also faced with that project and expense.

Nichols wrote to Director Drury explaining that prewar plans called for the conversion of the Lake Hotel

to a lodge-type facility similar to what had been done

at Mammoth. He reported that the north wing of the

hotel had been torn down (a decision he regretted),

and there had been talk of tearing down the remaining

wing. In 1946 and 1947, he told Drury, the company

had accommodated 200 people a night in the wing,

but no one could have anticipated the huge increase

in visitation or the tremendous increase in the costs of

materials and labor. He sought permission from Drury

to operate the newer section of the hotel with the sprinklers in 1949.64

At the end of the 1949 season, the park had the

following number of rooms:

Mammoth Hotel 105 rooms

Canyon Hotel 377 rooms

Old Faithful Inn 363 rooms

Lake Hotel 110 rooms

Mammoth cottages 134

Mammoth cabins 163

Canyon Lodge 270

Canyon cabins 140

Old Faithful Lodge 270

Old Faithful cabins 406

Lake Lodge 167

Fishing Bridge cabins 300

Roosevelt Lodge 97

West Thumb 60

Total number of rooms 2,962 rooms65

Souvenirs and curios became a systemwide issue in 1948 with a new order being issued to the

concessioners:

Items may be recognized works of art, or useful or durable goods, manufactured in neighboring countries—such as Canada and

Mexico—when place of manufacture is indicated by conspicuous label.66

Rogers issued the following guidelines for

Hamilton Stores:

Roosevelt Lodge and Haynes Store. 1950.
War-Time Rationing to Post-War Scarcity, 1942–1949 95

1. Items should be recognized works of art, or useful or durable goods representative of Yellowstone National Park or the surrounding area.

2. Items may be representative of other National

Parks areas.

3. Cheap and shoddy items should in all cases be

eliminated upon disposal of present stock.

4. Vulgar items and those of obvious bad taste

should be destroyed and in no case displayed or

offered for sale.67

Superintendent Rogers informed Director Drury

that Mr. Povah was responding to the new regulations

with “fine cooperation” and had “expressed a willingness to eliminate all items which are not satisfactory to the Superintendent.”68

The question of the Old Faithful swimming pool

came up again in 1948 after the high-profile involvement of Secretary of the Interior Krug in 1947. Trevor

Povah wrote to the Secretary and said that he had been

“waiting a reply since last Spring to his proposal to

transfer title to the swimming pool at Old Faithful and

requested an extension of the deadline for its removal.”

Krug asked Director Drury to make sure Povah got a

prompt reply and that “some plan be worked out for

maintaining a satisfactory swimming pool convenient

to park visitors in the Old Faithful area.” A Montana

State College scientist “expressed doubt that the chlorine content of the water which leaves the pool as overflow is sufficient to have a detrimental effect upon

aquatic life [in Firehole River],” but more tests of the

effluent were scheduled for the time the pool would

be drained next season and while the pool was in full

operation. Povah suggested that a dechlorinator compound such as sodium thiosulfate be added. He also

wanted the park to consider the two nearby government drainage systems that also used chlorine when a

study of the pool drainage was done. Because the

pool would probably be demolished in 1949, Povah

did not want to add any undue costs to the operation

of the pool. Then, Povah expressed an interest in relocating to a more convenient location near the projected new road at Old Faithful.69

Director Drury approved an agreement between

Hamilton Stores, Inc. and Yellowstone Park Company

for the lease of store and stand space in the Canyon,

Lake, and Old Faithful lodges and for the operation of

the service stations in the park. The agreement allowed the Yellowstone Park Company 12.5 percent

of Hamilton’s gross sales in lieu of rent and stipulated

that Hamilton Stores would continue to furnish meals

and lodging during the pre-season and post-season,

before and after the Yellowstone Park Company was

open for business. One clause stated that the agreement would extend beyond the Hamilton Store, Inc.

contract, which expired on December 31, 1950.70

In another development, Anna Pryor wrote to the

National Park Service Supervisor of Concessions in

Washington and indicated that she would like to transPryor Filling Station at Canyon Junction. 1947.
96 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

fer her lease to Mr. and Mrs. Trevor Povah, a couple

she admired. She felt confident of Povah’s “ability

and integrity.” Pryor later said “the past few years

has been a strain on us” and when the Povahs had

approached her, she was receptive. She felt that they

measured up to her requirements.71

The concessioners were upset with Harry

Truman’s successful bid for the presidency in 1948

because the Democratic Secretary of the Interior, Julius

Krug, wanted the National Park Service to take over

concessions as each lease expired. The National Park

Service would then offer each concession at public

bid for the privilege of the operation.72 Julius Krug

followed in the footsteps of Harold Ickes, who as

Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Interior, had tried for

many years to have legislation introduced authorizing government ownership of the concessioners’ facilities.73 Haynes, who was in Washington to negotiate a new contract, heard Assistant Secretary Girard

Davidson and National Park Service Assistant Director Arthur Demaray “in my presence state that it isn’t

the Haynes, Inc. buildings that the Government is most

desirous of buying, it is those used for meals and lodgings that they want to take over first.”74

In November 1948, the Secretary received a copy

of the proposed new concession policies written by

the National Park Service’s Concessions Advisory

Committee. The study of the concessions was initiated because of criticism of the fact that the Yosemite

Park and Curry Company had a gross income of

$2,445,251 in 1948, but from the government only

received $6,000 in franchise fees.75 During much of

1949, the new concessions policy, especially the provision for the government to purchase the concession

facilities, was debated.

Naturally, Yellowstone concessioners were upset by this new policy and they worked with

concessioners in other parks to get their message before the different Congressional committees. Haynes

was absolutely opposed to the new policy, but in a

letter to Nichols, Povah, and Daggett Harvey (Chairman of the Western Conference of National Park

Concessioners), he wrote, “I am preparing a statement

to read at the preliminary meeting in Santa Fe of

concessioners, if I have an opportunity. I do not plan

to testify at the hearing. (Wouldn’t make a good witness, being a post card seller only).”

Business went on in the park. Employee housing had been a problem for all the concessioners from

the time they began operating in the park. In the spring

of 1949, the Yellowstone Park Company received a

request from an employee to be allowed to bring his

own trailer into the park as housing. Nichols replied

to the prospective employee that there were no accommodations for trailers, other than the government

trailer camps that allowed only a 30-day stay. Despite the continual problem of employee housing,

Nichols was worried that if he allowed even one employee to bring a trailer into the park he would be creating a bad precedent. Because the labor situation had

eased the previous year, he believed “we can tighten

up a little bit on our requirements.”76

Before the war started, there had been plans to

eventually abandon the Lake Lodge area; some cabins were even moved to Fishing Bridge. However, by

1949, critical shortages of tourist accommodations led

the National Park Service to ask the Yellowstone Park

Company to not abandon Lake Lodge and to start

making plans for bringing it up to the standards of the

Old Faithful lodge area. Plans were made in 1949 to

house guests in the Lake Hotel’s east wing assuming

all of the safety measures were completed by the opening of the season. Director Drury dispelled any rumors about abandoning the hotel by asking the Yellowstone Park Company to rehabilitate it and reported

that the National Park Service “will provide access

roads thereto so as to make the north or rear of the

building readily convenient for guests arriving by auto

or bus.” 77

That year the term “operators” was officially

changed to “concessioners,” as Director Drury, in his

written order to the field offices wrote, “I dislike to

seem over-meticulous in relatively minor matters” but

he disliked the terms “operators or concessionaires”78

The park and the concessioners had experienced

nightmares on either end of the 1940s—the beginning

of World War II, which brought an extraordinary drop

in visitation and closure of facilities, and an explosion of visitation coupled with inadequate facilities.
“More or Less Hardened to Turmoil,” 1950–1955 97

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“More or Less Hardened

to Turmoil”

1950–1955

C. A. Hamilton, 1950

The concessioners began the new decade with

almost as much uncertainty as they had experienced

in late 1941. A threat of war loomed in Korea, the

Department of Commerce’s National Production Authority imposed a national policy of limited building

and the National Park Service issued a new concessions policy. The new policy not only made business

decisions more difficult, but also angered the

concessioners.

Hamilton outlined his grievances in a letter to

Director Drury in January 1950. Upset over the delays in approval for his West Thumb building design

and then for a definite location to erect a modern store

at West Thumb, he told Director Drury that it was difficult to get financing without a proper lease. He listed

several other issues, including the high price of electrical power compared to rates in the surrounding communities and cancellation of his lease on the Old Faithful swimming pool.1 In a letter to Jack Haynes he

wrote, “You relieved me some time ago as ‘Peck’s

Bad Boy,’ and as the time is fast approaching the expiration of my lease, will once more enter the fight

and take you off the limb, as I am more or less hardened to turmoil.”2 Within a few days, the normally

agreeable Haynes responded:

Thanks for your letter of January 26 and the

copy of your letter to Director Drury, which I

have read with great interest and I hope that

you, being brighter than I am, will be able to

get these things across with the government.

I have been three or four years trying to negotiate a contract that Mr. Albright and I could

have negotiated in two hours, but, as you know,

we have not finished it yet.

We will be glad to go along with you on the

question of power and propane, but I think that

the government officials are enveloped in a

mood of frustration and are being carried along

by the urgent needs of the task they are attempting to perform, instead of raising the leadership level, which should enable them to direct

answers to the problems confronting them.

They are floating upstream instead of downstream and do not have the guts enough to help

row.

The above analysis is not quoted from

Kiplinger—it is from the Public Relations Department of Haynes Studios, Inc., of Bozeman,

Montana.3

Nichols was encouraged with newly appointed

Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman’s attitude

toward the concessioners. Nichols had heard that

Chapman did not endorse the limits on the

concessioners’ profits to six percent and he “was favorable to a discussion of a Bill which we might introduce in Congress which would give us more protection than we now have on our equity in Park property.” But several concessioners from the West met

with Chapman and Director Drury, and it was reported

that Chapman said:
98 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

I want it understood that, from now on, the National Park Service is going to run the national

parks and not keep running to me about them.4

Before the 1950 season started, the Yellowstone

Park Company received permission to change the official name of “Camp Roosevelt” to “Roosevelt

Lodge” because Nichols believed that it now operated like a lodge facility.5 The park requested that the

term “filling station” be changed to “service station.”6

The Yellowstone Park Company started the new

decade with plans to concentrate on the Lake improvements, beginning with the construction of cottages

behind the hotel. Following the advice of the park

landscape architect, the company made changes to the

approved pre-war cabin plans by adding a bathroom

and adjusting the height of the chimneys. The company wanted to build pre-fabricated units using processed logs that were seven inches in diameter with a

flat surface on the inside. The buildings would be

placed on a concrete floor that had a three-inch curb

for the wall support and would be covered with a plastic flooring of some type. The nearly flat roof would

be built up and covered with gravel. Frank Mattson,

the park landscape architect, liked the low cost per

unit and the possibility of building multiple-unit structures (which would conserve space as opposed to the

single cabins), but he was concerned about some technical aspects of the buildings and thought that “the

modern style seemed to lack the permanence and durability which to my way of observation is the greatest weakness of most modern dwelling designs.” The

company and the park compromised, and the company agreed to build a few experimental cabins.7 Child

did not plan to build the new type of cabin until 1951,

but he agreed with the park that multiple-unit structures would be just as acceptable. He told the park

that in addition to the Lake Hotel cabins, the company would focus its efforts at Fishing Bridge in 1951.8

Recognizing that the Yellowstone Park

Company’s building program would be extensive for

the next few years, the superintendent thought that a

“thorough and complete study to establish good designs and standards [must be done] before commencing work.”9

The company did plan to construct cottages at

Lake Hotel during 1950 with material on hand. In a

letter to the regional director, Superintendent Rogers

used the term “cottage” instead of “cabin” to distinguish it from the cabins at the Lake Lodge.10 Another company project at Lake was the repainting of

the hotel and cottages. Superintendent Rogers approved painting the hotel “the original” yellow with

white trim. He advised that the “intensity of brightness should not be any greater than the original wet

paint used and preferably less intense or bright.”

Rogers also approved the color scheme for the cottages:

The major portions of those cottages now built

will be painted a Colonial yellow with a light

yellow trim. This color would reach east to

cottage 7-C.

Single cottage trim: light yellow; verge, rafter

ends, rafter face, under porch ends, door frame

and window.

Body: Colonial yellow same as hotel, all walls,

gable face, under gable roof, base and door.

Double cottage: Same as single room cottage

except that the corner posts will be painted the

trim color.

Cottage east of 7-C will be painted soft green

comparable to what we are now calling the

“Tower Falls Green,” but somewhat richer in

tone. The trim will be determined on ground

and a light shade of green is favored. The zone

of the cottages to be painted green will be included in the east end of the southern block

and the two eastern most blocks. Cottages west

of the plaza will remain the Yellowstone gray

with doors of different colors...Labor dormitories are to be painted the Tower Falls green.11

Most of the improvements at Lake were in the

hotel area, but a stationary bar for serving liquor, similar to ones at Old Faithful and Canyon, was constructed

in the Lake Lodge.12

In October, Secretary Chapman issued a statement on concessions policies that superseded all previous policies. He began his statement by acknowledging that the Organic Act of 1916 prescribed both

preservation and use of the parks. In order to balance

these two objectives, the policy would be:

to permit the development of accommodations

within the areas...only to the extent that such
“More or Less Hardened to Turmoil,” 1950–1955 99

accommodations are necessary and appropriate for the public use and enjoyment of the areas, consistent with their preservation and conservation. Where adequate accommodations

exist or can be developed by private enterprise

outside of such areas, accommodations shall

not be provided within the areas.13

In addition to requiring concessioners to provide

a “reasonable proportion of their accommodations as

low-priced accommodations,” the Secretary also reassured the Yellowstone concessioners with this section:

Where public accommodations are necessary

for the enjoyment of an area and the basic facilities with which to provide such accommodations and services cannot be provided by

private capital, it shall be the policy of the Department to provide such basic facilities...

There is no intention that the Government

should operate Government-owned concession

facilities....It is the desire of the Department

to assure the concessioners of the security of

their investments in buildings, structures, and

other improvements provided by them on Federally owned lands...14

Despite all of the tension surrounding the

changes in concession policy, personal relationships

between concessions and the National Park Service

seemed to remain cordial as exemplified by a letter

from Director Drury to William Nichols, which began, “My dear Billie,” and went on to say that he will

probably include Yellowstone in an upcoming trip as

“there is always something important going on there

and I like to keep in touch.”15

By midsummer, the potential international crisis in Korea began to affect business in the park.

Nichols was anxious to get approval for the girls’ dormitory at Lake so that they could order materials before a sudden drop in visitation and revenue might

prevent him from having the building ready for the

1951 season.16 Other major decisions for 1950 were

the demolition of the Mammoth Lodge and Mammoth

swimming pool.17

Just before the season closed, Nichols received

a request to convert the transportation division’s repair garage in Gardiner into a manufacturing plant for

war material. National Park Service Acting Director

Paul Franke, who thought the possibility of the park

being closed during 1951 season premature at that

point, opposed the “conversion to a use that is so foreign to the purpose for which the Park was established,

except in case of dire [national] emergency.”18 By

the end of October, Nichols advised Pete Hoffman,

manager of the Transportation Division, “On account

of the present international situation and the uncertainty as to what may happen between now and the

opening of the Park season next year, it seems essential that we curtail our activities as much as possible

at this time.” Nichols added that if the situation with

Russia should worsen, the same kind of restrictions

experienced in World War II might go into effect.19

Hamilton, also worried about the Korean situation, hesitated to pour more money into his

Old Faithful swimming pool until he had an

extension on his lease. Based on his recent

experience with the park’s planning process,

he was a little suspicious of the “master planning process” due to a bad experience he had

had earlier: one Master Plan had located his

Old Faithful auto camp on one location, then

in the next Master Plan, the road had been

moved behind his store and station. He said

he had “heard rumblings of a super-Master Plan

that is underway!”, so he hoped an extension

would be granted until “their Master Plans are

definitely arrived at and world conditions are

on a more settled basis.”20

In 1951, the following facilities were in place in

the park:

Mammoth swimming pool. 1912.
100 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Mammoth Hotel 98 rooms 196 capacity

Mammoth Cottages 129 rooms 272 capacity

Mammoth Camp 154 rooms 433 capacity

Canyon Hotel 353 rooms 700 capacity

Canyon Lodge 265 rooms 710 capacity

Canyon Camp 140 rooms 430 capacity

Old Faithful Inn 338 rooms 750 capacity

Old Faithful Lodge 278 rooms 815 capacity

Old Faithful Camp 417 rooms 1,188 capacity

Lake Hotel 196 rooms 433 capacity

Lake Lodge 169 rooms 450 capacity

Lake Hotel cottages 64 rooms 192 capacity

Fishing Bridge 298 rooms 955 capacity

Roosevelt Lodge 92 rooms 313 capacity

West Thumb Cabins 60 rooms 195 capacity21

The Yellowstone Park Company outlined ambitious construction plans for 1951: 48 new guest cottages at Lake Hotel, a tourist cabin office, a dormitory

and shower, and seven quad cabins and one double

cabin at Old Faithful. Still experiencing the effects of

World War II, the company’s plans were denied by

the National Production Authority. Huntley Child appealed the decision and explained to the agency that

because no construction had been done during the war

years, nor after the war when materials and labor were

rationed, the company and the National Park Service

had developed a building program of which this was

one project. The project, which had already received

National Park Service approval, was scheduled to begin as soon as weather allowed. Child emphasized

the need for the improvements, citing prewar visitation figures of 580,000 visitors compared to the current figure of 1,110,000 visitors. He also stressed the

importance the park played in the morale of the country and noted that the company had a substantial

amount of the needed materials on hand. Despite these

arguments and some Congressional pressure, the

projects were again rejected. Then, without explanation and far beyond the time they could initiate construction in the Yellowstone climate, the Yellowstone

Park Company received permission to begin the

project.22

Early in 1951, Secretary Chapman asked for the

resignation of Director Drury, and he then appointed

Arthur Demaray to the post. Hamilton remarked in a

letter to Haynes, “I always liked Drury personally even

though he did nothing apparently to help me save the

pool from demolition”—to which Haynes responded

that he “could write a book-of-the-month best seller

about the idiosyncrasies of the Krug-Davidson administration of the Service, but I of course like yourself

am too much of a gentleman.” Haynes, always the

optimist, ended his note, “Indications are that, if

Truman kicks Stalin out, travel will be as good as last

year.”23

In May 1951, the National Park Service Chief

of Concessions Management in Washington, Donald

Lee, and his assistant, George Hartzog, Jr., were as

they put it, “in the need of considerable ‘seasoning’ in

the operational aspect of concessions.” As the agency

grew, and many of the older employees left or retired,

the Washington office found “our information

seems...to be rather sketchy and incomplete which

led to the need for comprehensive information as to

the amount of number of buildings, grounds leased,

types of improvements, utility facilities, values of improvements and other necessary information in order

to negotiate new leases.” Lee and Hartzog felt that

the report submitted by Assistant Superintendent Fred

Johnston on the Hamilton Stores’ history and business could be used as a model.24

In 1951, the question of the admission of “casual tours” and chartered buses came before the National Park Service. In parks without transportation

companies, this was not an issue; but, it was an issue

in parks with these companies, such as Yellowstone,

Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon. Arthur Demaray,

who served as National Park Service Director only

for a short time, protected the transportation companies’ interests by not allowing the organized tours.25

Conrad Wirth succeeded Arthur Demaray as director

in 1951.

In 1952, the service stations in Yellowstone

(owned jointly by Hamilton Stores and the Yellowstone Park Company), under contract with Continental Oil Company for gasoline and supplies, implemented new policies in order to meet customer expectations. The companies increased the pay for employees, initiated a training program, emphasized hiring older and more experienced managers, and planned

the installation of telephones at the stations. After

much discussion, Director Wirth announced that the

Conoco credit card, as well as other credit cards

Conoco recognized at its stations, would be accepted

in Yellowstone beginning in the 1953 season. Wirth

pointed out that “service station credit is now standard practice practically everywhere in the United

States, and the traveling public has come to expect

such service.”26
“More or Less Hardened to Turmoil,” 1950–1955 101

In December 1952, Hamilton approached the superintendent about his plans for building “a most modern filling station at Tower Falls.” The park, however, favored a Tower Junction location. Unfortunately, officials could not authorize a site until the

question of relocating of the intersection of the Grand

Loop Road and the Northeast Entrance Road was

settled, a problem they had had earlier.27

Before the year ended, Hamilton purchased Anna

Pryor and Elizabeth Trischman’s business in the park

for $333,000. He decided to wait until after the new

Secretary of the Interior was in office January 20, 1953,

before negotiating his new lease. In a letter to Superintendent Rogers, Hamilton wrote, “perhaps it might

be well to consider the Hamilton Stores lease around

that time when there might be a change in the general

policy, as I want to be at peace with all concerned.”28

In January 1952, Haynes signed a new contract with

the Department of the Interior covering the period

January 1, 1951 to December 31, 1970.29

The Western Conference of National Park

Concessioners, which met in Washington in March

1953, received reassurances from the new Secretary

of the Interior, Douglas McKay, that he “strongly favored a policy of private enterprise” and would not

vary much from former Secretary Chapman’s policy

statement of 1950. However, if needed policy changes

did arise, he would refer them to “Assistant Secretary

Orme Lewis and Director Wirth to work out with the

concessioners and that he, Secretary McKay, would

act as referee in the event that became necessary.”

Wirth announced that the 1935 ban on the sale of foreign-made curios by concessioners would be lifted.30

In recent years, the National Park Service had

made efforts to have franchise fees deposited into special fund accounts to be used for improvements in the

parks. However, the Attorney General ruled against

this idea in January 1953 and directed Director Conrad

Wirth to tell the concessioners to forward all franchise

fees to the United States Treasury. Disappointed with

the ruling, Director Wirth promoted a new bill in Congress that would allow the franchise fees to be used

through a special account for developing and improving roads, walks, parking areas, and utilities. The

concessioners opposed the bill, stating that their franchise fees were insignificant in comparison to the National Park Service entrance fees, which also went into

the general treasury. Wirth was disappointed by the

concessioners’ lack of support. He needed to secure

more appropriations for improvement in the parks.31

About the same time the Attorney General denied use of franchise fees, Congressman William

Harrison of Wyoming called for an investigation of

concessions in the parks. The concessioners did not

believe that Congressman Harrison was antagonistic

toward them; thus, at their annual meeting they took

no action on this pending investigation. Wirth, also

interested in seeing an investigation develop, believed

that an investigation by a private industrial engineering firm would be more meaningful than one by a committee of Congressmen. Wirth was not interested in a

complete report on each concessioner, but wanted a

comprehensive look at charges for operations, franchise fees, construction needs, problems of rate control, and financing needs. Wirth, a landscape architect by training and a planner by experience, naturally

Service Station at Mammoth Hot Springs. 1951.
102 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

tended toward a holistic approach to the concessions

needs for the system.32 Perhaps, this was the beginning of the idea for Mission 66.

In Yellowstone, coordination between the National Park Service improvement program and the

concessioners was managed through the Master Planning process. By the end of 1953, the Yellowstone

Park Company had agreed to assume the cost of new

development at the Lake Lodge based upon the park

completing the street surfacing, curbing, and water and

sewer lines up to the buildings. The work, which

would begin in 1954 and be completed in 1955–56,

involved rehabilitating 84 cabins (including new foundations and relocation), constructing 112 new cabins,

and relocating (and rehabilitating) 55 cabins to Fishing Bridge. Because the company had recently spent

$125,000 for a new girls’ dormitory at the lodge (in

1950 and 1951) and funded a new foundation and

floors for the Lake Lodge lobby in 1952–53, the Yellowstone Park Company stipulated that these Lake

Lodge projects were based upon its receiving a new

20-year contract to replace the current one that was to

expire December 31, 1955.33

The cost of the Lake project and the other Yellowstone Park Company project at Canyon was estimated to be $1.5 million over the next five years. At

Canyon, the plans called for an all-new-motor-lodge

facility, including a new main building with lobby, dining room, and cafeteria, and recreation hall. New cabins with a total of 300 rooms would be built, and existing cabins would be moved to the new “village area”

and used for lower cost accommodations and employee housing.34

Just after the New Year of 1954, Huntley Child,

Jr., and his architect, Fred Willson, met with park officials to discuss the proposed Canyon project. All

agreed that the buildings should be “modern rustic,” a

term Child said they invented. He was emphatic that

it was not to be like the Jackson Lake Lodge, designed

by Old Faithful Lodge architect, Gilbert Stanley

Underwood. They also favored a flat roof for the buildings, as Child believed it tended to reduce snow shoveling.35

Hamilton called the Canyon project a “mess” and

stated that he would not build there until the Yellowstone Park Company had started its facilities. The

two companies agreed to build a joint messhouse for

all of the employees if the park agreed.36

Hamilton and William “Billie” Nichols both celebrated their 50th anniversaries in the park in 1954.

Hamilton said that after “educating and hounding”

Trevor Povah and Gar Helppie through the years, they

“will probably do a better job than I.”37 By this time,

Hamilton had begun to turn over his operation to his

son-in-law, Trevor Povah.

By 1954, Americans were increasingly vacationing with their own travel trailers. Since the end of

World War II, visitors bringing house trailers to the

park had increased significantly; in 1954, 6,332 trailers entered the park. In response to this change, Trevor

Povah began investigating commercial trailer camp

layouts and plans. Povah’s idea was “for a camp with

complete up-to-date facilities for fifty trailers, but

which could be expanded, should the need arise, and

still retain its architectural unity and integrity.” He

asked National Park Service landscape architect ThoLake Lodge lobby. 1953.
“More or Less Hardened to Turmoil,” 1950–1955 103

mas Vint if the National Park Service had any such

plans. Vint explained that concession-operated trailer

camps in parks “has [sic] just started becoming a reality this year.” He told Povah that a few such camps

had been installed in southwestern parks, but that the

agency really did not have sufficient knowledge about

providing utilities or the number of sites that produced

an economical unit. Director Wirth had recently approved Vint’s proposal to send a landscape architect

across the south from Florida to California to study

existing trailer camps and produce a booklet for distribution to the parks.38

On a related issue, well before the 1955 season

began, Povah, with the park’s approval, planned to

install liquefied petroleum gas dispensing plants at the

rear of and adjacent to the Old Faithful and Fishing

Bridge service stations. Previously, visitors had to

obtain butane or propane from Gardiner or West Yellowstone in order to cook or heat their trailers.39

Another new trend with long-term implications

in the park, was the use of snowmobiles in the winter.

In October 1955, John Nichols, vice-president of the

Yellowstone Park Company, notified a company

named “Snowmobiles of West Yellowstone” that, subject to conditions set by the park, the Yellowstone Park

Company did not object to operating snowmobiles between West Yellowstone and Old Faithful for the 1955–

56 winter season.40

The Canyon Village development was the major focus for the concessioners and park staff during

1955. While it had been thought that Lake would be

the top priority, Canyon seemed to move in front. The

Yellowstone Park Company hired Beckett and Associates of Los Angeles as the architects and McNeil

and Company as contractors. Superintendent Rogers

advised both Haynes and Hamilton that the Yellowstone Park Company’s design, which would be determined during the winter of 1954–55 in consultation

with the National Park Service Western Office of Design and Construction in San Francisco, will “have a

great deal of influence” on what concessioners could

build. Hamilton planned on building the same style of

store that he had at Fishing Bridge, except that the

design at Canyon would be modern. Hamilton also

notified the park that he would be submitting his service station drawings soon.41

The Yellowstone Park Company, whose contract

expired at the end of 1955, began its renewal process

in April 1954 when William Nichols asked Director

Wirth whether a draft contract had been written. Wirth

responded that “it would be necessary to sit down and

talk over a number of points to be incorporated in a

new contract, one of which was the need for a comprehensive development program.”42 One of the

points to be discussed was Regional Director Howard

Baker’s belief that a concessioner should be required

to provide some of the utilities and road work within

its developed areas.43

Concurrently with trying to negotiate a new contract, Nichols offered the company for sale. Early in

1955, the Wyoming legislature authorized $50,000 for

a study to assess the practicality of the state taking

over the concession operations in Yellowstone. Many

issues complicated the plan, including the federal legislation a state needed to run an operation in a national park, the fact that any price agreed upon by

Wyoming and the Yellowstone Park Company required

approval by the Secretary of the Interior, and the fact

that Wyoming would need to sell bonds to purchase

and run the concessions. Needless to say, that plan

Canyon Lodge. 1958. Canyon Lodge cabins. 1958.
104 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

fell through.44

By the end of 1955, a contract between the Yellowstone Park Company and the government finally

seemed complete, with only Congressional approval

now needed. In the new contract, the company agreed

to spend $3.5 million during the first five years of the

20-year contract at Canyon, Lake, and other locations.

Additionally, within the first 10 years construction

would take place at Grant Village and Bridge Bay, if

needed and economically feasible.45

Again the tension between business and a government process surfaced when the contract was delayed in being sent to Congress for a required 60-day

review. With a projected busy construction year for

1956, any delay caused by protracted hearings after

Congress reconvened could delay awarding construction contracts and starts. The contract cleared the Department of the Interior and was sent to Congress on

December 1. The House Committee on Interior and

Insular Affairs scheduled hearings for January 6, 1956.

Finally, after a delay instigated by senators O’Mahoney

and Barrett of Wyoming in the Senate Committee, the

contract was executed on February 3.46
Mission 66—A Concessioner’s Obituary, 1956–1966 105

CHAPTER TWELVE

Mission 66—

A Concessioner’s Obituary

1956–1966

During the first week in February 1955, the idea

for Mission 66 came to Director Conrad Wirth. He

pondered how he could obtain the needed funds to get

the national park areas up to a reasonable standard,

not only in public use, but in resource protection, interpretation, development, legislation, financing, and

other park operation needs. Aware that other agencies, which had long-term and very costly projects

(such as Bureau of Public Roads, the Army Corps of

Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation), had been successful in submitting detailed, long-range plans and

budgets to Congress, Wirth decided that perhaps the

National Park Service could get Congressional attention with this approach. After setting up steering and

working committees, Wirth named the new long-term

project Mission 66. The name reflected the emotion

of the committee “who felt a sense of mission” and

the fact that the 10-year project would end on the fiftieth anniversary of the National Park Service in 1966.

Filled with excitement and drive, the committees got

off to a very fast start. Wirth expected each park to

respond to his call for its course of action by April 11.

Wirth, knowing that Yellowstone’s 20-year concession contracts would expire in 1955, believed this was

the perfect time to make sure the park and the

concessioners “would be in harmony.”1 Yellowstone

Superintendent Edmund Rogers, Landscape Architect

Mattson, Chief Ranger Otto Brown, and the Chief

Naturalist Dave Condon, all went to Washington to

meet with the committee and discuss in detail the current Yellowstone master plan.

In response to Wirth’s call, Yellowstone submitted its current and future needs in a report which, in

regards to concessions, covered the following

points:

1. Development and circulation should be spread

within the Park much along the present system

of use with planned withdrawals from the immediate vicinity and scenic features.

2. New hotels shall not be proposed. Present hotels should be placed into disuse and ultimately

removed as they deteriorate and become marginal in income.

3. The spread between hotel rooms and deluxe

cottage rates and tourist cabins shall be closed

with a medium-priced cabin room.

4. Room units should be provided preferably in

multi-room structures in the most economical

manner as regards to cost and use of ground in

different classes, ranging from rooms with bath,

toilet, and hot and cold water to unfurnished

type with beds, sink and running cold water.

5. Expansion should be based upon visitor demand and on the part of the gateway communities to develop more overnight accommodations.

6. No new road locations proposed.

7. One trailer village for concession operations

is proposed.

8. Recommended inviting other applicants to operate facilities on competitive bid basis to develop new facilities at specific sites.

9. Consider proposals to use house trailers as facilities for room rental.
106 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

10. A reservation system should be developed by

concessioner.

11. Concessioner should institute experimental

sightseeing tour service at reasonable rates.

Drive-your-self cars and non-scheduled motor

vehicle tours shall be admitted under existing

regulations.

Under site development, the following were proposed:

Lake-Fishing Bridge

Remove the boating facilities at Lake Boat

Dock, Fishing Bridge, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service. These facilities then to be provided at Bridge Bay.

Remove present trailer house camp from Fishing Bridge area. Provide new concessioner operating trailer village at new proposed site.

Retain and add as follows to existing developments:

Concessioners—hotels, cottages, lodge and

cabins, cabins at Fishing Bridge, general store,

eating places, photo shops, service stations,

fuels, self-service laundry, garages, recreation

halls, employees recreation center and boating.

Present capacity of Lake Hotel Cottage area—

749, increase to 1,500 guests. Construct 150 medium class A cottage rooms, capacity 450. Provide several Class A housekeeping units in area.

Lake Lodge—rehabilitate and increase present

capacity from 400 to 1,200 guests; rehabilitate

168 shelter cabin rooms, capacity 440; convert

lodge dining room to cafeteria; construct 240

Medium Class C cabin rooms, capacity 720;

construct helps dormitory.

Fishing Bridge—increase capacity to 1,200; rehabilitate present cabin rooms as maintenance

to shelter cabins; construct 32 Medium Class

C cabins rooms, capacity 96; construct new

cafeteria and cabin office.

West Thumb

Working group suggests the Service abandon

and remove present development at the junction of the present road within the thermal area.

Develop only an orientation station at thermal

area, self-service and manned. Develop new

area, to be called Thumb Bay, on West Thumb

Lake Shore, 11/2 miles south of present development, providing accommodations and

rooms, capacity, 2,500; eating facilities—cafeteria, coffee shop, lunches, and refreshments;

general store, service stations, fuels, garage,

photo shop, boating dock and employee recreational center. The committee recommended

this concession be opened to competition which

would permit immediate action based upon the

National Park Service being able to install the

utilities.

Bridge Bay

Group considers this location a suitable site for

installation of new overnight accommodations

and the development of sheltered boating operations. The group suggested the concession

be opened to competition which would permit

immediate construction based upon National

Park Service providing utilities. The new development would have a capacity for 1200

guests, cafeteria, coffee shop, general store,

photo shop, service station, boat docks, and

other needed service buildings.

Old Faithful

The Service should abandon [the area] because

of intrusion upon present day use and overnight

of concessioner and government facilities, inBridge Bay. 1964.
Mission 66—A Concessioner’s Obituary, 1956–1966 107

cluding administration, services, and utilities

moving these out of existing areas. Provide a

new area, which is to be selected and to be

known as Firehole, for development which

shall provide overnight accommodations and

rooms with a guest capacity of 3,500. (Never

built) The area would include all of the usual

accompanying services.

Tower Fall

Continue present development; relocate campground to vicinity of Tower Junction; enlarge

Haynes Store as required.

Roosevelt

Increase guest capacity to 500 with new cabin

rooms; rehabilitate present facilities of the

lodge and cabin rooms; recommend consideration of this area for new concessioner.

Mammoth

Remove present National Park Service housing and concessioner buildings from foot of

Mammoth Terrace; remove present store, service station and photo shop and construct a new

plaza area; remove present tourist cabins and

use in other areas (town of Gardiner could absorb some of slack).

Canyon

Remove present lodge and cabins, service

building, tourist cabins, cafeteria service buildings, photo shop, general store, service station,

ranger station from present location on rim of

Canyon. Construct new facilities at new Canyon Village area as follows: cabin rooms, capacity 1500 (guest capacity can be increased

to 2500 with new development); construct the

other accompanying services; recommend consideration of trailer room rental at site.

The staff suggested that this plan would increase

the guest capacity from 8,417 to 13,891 at an approximate cost (to the concessioner) of $13,654,000 for new

construction and $721,200 for rehabilitation.2 The plan

was enthusiastically endorsed by all and became the

basis for many decisions in Yellowstone from that

point forward.

The Yellowstone Park Company’s new 20-year

contract was executed on February 3, 1956, which left

little time to secure financing and initiate the building

program by the April 1 deadline set in Section 2 of the

contract. However, on March 30, the Yellowstone Park

Company secured a loan of $3,000,000 from Security-First National Bank in Los Angeles. Work began

on prefabricated cabins for Canyon at a facility in

Gardiner by April 1, but excessive snow at Canyon

delayed site work until May 25. On June 25, the Yellowstone Park Company directors held a special meeting in which it was announced “there had been a mistake of some $1,500,000 in the original estimate and

the total [cost] would be $4,500,000.” The Yellowstone Park Company Board of Directors decided to

build only 200 motel-type units instead of 300, eliminate the recreation hall, reduce the size of the administration building, build only three dormitories and not

build a main building. In August, the company made

arrangements to obtain an additional $5 million loan,

which led to the decision to construct more revenueproducing buildings (such as 500 motel-type units instead of the original 300) and to revise the plans for

the administration building to a “lower scale.” By the

end of August, 300 motel-type units were almost finished, the three Yellowstone Park Company dormitories were almost completed, and the foundation for

the administration building (visitor center) was almost

finished. Work was scheduled to continue on the other

200 units, and they were expected to be 90 percent

completed by December 1. The contract specified a

final completion date of July 1, 1957.3

In late 1956, two of the major players in the park

changed. John Q. Nichols, (son of William “Billie”

Nichols) was named president of Yellowstone Park

Company, with William “Billie” Nichols moving to

chairman of the board, and Edmund Rogers was replaced by Lemuel Garrison as the park’s new superintendent. Garrison had recently been the chairman of

Mammoth Motor Inn cabin. 1951.
108 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

the Mission 66 steering committee in the Washington

office.

Early in March 1956, Hamilton had submitted

his plans for a new general store and dormitory in the

Canyon Village area. Taking the superintendent’s advice, he hired the same firms as the Yellowstone Park

Company, Welton Beckett of Los Angeles as the architect and McNeil Construction as the contractor.4

The following year, Hamilton became upset with the

Yellowstone Park Company over the change in plans

for the types of cabins that would be open at Canyon

in July 1957. In writing to “Billie” Nichols, he stated

“When I agreed to my most expensive building program at Canyon, it was with the understanding that

you were going to have 200 shelters (economy cabins) and 300 new modern cabins.” Now that there

would be 500 modern cabins, Hamilton was worried

about the lack of affordable cabins in the area, so he

asked Nichols to relocate some tourist cabins from

other areas to Canyon. He said he would not have

spent nearly a million dollars on his new store if he

had known the final plan.5

Nevertheless, the new Hamilton Store at Canyon Village opened on July 15, 1957. The total cost

of the store and equipment was $650,000. The store,

which had 12,000 square feet of retail space, had a

modern fountain with seating capacity for 100 guests,

a large self-service grocery area, additional areas for

dry goods, clothing, gifts, souvenirs, drugs, and cigarettes. The building also contained warehouse space

and five apartments for employees. The new dormitory, which was also completed by the middle of July,

housed 100 employees and cost $250,000. The new

service station, which opened on June 1, 1957, cost

$99,000. The old Hamilton dormitory at Canyon was

moved to Old Faithful for employee housing.6

Charles Hamilton died in his apartment at Old

Faithful on May 28, 1957, just six weeks before the

opening of the new store at Canyon. A few days later,

Jack Haynes delivered a moving tribute to Charles

Hamilton in the Mammoth Chapel, where Hamilton

had married many years before. Haynes remembered

many of Hamilton’s generous works, including helping young people through school, but Hamilton always tried to cover up his good works. Haynes described him as “dedicated to his business, he was dedicated to the task of serving the visitors to Yellowstone

National Park. He did that with greater zeal than anyone else I have ever known who had anything to do

with business in the park.” Haynes called him a “warm

friend [who] tried to cover it up with that brusqueness

we knew.” He concluded by saying, “You [the group

at the memorial service] and I will never again find a

warmer, more sincere, honest and capable friend than

Charles Ashworth Hamilton.7 The park again lost one

of its most colorful and interesting characters.

In the summer of 1958, Superintendent Garrison changed the long-standing practice of allowing

concessioners to use hot water from the different

springs in the park. Garrison notified the Yellowstone

Park Company and Hamilton Stores that the use of

Myriad Spring near Old Faithful would stop. He

added, “The use is a contradiction of appropriate preservation of the park thermal resources and we wish to

eliminate it as soon as practical the use of this water

for domestic purposes.” He went on to reveal his philosophy of park protection:

You, of course, understand our objectives.

Many of the practices of past years, although

considered wise at the period they were first

started, do not conform with the legislation

governing the park and conflict very seriously

with conservation policies. Therefore, we wish

to correct every encroachment as soon as it is

physically possible.8

Garrison’s philosophy conflicted with some of

the new revenue-raising ideas the Yellowstone Park

Company was considering. For example, just before

the season opened in 1958, the company approached

a Billings, Montana, consulting firm regarding a study

of the company’s operations. The company wanted

to find new ways to increase its revenue such as attracting visitors to the park in May and September and

October for conventions and similar events. The company listed several ideas for the consulting firm to consider, including turning the Gardiner transportation

buildings into a manufacturing plant for pre-fab cabins, leasing the transportation buildings to the National

Park Service or another concessioner, using the “abundance of natural hot-water from the Mammoth Terraces” for a modern swimming pool with adjacent bar

and buffet service (and possibly including a solarium

and “pseudo beach” at the pool to attract sun bathers)

offering late spring skiing on Mt. Washburn, building

a golf course on Cascade Creek Meadows, and numerous other ideas.9

With the new Canyon Village opened to the public, the Yellowstone Park Company turned its thoughts
Mission 66—A Concessioner’s Obituary, 1956–1966 109

to the fate of the Canyon Hotel. Superintendent Garrison realized that much of the building was beyond

repair and considered certain portions dangerous, but

he wondered if part of the hotel could be stabilized.

One thought was to move the best portions to the Village area. However, it was decided to demolish the

hotel the following year.10

During 1958, the question of employee trailer

housing came up again. It was decided that employees who wanted to bring in 10-foot wide trailers had

to have the District Ranger’s permission, had to furnish a pilot car during transport, and could only move

the trailer between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the preand post-seasons.11

In May 1958, all of the park concessioners agreed

to hold regular business meetings with the superintendent from May through September to discuss pertinent issues. At the first meeting, it was decided to

invest either the concessioner or the National Park

Service with “complete operating jurisdiction” over

the trailer situation. At the same meeting, Superintendent Garrison also expressed his hope that

Roosevelt Lodge would be developed as a type of

“dude ranch” center with horse activities and “various accoutrements” of such an operation.12

After reading the Yellowstone Park Company’s

annual report for 1958, Superintendent Garrison told

the regional director that while the company’s finances

were not quite as dire as he had thought, there was

certainly a problem. He did not think the company

would have sufficient financing for the extensive Mission 66 construction program that the park needed,

particularly funds for the Grant Village development.

Garrison believed that this was a joint problem and

supported a proposal by the company’s lawyer, Hugh

Galusha, for “full scale exploration of financing alternatives to be spearheaded by NPS to retain control,

including bankers, financiers, hotel people, and

concessioners.” Garrison believed that the concessions should remain in the National Park Service’s

hands, because the park and the public welfare should

be a higher priority than the prosperity of the

concessioner. Garrison emphasized to the regional

director that the Haynes and Hamilton operations were

on sound footing.13 In the meantime, the Yellowstone

Park Company prepared a new plan, “Operation Bootstrap,” which advised Director Wirth that the company was planning to resolve its financial troubles.

With regard to the Mission 66, Hugh Galusha

wanted to make certain it did not become “a

concessioner’s obituary.”

Later that summer, the National Park Service

hired a consulting firm to conduct a statistical survey

to establish visitor preference for the different types

of accommodations offered in the park. This study

was timely in view of the proposed new development

at Grant Village, just south of West Thumb. The analysis revealed that visitors from the surrounding states

preferred the least expensive accommodations, while

visitors from the rest of the country and those from

foreign countries were willing to pay more. The results also indicated that families with two children

came in greater numbers, and visitors between 35 and

64 were the most predominant visitor group. These

results, in addition to other indicators, led the consulting firm to recommend that for every 100 cabins built,

three should be the most basic cabin without toilet,

water, or bedding and only a wood stove; 11 should

have hot and cold running water, toilet, electric heat,

and electric stove; 24 should have hot and cold running water, toilet, electric heat and stove, linen and

bedding, and maid service; 16 should have hot and

cold running water, electric heat and stove, maid service, linen and bedding, and a refrigerator; 38 should

have hot and cold running water, electric heat, linen

and bedding, maid service, shower, and no stove or

refrigerator; and eight should have all of the conveniences except the wood stove.14

In 1959, Garrison sent the regional director the

results of an informal park survey conducted done for

a five-year period beginning in 1955. In 1955, 32

percent of the visitors preferred the campground to 48

percent in 1959; 30 percent of visitors preferred the

camper’s cabins in 1955 to 22 percent in 1959; 19

percent preferred the lodge area in both 1955 and 1959;

19 percent preferred the hotels in 1955 to 11 percent

in 1959.15

In June 1959, the Yellowstone Park Company

began plans for the demolition and salvage operation

of the Canyon Hotel. Prior to awarding the contract,

Trevor Povah requested permission to bid for some of

the hotel chairs. (Just the month before, Charles A.

Hamilton, founder of Hamilton Stores, died in his

apartment at Old Faithful.16 ) In September, after deliberating about whether to move Canyon Hotel’s newest wing to Lake for renovation (which they did not

do), Carlos Construction Company of Cody was

awarded the contract for demolition and salvage. For

$25, Carlos Construction Company bought Canyon

Hotel and the rights to take 900 days to remove it af-
110 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

ter which the Yellowstone Park Company would be

responsible for landscaping the site.17

Just before 1959 ended, the Yellowstone Park

Company changed the name of its long-range plan

from “Project Bootstrap” to “Roche Jaune.” One interpretation of the name was given by company official, Thomas Hallin who wrote:

The first commercial ventures in this remarkable area can be traced to the activities of the

Hudson’s Bay Company and the Northwest Fur

Company. Imagine a rendezvous of a FrenchCanadian entrepreneur and his voyagers at the

mouth of the “Roche Jaune” as they sit around

a council fire planning an expedition up this

promising stream. The flickering illumination

of the fire, the gray wisps of wood smoke drifting slowly skyward and the occasional mournful call of a coyote lend a mystic quality to the

scene as these men rise to speak. Although

their Gallic speech is supplemented by Indian

dialects and sign language, it is clear that carefully laid plans are of paramount importance

for their own survival in this wilderness as well

as the success of the business undertaking.

Thus, there is an analogy between this first entrepreneur and the present executives of the

Yellowstone Park Company in that both face

countless operational problems requiring the

development of long-range programs. What

could be more appropriate today than “Project

Roche Jaune?”18

At the first meeting of the concessioners and Superintendent Garrison in 1960, several development

issues were on the agenda, including a report that boat

usage on Lake Yellowstone was up and the numbers

of boats was continuing to increase. As a result of the

ranger naturalists’ studies of the lake area, it was decided to close the arms of the lake to motor boats and

clean up the shoreline. A new dock for ranger use

was scheduled to be built at Frank Island and a public

campground would be built at Eagle Bay. In response

to changes in the boating activities the park recommended, Haynes defended the park position in a letter

to Hugh Galusha:

Hugh, we employ the best talent available to

determine policies and for the control and preservation of our national parks; and in fairness,

we should heed any constructive ideas conceived by the experts who are devoting their

lives to this task. I agree, however, that

concessioners are not in position to take sides

in this instance gracefully.19

Opinion also differed on the proposed layout for

Grant Village. The Yellowstone Park Company’s architect planned to consolidate all of the units while

the National Park Service’s Western Office of Design

and Construction planned for the units to be spread

out. Immediately, the park announced that this difference had to be reconciled as the National Park Service could freeze the master plan. Because about

$2,000,000 would be spent on roads, utilities and campgrounds, it would be difficult to alter the plans later.

In addition to financial troubles, the

concessioners were also jolted by the August 17, 1959,

earthquake causing damage throughout the park, but

heavily felt on the western side of the park and at Old

Faithful in particular. The concessioners reported that

Yellowstone Park Company had an “excellent season

until the earthquake,” but ended in the red; Hamilton

Stores had a one-eighth of one percent increase in sales

over 1958; and Haynes, while about 10 percent ahead

of 1958 until the earthquake hit, ended the season about

even.20

Just before the 1960 season opened, the Yellowstone Park Company held a meeting where major

reorganizational changes were announced. The Yellowstone Park Company and the Child Corporation

intended to merge, however, one beneficiary of the

Child Trust would not go along with the merger unless some changes to the plan were made. As a result,

all stockholders and beneficiaries decided to sell.

Unfortunately, the next month, the company found out

that the prospective buyer was not able to finalize the

sale due to personal obligations. The company’s bankers, the prospective buyer, and a neutral outsider believed that the company could be operated in a profitable manner, but only if some management changes

were made. In the end, Huntley Child, Jr., resigned,

leaving John Nichols as president with two vice presidents, Thomas Hallin in charge of the Operating Department and F. T. Burke in charge of the Auditing

Department. The minutes of the meeting reflect the

feelings of company management and set standards

for the employees to meet:

This is a good Company, and can be a prosper-
Mission 66—A Concessioner’s Obituary, 1956–1966 111

ous Company, but it must go back to the thinking of Harry Child that the success of any service company is service—the main objective

is serving the customer—as he is the most important and only indispensable person in Yellowstone Park. Each person working for this

Company must have enthusiasm for service to

the guest, and it is up to each department head

to impart this enthusiasm to each employee in

his department. This will make a successful

Company, and it will work if each person will

meet the challenge.21

Garrison supported the Yellowstone Park Company changes, and Galusha responded that “without

the support and cooperation you have given us since

your arrival in the Park, the strides that have been made

in the last three years would not have been possible.”22

In July 1960, a Housing Building Conference

was held at Canyon Village at which the National Park

Service, the concessioners, the architects and designers, the contractors, manufacturers, and trade associations discussed the problems of visitor housing in a

national park. Former park landscape architect,

Sanford “Red” Hill, who was currently chief of the

Western Office of Design and Construction, reiterated

the difficulty of coordinating yearly appropriations for

agency development work with the spiraling high costs

of construction, brief building and operating seasons, isolated building sites, and private financial

investments.

In August 1960, the Canyon Hotel mysteriously

burned after being condemned for foundation damage and sold to a salvage company for $25. A Cheyenne, Wyoming, newspaper described it as “The Great

Lady was outraged. She could not, she would not,

accept the indignity of laborious, prolonged, and piecemeal destruction. She chose sudden death.”23

By 1961, Director Wirth was being criticized for

the development portion of his Mission 66 program.

This prompted him to reassess the program at its midterm in a letter to Secretary of the Interior Stewart

Udall. Wirth defended the 10-year development and

conservation plan:

Development is beginning to come abreast of

the need. The second stage will see greater

action in the completion of a truly adequate

and representative National Park System, more

emphasis on research to provide the facts upon

which a more vigorous preservation program

must be based, and the strengthening and

broadening of park interpretation so as to bring

out to the fullest measure the true social, educational, cultural, and patriotic values of the

System.24

Wirth pointed out that in most parks, about 99

percent of park use occurred on 1 to 5 percent of the

total park land. He described the developed areas as

the “zones of civilization” in a wilderness setting and

pointed out that most park visitors do not get far away

from the road corridor or developed areas. He called

for the architects “to keep all plans as simple as possible so that buildings will not in themselves be an

attraction, and to cost as little as possible. Construction, however, must be durable and attractive.”25 He

called the management of a park “tremendously complex requiring much adjustment between types of areas preserved,...helping to preserve the balance of nature in those portions of the parks most affected by

man, and adjusting to the political realism of serving

many elements within our society.”26

Udall responded to Wirth’s letter, noting that

“these wild areas are available to those who will make

the small effort necessary to reach out from the road

ends and away from the parking areas.” In discussing

the proposed National Wilderness System, he stated

that by using the Wilderness Act standards “at least

98 percent of park lands will qualify as wilderness.”

While being a strong proponent of wilderness preservation, he was opposed to the people calling the park

visitor “invading locusts,” “tin can tourists,” or “invading hordes.” Udall called upon National Park SerCanyon Hotel fire. 1960. vice interpretive services to assist in educating visi-
112 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

tors on conservation by stimulating their interests in

“inspiring surroundings.” He was convinced that part

of the answer lay in the expansion of the nation’s recreation program, which also might “solv[e] the problem of passing the National Park System on unimpaired to future generations.”27

In November 1962, George Beall, the former

general manager of the Del E. Webb Hotel Company

in Phoenix with 30 years of hotel experience, joined

the Yellowstone Park Company as general manager.28

One year later, he presented Superintendent Garrison

with a five-year improvement and maintenance program. A budget of $450,000 listed $350,000 as having been spent on improvements and $100,000 on

maintenance. The priority improvements were: Fishing Bridge—repainting 112 cabins, new furniture for

321 cabins, and 40 new cabins to be relocated from

Canyon Lodge; Old Faithful Inn—new furniture, 50

new baths, and investigate need to rewire Inn; Lake

Hotel—new furniture for 100 rooms, 50 new baths,

and investigate wiring needs; Lake Lodge—repaint

86 cabins and new furniture for 86 cabins; and finally

Canyon Village—repaint 100 units and remodel one

block of units to test sound proofing. Other desirable

improvements included West Thumb—relocate 21

cabins from Canyon Lodge to replace deteriorated cabins and recommend that West Thumb be abandoned

in three years with the move to Grant Village beginning in 1966; Old Faithful Lodge—move three dormitories from the old Canyon Lodge area for employee

housing and paint 50 cabins; Old Faithful Campers

Cabins—some repair and maintenance work such as

exterior painting and roof and step repairs; Roosevelt

Lodge—install water and toilets for 15 cabins and consider relocating 12 cabins within area to improve appearance and relieve crowded conditions; Mammoth

Hotel and Cottages—50 new baths and new furniture

for 100 rooms (this was a lower priority than other

areas). The park recommended that the company

spend $20,000 to modernize comfort stations, including combining toilet, shower, and laundry facilities

into a single unit.29

In June 1962, Jack Haynes died. His wife, Isabel

Haynes, then took over as president of Haynes, Inc.

Later, toward the end of 1967, Mrs. Haynes negotiated with Hamilton Stores to sell the Haynes’s business in the park. Director George Hartzog, Jr., approved the sale with two stipulations: “Hamilton Stores

would agree to sell merchandise to the Yellowstone

Park Company for retail sales at its outlets at

Hamilton’s cost, plus a reasonable surcharge for handling and that following the expiration of the remaining term of Haynes’s contract it will not be renewed

and the preferential right privileges now included in

Haynes contract will terminate.” Hartzog praised Jack

Haynes and his father for their contributions to Yellowstone National Park and suggested to Mrs. Haynes

that she donate the Haynes Shop at Mammoth to the

National Park Service “so that an attractive, interesting display of the Haynes collection may be made

available to park visitors.” However, this never happened.30

After several years of supporting the Yellowstone

Park Company through its financial woes, Superintendent Garrison finally lost patience after the newly

appointed general manager let the service deteriorate

to an unacceptable level. In a strongly worded letter

to George Beall, he emphasized his displeasure and

told him that it was up to him straighten things out.

He ended his letter by stating, “Actually it is doubtful

if your operation could survive without the protecting

umbrella of the franchise. We look to a fresh, alert,

alive, progressive program of operations improvements to keep pace with the plant improvements being achieved. Both are needed—how can we help you

achieve them?”31

In addition to its drop in standards, inefficiency,

a lack of customer service, and a disregard for environmental issues, the Yellowstone Park Company obviously could not keep up with the Mission 66 program. Director Wirth appointed a committee to develop a plan for Yellowstone with a particular emphasis on concession operations. Wirth and the Secretary’s

office considered the Yellowstone situation the most

Old Faithful Inn bedroom. 1968.
Mission 66—A Concessioner’s Obituary, 1956–1966 113

serious in the Service. The Yellowstone Park Company welcomed the study, which would also involve

the expertise of economists and hotel professionals

who were to arrive at a method of “achieving our overall objective of use and preservation.”32

In a more cordial letter to John Nichols, Superintendent Garrison reviewed the successful history of

the company in Yellowstone, but pointed out that

“many of the Company’s operating patterns and procedures that were suitable in bygone years are outmoded today....it is frankly suggested that real topflight men be located and employed to take over the

food and hotel services.” Garrison recommended that

the best possible people be hired, writing “we simply

state such men will be worth what they may cost and

if they are cheap, you do not want them.”33

In June 1963, the dedication of Grant Village

took place with General U.S. Grant III, grandson of

the president, in attendance. Only the first phase of

development had been completed by the National Park

Service: the 383-unit campground, 15 group campsites, a picnic area, boat launching ramp, and 180-car

capacity parking lot.34 In 1964, the dredging of the

marina and construction of the bulkheads were completed; the docks would be built in 1965. The plans

called for a dock that could handle 164 boats of varying lengths (up to a maximum length of 32 feet). Boat

rentals, guide services, tackle, and equipment would

be handled by the Yellowstone Park Company.35

By 1964, the new National Park Service plan

for Yellowstone was called “Road to the Future” with

a special emphasis on providing services for increased

visitation while at the same time moving development

as far away as possible from natural features. Dayuse areas were proposed for Fishing Bridge, Old Faithful, and Mammoth. The concessioners knew that if

this happened they would soon be receiving complaints, particularly about Old Faithful.36

In trying to placate the concessioners, Superintendent Garrison’s replacement, John McLaughlin,

told the concessioners that the park was already receiving complaints, not about prices, etc., but about

the attitude of park employees. A special investigator

was in the park studying the complaints and attitudes

of the park employees. He urged the concessioners to

encourage people to give their complaints to the rangers so any necessary action could be taken at the local

level. He also told them “the Director of the National

Park Service had come and gone; the Master Planning Committee had also come and gone, and that they

have had a Staff Committee from Washington and the

regional office who seek a long look at their organization here in the Park” in their efforts to streamline the

organization.37

The next year the Yellowstone Park Company

also experienced personnel changes. Chairman of the

Grant Village marina. 1960s.
114 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Board Herrick Low resigned; George Beall went on a

leave of absence, and Art Bazata was appointed executive vice president and general manager.38 However, management changes did not turn company into

a desirable investment in 1965. At the end of the summer, the company presented McLaughlin with its revised program as well as proposed improvements and

also a review of its projects from October 1, 1955, to

September 30, 1964. In June, Newell Gough, Jr., a

member of the Yellowstone Park Company’s Executive Board, wrote to Director Hartzog about the proposed development at Grant Village, which the Service now predicted to cost about six million dollars.

Gough stated that the company management thought

the immediate development of 400 motel units, 300

cabins, dormitory space for 200 employees, food facilities, and related construction would exceed seven

million dollars. He noted that in the past eight years,

the company had paid architects, engineers, and other

consultants many thousands of dollars to examine the

“economic feasibility and the potential of Grant Village.” He explained to Hartzog that the company had

had “an understanding with the former Director that

this construction would be [done] on a step-by-step

basis” due to the many unknown factors such as visitor use patterns (the site was off the main loop road),

weather patterns, the relationship of this facility with

the fishing season, and other factors. He said that the

company was:

Ready and willing to commit two and a half

million dollars to an initial phase of this project

but would have to have a new 30 year contract

before starting. It was the result of our study

(and at one time we thought this result had been

concurred in by the Service) that an investment

of a greater sum would not be economically

feasible. This, we understand, is the test of

construction requirements under our contract.

As a practical matter, unless it is economically

feasible, the construction capital cannot be secured from any source, whether we went into

equity financing or attempted to borrow the

money. Therefore, most reluctantly, and without waiving any of its rights, the Yellowstone

Park Company must inform you that it is unable to comply with the Park Service construction program at Grant Village as set out by you

in our recent meeting.39

During the previous 10-year period, the company

had spent $8,356,831 on new facilities and $1,937,296

on repairs to buildings and equipment. During the

first eight months of 1965, the company spent

$772,317 on capital improvements and repair and

maintenance with the authorization to spend an additional $324,000 for more repairs and maintenance.

However, by December, the National Park Service

faced the uncertainty of the company’s future. The

company had been for sale for the past several years,

but it appeared that no qualified buyers could be found.

The National Park Service was faced with examining

alternatives for developing Grant Village if the Yellowstone Park Company could not meet its obligations.40

In the spring of 1966, the final year in the Mission 66 program, the Yellowstone Park Company was

sold to the Goldfield Corporation. A few months later,

Goldfield sold its tourism interests, including the Yellowstone Park Company and the Everglades National

Park Company, to General Baking, which became

General Host, Inc. in 1967. A former Yellowstone

Park Company official, Art Bazata, remained as president for the Yellowstone division. As part of the government contract with General Host, Inc., the company agreed to invest a minimum of $10,000,000 by

December 1975 or its 30-year contract would terminate. At the end of December 1975, the company had

not met its commitment, but it was given a two-year

extension pending further study. The study team investigating the concession contract recommended in

1976 that the contract be terminated, and the former

Yellowstone Park Company was sold to the United

States government for 19.9 million dollars. The operation of the concessions was then awarded to TWA

Services in November 1979 on a two-year interim

contract, after which they were awarded a 10-year contract (November 1, 1981, to October 31, 1991, and

followed by another 10-year contract covering November 1, 1991, to October 31, 2001). As part of the

first 10-year contract, 22 percent of the company’s

gross revenue, in addition to all pre-tax profits over

five percent was to be spent on capital improvements and repair and maintenance of the concession buildings.41

The following 1,418 buildings belonged to the

Yellowstone Park Company just prior to its sale to the

Goldfield Corporation:
Mission 66—A Concessioner’s Obituary, 1956–1966 115

In September 1975, an accounting of the park

cabins indicated that 64 Lake Lodge cabins were removed in 1967 and nine in 1975; 114 campers cabins

were removed from Old Faithful area in 1970, and 37

Fishing Bridge cabins were removed in 1974.43

Following purchase by the National Park Service, the new concessioner, TWA Services, now known

as Xanterra, has made extensive improvements to the

facilities.

In just over 100 years, the manner in which the

National Park Service interprets Yellowstone’s mandate “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,”

has changed tremendously, just as other aspects of the

National Park Service mission have changed. During

earliest Yellowstone days, the concessioners, for the

most part, offered the most stability at the park. The

secretaries of the Interior, with very few exceptions,

paid little attention to the park and certainly did not

invest financially in its protection or interpretation.

The constant turnover in the Secretary’s office did not

allow for development of a concession policy; thus,

for many years directions were not consistent. After

the turn of the century, more attention was paid to the

parks, but it was not until the creation of the National

Park Service under the guidance of Stephen Mather

and Horace Albright that a systematic approach was

brought to the policies that affected concessioners.

Despite the fact that the major goal of the

Gardiner—21

general repair shop

storage garage

commissary & warehouse

mens’ dormitory

power house

3 residences

duplex

12 other misc. bldgs.

Mammoth—127

hotel

dining room

recreation hall

boys’ dormitory & laundry

girls’ dormitory

mens’ dormitory

repair garage

barn

ice vendor

118 cabins & other bldgs.

Norris—1

1 residence

Riverside—7

(obliterated 7 bldgs.)

Canyon Village—96

lodge

3 dormitories

ice vendor

67 multi-units (508 rooms)

23 new cabins (100 rooms)

1 linen room

Old Canyon Hotel

area—4

winterkeeper’s house

horse barn

wranglers’ bunkhouse

horse rental office

(obliterated—old mess

house, bull pen, tin shed

and 19 other bldgs.)

Lake Hotel—97

hotel

boiler room

girls’ dorm

boys’ dorm

2 bus drivers’ dorms

ice plant-boys’ dorm

winter power plant

winterkeeper’s house

84 cabins

boat storage shed

boat repair bldg.

boat residence

Lake Lodge—198

lodge

laundry

2 dorms

power plant

winterkeeper house

186 rooms-cabins

3 other bldgs.

3 restrooms

Fishing Bridge—323

cafeteria

office

boiler room

boys’ dorm

3 storage rooms

9 restrooms

305 cabins

recreation bldg.

ice vendor

Roosevelt—122

lodge

power plant

restrooms

horse barn

89 cabins

21 employee cabins

2 storage sheds

wood shed

Old Faithful Lodge—169

lodge

boys’ dorm

2 girls’ dorms

2 residences

power plant

162 cabins & other bldgs.

Old Faithful Inn—14

Inn

power plant

plumbing shop

carpenter shop

paint shop

girls’ dorm

boys’ dorm

Old Faithful Campers’

Cabins—240

234 cabins

cabin office

cafeteria

power plant

laundry—self service

ice vendor

“H” dorm—removed

bus compound—removed

mess house—removed

garage—removed

horse barn—removed

fire wood shed—removed

2 mens’ dorms

wash room

laundry repair shop

2 residences

horse ride office

West Thumb—190

All YP Company 190

buildings been removed

from West Thumb: cabins,

office building, recreation

building, cafeteria, garbage

room, ice vendor and boat

house.42
116 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

concessioners as businessmen was to make a profit

and that one of the goals of park management was to

protect the park, they both were joined in the goal of

“providing for the benefit and enjoyment of the

people.” For many decades the relationships between

the concessioners and park managers were of a personal nature. As the government bureaucracy grew,

the relationship became less personal, and tensions

increased. This became particularly apparent after the

creation of the National Park Service regional office

in the 1930s.

The one constant aspect in the last hundred years

has been the salient role of politics. Both concessioners

and the park accomplished more when both concession officials and National Park Service managers were

adroit and consummate politicians. However, just as

National Park Service managers can sometimes be

subject to the whim of politics and social trends, the

concessioners over the years often became vulnerable.

In addition to political whims, the concessioners have

faced uncertainties and impacts of changes in visitor

use patterns brought about by such things as travel by

horse to travel by auto; the popularity of hotels giving

way to cabins, camping and lodges, and then back to

hotels, World War I; the Depression; World War II;

the Korean conflict; and the extensive expansion of

development spurred by the Mission 66 program. In

addition, both the park and its concessioners have been

affected by the rise in the environmental movement

of the last 20 years. The recognition of impacts that

developed areas have on natural resources has

prompted many changes.

When one compares the appearance of the park

today, particularly of its developed areas, with scenes

of the past (even in the 1950s), one cannot help but

notice that the difference is astounding. The concession areas appear more manicured and tidy; gone are

the shacks, sheds, fences, and debris. Some of the

improvements can be attributed to either master planning or environmental awareness, but more can be

attributed to the park’s and concessioners’ response

to visitor expectations. The history of concessions

development in Yellowstone National Park has, after

all, been driven by what the visitor wanted, needed,

and expected.
Appendices 117

The following applicants for leases or favors during

the first twelve years illustrate the wide variety of interest

in the park, the distribution of interest and a view of what

the public perceived as the role of a national park. Most of

the applications were found in the archives at Yellowstone

National Park, particularly in the Microcopies of the Records

of the National Archives. Note there is not a particular citation for each reference.

10/28/72 H. F. Williams; Bozeman, Montana Territory;

erect hotel in geyser basin.

09/29/73 G. H. Dillinbaugh; Bozeman, Montana Territory; hotel on route to geysers.

11/14/73 William Thompson; Virginia City, Montana Territory; hotel; support of Gov. B. Potts, Montana

Territory.

12/12/73 W. T. Sanders, Helena, Montana Territory;

hotel.

12/29/73 John Potter; Gallatin County, Montana Territory;

“Potters Place” hotel and general merchandising near lake.

01/15/74 Knut Forsberg; Washington D.C.; surveying

park/artistic topographic map/relief cork model

for Centennial Exhibition of 1876—approximately $116,000.

01/24/74 Gilman Sawtelle; Virginia City, Montana Territory; superintendent of park.

03/20/74 Walter Gusfenhoven; Laramie, Wyoming Territory; hunt/fish/cultivate soil, build/serve visitors.

05/10/74 L. M. Black; Bozeman, Montana Territory;

build toll road/erect hotel at Mammoth Hot

Springs, falls, lake and geyser basin—endorsed

by Congressman Martin Maginnis, Montana

Territory and Supt. Langford.

06/01/74 Col. J. D. Chestnut; Bozeman, Montana Territory; small supply store at Mammoth Hot

Springs endorsed by Montana Governor Potts.

01/04/78 J. H. Triggs, Emporia, Kansas; assistant superintendent of park; wanted to settle 40 families

there to guard the park, erect hotels, liveries, etc.

for visitors.

n.d. Dr. George Monroe, Bozeman, Montana Territory; erect hotel and sanitorium at Soda Butte

Springs.

05/07/79 A. W. Rose; Dixon Co. Nebraska; steamer on

Yellowstone Lake.

07/21/79 Samuel J. Hoyt and others; town company

townsite and steamer on Yellowstone Lake.

01/10/80 Carl Zeus; Grand Island, Nebraska; landscape

gardening plan; series of large sketches.

10/08/80 A. B. and A. W. Hall; Fargo, Dakota Territory;

erect hotels—supported by Senator Windom,

Congressman W.D. Washburn and Hon. I.

Washburn of Maine.

02/04/81 Wallace Sterling; Elysian, Minnesota; erect

hotel.

02/10/81 James Beatty; Bozeman, Montana Territory;

lease Soda Butte Springs.

07/04/81 C. R. Brodix; one year lease in Upper Fire Hole

Basin for season of 1881; the exclusive use of

the cabin in the Upper Basin for purpose of keeping hotel and supply accommodation; all necessary pasturage and fuel—applied for 30 year

lease.

08/15/81 W. H. Thurston; Bismarck, Dakota Territory;

erect three hotels.

08/31/81 Capt. E. Topping and Capt. E. Russell; Mandan,

Dakota Territory; steamboat on Yellowstone

Lake.

09/30/81 Ed Barker; Cable City, Montana Territory;

establish zoological garden—Sept. 18, 1882.

Supt. Conger recommended that it not be

granted.

10/08/81 William Kirkwood; Virginia City, Montana Territory; establish hotel at Riverside station with

10 acres on either side of Madison River—Sept.

18, 1882. Supt. Conger recommended that it not

be granted.

11/12/81 Richard Treven; Powder River, Wyoming Territory; “some privileges.”

12/08/81 James Gourley and R. Rowland; Bozeman,

Montana Territory; hotel site, right of pasturage

and hay meadow at the Grand Falls of the Yellowstone—30 year lease.

02/21/82 W. A. Burleigh; Miles City, Montana Territory;

Steamboat on Yellowstone Lake—Sept. 19,

1882 Supt. Conger recommends not to grant

lease.

03/27/82 George W. Monroe; Bozeman, Montana Territory; sanitorium or hospital at Soda Butte

Springs—recommended by Congressman M.

Maginnis of Montana—Sept. 18, 1882. Supt.

Conger recommended that the lease be

granted.

04/15/82 Davis and Odell; Minneapolis, Minnesota;

Appendix A
118 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

erect the National Park Hotel and Excursion

Company.

05/12/82 H. B. Allen; Waterloo, Iowa; steamboat on Yellowstone Lake.

09/02/82 H. Avery; Minneapolis; transportation company

to carry passengers and guides.

09/08/82 Thomas Carroll; Billings, Montana Territory;

wants two acres for office and residence—currently with Northern Pacific Railroad.

01/15/83 F. Hess; Fort Dodge, Iowa; erect observatory

provided with telescopes, microscopes etc. for

the edification and instruction of visitors; permission to plant 1,000 trees of seven species and

grading an avenue, walks and drives; erecting

50 tablets of suitable dimensions delineating in

base relief one century of the worlds history;

erection of 12 groups of statuary typical of the

12 signs and constellations of the Lodices with

their attending star groups with life-sized forms

of man and beast according to astronomy of primeval man; erection of building dedicated to the

arts, sciences and religion of the future.

03/01/83 P. Schuyler; Minnesota; 40 acres for gardening.

03/03/83 Bassett Brothers; erect hotel at either Upper

Geyser Basin or other points.

03/07/83 R. Blakely; St. Paul, Minnesota; lease land 1,320

feet from Yellowstone Park Improvement Company land at Lower Falls of Yellowstone for

tents, stables, etc.

03/07/83 George Hamilton; Washington, D.C.; lease land

1,320 feet from Yellowstone Park Improvement

Company land at Old Faithful or tents, stables,

etc.

03/07/83 Thomas Sedgwick; Washington, D.C.; land adjoining the Yellowstone Park Improvement

Company land one mile east of western boundary on south side of Madison River for stables,

tents, etc.

03/07/83 S. Mailes, Washington, D.C.; land adjoining Yellowstone Park Improvement Company land at

Lake outlet for stables, tents, etc.

03/07/83 John Williams; Mankato, Minnesota; land adjoining Yellowstone Park Improvement Company land 1,320 feet from Soda Butte Springs

for stables, tents, etc.

03/12/83 Edward Voigt; Denver, Colorado; one or two

acres for hotel.

03/15/83 W. S. Libby; Fairbault, Minnesota; ten acres.

04/15/83 H. J. Hoppe; Bozeman, Mt. T.; keeping dairy

cows near mouth of Gardner River within Park

to supply Govt. and hotel.

07/23/83 Warren Pendleton; Bozeman, Mt. T.; erect 4

small buildings at Mammoth, Upper Geyser

Basin, Lake and at the Falls to sell newspapers,

fruit, confectionery and periodicals.

08/31/83 H. Allen; Waterloo, Iowa; steamboats.

09/25/83 W. Hall; Jefferson, Iowa; open a saloon.

10/20/83 David Barmore; steamboat and other watercraft.

11/22/83 G. O. Eaton, Republic Mining Co. Cooke City,

Montana Territory; 150 acres of meadow land

at bottom of East Fork of Yellowstone and 150

acres of meadowland on or near Slough Creek

for raising and cutting hay; would include right

to irrigate with ditches. Conger was in favor of

granting lease.

12/04/83 Silas McMinn, Pierce Folk and Harry Keefer;

coal mine on Mt. Everts.

12/17/83 S. W. Downey; Laramie City, Wyoming; hotel

sites.

12/19/83 P. H. Fisher; Livingston, Montana; ten acres on

Clark’s Fork mine roads for hotel purposes.

01/14/84 P. Fisher; Livingston, Montana; erect hotel.

01/15/84 John Potter; Hamilton, Montana; lease of land.

01/31/84 Oscar Swanson and J. Clark; each to build cottage in park their family’s exclusive use; Supt.

Conger endorsed the request based on his not

wanting land that the Govt. would need. They

had been appointed deputy U.S. Marshals.

02/05/84 J. W. Ponsford and J. S. Sanborn; Bozeman,

Montana; ten acres for keeping a “stopping

place” for travelers one mile west of Baronett’s

Bridge at junction of road to Clark’s Fork and

Mount Washburn.

06/09/84 Robt. Lilley; Cooke City, Montana; graze horses.

02/16/84 L. Pickering; Mammoth Hot Springs; construct

lime kilns at Mammoth Hot Springs from limestone ledges between Mammoth Hot Springs

and the Limestone ledges for a distance of about

3 miles; he had already burned lime and supplied the Park Improvement Company with

about six thousand bushels.

03/07/84 H. G. Hamer; Bozeman, Montana; permission

to transport tourist through park.

03/20/84 James McDowell; Helena Montana; exclusive

privilege of cutting hay on Yellowstone and its

tributaries near Soda Butte; right to erect hotel

at Soda Butte; denied by Teller.

03/25/84 Thomas J. Farrell; Virginia City, Montana; permission to continue taking tourist parties into

Park and permission to build stable and corrals.

04/01/84 Christian Ames; Ennis, Montana; permission to

erects corral in Upper Geyser Basin for horses.

04/04/84 H. E. Klamer; lease of two acres at Mammoth

Hot Springs for ten years in order to erect buildings to be used as livery stable and feed store.

Secretary Teller deemed it “not advisable at the

time.”

04/04/84 E. S. Topping; Bozeman, Montana; privilege of
Appendices 119

navigating on Yellowstone Lake.

05/01/84 Eleanor McGowan; York, Pennsylvania; constructing operating telegraph between Cinnabar

and Clark’s Fork for ten years—permission was

given on May 1, 1884 by Secretary of Interior

Teller.

05/15/84 Warren Pendleton; Bozeman, Montana; ten year

lease for newsstand and stand for fruits, confectionery, cigars, tobacco, and smoked goods in

the Lower Geyser Basin on the north side of the

East Fork of the Fire Hole River opposite the

government buildings.

06/15/84 W. J. Harber; Fort Benton, Montana; small pleasure steam launch on Yellowstone Lake.

06/23/84 William Lindstrom; Mammoth Hot Springs,

Wyoming Territory; erect tent at Mammoth Hot

Springs to sell articles of interest to public.

07/26/84 Bassett Brother; Beaver Canyon, Idaho; put up

office, stable and cut about 5 tons of hay at Fire

Hole Basin for passenger business.

11/24/84 J. H. Baldwin; New York City; put boats on Yellowstone Lake, build small house for supplies.

11/20/84 Thomas Cavanaugh; Mammoth Hot Springs;

erection of hotel and transportation service.
120 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Appendix B

Some Early Special Permits and Franchises

1878 • M. J. Beattie permit to pasture 300 cattle on Blacktail Deer Plateau.

1879 • H. W. Comfort and wife drove 400 head of cattle

with a team and trail wagon through the park on

their route from Oregon via Henrys Lake to the

Lower Yellowstone Valley; the payment was to

give two milk cows to the authorities at Mammoth

for their use.

1880 • C. J. Baronett and J. Pritchard to rebuild Baronett

Bridge.

1881 • John McKenna of Deadwood, South Dakota permit to construct fencing to protect livestock at Soda

Butte.

1883 • Unnamed party given permit to make 200,000

bricks from natural clays, to mine coal on Mt.

Everts and to harvest timber for building and for

fuel.

• H. J. Hoppe given permit to operate dairy to supply government employees and hotels.

• George Wakefield and Charles Hoffman permit to

carry mail from Livingston, Montana, to Cooke

City, Montana, via Mammoth Hot Springs.

• Silas McMinn permit to mine coal on Mt. Everts.

• Henry Klamer permit to:

1. provide fresh meat to camps and hotels.

2. slaughter beef cattle.

3. operate dairy herd.

1885 • Elwood “Billy” Hofer permit to operate a stable

and corral for horses at Mammoth.

• Wakefield & Hoffman lease to erect house, stables

and corrals at Geyser Basin, at Lake and at the

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

• Wakefield & Hoffman permit to cut, stack, and

sell hay to travelers with teams and to provide for

their own use at their facilities.

• Wakefield & Hoffman permit to operate stables

and corrals at Mammoth Hot Springs.

• Bassett Brothers permit to operate stables and corrals at Lower Geyser Basin.

• Melson Caitlin permit to operate stables and corrals at Mammoth Hot Springs.

• James A. Clark license to operate a stable and

blacksmith shop near Capitol Hill at Mammoth

Hot Springs.

1888 • Mrs. M. A. Baronett, Postmistress, permit to sell

photographic views of Yellowstone, stationery and

small curio items in Post Office building.

1889 • Mrs. Jennie Henderson Dewing replaced Mrs.

Baronett as postmistress and given permit to continue selling items.

1890 • Uncle Tom Richardson permit to operate a ferry

across Yellowstone River, a mile above the Upper

Falls and to operate a carriage ride to the canyon

or an all day tour into canyon via the “Uncle Tom

Trail.”

1896 • Yellowstone Lake Boat Co. permit showing tourists corralled buffalo and mountain sheep on Dot

Island.

1897 • Yellowstone Park Association permitted to establish dairy on Upper Swan Lake Flats-Clematis

Gulch dairy closed due to unsanitary drain off from

the dairy corrals and barns into the living areas at

Mammoth.

1903 • Gardiner, Montana, received permission to receive

sufficient water from Gardiner River one mile

above the new arch via ditch to supply a hydroelectric plant for the residents of Gardiner, Montana.

1916 • Robert J. McKay license to use trucks and trailers

for transporting ore and supplies between Gardiner

and Cooke City.

• Nels Solderholm license to operate a 2-ton truck

to carry employees and supplies to Cooke City

mines.

• G. L. Tanger license to use motor equipment for

mining operations between Gardiner and Cooke

City.

1917 • Jim Parker and Jay Wilcox permit to cultivate between and 4 acres of land between a mile and two

miles up the Yellowstone River in Turkey Pen Pass

in order to raise potatoes for sale to passing travelers. It operated for two seasons.

1918 • The hotel company’s Chinese gardener planted

vegetables in garden two miles up Gardner River

from Gardiner. Late in year, Mr. George Whittaker

took over the garden and marketed the vegetables

at his store in Mammoth Hot Springs.

1920 • Robert J. McKay permit to build metal road from

Gardiner to Cooke City.

1923 • Frank B. Tolhurst of Livingston, Montana, given

first mail contract in Yellowstone National Park

to deliver mail from main post office at Mammoth

to all of the upper park areas (contract discontinued in 1928).
Appendices 121

Appendix C

The following list indicates the kinds of items brought

into Yellowstone National Park. The list should not be considered inclusive, but it reflects items found listed in documents used in the preparation of this volume. The items

are listed as food, furnishings, crockery and other kitchen

items, transportation, and miscellaneous. A notation is made

if a specific item was identified in a specific area.

Specific major or significant items found in specific

buildings or structures are also listed.

Food

Wine—quarts and pints of Medoc, St. Julien, Pontet 1890

Canet, Chateau la Rose, Haut Sauterne, Chateau

Yquem, Latour Blanche

Peaches—canned—Bear brand 1891

(used at Trout Creek Lunch Station)

Sliced Lemon Cling Peaches, peeled Apricots, Green 1891

Gage Plums, White and Black Royal Anne Cherries,

Bartlett Pears, Yellow Crawford Peaches, Muscat

Alexandria (White) Grapes

(JF Orchards and Cannery—J.H. Fliekinger’s San Jose,

California)

Kelly coffee/McCormick coffee 1891

Sauternes, Reislings, Heirstimer and Laubenheiners 1893

wines

Furnishings

Porcelain rosettes (ceiling blocks)—25 1891

(Northwest Thomson-Houston Electric Co., St. Paul, Minn.)

Crockery and other Kitchen Items

Round Pattern Wash-bowls, Chambers, Ewers and Slop Jars

1890

Octagon Ewers and Wash-bowls

The following information is from “Hotels and Machinery Record,” Yellowstone Park Company Papers—Box

151, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

MAMMOTH HOTEL—1883

Kitchen

1 10' steam table

1 N. M. Simmons range—Chicago

1 copper stock boiler

1 vegetable boiler

1 dish warmer

2 ten gallon urns; 1 thirteen gallon urn

1 B.D & Co. bake oven

1 steel broiler—March 31, 1893

1 #3 Cooley Creamer, C.C. & G. Co. Michigan

1 Kohler & Henricks refrigerator—May 9, 1896

Water Supply

1 Reservoir tank 8' x 16'—installed May 1892

1 Reservoir tank 5' x 5' (wood) installed March 1896

Engine Room

1 Erie Cast Iron Works 12' x 54" boiler

1 Return tank

1 Hot Water tank

1 No. 4 Blake pump (No. 20329)

1 50HP Ideal 10' x 10' engine June 1890—moved 1903

1 Nagle engine

1 Weston dynamo U.S. Electric Lighting Co.

1 Armature—June 1892

1 Metropolitan #8 Automatic Injector Crane—April 1893

1 Locomotive Boiler, Northern Pacific RR Co. March 1895

1 Edison 15 Kilowatt Shunt wound. 125 volt dynamo Brush

Electric Co. June 1896

Laundry

1 50" Empire mangle—July 1889

1 Dolph wringer—transferred to Canyon Hotel ca. 1900

1 Empire Mach. Co. shirt ironer

1 gas machine

1 reg. wooden washer April 1900

1 Troy Laundry Manufacturing Co. triple mangle 1905

1 Shirt Starcher

1 baby ironer gasoline 1902

1 smoothing machine 1905

1 hand sharper Clark & Hoff 1906

1 steam puffer improved design 1906

1 iron framer washer 1906

2 folding tables 1906

1 auto seam dispenser 1906

1 neck band ironer 1905

COTTAGE HOTEL

Kitchen

1 W. H. & Co. Broiler

1 52 gallon water heater

1 B. D. & Co. Bake oven

1 Walterstoff-Haskell Commander Steel range transferred

from Norris Hotel 1900
122 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Water Supply

1 hot water heater 1905

Laundry

1 Chicago Nickel Works #4 Laundry equipment

1 stationary tub 1905

1 wood tub 1906

NORRIS HOTEL

1 upright boiler—sold 1906

1 No. 4 Blake pump

1 plain Walterstoff-Haskell steel range

1 Jorsting & Schilling bake oven 1895

Tents at Norris 1893

6 24' x 24' Pyramid tents

1 20' x 20' tent

9 smaller tents

1 refrigerator 1899

1 8' x 8' reservoir 1896

1 Seneca Falls Force pump 1896

1 13 HP Robinson and Co. steel boiler 1891

1 No. 4 1

/4' Blake Steam Pump

FOUNTAIN HOTEL—1890–91

1 Dirbold fire proof safe 1898

1 steel boiler 1890

1 35 HP Ideal Engine 1890

2 Edison dynamo 1890

1 No. 2 Knowles pump 1893

1 hot water tank

1 return tank 1891

1 water heater 1904

2 steam gauges

1 Walterstoff-Haskell 12' 3-hole range

1 22' broiler

1 stock boiler

1 vegetable boiler

1 steam table

1 15 gallon coffee urn

1 10 gallon tea urn

1 No. 7 Waslterstoff-Haskell bake oven 1893

1 Cooley Creamer 1895

1 refrigerator 1891

1 broiler 1897

1 Walterstoff-Haskell laundry stove 1893

1 hand mangle

1 gasoline heated hand mangle 1904

2 wood tubs 1906

UPPER GEYSER BASIN HOTEL— 1885–1886

(BURNED 1894)

1 No. 5 Sikver & Demming Hydraulic ram

1 No. 9 Simonds 6' Range

1 20" Bramhall & Dran. broiler

1 bake oven

1 Walterstoff-Haskell iron laundry stove 1893

HOTEL—UPPER BASIN—1895

1 No. 14 Walterstoff-Haskell range 1895

1 Laundry stove 1895

1 No. 6 Douglas Ram

1 6' x 8' water tank 1895

1 52 gallon water heater 1895

1 Cooley Creamer 1895

OLD FAITHFUL INN—1903–1904

1 Brownell Hot tubular boiler 1903

1 50 HP Ideal Engine

1 Gibbs-Stewart low speed engine

1 hot water heater 1903

1 Blake pump

1 3-roll mangle 1906

1 family ironer 1905

1 improved sectional dry room 1903

1 washer 1903

1 extractor 1903

3 sinks 1903

1 wood tub 1906

LAKE HOTEL—1889–1890

1 Derbold fireproof safe 1898

1 No. 7 Hydraulic ram 1889 (sent to commissary 1895)

1 No. 6 Hydraulic ram 1889 (transferred to W. Basin 1894)

1 No. 5 Hydraulic ram (sent to commissary in 1895)

1 Bramhall 12' range—hard coal changed to burn wood

1 copper stock boiler

1 Walterstoff-Haskell broiler

1 steam table

1 15 gallon coffee urn

1 10 gallon tea urn

1 bake oven

1 Cooley Creamer 1895

1 Crawford # Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Co. stove for

winter keeper

1 refrigerator 1890

1 Hopkins upright steel boiler 1890

1 35 HP Ideal engine 1890

1 Edison Dynamo 1890

1 Robinson heater 1890

1 No. Knowles steam pump 1890

1 No. 4 Blake Pump 1893

1 Horizontal Tubular Boiler received from Northern

Pacific RR Co. 1898

1 Cole & Maxwell Steam Pump received from Northern

Pacific RR Co.

1 Dynamo 1900

1 Dynamo 1903

1 Brownell Horizontal Tubular Boiler 1904

1 water heater 1904

1 Walterstoff-Haskell iron laundry 1893
Appendices 123

1 family iron 1905

1 wood washer 1903

1 wood tub 1906

1 small mangle 1906

GRAND CANON HOTEL—1889

Engine Room

1 Fireproof Derbold safe 1898

1 35 HP Ideal engine 1891

2 Edison dynamo 1890

1 hot water heater 1889

Pumping Station

1 13 HP upright steel boiler 1891

1 duplex Blake pump 1891

1 Seneca Falls pump 1891

2 steam gauges

Kitchen

1 Bramhall Dran & Co. 3-hole range

1 steam table

1 boiler

1 Bramhall Dran & Co. iron stock boiler

1 vegetable boiler

1 15 gallon coffee urn

1 10 gallon tea urn

1 Cooley Creamer 1890

1 refrigerator 1890

1 oven 1896

Laundry

1 iron laundry stove 1893

1 steam trap 1892

1 hand mangle 1896

1 extractor from old Mammoth Hotel

1 washer 1896

1 centrifugal wringer 1904

a triplex mangle 1905

THUMB

1 No. 2 Army Range

3 large Pyramid tents

12 smaller tents

2 8' x 9' wood tanks 1898

1 60' wood tower

1 syphon pump 1898

1 log ice house 16' x 40' x 10' with shingle roof 1898

1 2 HP gasoline engine

1 engine house in wind mill tower 1906

SAW MILL MACHINERY

At Saw Mill

1 8' x 12' Gibbs & Stewart steam engine

1 8/16 Buckeye steam engine

1 log carriage and saw frame

1 42' x 10' Erie City Iron Works Boiler (38-3" flues)

1 condenser

375 ft. 11/2" pipe

At Fountain Hotel

1 Tompkins Champion planer & edger 1889

1 rip saw & frame 1889 transferred to Mammoth 1893

1 10 HP Batavia portable boiler and engine transferred to

Mammoth 1893

1 wood saw and frame—sent to Mammoth and rebuilt

1 American Insertes tooth saw with No. 2 teeth 1889

At Grand Canon

1 siding resaw 1890

At Mammoth

1 upright pump transferred to Norris 1892

1 70 HP Batavia portable boiler and engine

1 Gibbs & Stewart steam engine transferred to Old Faithful

Inn

1 Buckeye steam engine

1 wood saw frame (rebuilt—from Fountain Hotel)

1 rip saw and frame 1889
124 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Appendix D

Concession Buildings Removed

Bldg. No. 5708 Garage

Bldg. No. 5709 Dry cleaning shop at hotel

Bldg. No. 5721 Stable at lodge

Bldg. No. 5722 Carpenter shop at lodge

Bldg. No. 5723 Employee dormitory at lodge

Bldg. No. 5724 Employee dormitory at lodge

Bldg. No. 5725–5731 7 similar dormitories at lodge

Bldg. No. 5732 Temporary, portable dormitory

Bldg. No. 5733 Haynes Picture Shop

Bldg. No. 5734 Saddle shop and storage

Bldg. No. 5735 Pipe shop at lodge

Bldg. No. 5736 Bath house at lodge

Bldg. No. 5737 Storage at lodge

Bldg. No. 5738 Club house at lodge

Bldg. No. 5739 Winterkeeper’s quarters at lodge

Bldg. No. 5740 Pryor’s store

Bldg. No. 5741 Garage, storage, power plant at

Pryor’s

Bldg. No. 5742 Dorm and mess hall at Pryor’s Store

Bldg. No. 5743 Service station at Pryor’s Store

Bldg. No. 5744 Horse stable at lodge 1958

Bldg. No. 5745 Nurse’s dispensary at lodge

Bldg. No. 5746 Pump house at lodge

Bldg. No. 5747 Lodge manager’s quarters

Bldg. No. 5748 Dormitory and linen room at lodge

Bldg. No. 5749 Chlorine house at lodge

Bldg. No. 5750 Lodge—dining room, cabin office

Bldg. No. 5751–5752 Comfort station

Bldg. No. 5753 Ironing room at lodge

Bldg. No. 5754 Temporary bathhouse at lodge

Bldg. No. 5755 Fire hose shelter at lodge

Bldg. No. 5902 Cafeteria & housekeeper’s quarters

Bldg. No. 5903 Boiler room, toilets, laundry

power house; cafeteria

Bldg. No. 5904 Shed

Bldg. No. 6072 Transportation metal shed

Bldg. No. 6073–6075 Bunkhouses constructed in “U”

around wash house

Bldg. No. 6076 Wash room

Bldg. No. 6077 Wash house

Bldg. No. 6078–6079 Quarters

Bldg. No. 6080 Shop

Bldg. No. 6081 Bus storage

Bldg. No. 6082 Horse barn

Bldg. No. 6083 Gasoline pump house

Bldg. No. 6084 Saddle horse barn

Bldg. No. 6085 Bus drivers’ dormitory

Bldg. No. 6088 “Club House” cabin

Unnumbered bldgs.

• Old Hamilton general store 1958

This incomplete list of removed concession buildings

does not include the numerous individual cabins removed

from the developed areas throughout the park’s history, but

it does list numerous types of buildings. Most of these buildings were removed as a part of the National Park Service

Mission 66 program. Note that some buildings, particularly cabins, are noted as removed to other park locations.

The Old Faithful cabins that were relocated post-1983 are

also listed.

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS

Bldg. No. 2035 Cottage Hotel 1964

Bldg. No. 2037 Gardener’s cabin N.D.

Bldg. No. 2041 Garage

Bldg. No. 2046 Garage

Bldg. No. 2047 Oil house

Bldg. No. 2048 Bus shed

Bldg. No. 2049 Repair shop

Bldg. No. 2050 Storage & wash rack

Bldg. No. 2052 Haynes Picture Shop

Bldg. No. 2059 Cafeteria and dormitory

Bldg. No. 2062 Grocery store and quarters

Bldg. No. 2065 Stationary engineer quarters

Bldg. No. 2264 Housekeeping cabin office

Bldg. No. 2265 Comfort station

Bldg. No. 2266 Comfort station

Bldg. No. 2267 Comfort station

Bldg. No. 2268 Wood storage

Bldg. Nos. 6367–6377 Tourist cabins

Unnumbered bldgs.

• 131 Mammoth campers’ cabins were removed.

• The cabin office, wood shed and 58 cabins moved to West

Thumb.

• 59 cabins moved to Old Faithful, 34 of which will be

modernized.

• One restroom and one cabin sold and moved from park.

• Two cabins given to NPS and moved to Canyon for use

of the Blister Rust Control Crew.

• 8 cabins were given to N. J. Olson Construction Company

who removed 6 from the park and moved to two to Lake.

• Three restrooms and the utility lines were removed in 1958.

CANYON

Bldg. No. 180 Pump house on Cascade Creek

Bldg. No. 182 Chlorine house behind Haynes

Bldg. No. 5703 Girls’ dorm at hotel

Bldg. No. 5704 Storage and shops at hotel

Bldg. No. 5705 Canyon Hotel

Bldg. No. 5706 Root cellar at hotel

Bldg. No. 5707 Power house for Caretaker’s quarters
Appendices 125

adjacent service station and underground storage facilities.

• Two-story dormitory moved to Old Faithful for use of

the Old Faithful Service Station employees.

• 52 buildings at the old Canyon Lodge development moved

to other locations in the park—45 cabins were moved to

West Thumb, 2 cabins to Lake, 1 cabin to Fishing Bridge,

and 3 to Roosevelt Lodge. The carpenter shop and horse

stalls were moved to Roosevelt Lodge.

• 28 other structures from the lodge area were removed

from the site in 1959.

TOWER FALL

Bldg. No. 6101 Store and quarters

Bldg. No. 6102 Cellar in hill

Bldg. No. 6103 Power house

FISHING BRIDGE

Bldg. No. 5100 Cafeteria

Bldg. No. 5103 Split wood sales

Bldg. No. 5507 Boathouse on bank-store

Bldg. No. 5508 Boathouse rental

OLD FAITHFUL

Bldg. No 151 Bath house

Bldg. No. 157 Chlorine house No. 1 at old sewer

collecting tank, Firehole River

Bldg. No. 2317 Apartment house

Bldg. No. 2318 Mess house

Bldg. No. 2320 Drivers’ bunkhouse

Bldg. No. 2321 Garage compound

Bldg. No. 2322 Horse barn

Bldg. No. 2324 Housekeeping headquarters 1955

OLD FAITHFUL CAMP

Bldg. No. 2323 Cafeteria 1980

Bldg. No. 2328 Split wood shed

Bldg. No. 2329 Garage

Bldg. No. 2832–2864 33 cabins—east of bus compound

Bldg. No. 2777 Warehouse-Hamilton Stores, Inc.

Bldg. No. 2778 Hose house east of laundry

Bldg. No. 2779 Cleaning room

• Bldgs. Nos. 7463, 7466, 7467, 7523, 7529, 7531, 7532,

7534, 7456, 7457, and 7567 were relocated to the

Roosevelt Lodge area—post-1983.

• Bldgs. Nos. 7473, 7568, and 7569 were relocated to the

Old Faithful Maintenance Yard—post-1983.

• Bldgs. Nos. 7476, 7477, 7546, 7547, 7548, 7549, 7550,

7551, 7552, 7553, 7554, and 7592 were relocated to Grant

Village—post-1983.

• Bldg. No. 7527 relocated to Indian Creek Campground—

post-1983.

• Bldg. No. 7537 relocated to Mammoth Corral—post1983.

• Bldg. No. 7478 relocated to Canyon—post-1983.

WEST THUMB

Bldg. No. 3103 Hamilton—bunkhouse

Bldg. No. 3109 Hamilton—bunkhouse

Bldg. No. 3104 Hamilton—storage shed

Bldg. No. 3107 Cafeteria/dormitory

Bldg. No. 3108 Laundry, shower, recreation bldg.

Bldg. No. 3109 Boathouse and bunkhouse

Bldg. No. 3110 Cabin office

Bldg. No. 3111 Linen room

Bldg. No. 3112 Wood/fuel shed

LAKE

Bldg. No. 4056 Lumber storage at lodge

Bldg. No. 4057 Quarters at lodge

Bldg. No. 4058 Dormitory at lodge

Bldg. No. 4060 Employees’ laundry at lodge

Bldg. No. 4061 Bunkhouse “Duck Inn” at lodge

Bldg. No. 4302 Ice house at hotel

Bldg. No. 4304 Mess house at hotel 1970

Bldg. No. 4305 Bunkhouse at hotel 1980

Bldg. No. 4306 Bunkhouse at hotel—Unit B 1982

Bldg. No. 4308 Bunkhouse at hotel—Unit C 1982

Bldg. No. 4307 Recreation room 1980

Bldg. No. 4315 Pump house at hotel 1980

RIVERSIDE

Bldg. No. 2276 Pump house over a well

Bldg. No. 2277 Bus repair garage

Bldg. No. 2278 Employees’ bunkhouse

Bldg. No. 2279 Winter keeper’s residence

Bldg. No. 2280 Mess house

Bldg. No. 2281 Power house

Bldg. No. 2282 Walk-in cooler

Bldg. No. 2283 Storage

Bldg. No. 2284 Wood or chicken shed

Bldg. No. 2285 Warehouse behind old granary

Bldg. No. 2286 Storage shed

Bldg. No. 2287 Bunkhouse—old dorm

Bldg. No. 2288 Woman’s dormitory

Bldg. No. 2289 Bunkhouse No. 2 next to garage

Bldg. No. 2290 Old granary—warehouse

Bldg. No. 2291 Employees’ residence

Bldg. No. 2292 Pump house on Madison River

NORRIS JUNCTION

Bldg. No. 2274 Wood shed and toilets

Bldg. No. 2275 Storage shed

Some of the information relating to the removal of

the buildings in 1958–1959 comes from a memorandum to

the Regional Director from Superintendent Lemuel Garrison, January 23, 1959. This document, which formerly was

stored in the National Archives and Records Center, Denver, Colorado, in Box D158–D3415—Buildings (General)

1959–1960) can now be found in the park archives.
126 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

1871 James McCartney hotel and bathhouse in Clematis Gulch at Mammoth.

Matthew McGuirk bathhouse near Mammoth at

Boiling River.

C. J. Baronett—bridge over Yellowstone River.

1872 Alfred Hawkes granted concession to build and

operate hotel at Lower Geyser Basin.

1875 Captain E. S. Topping granted temporary permit

to operate boat on Yellowstone Lake—the Topping.

1878 McGuirk surrendered is property to government.

1879 McCartney’s log hotel closed.

1881 McCartney property dismantled (bathhouse).

1899 McGuirk paid $1,000 by U.S. Government for

property.

McCartney paid $3,000 by U.S. Government for

property.

1915 McCartney’s old hotel burned on December 4.

JOHN YANCEY

1882 John Yancey erected mail station in Pleasant Valley.

1884 John Yancey erected hotel in Pleasant Valley.

1886 Received lease of 10 acres in Pleasant Valley.

HENRY KLAMER—CHARLES A. HAMILTON—

HAMILTON STORES INC.

1882 Given permit to provide meat to camps and hotels, to pasture beef cattle, to slaughter beef cattle,

to operate a dairy herd and to operate a general

store at Upper Geyser Basin.

1885 Operated with father-in-law, George Henderson,

the Firehole Hotel at Lower Geyser Basin.

1908 Contract—10 year contract from June 1, 1907.

1897 Contract—built general store at Upper Geyser

Basin.

1914 Henry Klamer died August 1.

Mary Klamer received 3 year contract beginning

August 13.

1915 Charles A. Hamilton bought the Klamer Store at

Old Faithful.

1917 Subleased Boat Co. store at Lake outlet from YP

Co.

1919 Bought the Lake outlet store from YP Co.

Received 10 year contract.

1920 New store at Lake outlet.

Transportation company and stores were granted

joint to build and operate filling stations at Mammoth and Old Faithful.

1921 Made additions to Old Faithful store.

Transportation Company and stores received perAppendix E

Timeline of Concessioners in Yellowstone National Park

mit to build and operate filling station at Canyon

near George Whittaker’s store.

1922 Store, residence and filling station at Lake outlet.

1923 Small store at Old Faithful Campground.

Received new 10 year lease from NPS after surrendering and cancelling the 1919 contract.

1924 Store at West Thumb and Fishing Bridge.

Addition to Old Faithful store.

1925 Enlarged store at Fishing Bridge.

Enlarged store at Old Faithful Campground.

1927 Built filling station at Old Faithful.

1931 Received 20 year contract and surrendering and

cancelling the earlier 1923 contract. Now called

Yellowstone General Stores. (Delaware North).

1933 Secured the bathhouse and swimming pool concession from Henry Brothers at Old Faithful.

1934 Remodeled and enlarged swimming pool at Old

Faithful.

1947 Yellowstone Park Service Stations organized with

Trevor Povah as General Manager. It a was joint

operation with between Hamilton Stores, Inc. and

YP Company.

1951 Swimming pool and bathhouse at Old Faithful

razed.

1953 Purchased Pryor Stores, Inc. at Mammoth and

Canyon.

1957 Charles A. Hamilton died.

GEORGE MARSHALL—HOTEL

1880 Verbal permission—erected Marshall House at

Firehole.

Erected mail stations at Riverside and Norris.

1884 1/2 assigned to G. L. Henderson; operated under

the name of Firehole Hotel.

1885 Bldgs. out on lease—applied for change of lease.

1886 Two cottages built.

1888 Contract rewarded by YPA.

1891 Vacated—Supt. tired to secure for Government.

Hotel burned.

1895 Cottages still standing.

HENDERSON AND LYALL CO.

1911 Held post office lease—Mammoth.

1913 Sold to George Whittaker.

GEORGE WHITTAKER

1906 Scout and guide until 1911.

1911 Became transportation agent at Canyon Hotel

until 1913.

1913 Bought out Henderson and Lyall—Mammoth.
Appendices 127

1914 Extensive enlargement of Post Office Store—

Mammoth.

1917 Received permit to build and operate store at Canyon.

1919 Received permission to build new log store at

Canyon.

1920 Completed log store at Canyon .

1922 Made additions to log store at Canyon.

1923 Received new 10 year lease.

1924 Established a store/delicatessen at Mammoth

Auto Camp.

Enlarged store at Canyon.

1925 Enlarged the summer branch store in the Mammoth Auto Camp.

1932 Sold business to Anna Pryor.

1961 George Whittaker died at age 91 in Los Angeles.

JENNIE H. ASH

1895 Granted permit to operate a post office and build

general store at Mammoth.

JENNIE HENDERSON, WALTER HENDERSON

AND ALEXANDER LYALL

1882 Granted permit to operate store at Mammoth.

WALTER AND HELEN ANDERSON—COTTAGE HOTEL

1885 Built Cottage Hotel at Mammoth.

1887 Enlarged Cottage Hotel at Mammoth.

1921 Cottage Hotel at Mammoth remodeled as men’s

dorm.

1964 Cottage Hotel razed.

OLE A. ANDERSON

1889 Secured permit to operate store at Mammoth—

Bottles of native colored sand and items coated

with minerals from hot springs.

1908 The Park Curio Shop at Mammoth bought out

Ole Anderson.

ANNA PRYOR & ELIZABETH TRISCHMAN—

THE PARK CURIO SHOP

1908 Took over Ole Anderson’s store at Mammoth.

1924 Granted permit to operate a delicatessen stand in

Mammoth Auto Camp and another stand for soft

drinks on the Terraces near Devil’s Kitchen at

Mammoth.

1925 Enlarged the Devil’s Kitchen stand.

Granted permission to also operate general store

at the Mammoth Auto Camp.

1932 Received permission to purchase the Whittaker

stores at Mammoth and Canyon.

1939 Closed Devil’s Kitchen.

1948 Pryor & Trischman operated as Pryor Stores, Inc.

1952 At end of season, bought by Hamilton Stores, Inc.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

IMPROVEMENT COMPANY

1882 Yellowstone Park Improvement Co. received lease

on Dec. 6.

1883 Began construction of Mammoth Hotel.

Erected tent hotels at Lower Geyser Basin, Upper Geyser Basin and Canyon.

1884 C. T. Hobart built hotel on lease near junction of

Nez Perce Creek and Firehole River—near

Marshall House.

Granted leases for 7 acre sites at Mammoth, Norris, Canyon, Lake for construction of hotels.

1885 C. T. Hobart and Robert Carpenter built a frame

hotel at Upper Geyser Basin (according to Wayne

Replogle), on the site of the Old Faithful Inn.

1886 Yellowstone Park Association acquired leases of

the defunct Yellowstone National Park Improvement Company.

Completed Mammoth Hotel.

Built a hotel at Norris and erected tent hotels at

Lower Geyser Basin, Upper Geyser Basin and

Canyon. The Norris Hotel was destroyed by fire

July 15, 1887.

Acquired the Marshall House and Hobart Hotel for $6,000.

1887 Built tent hotels at Fishing Bridge and at Norris

to replace the hotel that burned.

1889 Granted license to place a naphtha launch on Yellowstone Lake.

1890 Canyon Hotel constructed.

Began construction of Lake Hotel.

1891 Fountain Hotel built north of Fountain Paint Pot

Small hotel near Nez Perce Creek abandoned.

1892 Norris Tent Hotel burned in May and replaced

Lunch station was built at same location.

1893 Hobart’s hotel at Old Faithful destroyed by fire

1894 Temporary hotel built at Old Faithful.

1895 Old hotel at Fountain Flat razed and replaced by

new building. Marshall House and other structures in vicinity of Nez Perce Creek razed.

1896 Boat Co. granted permit to take tourists to view

mountain sheep corralled on Dot Island.

1897 YP Co. granted permit to establish dairy on Upper Swan Lake Flats—Clematis Gulch Dairy

closed due to unsanitary drain off from the dairy

corrals and barns into living areas of Mammoth.

1898 Company granted permit to operate lunch stations

at Norris, Upper Geyser Basin, and Lake.

1900 New Norris Hotel built—faced Porcelain Basin.

1901 Additions and remodelling of Mammoth, Norris, Canyon, and Lake hotels. New Norris Hotel opened.

1902 Gardiner Depot opened after Northern Pacific extended the line from Cinnabar to Gardiner.
128 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

1903 Began construction of Old Faithful Inn.

Permit given to town of Gardiner to transfer sufficient water from Gardner River one mile above

the gate to run a hydroelectric plant for use of “unincorporated citizens and residents of Gardiner.”

1904 Old Faithful Inn opened.

Lake Hotel was enlarged.

William Nichols’s first year at park as 2nd Lt. in

3rd U.S. Cavalry.

1905 William Nichols resigned from Army.

1907 William Nichols became secretary to H. W. Child,

president of Yellowstone Park Association.

1910 Began the remodeling of Canyon Hotel.

1911 Canyon Hotel (third) was remodelled and enlarged.

1913 The south wing of Old Faithful Inn was completed.

The north wing of Mammoth Hotel was completed.

Boys’ dorm built at Old Faithful.

1914 The roof of the Mammoth Hotel was removed

and replaced with a flat roof in the spring.

1916 First auto camps established at Old Faithful,

Mammoth, Fishing Bridge, and Canyon.

1917 Yellowstone Park Transportation Company motorized Yellowstone Park Camping Company takes

over Wylie and Shaw & Powell operating camps

at Mammoth, Riverside, Upper Geyser Basin,

Lake outlet, Canyon and Tower Junction.

The Mammoth Camp was established.

Fountain Hotel and lunch stations at Norris and

West Thumb abandoned.

YP Camping Co. given 20 year lease.

1918 Only Mammoth, Upper Geyser Basin and Canyon were opened.

Hotel Company employed Chinese gardener to

grow vegetables two miles up Gardner River

from Gardiner. Late in 1918, George Whittaker

operated the garden and sold the produce through

his store at Mammoth.

YP Camping Co. built office, dining hall and recreation room at Mammoth and built a laundry at

Old Faithful.

1919 Began construction of Lake Lodge.

Yellowstone Park Camping Company changed

name to Yellowstone Park Camps Co. owners were

Walter White, Roe Emery, Howard Hays, and E.

H. Moorman.

Began construction of girls’ dorm at Canyon;

completed in 1920.

Changed driveway at Mammoth Lodge.

Reopened Tower Junction camp as Camp

Roosevelt (under Howard Hays).

Extended dining room at Old Faithful camp.

1920 Lake Lodge completed as well as several other

buildings.

YP Camps Co. got permit to build concrete, open

air plunge at Mammoth Lodge, south of Capitol

Hill. Laundry and dancehall built at Mammoth

Lodge.

Lodge building and swimming pool built at Camp

Roosevelt.

1921 YP Camps Co. built a new bakery and steam laundry at Mammoth campground.

Camps Co. received permit to build and operate a

small swimming pool at Roosevelt Camp.

Built boys’ dorm at Canyon. YP Camps Co. add

dining room at Canyon.

1922 Auto camps established at Madison Junction,

Tower Falls, and West Thumb. Lake Hotel enlarged.

South dining room built at Old Faithful Inn.

Dining hall at Mammoth Lodge enlarged.

YP Camps Co. built amusement hall at Upper

Geyser Basin.

YP Camps Co. 1917 lease cancelled; received new

20 year lease.

Began construction of Sylvan Pass Lodge.

1923 William Nichols became Assistant to President

H. W. Child.

Mammoth Lodge completed—$70,000.

The kitchen at Lake Hotel was remodeled.

Wing added to Lake Hotel.

H. W. Child became president of YP Transportation, YP Hotel and YP Boat Co. YP Hotel,

Transportation and Camps companies got new

20 year leases. The YP Boat Co. got new 1

year franchise.

1924 Yellowstone Park Camps Co. became The Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps Co.

Hotel Co. given permit to operate the Cody Road

Lunch Station at East Entrance.

YP Camps Co. extends kitchen and dining room

at Lake and Mammoth; built lunch station at

Sylvan Lake; built large lodge at Upper Geyser Basin—most of older central bldg. razed.

Howard Hays sells YP Camps Co. to Vernon

Goodwin.

Housekeeping cabins built at Canyon.

1925 Canyon Lodge built; began remodeling lobby and

addition to dining room at Lake Lodge. Shop, engine room, bunkhouse, Rose, Hallin, and Hoffman

residences begun and completed in 1926.

West wing of Old Faithful Inn constructed.

1926 Improvements made to Lake Lodge including

enlargement.

YP Camps Co. given permission to operate a bathhouse and modern toilet at Roosevelt Camp.

New kitchen and help’s dining room built at Old

Faithful.

Built new garage at Old Faithful.

Additions were made to the engine room at Lake.
Appendices 129

Built a new boys’ dorm at Canyon.

Camps Co. given permission to operate lunch station at Fishing Bridge and West Thumb.

1927 Old Faithful Inn’s north wing completed.

Fountain Hotel razed.

Norris Hotel razed.

Garage built at Lake.

New laundry built at Old Faithful.

Began construction of Old Faithful Lodge recreation hall;

New lobby and dining room under construction at

Old Faithful Lodge.

Mammoth Lodge Laundry burned in November.

1928 South dining room of Old Faithful Inn remodeled in 1928.

Girls’ dormitory built at Old Faithful.

Recreation Hall at Old Faithful Lodge built.

Girls’ dorm built at Lake.

Fishing Bridge boat house built.

YP Lodge & Camps Co. took over interest of YP

Camps Co. in September.

1929 Built a modern laundry at Fishing Bridge.

1930 Canyon Hotel—began construction of large wing

Swimming pool at Roosevelt Lodge razed.

Housekeeping cabins were added to Old Faithful, Canyon, Mammoth, Fishing Bridge, West

Thumb, Lake and Roosevelt.

1931 William Nichols became president of the various

YP companies, including the boat company.

1934 Canyon Hotel—construction of large wing completed.

Cabins moved from Mammoth Lodge to Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, and Camp Roosevelt.

1936 William Nichols became president of Yellowstone

Park Company; Vernon Goodwin, who had been

vice-president of the Yellowstone Park Lodge and

Camp Co., became vice-president of YP Company;

The new company was a result of consolidation

of the different divisions.

YP Co. given permit to build and operate a bathhouse at Fishing Bridge.

Began tearing down Mammoth Hotel.

1937 Parts of old Mammoth Hotel razed and new hotel completed.

Gardiner commissary built.

1938 Remodeled Old Faithful Lodge and Housekeeping Office. Completed in 1939.

Made addition to Old Faithful cafeteria and

housekeeping office.

Construction of warehouse at Gardiner built.

1939 Fishing Bridge tourist cabins remodeled.

1940 Mammoth Lodge abandoned. Lake Hotel closed.

Fishing Bridge tourist cabins remodeled.

Began construction of cabins at Lake in 1941–42.

1941 Lake Hotel and Mammoth Lodge closed.

Annex to cafeteria at Fishing Bridge built.

1945 Sylvan Lodge at East Gate razed.

1946 Completed cabin construction at Lake.

1947 Lake Hotel reopened.

New laundry at Mammoth begun in 1947 and finished in 1952.

Built an addition to laundry at Canyon.

Yellowstone Park Service Stations organized as a

joint venture with Hamilton Stores, Inc. with

Trevor Povah as General Manager.

1948 Engine room at Fishing Bridge built.

Remodeled kitchen at Roosevelt.

1950 Swimming pool at Mammoth Lodge razed.

1951 Mammoth Lodge bldg. razed.

1952 Laundry completed and cleaning plant built at

Mammoth.

The old garage (probably built in 1917) was gone

by this year.

1957 Canyon Village opened in July; discontinued use

of Canyon Lodge.

1958 Mammoth camper cabins closed.

1959 Canyon Hotel closed.

1960 Canyon Hotel burned and razed.

1966 Yellowstone Park Company sold its franchise to

General Host Corporation.

CAMPING CONCESSIONS

1880 A. W. Miles, nephew of General Nelson Miles,

became associated with permanent camping business in park.

1895 12 parties granted license to conduct movable

camps.

1899 The following were granted temporary licenses to

conduct camping parties:

Marshall Brothers

A. W. & C. C. Chadbourne

E. C. Sandy

C. T. Smith

Frank Holm

Adam Gassert

W. J. Kupper

Henry George

J. W. Taylor

H. M. Gore

Capt. Amos Shaw

R. H. Menefee

Alfred Lycan

W. S. Dixon

B. S. Thresher

J. V. & S. S. Blankenship

B. S. Cobb

Albert Hill

Ed Staley

John Dewing

Frank Sebastian
130 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

SHAW & POWELL CAMPING COMPANY

1900 Shaw & Powell replaced the Shaw Camping Co.

1913 Amos Shaw and J. D. Powell receive permit to

transport visitors through park and provide permanent camps at Willow Park, Gibbon Falls, Nez

Perce Creek, Upper Geyser Basin, West Thumb,

Tower and Grand Canyon.

1917 The business was terminated.

F. JAY HAYNES—JACK HAYNES—

HAYNES STORES, INC.

1884 Built first studio on parade ground at Mammoth

Received 10 year contract for Upper Geyser Basin and Mammoth.

1885 Bought his Haynes Palace Studio Car.

1886 Operated the Wakefield & Haynes Yellowstone

Park Stage Co.

1890 Published first guide book.

1894 Received new 10 year contract for Mammoth and

Upper Geyser.

1895 Operated first stand in Grand Canyon Hotel.

1897 Built Log Cabin Studio at Old Faithful.

1903 Moved studio to north base of Capitol Hill at

Mammoth.

1904 Received new 10 year contract for Mammoth.

1905 Discontinued use of his Palace Studio Car.

1910 Remodelled and bldg. built for finishing—Mammoth.

1911 Added rear wing to Log Shop at Old Faithful.

1912 Monida & Yellowstone Stage built lunch station

at Tower Fall.

1914 Received 3 year contract for Mammoth, Upper

Geyser Basin, Grand Canyon—cancelled 1916.

1916 J. E. Haynes took over from father, F. Jay Haynes.

Received new 1 year contract for Canyon, Upper

Geyser Basin, and Mammoth.

1917 Established picture shop at Tower Junction.

Received new 10 year contract for all locations.

1918 Stable converted into garage in utility area Mammoth.

1920 Built new shop at Mammoth—NE Capitol Hill.

Converted stable/garage taken over by Yellowstone-Western Mammoth Utility area.

1921 F. Jay Haynes died.

Existing contracts surrendered and cancelled;

awarded new 15 year contract.

1922 Stand established at Old Faithful Inn.

Made an addition on the Tower Fall store.

Small govt. bldg. used at Canyon—collapsed under winter snow; site surrendered.

1923 Shop at Mammoth enlarged with addition of wing.

Stand at Lake Hotel established.

Log Shop at Canyon; 114' x 221' plat approved.

Remodelled Log Shop at Old Faithful.

1924 Dormitory at Mammoth utility area built by

B. D. Sheffield

George Reese

1900 The following were granted temporary licenses to

conduct camping parties:

A. W. & C. C. Chadbourne

Charles Gassert

Marshall Brothers

Capt. Amos Shaw

J. D. Powell

R. H. Menefee

Sarah Gassert

Alfred Lycan

Frank Lyons

Ed Staley

H. M. Gore

B. D. Sheffield

Lionel Compiegne

J. & H. Blankenship

E. C. Sandy

Frank Scott

B. S. Thresher

1915 W. N. and O. M. Hefferlin granted permit to operate permanent camps under The Old Faithful

Camping Co.

WILLIAM W. WYLIE

1883 Wylie Camps created; granted permit to conduct

camping business.

1890 Permit renewed to transport tourist through park

and house them in permanent camps.

1896 Granted franchise to transport tourists through park

and house them in permanent camps.

Wylie Permanent Camps created (four).

1898 Granted concession to operate a lunch station between Norris and Lower Geyser Basin and near

West Thumb; and permanent camps at

Apollinaris Spring, Upper Geyser Basin, Lake

outlet and Grand Canyon.

1905 W. W. Wylie sold company and retired.

1906 Business taken over—now known as The Wylie

Permanent Camping Co. with A. W. Miles as president.

Camp Roosevelt was built by A. W. Miles.

Established Upper Swan Lake Valley Permanent

Camp and abandoned Apollinaris Camp.

1912 Granted concession to extend lunch station service to patrons entering East Entrance at Sylvan

Lake Camp.

1913 Abandoned Sylvan Lake Camp and established

new camp at East Gate.

1917 Wylie Permanent Camping Co. Transportation division was consolidated with YP Transportation

Co.; thus only conducting camping business;

merged with Yellowstone Park Camping Co.

1920 Roosevelt Lodge built.
Appendices 131

Camps Co. in exchange for use of building south

of Capitol Hill.

First incorporated as Haynes Picture Shops, Inc.

1926 Existing contract cancelled; new 20 year contract

awarded.

1927 Shop at Mammoth converted into residence.

Shop built in Old Faithful Campground.

Shop built in Mammoth Campground.

Shop built in Fishing Bridge Campground.

Stockroom and warehouse built in Mammoth utility area.

Temporary dormitory placed on site at Tower Fall.

1928 Razed the studio at base of Capitol Hill at Mammoth.

1929 Photo finishing plant built at Mammoth utility area

New shop built at Mammoth.

Remodelled shop—installed photo finishing

plant—Canyon.

1930 Plat approved for original site at Tower Fall (now

utility area).

Abandoned Log Shop at Old Faithful.

Erected temporary dormitory at Canyon.

1932 Opened shop at West Thumb in temporary building relocated from Fishing Bridge to site north of

Hamilton store.

Opened temporary shop with dorm above at Tower

Fall parking area.

1933 Moved the Log Cabin Studio to Old Faithful utility area for use as a finishing plant.

1935 Opened general store in cabin at Camp Roosevelt.

Remodelled Log Cabin at Old Faithful.

The temporary dormitory at Tower Fall moved to

parking area as shop.

1936 Built new shop and power house Tower Fall parking area.

Old shop at Tower Fall converted into dormitory.

Built new shop at Camp Roosevelt.

Made addition on the temporary bldg. store West

Thumb.

1937 Began operating as Haynes, Inc. (Minn. corporation).

Remodelled shop/removed finishing plant at Canyon.

1938 Moved to new site at triangle at Junction—West

Thumb.

1939 Constructed warehouse in utility area at Old Faithful.

1941 Built new dormitory and power house (Diesel)—

Tower Fall.

Built cellar in hill Tower Fall.

Moved to new site south of Ranger Station at West

Thumb.

1945 Began operating as Haynes, Inc. (Montana corporation).

1948 Haynes operated at Mammoth, Old Faithful,

West Thumb, Lake, Fishing Bridge, Canyon,

Tower Fall, and Camp Roosevelt. Some are in

lodges and hotels.

1949 Began operating as Haynes Studios, Inc.

1956 Canyon Lodge shop closed (in Upper Falls parking area).

1957 Opened picture shop in main lodge bldg. at Canyon Village. Plans made to open a new shop between the Visitor Center and Hamilton Store.

1958 Shop in Canyon Hotel closed.

1959 Old Tower Fall store razed.

1960 New Tower Fall store opened.

1961 Old Canyon store (in parking area near Upper

Falls) razed.

Old Canyon store razed.

MONIDA & YELLOWSTONE STAGE CO.

1898 Partnership between W. W. Humphrey and F. Jay

Haynes to operated from Monida, Montana, to park.

1900 Built a granary bldg. behind stable at Mammoth.

1904 Changed name to Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co.

1902 Built office at Tower Junction.

1906 Hauled from Marysville, Idaho.

1913 Reincorporated as Yellowstone-Western Stage Co.

1917 Terminated business when park became motorized;

sold to YP Transportation Company.

CODY-SYLVAN PASS MOTOR CO.

1916 First motor line in park. F. Jay Haynes, president;

line operated from Cody, Wyoming, to Yellowstone Lake.

GEORGE WAKEFIELD

1884 Began his Concord Stagecoach line.

1885 Bought out Charles Hoffman’s interest in stagecoach line.

Given permit to erect horse stable and corrals at

Geyser Basin, Lake, and Canyon.

Given permit to cut and stack hay for sale to travelers with teams and to supply their own needs.

Given permit to operate stables and corrals at

Mammoth.

1936 Sold his Yellowstone interests and retired.

TEX HOLM

1908 Was in partnership with Charles Gogel in Tex

Holm Transportation company.

1914 Ceased operations.

1945 Tex Holm died.

BASSETT BROTHERS

1885 Given permit to operate stables and corrals at

Mammoth.

Given permit to operate stables and corrals at

Lower Geyser Basin.
132 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

1885 Permit given to operate a stable and corral for

horses at Mammoth.

HENRY AND FRANCIS BROTHERS

1914 Erected swimming pool at Old Faithful.

1915 Five small plunges were opened at Old Faithful.

1918 Francis Brothers secured concession from Henry

Brothers.

1924 Henry Brothers given permission to operate the

Old Faithful Baths.

1927 Henry Brothers given permit to built and operate

a bathhouse in Old Faithful campground.

1933 C. A. Hamilton secured concession of bathhouse

and swimming pool at Old Faithful.

1951 The baths and swimming pool at Old Faithful

were razed.

MISCELLANEOUS

1878 J. Beattie received permit to pasture a herd of 300

cattle on Blacktail Deer Creek.

1881 John McKenna of Deadwood, S.D., given contract

to erect fencing for the livestock at Soda Butte.

1883 Warren Pendleton granted permit to operate store

at Mammoth, Upper Geyser Basin, Lake and

Canyon to sell fruits, confections, newspapers and

periodicals.

1885 Mrs. C. M. Furch of Bozeman granted lease to

build and operate hotel about 1

/2 mile north of

Lookout Point and 1/2 mile northeast of Crystal

Creek at Canyon.

1889 Mrs. M. A. Baronett granted permit to operate post

office at Mammoth—also to sell small articles.

1890 Lunch station concession granted to unnamed permission at Trout Creek.

1892 Trout Creek lunch station abandoned.

1905 Old barn, cache shed, bunkhouse and messhouse

built at Gardiner.

1917 Jim Parker and Jay Wilcox were granted permit to

cultivate between one and four acres of land one

or two miles up the Yellowstone River in Turkey

Pen Pass from Gardiner for the purpose of growing potatoes to sell in stores and to the passing

tourists. They operated this for two years.

1923 Messhouse built at Lake.

1924 Made an addition to messhouse at Canyon. Storage shed and ranger station built at Gardiner.

1925 Barn and cache shed at Gardiner dismantled.

1926 Built a garage and bull pen at Canyon.

1937 Bunkhouse and messhouse built in 1937 at Mammoth.

1952 The messhouse and bunkhouse are Egger’s and

Steffen’s residences—Gardiner.

NELSON CATLIN

1885 Given permit to operate stables and corrals at

Mammoth.

JAMES A. CLARK

1885 Given license to operate a stable and blacksmith

shop near Capitol Hill at Mammoth.

Given permission to operate a bathhouse at Mammoth.

UNCLE TOM RICHARDSON

1890 Given permit to operate a ferry across the Yellowstone River a mile above Upper Falls and to operate a carriage ride to the canyon on an all day

conducted tour into the canyon—became known

as “Uncle Tom’s Trail.”

BOAT CONCESSIONERS

1872 James Stevenson granted temporary permit to operate boat the Anna. Named by members of F. V.

Hayden’s survey to honor the daughter of Senator

Dawes of Massachusetts. It was a canvas boat.

1875 Captain E. S. Topping granted temporary permit

to operate the Topping. It was a small sail boat

made by Capt. Topping from green whipsawed

timber at his cabin near the Lake outlet in 1875. It

was abandoned in 1876.

1882 Major J. S. Brisbin granted the first boat concession. Carroll Hobart and Henry Douglas were also

involved. They were granted permit to operate a

steamboat.

1883 H. B. Allen granted permit to operate a steamboat

and other craft on lake.

E. C. WATERS

1889 Organized Yellowstone Lake Boat Company—

Lake.

1890 Granted permit to transport tourists by boat to connect with stage coach stops—granted permit to sell

candies, nuts, small groceries—blacksmithing jobs

and transport tourists to Natural Bridges.

1892 Granted permit to operate the Zillah between West

Thumb and Lake.

1907 T. E. Hofer succeeded Waters as president of Yellowstone Lake Boat Company.

T. E. HOFER

1907 Bought the boat concession. He first named it the

T. E. Hofer Boat Co., but later changed it to the

Yellowstone Park Boat Co. in 1912.

1880 Granted temporary permit to operate The Explorer.

Built by the Hoffer brothers at Topping’s Point

during summer of 1880, the boat was 20' long, 6'

wide and 21

/2' deep. It was wrecked and abandoned

near Topping’s Point.
133

CHAPTER 1

1. 17 U.S. Statutes at Large, 350.

2. U.S. Senate, Letter From the Secretary of the Interior,

Accompanying a Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone

National Park for the Year 1872, 42nd Cong., 3rd sess., 1873. S.

Ex. Doc. 35.

3. Nathaniel P. Langford to Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano, 20 May 1872, microcopy of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

4. Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National

Park for the Year 1872, 2–4.

5. Ibid., 2–4.

6. Legal notice signed by Matthew McGuirck, March 9,

1872, accompanied by signed testimony of Henry R. Horr and

James Pencil, March 9, 1872, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior relating to the Yellowstone National Park

1872–1886, Letters Received, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

7. E. S. Topping, Chronicles of the Yellowstone (Minneapolis: Ross & Haines, Inc., 1968), 70. Lee Whittlesey, Yellowstone Place Names (Helena: Montana Historical Society Press,

1988), 27. Compilation of Notes of Aubrey Haines, 26, Land

Alteration File, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

8. Doris Whithorn, Twice Told on the Upper Yellowstone

(Livingston, Montana: Doris Whithorn, 1994), Vol. I., 63–65. The

chapter, “James C. McCartney Mayor of Gardiner,” gives a detailed account of McCartney’s life.

9. Richard Bartlett, Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged

(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985), 116. Whithorn, Twice

Told on the Upper Yellowstone, Vol. I., 66–67. Windom Thomas,

the Earl of Dunraven, The Great Divide: Travels in the Upper

Yellowstone in the Summer of 1874 (London: Chatto and Windus,

1876), 193–194. Ray Mattison, “Report on Historical Structures

at Yellowstone National Park,” September 1960. The Bartlett history is a good source regarding McCartney’s claim against the

government.

10. Dunraven, The Great Divide: Travels in the Upper Yellowstone in the Summer of 1874, 207–208.

11. Mary Shivers Culpin, The History of the Construction

of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966,

Historic Resource Study, Volume I, Selections from the Division

of Cultural Resources, Rocky Mountain Region, National Park

Service, No. 5, 1994, 311–316. The bridge site is being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the

context—Construction of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966.

12. Ibid., 3.

13. Ibid., 3–4.

14. Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano to W. T.

Sanders, 12 December 1873, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

15. Nathaniel Langford to Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano, 6 February 1874, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

16. Ferdinand Hayden to Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano, 14 November 1873, Letter printed in 43rd Cong., 1st

sess., Ex. Doc. 147.

17. Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano to Congressman James Blaine, 17 February 1874, Letter included in 43rd

Cong. 1st sess., House of Representative, Ex. Doc. 147.

18. Henry Horr and James McCartney to Secretary of the

Interior Columbus Delano, 12 February 1874, microcopies of

records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

19. Henry Horr to Congressman W. H. Clagett, 5 February

1873, with attached letter from Congressman Clagett, n.d.; Superintendent N. Langford to Secretary of the Interior Columbus

Delano, 11 April 1873, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

20. Henry Horr to Secretary of the Interior Columbus

Delano, 12 June 1873, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

21. Philetus W. Norris to J. C. McCartney, 19 April 1877,

microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

22. Philetus W. Norris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park Year 1877 (Washington,

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878), 841.

23. Norris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park Year 1877, 841.

24. Louis Cramton, Early History of Yellowstone National

Park and Its Relation to National Park Policies (Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1922), 41.

25. Culpin, 7. A detailed account of the Nez Perce retreat

from the park can be found in Aubrey Haines, The Yellowstone

Story: A History of Our First National Park (Boulder, Colorado:

Colorado Associated University Press, 1977), Vol. I, Chapter 8,

“Warfare in Wonderland.” Possible influence by Ferdinand

Hayden can be seen in his letter to Secretary of the Interior Carl

Schurz on 21 February 1878, in which he presented the history of

the passage of the bill. Microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

26. Philetus W. Norris, “Report Upon the Yellowstone National Park for the Year 1878, to the Secretary of the Interior.” In

Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for 1878 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878), 986.

Notes

Notes to Chapter 1
134

27. Norris, “Report Upon the Yellowstone National Park

for the Year 1878,” 995.

28. Ferdinand Hayden to Secretary of the Interior Carl

Schurz, 21 February 1878, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

29. Ferdinand Hayden to Secretary of the Interior Carl

Schurz, 21 February 1878, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

30. Norris, “Report Upon the Yellowstone National Park

for the Year 1878,” 995.

31. Philetus W. Norris to Secretary of the Interior Carl

Schurz, 06 May 1879, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

32. Philetus W. Norris to Assistant Secretary of the Interior

A. Bell, 06 May 1879, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

33. Norris to Bell, 06 May 1879.

34. Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to Philetus W.

Norris, 23 May 1879, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

35. Philetus W. Norris to Carl Schurz, 14 June 1879, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 6,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

36. J. C. McCartney to Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz,

31 July 1879, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No.62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

37. Philetus W. Norris, Report Upon the Yellowstone National Park for the Year 1879 (Washington, D.C.: Government

Printing Office, 1880), 22.

38. Norris, Report Upon the Yellowstone National Park for

the Year 1879, 22.

39. Handwritten report of dictation by G. W. Marshall

[1885], Pacific Ms. R3C4D3, Bancroft Library, University of California. Copy in Box 17-C, Folder: G. W. Marshall, Yellowstone

National Park Archives. An informative account of the Marshall

Hotel can be found in an article by Lee Whittlesey, “Marshall’s

Hotel in the National Park,” Montana the Magazine of Western

History, Autumn 1980.

40. Philetus W. Norris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior for the Year 1880 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing

Office, 1881), 48.

41. Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to Postmaster

General, 07 June 1880, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

42. Norris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior for the

Year 1880, 37.

43. Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to A. W. Hall, 29

October 1880, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No, 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

44. A. B. Hall and A. W. Hall to Secretary of the Interior

Carl Schurz, 23 November 1880, microcopies of records in the

National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

45. Hall and Hall to Schurz, 23 November 1880.

46. Philetus W. Norris, Fifth Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park (Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1881), 68–69.

47. Philetus W. Norris to Secretary of the Interior S. J.

Kirkwood, 30 June 1881; Philetus W. Norris to J. C. McCartney,

30 May 1881, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62 Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

48. Petition suggesting the appointment of F. Jay Haynes

as official photographer of Yellowstone National Park, 1881, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

49. F. Jay Haynes to Secretary of the Interior S. J. Kirkwood,

29 August 1881; F. Jay Haynes to Secretary of the Interior S. J.

Kirkwood, 30 December 1881, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

50. Norris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior for the

Year 1880, 73.

CHAPTER 2

1. Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to J. B. and A. W.

Hall, 13 January 1881.

2. Richard A. Bartlett, Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged

(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985), 124. This book provides an in depth history of the controversy surrounding the concession development in the park. Perhaps the missing links in

Bartlett’s book and in this study will be identified when an administrative history of park is done.

3. Senator Windom had supported the application of J. B

and A. W. Hall for the erection of hotels within the park two years

earlier, however, Secretary Schurz denied them a monopoly at the

time. Perhaps a better political environment existed in 1882.

4. Bartlett, Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged, 124–125.

5. C. T. Hobart and H. M. Douglas to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller, 28 July 1882, microcopies of records in the

National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

6. Ibid.

7. Senator William Windom to Secretary of the Interior

Henry Teller, 31 July 1882, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park. Senator

William Windom had been Secretary of the Treasury during the

brief administration of President Garfield and was appointed to

the same position in 1889 by President Benjamin Harrison. Bartlett,

125.

8. Superintendent P. Conger to Secretary of the Interior

Teller, 20 September 1882, Box. C-17, Folder: Hobart, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

9. Carroll Hobart to the Secretary of the Interior, 18 November 1882, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

10. Bartlett, 129.

11. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to General James

S. Brisbin, 26 September 1882, microcopies of records of National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

12. General James Brisbin to James Belford, 25 September

1882, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62,

Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives. Rufus Hatch, a Wall

Street financier, joined Hobart and Douglas in September 1882

bringing needed finances to support their venture.

13. Carroll Hobart to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

18 November 1882, microcopies of records in the National ArNotes to Chapter 2
135

chives, No. 62, Roll 1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

14. Bartlett, 44–45.

15. Copy of telegram to Pioneer Press, 12 January 1883,

microcopies of records in National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

16. Nathaniel P. Langford to Senator George Vest, 15 January 1883, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No.

62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

17. Louis Cramtom, Early History of Yellowstone National

Park and Its Relations to National Park Policies (Washington,

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1932), 42.

18. Copy of Indenture, 9 March 1883, Box C-17 Letter Box:

Concessions, Folder: C, Hobart—Yellowstone Park Improvement

Co., Yellowstone National Park Archives.

19. Carroll Hobart to Secretary of the Interior, 27 June 1883;

Chief Clerk, Department of War to Carroll Hobart, 18 July 1883,

microcopy of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

20. P. H. Conger, Annual Report of the Superintendent of

the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior for

the Year 1883 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,

1883), 10. Several of Conger’s letters regarding Carroll Hobart

can be found in the microcopies of records of the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

21. Rufus Hatch to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

01 December 1883, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

22. Rufus Hatch to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

23 December 1883, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

23. Wakefield and Hoffman to Secretary of the Interior

Henry Teller, 16 December 1883, microcopies of records in the

National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

24. P. H. Conger, Annual Report of the Superintendent of

the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior for

the Year 1883, 6.

25. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to F. Jay Haynes,

26 February 1883; C. T. Hobart to F. Jay Haynes, 05 May 1883,

Box: C-17, Folder: Haynes, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

26. An excellent coverage of the early days of the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company can be found in Richard

Bartlett’s Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged. Bartlett calls the

organization the Yellowstone National Park Improvement Company.

27. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to P. H. Conger,

05 June 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

28. Acting Secretary of Interior W. Joslyn to P. H. Conger,

31 January 1884; G. W. Marshall to Secretary of the Interior Henry

Teller, 15 March 1884; P. H. Conger to Secretary of the Interior

Henry Teller, 13 March 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

29. G. W. Marshall to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

15 March 1884; P. H. Conger to Secretary of the Interior Henry

Teller, 25 June 1884; Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to G. W.

Marshall, 02 July 1884; Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to

Superintendent P. H. Conger, 03 July 1884; P. H. Conger to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller, 31 July 1884.

30. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to F. Jay Haynes,

03 July 1887, Box: C-17, Folder: Haynes, Yellowstone National

Park Archives. Haynes’s 1884 rates were as follows: Stereoscopic

and Cabinet—25 cents each, $2.00 per dozen; Imperials (7" x

10")—50 cents each, $5.00 per dozen; Mammoths (20" x 24")—

$3.00 each, $30.00 per dozen; Groups of private parties—double

the above prices; National Park Souvenir Album—75 cents each;

National Park Guide Book (Winser)—50 cents each.

31. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to F. Jay Haynes,

07 October 1884, Box: C-17, Folder: Haynes, Yellowstone National Park Archives. Mammoth Hot Springs tract—“commencing at a point two hundred and fifty-nine feet from the South East

Corner of the National Hotel and running four hundred and sixteen feet South East, thence four hundred and sixteen feet South

West, thence four hundred and sixteen feet North West, thence

four hundred and sixteen feet North East to the place of beginning, containing about four acres.” Upper Geyser Basin tract

“Commencing at a stake two hundred and fifty-five and six-tenths

feet East from a Hub twenty-five feet West of Crystal Creek

[present Myriad Creek] at the intersection of the Bluff thirteen

hundred and twenty feet from Old Faithful Geyser, from thence

running East four hundred and sixteen feet, thence South four

hundred and sixteen feet, thence West four hundred and sixteen

feet, thence North four hundred and sixteen feet to the place of

beginning, containing about four acres.”

32. John L. Yancey to Superintendent P. H. Conger, 06 January 1884; John L. Yancey to Superintendent P. H. Conger, 11 January 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No.

62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

33. Copy of Indenture between John L. Yancey and the

Department of the Interior, 1 April 1884, Box: C-16, Folder:

Yancey, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

34. Superintendent P. H. Conger to Secretary of the Interior, 05 January 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

35. C. J. Baronett and J. W. Ponsford to Superintendent

R. E. Carpenter, 22 November 1884; Lt. General Philip Sheridan

to Secretary of the Interior, 26 November 1884, microcopies of

records in the National Archives, Roll No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

36. Rufus Hatch to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

29 May 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

37. J. A. Williamson to Acting Secretary of the Interior M.

Joslyn, 22 March 1884, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

38. P. H. Conger to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

31 July 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

39. C. T. Hobart to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

25 June 1884; P. H. Conger to Secretary of the Interior Henry

Teller, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62,

Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

40. C. T. Hobart to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

11 July 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

41. Copy of telegram to Acting Secretary of the Interior

M. Joslyn from C. T. Hobart, 29 July 1884; Copy of Telegram to

Superintendent P. H. Conger from Acting Secretary of the Interior

M. Joslyn, 30 July 1884, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

42. M. Joslyn to C. T. Hobart, 07 August 1884, microcopNotes to Chapter 2
136

ies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

43. C. T. Hobart to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

06 November 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives Records, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

44. Robert C. Carpenter to the Secretary of the Interior, 13

November 1884, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 4, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

45. Superintendent R. C. Carpenter to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller, 22 October 1884, microcopies of records in

the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 2, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

46. Carroll Hobart to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

05 January 1884; Carroll Hobart to Secretary of the Interior Henry

Teller, 16 February 1885, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 3. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to

Carroll Hobart, 03 March 1885, Box: C-17, Folder: C. Hobart,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

47. Frank Auerbach and Van Slyck; DeCoster and Clark;

Wilson and Rogers; and Craig, Larkin and Smith to Secretary of

the Interior Lucius Lamar, 01 May 1885, microcopies of records

in the National Archives, No. 63, Roll 3, Yellowstone National

Park Archives. The creditors used the address St. Paul, Minnesota, so it is assumed all were from that city. The following were

services or goods they provided: Auerbach, Frank and Van Slyck—

carpets, curtains, etc.; DeCoster & Clark—furniture, mattresses,

etc.; Wilson & Rogers—wrought iron pipe for piping water to

hotel and the plumbing fixtures for hotel; Craig, Larkin, & Smith—

crockery, lamps, etc.

48. Carroll Hobart to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar,

09 September 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

49. Edward Atkinson to Secretary of the Interior Lucius

Lamar, 30 September 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

50. George Hulme to Presiding Judge 3rd Judicial District

Court S. C. Parks, 08 October 1885, microcopies of records in the

National Archives, No. 63, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

51. Petition from Rufus Hatch, 13 October 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 63, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

52. George Hulme to Secretary of the Interior Lucius

Lamar, 18 November 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 63, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

53. Acting Secretary of Interior H. Muldrow to John Newton, 22 December 1885, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

54. Eva Mary Errett to Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller,

01 February 1885; J. A. Clark to Secretary of the Interior Henry

Teller, 06 February 1885, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

55. Walter and Helen Henderson to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar, 01 April 1885. Walter and Helen Henderson

to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar, 02 April 1885. The

tariffs proposed at Henderson’s establishment were the following: board & lodging, single room per day: $3.00; Two persons in

one room per day, each: $2.50; Single meals: $.75; Meals served

in room: $1.00; Hot Baths: $.50; Imported Beer per bottle: $1.00;

Domestic Beer per bottle: $.75; Superior imported wines per quart:

$5.00; Domestic wines and brandies per quart: $2.50; Cigars, each:

$.25; Tobacco per lb.: from $.60 to $4.00; Board & lodging for

camping parties, each per day: $4.00; Saddle horse per day: $2.50;

Pack horse per day: $2.00; Wagon or carriage, two horses and

driver per day: $10.00; Wagon, four horses and driver per day:

$15.00; Single horse and buggy per day: $6.00; Trip around Park

with two or more persons: $25.00; Single horse to hay and grain

per night: $1.00; Use of corral, per head: $.15; Use of corral per

team, one night: $.25; Oats per 100 lb.: $2.75; Hay per 100 lb.:

$2.50; Milk per quart: $.15; Billiards per game: $.25; Pool for

each player: $.10; Blacking boots, per pair: $.10. Helen and Walter

Henderson to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar, 14 April

1885. The questions of the very first claims on the Cottage Hotel

remain murky. The records used in this report do not clarify a

transfer of claim from Clark to the Hendersons, but Clark did sign

the endorsement for the Hendersons to modify their existing lease.

56. J. A. Clark to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar,

14 April 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

57. J. A. Clark to Lt. Dan Kingman, 19 March 1885, Lt.

Dan Kingman to Secretary of the Interior, 25 March 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, Yellowstone National

Park Archives. The sawmill was a Buckeye Portable Steam mill

with 30 horsepower and a 58-inch saw. Kingman’s sensitivity to

the appearance of the park can also be found in his treatment of

the road construction in the park. See Part I Historic Resource

Study, History of the Construction of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966.

58. F. Jay Haynes to the Secretary of the Interior, 29 April

1885; R. C. Carpenter to Acting Secretary of the Interior W.

Muldrow, 21 May 1885, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 63, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

59. Arnold Hague to James A. Clark, 06 April 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

60. Arnold Hague to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar,

30 April 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

61. Superintendent David Wear to Acting Secretary of the

Interior H. Muldrow, 29 December 1885. Kingman’s opinion of

Clark can be found in his letter to the Secretary of the Interior,

March 25, 1885. He states, “I am not assured that Mr. Clark is a

responsible man, and indeed it could hardly be admissible under

any circumstances to lend in this way the public property (sawmill) to private individual.” Microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

62. Walter and Helen Henderson to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar, 16 November 1885, microcopies of records in

the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park

Archives. Livingston Enterprise, 1 August 1885. Livingston Enterprise, 7 November 1885.

63. Arnold Hague to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar,

10 June 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

64. Superintendent D. W. Wear to Secretary of the Interior

Lucius Lamar, 13 July 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Notes to Chapter 2
137

65. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller to Senator George

Vest, 29 February 1884, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

66. “Report of W. H. Phillips to Secretary of the Interior L.

Lamar, September 12, 1885,” microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 63, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

67. “Report of W. H. Phillips to Secretary of the Interior

Lucius Lamar, September 12, 1885.”

68. Phillips Report.

69. Phillips Report.

70. Phillips Report.

71. Phillips Report.

72. Phillips Report.

73. Phillips Report.

74. Phillips Report.

75. Phillips Report.

76. Phillips Report.

77. Superintendent D. W. Wear to Secretary of the Interior

L. Lamar, 21 September 1885, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62. Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

CHAPTER 3

1. Acting Secretary of the Interior H. Muldrow to Charles

Gibson, 02 January 1886, microcopies of records in the National

Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

2. John Ellis to Acting Secretary of the Interior H. Muldrow,

25 March 1886, microcopies of records in the National Archives,

No. 63, Roll 3; Lease to Charles Gibson, Box: C-16, Folder: YP

Assoc., Yellowstone National Park Archives.

3. John Ellis to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar, 03

April 1886, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No.

62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives. Bartlett, Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged, 152.

4. Acting Secretary of the Interior H. Muldrow to Superintendent D. Wear, 28 April 1886, microcopies of records in the

National Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

5. Charles Gibson to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar,

15 November 1886, microcopies of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

6. Acting Secretary of the Interior H. Muldrow to Superintendent D. W. Wear, 25 May 1886; Secretary of the Interior L.

Lamar to Superintendent D. W. Wear, 25 June 1886, microcopies

of records in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 6, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

7. Superintendent D. W. Wear to Acting Secretary of the

Interior H. Muldrow, 03 June 1886, microcopies of records in the

National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

8. Captain Moses Harris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park 1887 (Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1887), 4.

9. Harris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park 1887, 8.

10. Livingston Enterprise, 29 January 1886.

11. Livingston Enterprise, 13 February 1886.

12. Walter and Helen Henderson to Secretary of the Interior Lucius Lamar, 14 June 1886, microcopies of records in the

National Archives, No. 63, Roll 3, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

13. M. H. Ford to Lucius Lamar, 11 July 1887; Lease Agreement of James Clark, 30 November 1887, microcopies of records

in the National Archives, No. 62, Roll 3, Yellowstone National

Park Archives. Captain Moses Harris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park 1888 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1888), 7.

14. Harris, 8.

15. Ibid., 4.

16. Ibid., 9.

17. Ibid., 9, 10, 15.

18. Lease to Yellowstone Park Association—1889, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Yellowstone Park Association, Box:

2 Records of Hotels 1892–96, Subject File 8300-437-186996

(137.J.18.3B), Folder: Lease to YPA—1889 Thumb, Lease to

YPA— Norris, Minnesota Historical Society. Harris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the

Secretary of the Interior 1889, 5.

19. Captain Moses Harris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the

Interior 1889 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,

1889), 3, 21. Attached to this report is a supplemental report written by Harris’s replacement, Captain F. A. Boutelle.

20. Charles S. Fee to F. Jay Haynes, 24 August 1887; E.

Eade to F. Jay Haynes, 14 November 1887; F. Jay Haynes Papers,

No. 1500, Series III, Box: 8, Folder: 14, Merrill G. Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

21. Haynes Agreement with YP Association, 15 September

1889, Series III, Box: 8, Folder: 18, F. Jay Haynes Papers.

22. Captain F. A. Boutelle, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park 1890 (Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office), 10–11.

23. Harris, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior 1889, 5.

24. E. C. Waters to G. L. Henderson, 21 May 1889; G. L.

Henderson to C. S. Mellen, 20 February 1900, Ash Collection,

Manuscript File, Yellowstone National Park Library.

25. Boutelle, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park 1890, 10.

26. W. G. Johnson to W. C. Pearce, 10 April 1890; W. G.

Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 27 May 1890; W. G. Johnson to W. G.

Pearce, 31 May 1890, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch

Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3(B), Folder: YPA Jan.–June, Minnesota

Historical Society.

27. W. G. Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 4 July 1890; W. G.

Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 12 August 1890; W. G. Johnson to W. G.

Pearce, 08 September 1890, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers,

Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3 (B), File: YPA J July–August 1890,

Minnesota Historical Society.

28. E. C. Waters to W. G. Pearce, 27 June 1890; E. C. Waters to W. G. Pearce, 15 June 1890, Northern Pacific Railroad

Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3(B), Folder: YPA J Jan.–

June 1890, Minnesota Historical Society.

29. E. C. Waters to W. G. Pearce, 26 June 1890, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3(B), Folder:

YPA Jan.–June, Minnesota Historical Society.

30. Telegram from W. G. Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 28 September 1890; Telegram from E. C. Waters to W. G. Pearce, 27 June

1890; Telegram from E. C. Waters to W. G. Pearce, 30 June 1890,

Notes to Chapter 3
138

Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box:

137.A.4.3(B), Folder: YPA Jan.–June1890, Folder: YPA—September 1890, Minnesota Historical Society.

31. W. G. Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 21 October 1890, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3.(B),

Folder: YPA Oct. 1890, Minnesota Historical Society.

32. Statement regarding the Yellowstone Lake Boat Co.,

June 6, 1891; Northern Pacific Railroad Records, Branch Lands,

Box: 137.A.4.3(B), Folder: YPA Jan.–June 1891. A.L. Smith had

been a cashier of the Merchants Bank of Glendive, Montana.

Waters had been in the hotel business in Glendive as well as being

with Meagher & Co., another hotel concern in Miles City,

Montana. E. C. Waters had also been a partner with C. W.

Savage & Co. running the Albemarle Hotel in Livingston,

Montana.

33. Charles Gibson to George Wakefield, 10 March 1891;

George Wakefield to W. G. Pearce, 12 March 1891; W. G. Pearce

to George Wakefield, 03 April, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers,

Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3(B), Folder: YPS O-Z 1891. Captain George S. Anderson, Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior 1891

(Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891), 7.

34. W. G. Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 09 June 1891, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3(B),

Folder: YPA Jan.–June 1891, Minnesota Historical Society.

35. W. G. Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 07 July 1891, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3(B), Folder:

YPA J 1891, Minnesota Historical Society.

36. W. G. Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 29 June 1891; W. G.

Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 08 August 1891, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3.(B), Folder: YPA J

1891, Minnesota Historical Society.

37. W. G. Johnson to W. G. Pearce, 24 July 1891, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3 (B), File:

YPA J July 1891, Minnesota Historical Society.

38. T. Casey to T. F. Oakes, 07 September 1891, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.3(B), Folder:

YPA O-Z 1891, Minnesota Historical Society.

CHAPTER 4

1. W. G. Pearce to T. Casey, 22 June 1892, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.4(F), Folder:

YPA C. 1892, Minnesota Historical Society.

2. Captain George Anderson, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park 1892 (Washington,

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1892), 5–6.

3. Anderson, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park 1892, 6–7. W. W. Wylie to Charles

Fee, 30 January 1892, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch

Lands, Box: 137.A.4.4(F), Folder YPA F 1892, Minnesota Historical Society.

4. W. W. Wylie to Charles Fee, 30 January 1892; Charles

Fee to W. W. Wylie, 26 February 1892; Charles Fee to

W. G. Pearce, 08 March 1892, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers,

Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.4(F), Folder: YPA F 1892, Minnesota Historical Society. According to Yellowstone National Park

Historian, Lee Whittlesey, Wylie is known to have been in the

Yellowstone in 1881; he published his guidebook in 1882. He

started his camping business in either 1883 or 1884. Scrapbooks

containing Wylie advertising pamphlets imply that the camping

operations began in either 1883 or 1884.

5. Anderson, 6.

6. Aubrey Haines, The Yellowstone Story Vol. II. (Boulder,

Colorado: Colorado Associated University Press, 1977), 120–121.

7. Charles Gibson to W. G. Pearce, 05 February 1893; “Park

Privileges” St. Paul Pioneer Press, 13 June 1893, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Box: 137.A.4.5(B), Folder: YPA G 1893,

Minnesota Historical Society.

8. W. G. Pearce to P. H. Hansen, 21 June 1893, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.5(B), Folder:

YPA H 1893, Minnesota Historical Society.

9. Captain George Anderson, Annual Report of the Acting

Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary

of the Interior 1894 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1894), 3. W. G. Pearce to J. H. Dean, 19 June 1893, Northern Pacific Railway Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 137.A.4.4(F),

Folder: YPA D 1893, Minnesota Historical Society.

10. Anderson, Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent

of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior

1894, 3. W. G. Pearce to Board of Directors of Yellowstone Park

Association, 03 December 1894, Northern Pacific Railway Papers, YPA Box: 2 137.J.18.3(B), Folder: 414 Annual Meetings,

Minnesota Historical Society.

11. Captain George Anderson, Annual Report of the Acting

Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary

of the Interior 1895 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1895), 4.

12. Anderson, 1895, 4.

13. W. G. Pearce to Board of Directors of Yellowstone Park

Association, 03 December 1894; Livingston Enterprise, 21 November 1894.

14. Anderson, Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent

of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior

1895, 3. Memorandum of Agreement between F. Jay Haynes and

the Yellowstone Park Association, May 19, 1894, F. Jay Haynes

Papers, Series III, Box: 8, Folder: 26, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

15. Anderson, 5.

16. C. S. Bihler to E. H. McHenry, 20 October 1894, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Branch Lands, Box: 2 137.J.218.3(B),

Folder: 375, C. S. Bihler’s Trip Report Oct. 1894, Minnesota Historical Society.

17. Anderson, 5, 6, and 9.

18. W. G. Pearce to Captain George Anderson, 11 March

1895; W. G. Pearce to Receivers of the Northern Pacific Railroad

Co., 10 July 1895; Charles Givson to T. Casey, 28 October 1895,

Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box 2: 137. J.18.3(B),

Folder: 414, Annual Meeting, Folder: 400 Special Meeting of

Stockholders, 8 July 1895, Minnesota Historical Society.

19. W. P. Couper to F. Jay Haynes, 17 September 1895;

W. G. Pearce to F. Jay Haynes, 18 October 1895, F. Jay Haynes

Papers, Series III, Box: 14, Folder: 14, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

20. Lease Agreement between F. Jay Haynes and Department of the Interior, 18 April 1896, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series

III, Box: 15, Folder: 15. J. H. Dean to W. G. Pearce, 14 April

1896, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 137.4.6(F),

Folder: YPA D 1896, Minnesota Historical Society.

21. Captain George Anderson, Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the

Notes to Chapter 4
139

Interior 1896 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,

1896), 9.

22. Anderson, Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent

of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior

1896, 4.

23. Ibid., 4.

24. Ibid., 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10.

25. Ibid., 5, and 11.

26. J. H. Dean to W. G. Pearce, 27 June 1896, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 137.A.4.6(F), Folder: YPA D

1896, Minnesota Historical Society.

27. W. G. Pearce to J. H. Dean, 28 May 1896, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 137.A.4.6(F), Folder: YPA D

1896, Minnesota Historical Society.

28. W. G. Pearce to Cass Gilbert, 06 August 1896, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 137.S.4.6(F), Folder: YPA

D 1896, Minnesota Historical Society.

29. Col. S. B. M. Young, Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of

the Interior 1897 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1897), 4, 5, and 22. Record of the Annual Meeting of the

Stockholders of the Yellowstone Park Association, December 20,

1997, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, File: 209A, Folder: 2,

Minnesota Historical Society.

30. Young, Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent of

the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior 1897,

17.

31. Circular from Col. S. Young to F. Jay Haynes, 14 July

1897, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 14, Folder: 20,

Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University. It is

not known if the dump was near the site of the school or the incinerator site.

32. Young, 5.

33. Records of the Annual Meeting of the Stockholders of

the Yellowstone Park Association, December 20, 1897, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA File: 209 A - [1], File: 2, Minnesota

Historical Society.

34. F. Jay Haynes to Thomas Ryan, 30 December 1897, F.

Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 17, Folder: 2, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

35. Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company to H. G. Burt,

20 January 1898, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 17, Folder:

2, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

36. Report to Captain James B. Erwin, Superintendent of

the Yellowstone National Park by Monida & Yellowstone Stage

Company, September 28, 1898, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III,

Box: 17, Folder: 5, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State

University.

37. Captain James B. Erwin, Annual Report of the Acting

Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary

of the Interior 1898 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1898), 5, 19, 20.

38. Erwin, Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent of

the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior 1898,

20.

39. J. H. Dean to Board of Directors of Yellowstone Park

Association, 05 December 1898, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA File: 209 B, Folder: 11, Minnesota Historical Society.

40. C. S. Mellen to F. Jay Haynes and W. W. Humphrey, 01

March 1899; J. H. Dean to C. S. Mellen, 25 March 1899, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA File: 210A, Folder: 13, Minnesota Historical Society.

41. C. S. Mellen to E. C. Waters, 18 May 1899; C. S. Mellen

to Daniel Lamont, 24 February 1899, Northern Pacific Railroad

Papers, YPA File: 209A, Folder: 4, Minnesota Historical Society.

42. Specifications for E. C. Waters at Yellowstone Lake,

28 September 1898, Box: C-16, Folder: T. E. Hofer, Yellowstone

National Park Archives. E. H. McHenry to Cass Gilbert, 19 July

1899; C. H. McHenry to F. G. Prest, 12 August 1899, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 134.I.5.111(B), Folder: 619,

Minnesota Historical Society.

CHAPTER 5

1. J. H. Dean to C. S. Mellen, 30 January 1900, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 210A, Folder 12, Minnesota

Historical Society.

2. F. Jay Haynes to J. H. Dean, 10 March 1900, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 210A, Folder: 13, Minnesota

Historical Society.

3. Jenkins Automobile Company to F. Jay Haynes, 31 October 1901, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 17, Folder: 9,

Burlingame Special Collection, Montana State University.

4. Telegram to Thomas Ryan from H. W. Child, 10 August

1902; F. Jay Haynes reply to charges in telegram. n.d., F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 17, Folder: 12, Burlingame Special Collection, Montana State University.

5. Agreement between F. Jay Haynes and Yellowstone Park

Association, 27 September 1902, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series

III, Box: 14, Folder: 32, Burlingame Special Collection, Montana

State University.

6. F. Jay Haynes to Major John Pitcher, 26 August 1903; F.

Jay Haynes to Major John Pitcher, 04 September 1903, F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 14, Folder: 33, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

7. R. H. Relp to E. H. McHenry, 01 June 1901, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 134.I.5.11(B), Folder: 619,

Minnesota Historical Society.

8. J. M. Hannaford to C. S. Mellen, 30 January 1902, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 210A, Folder: 11, Minnesota Historical Society.

9. C. S. Mellen to E. C. Waters, 18 January 1903; Memorandum, Yellowstone Park Adjustment, September 5, 1903, Northern Pacific Railway Papers, YPA Box: 209A, Folder: 3, Minnesota Historical Society.

10. Major John Pitcher, Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior 1903 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1903),

3.

11. Yellowstone Park Association Annual Report—Season

of 1903, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 209A,

Folder: 3, Minnesota Historical Society.

12. Capacity of Hotels, 1903, Northern Pacific Railroad

Papers, YPA Box: 210A, Folder: 11, Minnesota Historical Society.

13. F. Jay Haynes to D. E. Burley, 10 September 1903; F.

Jay Haynes to D. E. Burley, 20 September 1903, Northern Pacific

Railroad Papers, Series III, Box: 17, Folder: 14, Minnesota Historical Society.

14. F. Jay Haynes to A. L. Smith, 30 January 1906; A. L.

Smith to F. Jay Haynes; H. W. Child to F. Jay Haynes, 12 April

Notes to Chapter 5
140

1906, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 17, Folder: 28,

Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

15. J. Carroll to Howard Elliot, 03 April 1905, Northern

Pacific Railroad Papers, YPA Box: 210B, Folder: 6, Minnesota

Historical Society. Captain John Pitcher, Annual Report of the

Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary

of the Interior 1905 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905), 11.

16. John Ise, Our National Park Policy (Baltimore: Johns

Hopkins Press, 1960), 40.

17. Howard Elliot to J. M. Hannaford, 26 February 1907,

Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, President’s Subject File, Box:

210B, Folder: 6, Minnesota Historical Society.

18. F. Jay Haynes to W. S. Acker, 29 April 1907, F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 18, Folder: 1, Burlingame Special

Collections, Montana State University. Perhaps the mention of

another set of lower priced hotels is the origin of the lodge system.

19. F. Jay Haynes to D. S. Spencer, 08 September 1907, F.

Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 18, Folder: 1, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

20. F. Jay Haynes to W. B. Acker, 12 February 1907; W. B.

Acker to F. Jay Haynes, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 18,

Folder: 8, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

21. Acting Superintendent to F. Jay Haynes, 23 June 1908,

F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 18, File: 11, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

22. Annual Report of President and Treasurer for the Monida

& Yellowstone Stage Company for the Season 1908, December

30, 1908, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 18, Folder: 12,

Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

23. R. A. Ballinger, Report of the Secretary of the Interior

for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1907 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1909), 42.

24. Major H. C. Benson to F. Jay Haynes, 16 March 1909;

F. Jay Haynes to R. A. Ballinger, 18 March 1909, F. Jay Haynes

Papers, Series III, Box: 18, Folder: 14, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

25. F. J. Haynes to the Secretary of the Interior, 18 March

1909, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 16, File: 14. F. J.

Haynes to E. L. Lomax, 06 April 1909, F. J. Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 18, File: 15, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

26. Frank Pierce to D. S. Spencer, 03 April 1909; F. Jay

Haynes to D. E. Burley, 16 April 1909; F. Jay Haynes to E. L.

Lomax, 06 April 1909; Agreement between H. W. Child and F.

Jay Haynes, 14 May 1909; R. Ballinger to H. W. Child, 10 July

1909, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 18, Folder: 15, Box:

16, Folder: 11, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State

University.

27. Captain H. C. Benson to F. Jay Haynes, 04 April 1910;

F. Jay Haynes to Major H. C. Benson, 16 April 1910, F. Jay Haynes

Papers, Series III, Box: 19, Folder: 10, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University. The records that were found

for the other companies for 1910 did not contain information regarding the use tax.

28. Acting Secretary of Interior to F. Jay Haynes, 02 May

1910; Assistant Secretary of Interior to Lt. Col. L. M. Brett, 29

May 1910, Box: 23-1, Item 45, Letter Box: Bldg. & Bldg. Sites

1911–1916, Folder: Haynes, F. Jay, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

29. H. W. Child to Howard Elliot, 26 January 1910; Howard

Elliot to H. W. Child, 14 February 1910, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, President’s Subject File, Box: 210A, Minnesota Historical Society.

30. F. Jay Haynes to Major H. C. Benson, 15 September

1910; H. W. Child to Major H. C. Benson, 26 September 1910,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, Central Classified

Files, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box 495.

31. F. Jay Haynes to A. L. Smith, 27 December 1910, F.

Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 16, Folder: 14, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

32. Annual Report of the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, September 30, 1910, National Archives, Record Group 79,

Entry 7, Central Classified Files, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park, Box: 494.

33. Annual Report of Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company, December 31, 1910, Box: 26-1, Letter Box: Financial Reports, Folder: Monida & Yellowstone Stage Co., Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

34. Proceedings of the National Park Conference held at

the Yellowstone National Park September 11 and 12, 1911 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1912), 8.

35. Proceedings of the National Park Conference Held at

the Yellowstone National Park September 11 and 12, 1911, 7.

36. Ibid., 7.

37. Ibid., 37, 51.

38. Agreement between the Department of the Interior and

F. Jay Haynes, July 29, 1912, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III,

Box: 19, Folder: 15, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana

State University.

39. Preliminary Annual Report, 1912 by the President of

the Monida & Yellowstone Stage Company, December 16, 1912,

F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 19, Folder: 23, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

40. Tex Holm to Col. L. M. Brett, 06 December 1911; Lt.

Col. L. M. Brett to the Secretary of the Interior, 16 September

1912; Col. L. M. Brett to Secretary of the Interior, 12 December

1912, Item 42, Box: 23-1, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

41. Proceedings of the Second National Park Conference

Held at the Yosemite National Park October 14, 15, and 16, 1912

(Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1913), 54, 56,

57, 61.

42. Charles W. Cobb to the Secretary of the Interior, 14

June 1913, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 20, File: Jack

Haynes to F. J. Haynes, 04 September 1913, F. J. Haynes Papers,

Series III, Box: 20, File: 9, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

43. Jack Haynes to F. Jay Haynes, 01 September 1913;

Telegram to Mrs. F. Jay Haynes from F. Jay Haynes, 13 November 1913; Certificate of Incorporation of the Montana & Yellowstone Transfer Company, January 24, 1914. This story should be

told in full in an either a business history of the Haynes business

in Yellowstone and/or another history that looks at the competitive business and warm personal relationships between the leading concessioners in Yellowstone National Park. The postcard

story has been told in Richard Saunders, Glimpses of Wonderland

(1997).

44. Judge John Meldrum to F. Jay Haynes, 19 February

1913, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 9, Folder: 16,

Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

45. Anna Pryor to F. Jay Haynes, 03 March 1913, F. Jay

Notes to Chapter 5
141

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 9, Folder: 16, Burlingame Special

Collections, Montana State University.

46. Lt. Col. L. M. Brett to Huntley Child, 13 May 1913,

Box: C-17, Folder: Haynes, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

47. Brett to Child, 13 May 1913.

48. J. M. Hannaford to H. W. Child, 21 November 1914,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 496.

49. Jack Haynes to F. Jay Haynes, 09 August 1914, F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 21, Folder: 11, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

50. Lt. Col. L. M. Brett to Mark Daniels, 28 August 1914;

F. Jay Haynes to Col. Brett, 22 September 1914; Mark Daniels to

Col. L. M. Brett, 29 September 1914, Box: 323-1, Item 45, Folder:

Yellowstone Western Stage Co., Yellowstone National Park Archives.

CHAPTER 6

1. Proceedings of the National Park Conferences Held at

Berkeley, California March 11, 12, and 13, 1915 (Washington,

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1915), 106–107.

2. Robert Shankland, Steve Mather of the National Parks

(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1951), 59.

3. Proceedings of the National Park Conference Held at

Berkeley, California March 11, 12, and 13, 1915, 15, 17–20.

4. Ibid., 23–24.

5. Ibid., 23–24.

6. Memorandum for the Press, Department of the Interior,

21 April 1915.

7. Telegram from E. J. Ayers, Acting Secretary to Col. L. M.

Brett, 17 July 1915, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry

7, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 490.

8. Stephen Mather to Col. L. M. Brett, 18 December 1915.

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 490.

9. F. Jay Haynes to Secretary of the Interior, 20 November

1915; Stephen Mather to F. Jay Haynes, 17 December 1915, F.

Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 21, Folder: 30, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

10. Annual Report of Yellowstone—Western Stage Company,

31 December 1915, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 22,

Folder; 12, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

11. Committee on National Parks to James Sturgis Pray, 08

January 1916, Olmstead Portfolio, Bancroft Library, University

of California, Berkeley,

12. Document—“pertaining to Sale of F. Jay Haynes Photographic Business in Yellowstone National Park to J. E. Haynes,

January 3, 1916,” F. Jay Haynes Papers, Manuscript Collection

1504, Box: 11, Folder: 3. Attached to this document is a comprehensive list of the inventory of the merchandise at Mammoth,

Upper Geyser Basin, and Canyon stores.

13. Excerpts from the Journal of Haynes, 1916, F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Manuscript Collection 1502, Book 127.

14. James Hickey to F. Jay Haynes, 06 May 1916, F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 22, Folder: 29. Stephen Mather

to Col. L. M. Brett, 27 June 1916, Box: 20-1, Folder: Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Co., Yellowstone National Park Archives. “Inventory of Equipment Loaned Shaw & Powell for Their Use 1916,

By the Yellowstone-Western Stage Company at Tower Falls Station. Equipment Turned Over to Shaw & Powell, July 1st, at Tower

Falls 1915–1916,” F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 22, Folder:

15. This list indicates what types of items were in the Tower Fall

area during this period. The document can be found in this study’s

manuscript collection in the Haynes folder for 1916.

15. Colonel Lloyd Brett, “Annual Report for Yellowstone

National Park, 1916,” 6.

16. F. Jay Haynes to James Hickey, 04 August 1916; James

Hickey to F. Jay Haynes, 10 August 1916; Howard Eaton to F. Jay

Haynes, 20 December 1916; F. Jay Haynes to R. Duff, 23 November 1916, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 22, Folder:

15 and Folder: 11, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State

Library.

17. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the

Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1916 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1916), 15, 40.

18. J.A. Hill to Franklin Lane, 08 August 1916, National

Archives, Record Group 79, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box

495.

19. “Minutes of a Meeting of the Concessioners of Yellowstone Park, with Secretary Albright, Held in Room 1124 Congress Hotel, Chicago, Nov. 18, 1916,” F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 22, Folder: 20, Montana State University.

20. “Minutes of a Meeting Held in Washington, D.C. of the

Transportation Concessioners in Yellowstone National Park and

the Director of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, December 10, 1916,” F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 22,

Folder: 21, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

21. Annual Report of the Superintendent of National Parks

to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1916, 15, 40.

22. Proceedings of the National Parks Conference (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1917), 223, 275–315.

23. “Indenture between Yellowstone Park Transportation

Company and the Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago. Burlington

& Quincy Railroad Company, June 1, 1917.” This document lists

the factory numbers and the related Yellowstone Park Transportation Company number for each vehicle. “Indenture between the

Yellowstone Park Hotel Company and the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company and the Northwest Improvement Company,

June 1, 1917,” Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, President’s Subject File, File: 210-I, Folder: 1, Minnesota Historical Society.

24. F. Jay Haynes to Robert Duff, 15 January 1917, F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 24, Folder: 15, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

25. J. E. Haynes to C. A. Lindsley, 15 December 1917;

Chester Lindsley to Stephen Mather, 17 December 1917; J. E.

Haynes to Horace Albright, 01 January 1918, National Archives,

Record Group 79, Entry 7. 1907–1939, Yellowstone National

Park—900, Box: 489. Special Permit to F. Jay Haynes by Horace

Albright, 27 November 1917, F. Jay Haynes Papers, Series III,

Box: 24, Folder: 10, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana

State University.

26. Horace Albright to Chester Lindsley, 16 June 1917;

Horace Albright to Chester Lindsley, 21 May 1917; Telegram from

Yellowstone Camping Company to Horace Albright, 31 May 1917,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Boxes: 489, 490.

27. J. J. Cotter to J. E. Haynes, 19 March 1917, National

Notes to Chapter 6
142

Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone

National Park—900, Box: 489.

28. “Yellowstone Park Boat Co. Memorandum by W. M.

Nichols, November 6, 1917,” Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Box: 137.I.16.4(F), File: 45, Minnesota Historical Society.

29. Ibid.

30. Joseph Cotter to Chester Lindsley, 21 March 1917;

Chester Lindsley to Stephen Mather, 21 April 1917, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Boxes: 490, 493.

31. Stephen Mather to A. W. Miles, 07 December 1916,

National Archives, Record Group 79. Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 490. Col. L.M. Brett to

Stephen Mather, 01 September 1917, Yellowstone National Park

Archives, Item 39, Box: 20—Letter Box: Accommodations—

Hotels and Camps, 1909–1917.

32. Huntley Child to Franklin Lane, 22 July 1917; Horace

Albright to Huntley Child, 27 July 1917, National Archives, Record

Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900,

Box: 495.

33. F. Jay Haynes to Sam Hurless, 23 January 1918, F. Jay

Haynes Papers, Series III, Box: 24, Folder: 21, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

34. H. H. H. to Horace Albright, 03 June 1918; Telegram

from Horace Albright to Stephen Mather, 08 June 1918; Stephen

Mather to Huntley Child, 14 June 1918, National Archives, Record

Group 79, Entry 7, Yellowstone National Park—900. Box: 495.

35. Chester Lindsley to Stephen Mather, 27 March 1918;

Stephen Mather to Chester Lindsley, 05 April 1918, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 495. No other documentation was found

regarding the other locations of mines or whether the other locations were actually opened for mining.

36. Report of the Director of the National Park Service to

the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1918 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1918), 273–

275.

37. Report of the Director of the National Park Service to

the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1918, 273–275.

38. Charles Punchard, Jr. to Stephen Mather, 15 September

1918, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939,

Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 495.

39. Charles Punchard, Jr. to Stephen Mather, 15 September

1918.

40. Chester Lindsley to Stephen Mather, 23 May 1918,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 495.

41. Report of the Director of the National Park Service to

the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1918, 122.

CHAPTER 7

1. Report of the Director of the National Park Service

to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June

30, 1919 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,

1919), 11–16, 178. Aubrey Haines, The Yellowstone Story,

Vol. II (Boulder, Colorado: Colorado Associated University

Press, 1977), 478.

2. Report of the Director of the National Park Service to

the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1919, 26.

3. Horace Albright to A. W. Miles, 06 January 1919; Horace

Albright to Stephen Mather, 23 February 1919; Charles Punchard,

Jr., to Stephen Mather, 03 April 1919, National Archives, Record

Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park— 900,

Box: 495.

4. Annual Report for 1919, 46.

5. Annual Report for 1919, 44–45.

6. Ibid., 45.

7. Ibid., 164.

8. Ibid., 164, 176.

9. H. W. Child to Horace Albright, 30 January 1922, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 494.

10. Annual Report of the National Park Service Director to

the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1920 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1920), 13,

16. Haines, The Yellowstone Story, Vol. II, 478.

11. Annual Report of the National Park Service Director to

the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1920, 94–95.

12. Stephen Mather to Howard Elliot, 27 February 1920,

Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, President’s Subject File, Box:

137.I.16.4(F), File: 45, “Yellowstone Park Boat Company, 1915–

1923,” Minnesota Historical Society.

13. H. W. Child to Warren Delano, 21 March 1920, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, President’s Subject File, Box:

137.I.16(F), File: 45, “Yellowstone Park Boat Company, 1915–

1923,” Minnesota Historical Society.

14. Horace Albright to Stephen Mather, 21 October 1920,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 495.

15. Horace Albright to Stephen Mather, 21 October 1920.

16. Albright to Mather, 21 October 1920.

17. Horace Albright to Stephen Mather, 27 September 1920,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 493.

18. H. W. Child to Stephen Mather, 08 January 1921, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, Yellowstone National

Park—900, Box: 494.

19. Stephen Mather to Horace Albright, 12 January 1921,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 494.

20. H. W. Child to Howard Elliot, 14 February 1921, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, President’s Subject File, Box:

137.I.4(F), File 44. This situation is most interesting and should

be covered in a business history of the Yellowstone Park companies. It reveals information about the minds of the businessmen

and the mode of operations.

21. Memorandum to Mr. Safford from Arno Cammerer, 19

January 1921, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–

1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 493.

22. Horace Albright, “Monthly Report for March 1921.”

23. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park

Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended

June 30, 1921 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,

1921), 155.

24. Jack Haynes to Horace Albright, 16 April 1921; Horace

Notes to Chapter 7
143

Albright to Jack Haynes, 30 April 1921, Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504,

Box: 12, Folder: 3, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State

University.

25. H. W. Child to Horace Albright, 30 January 1922, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 494.

26. Albert Fall to H. W. Child, 11 April 1922, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 495.

27. Horace Albright to D. Hull, 12 April 1922, National

Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone

National Park—900, Box: 493.

28. H. W. Child to Horace Albright, 30 January 1922, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 494.

29. Pryor and Trischman to Albert Fall, Stephen Mather,

and Horace Albright, 27 March 1922; Howard Hays to Horace

Albright, 29 April 1922; William Nichols to Horace Albright, 10

May 1922; Stephen Mather to Horace Albright 31 May 1922,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 490.

30. Howard Hays to Horace Albright, 01 August 1921,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 490.

31. B. L. Vipond to Horace Albright, 01 December 1921,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 490.

32. “Report on Construction to Mr. D. R. Hull by Horace

Albright, October 27, 1922,” National Archives, Record Group

79, Entry 7, Yellowstone National Park—610–620, Box: 470.

CHAPTER 8

1. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended

1923 and the Travel Year 1923 (Washington, D.C.: Government

Printing Office, 1923), 47, 121.

2. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended

1923 and the Travel Season 1923, 121.

3. Telegram from A. Finney to Horace Albright, 11 September 1923, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–

1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 494.

4. Annual Report for 1923, 44.

5. William Nichols to Howard Elliot, 31 January 1923,

Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, President’s Subject File, Box:

137.F.16.4(F), File: 45, Minnesota Historical Society.

6. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year Ended June

30, 1923 and the Travel Season 1923 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1923), 121.

7. Horace Albright, “Annual Report for 1924,” 31.

8. Albright “Annual Report for 1924,” 31.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. “Minutes of the Eighth National Park Conference Held

In Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, October 1, to 5, 1925,

Inclusive,” Yellowstone National Park Library.

12. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park

Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended

June 30, 1925 and Travel Season 1925 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1925), 79.

13. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park

Service for the Fiscal Year 1925 and Travel Season 1925, 25.

14. Ibid., 25.

15. Ibid., 77.

16. Howard Reffelt to Horace Albright, 01 July 1925, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900. Albright sent Reffelt the information

regarding the drawings that had just been published by the United

States Health Service in Volume 40, Number 24, 12 June 1925,

pages 1252–1254.

17. Horace Albright to Stephen Mather, 21 September 1926,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—503–601.3, Box: 462.

18. Horace Albright to W. M. Nichols, 26 February 1926,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900, Box: 494.

19. Albright to Nichols, 26 February 1926.

20. Horace Albright to Stephen Mather, 03 April 1926, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone National Park—900.

21. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park

Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended

June 30, 1926 and Travel Season 1926 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1926), 24.

22. Horace Albright to Charles Donnelly, 08 June 1926;

H. W. Child to Charles Donnally, 01 June 1926; A. B. Smith to

Mr. Woodworth, 28 June 1926, Northern Pacific Railroad Papers,

President’s Subject File, File 210.I-2, Minnesota Historical Society.

23. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park

Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended

1926 and Travel Season 1926, 27.

CHAPTER 9

1. Roger Toll, “Monthly Report for April 1929,” 6. The

documents used in this study did not reveal the kinds of motion

pictures shown in the park, but it could be assumed that some of

Haynes’s own film relating to wildlife and historical events in

Yellowstone were shown. Some of his 1929 correspondence discusses his presentation of his film (2,000 feet of 35-mm wildlife

pictures to a group in Minnesota). He also discussed taking some

of his Yellowstone movies to Washington; he mentioned in particular a film about Ray L. Wilbur, who was Secretary of the Interior at the time. J. E. Haynes to H. M. Albright, 25 March 1929;

J. E. Haynes to H. M. Albright, 29 October 1929, J. E. Haynes

Papers, MS 1504, Box: 15, File: 10, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

2. Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1929, 19–20.

3. Grosvenor Atterbury, “Notes on the Architectural and

Other Esthetic Problems Involved in the Development of Our Great

National Parks, Made during August and September 1929,” Series Post 1926, Box: Landscape Architect Files, File: No. 239,

Yellowstone National Park Archives. Roger Toll, Monthly Report for July 1929.

4. Horace Albright to Anna Pryor, 20 March 1929, National

Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone—

900, Box: 490.

Notes to Chapter 9
144

5. Roger Toll, Monthly Report for June 1930.

6. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year Ended June

30, 1929 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1929),

130–131.

7. Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1932, 1.

8. C. A. Hamilton to Roger Toll, 20 August 1930; Roger

Toll to Horace Albright, 21 November 1930, National Archives,

Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone—900, Box:

493.

9. Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1931.

10. Annual Report of the Director of the National Park

Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended

June 30, 1932 and the Travel Season, 1932 (Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1932), 1.

11. Horace Albright to W. M. Nichols, 31 March 1931,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone—900, Box: 495.

12. A Sunday morning newspaper, name unknown, dated

20 March 1932, “Park Concession Bought Saturday by Anna K.

Pryor,” Box: 2, File: Historical, Yellowstone National Park Archives. Jack Haynes to Horace Albright, 28 March 1932,” Haynes

Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 10, File: 22. Chief Auditor Gable to Horace

Albright, 01 March 1932, National Archives, Record Group 79,

Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone—900, Box: 494, File: Whittaker

Contracts.

13. Letter to Hon. Robert Simmons, 3 July 1932 from citizen; Roger Toll to Horace Albright, 29 August 1932; Joseph Joffe

to Horace Albright, 03 September 1932, National Archives,

Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1907–1939, Yellowstone—900,

Box: 489. A discussion on the Indian made items can be found

in the “12th Conference of National Park Executives Held at

Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, April 3 to 8, 1932,” A

copy may be found in the Yellowstone National Park Library.

14. Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1933, 1–6.

15. Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1934.

16. “Proceedings of Joint Council of National Park Operators and Superintendents Held at Grand Canyon National Park,

Arizona—May 1–5, 1934,” Yellowstone Park Library.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. “Address by Hon. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, November 20, 1934,” Box: 2, File: Historical, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

20. Ibid.

21. Roger Toll to W. Nichols, Vernon Goodwin, C. A.

Hamilton, Anna Pryor, J. E. Haynes, and George Larkin, 21 May

1935, Box: Bldg. Park Gen. 1935–51, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

22. Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1935, 4.

23. William Nichols to Arno Cammerer, 25 April 1935, Box:

YPC-5, File: Liquor in Park, 1934–46, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

24. Vernon Goodwin to Roger Toll, 06 August 1935, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1933–1947, Yellowstone Box: 1790, File: YP Lodge & Camp Co. Bldgs.

25. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1936, 1–3.

26. Ibid.

27. Sanford Hill, “Monthly Narrative Report to Chief Architect Through the Superintendent on Major and Minor Roads

and Trails and Projects Other Than E.C.W. for Yellowstone National Park,” June 24–July 25, 1936, Landscape Architect— Engineer Box: 10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

28. William Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 14 October 1936,

National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1933–1949, Yellowstone National Park Box: 1785, File: YP Co.

29. Edmund Rogers, “Annual Report for 1937,” 41–43.

30. Sanford Hill, “Narrative Report on Yellowstone National Park, July, 1939,” Landscape Architect—Engineer Box: 10,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

31. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1939, 1–3.

32. Sanford Hill, “Narrative Report on Yellowstone National Park, September 1939,” Landscape Architects—Engineers

Box: 10, Yellowstone National Park Archives. Rogers, “Annual

Report for 1939.”

33. Harold Ickes, Annual Report of the Secretary of the

Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1940 (Washington,

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1940), 196–197.

34. Harold Ickes to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 22

January 1940, Roosevelt Library, No. 6, Department of Interior,

Box: 16, NPS-1940.

35. A. E. Demaray to William Nichols, 23 February 1940,

Box: 079-063A-570, File: 4, Bldgs. YP Co., Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

36. Edmund Rogers to William Nichols, 05 October 1940,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 3, PUO, YP Co., Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

37. Ickes, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior

for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1940, 204.

38. J. E. Haynes to Edmund Rogers, 14 May 1941, Box:

079-63A-570, File: 3, PUO, Haynes, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

39. Howard Baker, “Comments of Branch of Plans and

Design, October 10, 1941,” Box: 079-63A-570, File: 3, Bldgs.

Haynes, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

40. Edmund Rogers to Newton Drury, 30 September 1941,

Box: 070-067A-0570, File: PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

41. Howard Baker, “Comment of Branch of Plans and Design, October 3, 1941,” Box: 079-63A-570, Box: Bldgs. C. A.

Hamilton, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

CHAPTER 10

1. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1942, 5.

2. William Nichols to B. O. Hallin, 22 January 1942, Box:

YPC-143, File: Construction Div. 1940–46, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

3.William Nichols to B. O. Hallin, 22 January 1942.

4. Memorandum to Superintendent from Chief, Project

Development Division, 16 February 1942; Memorandum to Superintendent from Chief, Project Development Division, 18 February 1942, Box: 079-063-570, File: 4, Bldgs. YP Co., Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

5. Edmund Rogers to Newton Drury, 20 July 1942, Box:

079-063-570, File: 4, Bldgs. YP Co., Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

6. Anna Pryor to Edmund Rogers, 20 March 1942; J. W.

Emmert to Anna Pryor, 07 April 1942, Box: 079-063-570, File: 2,

PUO, Pryor Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

7. Edmund Rogers to Park Operators, 04 May 1942, Box:

Notes to Chapter 10
145

079-063A-570, File: 2, PUO, Pryor Stores, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

8. C. E. Denney to William Nichols, 01 June 1942, Box:

079-063A-570, File: PUO, Hamilton, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

9. M. M. Goodsill to William Nichols, 04 June 1942, Box:

YPC-4, File: WWII 1942–45, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

10. M. M. Goodsill to William Nichols, 04 June 1942, Box:

079-063A-570, File: PUO, Hamilton, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

11. Edmund Rogers to Operators, 13 June 1942, Box: 079-

063A-570, File: PUO, Hamilton, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

12. Department of the Interior Information Service, National Park Service for Release Sunday, June 14, 1942, Haynes

Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 28, File: 4.

13. Gar Helppie to Edmund Rogers, 15 July 1942, Edmund

Rogers to Gar Helppie, 16 July 1942, Box: 079-631-570, File:

PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

14. Edmund Rogers to Operators, 24 August 1942, Box:

079-063A-570, File: 2, PUO, Pryor Stores, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

15. “Report of Meeting with Representatives of the Western Park Operators’ Conference, Chicago, Illinois—December 1,

1942, Box: YPC-125, File: Lodge Division,1941–45, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

16. J. W. Emmert to Leo Petrie, 10 December 1942, Box:

079-063-570, File: 4, Bldgs. YP Co., Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

17. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1943, 2–3.

18. Edmund Rogers to C.R. Franks, 20 January 1943, Box:

YPC-4, File: WWII, 1942–1945, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

19. J. E. Haynes to Newton Drury, 01 March 1943, National Archives, Record Group 79, Entry 7, 1933–1949, Yellowstone—900, Box: 1780, File: Haynes.

20. J. E. Haynes to Newton Drury, 01 March 1943.

21. C. A. Hamilton to Edmund Rogers, 05 April 1943, Box:

079-63A-570, File: PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

22. C. A. Hamilton to William Nichols, 11 April 1943, Box:

YPC-5, File: Accommodations, 1943–45, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

23. Newton Drury, “Statement Concerning Facilities Available to the Public in National Park Areas During the 1943 Season,” Box: YPC-5, File: Accommodations 1943–45, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

24. C. A. Hamilton to Joe Joffe and Fred Johnston, 11 January 1944; C. A. Hamilton to Joe Joffe, 27 January 1944, Box:

079-063A-570, Box: 2 PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

25. C. A. Hamilton to Edmund Rogers, 11 March 1944,

Box: 079-063A-570, File: PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

26. C. A. Hamilton to Edmund Rogers, 30 March 1944,

Box: 079-063A-570, Box: PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

27. C. A. Hamilton to Fred Johnston, 17 April 1944, Box:

079-063A-570, File: 2, PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

28. Edmund Rogers to C. A. Hamilton, 20 April 1944, Box:

079-063A-570, Box: 2, PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

29. C. A. Hamilton to Ed Moorman, 04 June 1944; C. A.

Hamilton to William Nichols, 01 June 1944, Box: 079-063A-570,

Box: 2, PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

30. C. A. Hamilton to Joe Joffe, 12 July 1944, Box: 079-

063A-570, Box: 2, PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

31. J. E. Haynes to Edmund Rogers, 13 May 1944, Box:

079-063A-570, File: 3, PUO, Haynes, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

32. Joseph Joffe to Federal Reserve Bank, 09 June 1944,

Box: 079-063A-570, Box: 2, PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

33. Joseph Joffe to C. A. Hamilton, 19 December 1944;

Joseph Joffe to Edmund Rogers, 30 December 1944, Box: 079-

63A-570, Box: 2, PUO, Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

34. Jack Hayes to William Nichols, 26 January 1945,

Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504. Box: 29, File: 16.

35. Edmund Rogers to William Nichols, 24 February 1945,

Box: 079-63A-570, Box: 2, PUO, Pryor Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

36. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1945, 1.

37. Edmund Rogers to Park Operators, 28 August 1945,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

38. Newton Drury to William Nichols, 19 September 1945,

Box: YPC-5, File: Accommodations 1943–45, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

39. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1946.

40. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1946, 2.

41. B. O. Hallin to William Nichols, 10 March 1946; William Nichols to B. O. Hallin, 06 April 1946, Box: YPC-143, File:

Construction Division, 1940–46, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

42. B. O. Hallin to William Nichols, 08 April 1946, Box:

YPC-143, Folder: Construction Division 1940–1946, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

43. B. O. Hallin to William Nichols, 14 April 1946, Box:

YPC-143, Folder: Construction Division, 1940–1946, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

44. Lawrence Merriam to Edmund Rogers, 02 January 1946,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: Bldg. YP Co., Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

45. Rogers, Annual Report for 1946, 3–5.

46. Ibid.

47. S. E. Boyer to Joe Joffe, 06 June 1946; Joe Joffe to S.E.

Boyer, 29 June 1946, Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, Bldg. YP Co.,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

48. William Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 01 July 1946;

Edmund Rogers to William Nichols, 16 July 1946, Box: 079-63A570, File: 4, Bldg. YP Co., Yellowstone National Park Archives.

49. J. E. Haynes to Edmund Rogers, 03 July 1946, Box:

C—Haynes, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

50. C. A. Hamilton to Anna Pryor, 01 August 1946, Box:

079-63A-570, File: 2, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

51. C. A. Hamilton to Anna Pryor, 01 August 1946; C. A.

Hamilton to Edmund Rogers, 01 August 1946, Box: 079-63A570, File: 2, Yellowstone National Park.

52. B. O. Hallin to William Nichols, 22 October 1946; WilNotes to Chapter 10
146

liam Nichols to B. O. Hallin to William Nichols, 28 October 1946;

B. O. Hallin, 04 November 1946, Box: YPC-143, File: Construction Division, 1940–1946, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

53. Edmund Rogers, Annual Report for 1948, 19.

54. Memorandum to Edmund Rogers from Frank Mattson,

23 January 1947, Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, Bldgs. YP Co.,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

55. Memorandum to Lawrence Merrian from Fred Johnston,

24 January 1947, Box: 079-63A-570, Box: 4, Bldgs. YP Co.,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

56. Fred Johnston to C. A. Hamilton, 13 February 1947,

Box: 079-63A-570, Box: 2, Bldgs. Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

57. C. A. Hamilton to Fred Johnston, 04 February 1947;

Fred Johnston to Lawrence Merriam, 13 February 1947; Fred

Johnston to C. A. Hamilton, 13 February 1947; Hillory Tolson to

C. A. Hamilton, 23 June 1947; Edmund Rogers to C. A. Hamilton,

25 June 1947, Box: 079-63A-570, File: 2, Bldgs. Hamilton Stores,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

58. Edmund Rogers to C. A. Hamilton, 22 July 1947;

Edmund Rogers to C. A. Hamilton, 22 July 1947, Box: 079-63A570, File: 2, Bldgs. Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

59. Trevor Povah to Edmund Rogers, 27 July 1947; Edmund

Rogers to Trevor Povah, 26 August 1947, Box: 079-63A, File: 2,

Bldgs. Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Gwen Peterson, Yellowstone Pioneers. The Story of the Hamilton

Stores and Yellowstone National Park (Santa Barbara, California:

Hamilton Stores, Inc., 1985).

60. Frank Mattson to Edmund Rogers, 25 March 1947, Box:

079-63A-570, File: 4, Bldgs. YP Co., Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

61. Memorandum to Newton Drury from Julius Krug, 12

September 1947, Box: 079-63A-570, File: Bldgs. YP Co.,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

62. Memorandum to Newton Drury from Julius Krug, 17

June 1947, Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, Bldgs. YP Co., Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

63. William Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 10 September

1948; William Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 30 October 1948;

Lawrence Merriam to District Director of Public Health, 09 December 1948, Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co., Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

64. William Nichols to Newton Drury, 30 October 1948,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co., Yellowstone National Archives.

65. “Capacity of Hotel, Lodge, and Cabin Accommodations, National Park Service Concessioners, August, 1948,” Box:

079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co., Yellowstone National Park Archives.

66. Edmund Rogers to Regional Director, 24 May 1948,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: PUO, Hamilton Stores, Part, 3,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

67. Edmund Rogers to Trevor Povah, 07 May 1948, Box:

079-63A-570, File 2: Hamilton Stores. Bldg. and Equipment, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

68. Lawrence Merriam to Newton Drury, 14 May 1948,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co., Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

69. Julius Krug to Newton Drury, 09 September 1948;

Memorandum to Edmund Rogers from Park Biologist, Walter

Kittams, 22 November 1948; Lawrence Merriam to Newton Drury,

09 December 1948; Trevor Povah to Fred Johnston, 06 December

1948, Box: 079-64A-580, File: 900.02.7 Old Faithful Swimming

Pool, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

70. Oliver Taylor to Jackson Price, Arthur Demaray and

Newton Drury, 26 May 1948; Edmund Rogers to William Nichols,

06 July 1948, Box: 079-63A-570, Box: 4, YP Co., Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

71. Anna Pryor to Oliver Taylor, 27 January 1948, Box:

079-63A-570, File: 2, PUO, Pryor Stores, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

72. C. A. Hamilton to J. E. Haynes, 11 November 1948; J.

E. Haynes to C. A. Hamilton, 15 December 1948, Haynes Papers,

Ms. 1504, Box: 10, File: 15—C. A. Hamilton.

73. “Concessions in the National Parks. A Statement by

Western Conference National Park Concessioners, May 23, 1943.”

74. J. E. Haynes to C. A. Hamilton, 15 December 1948.

75. “National Park Service Release for August 12, 1948”

and attached undated newspaper article, “U. S. May Take Over

National Park Hotels,” Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 181, File:

5.

76. Nichols to All Department Heads, 21 March 1949, Box:

YPC-2, File: W. Nichols 1946–57, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

77. Lawrence Merriam to Edmund Rogers, 03 February

1949; Newton Drury to William Nichols, 17 January 1949, Box:

079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

78. Edmund Rogers to Park Concessioners, 03 May 1949,

Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504. Box: 184, File: 10. There is extensive

information regarding the new concession policy in the Manuscript Collection, Folder: Concession Policy, 1949. This should

be useful information for a history of concessions in the NPS or

business histories of the different concessioners.

CHAPTER 11

1. C. A. Hamilton to Newton Drury, 23 January 1950,

Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504. Box: 10, File: 17, Burlingame Special

Collections, Montana State University.

2. C. A. Hamilton to J.E. Haynes, 26 January 1950, Haynes

Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 10, File: 17.

3. J. E. Haynes to C. A. Hamilton, 01 February 1950, Haynes

Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 10, File: 17.

4. William Nichols to Huntley Child, Jr., 24 February 1950,

YPC. Misc. 1900s to Present, Box: W. Nichols, File: 1946–57,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

5. Willliam Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 17 April 1950;

Edmund Rogers to William Nichols, 02 May 1950, Box: 079-

63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

6. Huntley Child, Jr. to William Nichols, 06 April 1950,

Misc. 1900s to Present, Box: YPC-2, File: W. Nichols, 1946–57,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

7. Frank Mattson to Superintendent, 05 January 1950, Box:

079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

8. William Nichols to Fred Johnston, 20 January 1950, Box:

079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

9. Howard Baker to Edmund Rogers, 15 March 1950, Box:

Notes to Chapter 11
147

079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

10. Edmund Rogers to Regional Director, 02 May 1950,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

11. Edmund Rogers to William Nichols, 31 January 1950,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. and Equipment,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

12. Huntley Child, Jr. to William Nichols, 06 April 1950,

Box: YPC- 2, File: W. Nichols, 1946–57, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

13. “Concessions Policies of the National Park Service,

October 13, 1950,” Box: YPC-97, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

14. “Concessions Policies of the National Park Service,

October 13, 1950,” Box: YPC-97, Yellowstone National Park Archives. The statement contains numerous other changes involving rates fees, contracts, etc.

15. Newton Drury to William Nichols, 25 July 1950, Box:

079-64A-580, File: 900-02.6, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

16. William Nichols to Edmund Rogers, Box: 079-63A570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

17. Huntley Child, Jr. to Willliam Nichols, 15 February

1950, Box: YPC-126, File: Mammoth Tourist & Swimming Pool

1949–58, Additions and Repairs, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

18.William Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 21 September 1950;

Paul Franke to Regional Director, 25 October 1950, Box: 079-

63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

19. William Nichols to Pete Hoffman, 27 October 1950,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co. Bldgs. & Equipment,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

20. C. A. Hamilton to Jefferson Jones, 01 August 1950,

Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 10, File: 17, Burlingame Special

Collections, Montana State University.

21. “Capacity of Hotel, Lodge, and Cabin Accommodations, March 12, 1951,” Box: 079-63A-570, File: 2, Hamilton

Store, Bldgs. Equipment, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

22. Huntley Child, Jr. to Edmund Rogers, 14 May 1951;

Huntley Child, Jr. to Manly Fleischmann, 23 May 1951; W.M.

Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 05 September 1951, Box: YPC 2,

File: W. Nichols, 1946–57, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

23. Charles Hamilton to Jack Haynes, 31 March 1951; Jack

Haynes to Charles Hamilton, 15 April 1951, Haynes Papers, Ms.

1504. Box: 10, File: 18.

24. Memorandum to Regional Director from Chief of

Concessions Management, 03 May 1951, Box: 079-63A-570,

File: 2, PUO, Hamilton, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

George Hartzog, Jr., would later become the director of the

National Park Service and play a major role in concession

policy during the Mission 66 period. Fred T. Johnston, “An

Analysis of the Business of Hamilton Stores, Incorporated in

Yellowstone National Park, December 1, 1950,” Box: C-11,

Hamilton Stores, Yellowstone National Park Archives. This report is one of the most important documents written about the

Hamilton Stores.

25. Arthur Demaray to Senator Edward Martin, Haynes

Papers. Ms. 1504, Box: 187, File 6.

26. Conrad Wirth to Regional Director, 02 February 1952;

T. S. Povah to Edmund Rogers, 10 April 1952; T.S. Povah to

Edmund Rogers, 14 March 1952, Box: 079-63A-570, File: 2, YP

Service Stations, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

27. Charles Hamilton to Edmund Rogers, 03 December

1952; Warren Hamilton to Charles Hamilton, 24 December 1952,

Box: 079-63A -570, File: 2, YP Service Stations, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

28. Charles Hamilton to Edmund Rogers, 07 November

1952, Charles Hamilton to Conrad Wirth, 23 December 1952, Box:

079-63/a-579, File: 2, Hamilton Stores. Bldg. & Equipment,

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

29. J. E. Haynes to Edmund Rogers, 30 September 1952,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: 3, Haynes, Bldg. & Equipment, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

30. “Report on Annual Meeting Western Conference National Park Concessioners, Washington, D.C., March 25 and 26,

1953,” Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 187, File: 34.

31. “Report of Annual Meeting of the Western Conference

of National Park Concessioners, Washington, D.C., March 25 and

26, 1953.”

32. Ibid.

33. William Nichols to Edmund Rogers, 12 November 1953,

Box: YPC-2, File: W. Nichols, 1946–57, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

34. Conrad Wirth to William Nichols, 31 December 1953,

Box: YPC- 2, William Nichols, 1946–57, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

35. Huntley Child, Jr. to William Nichols, 02 January 1954;

Huntley Child, Jr. to William Nichols, 07 January 1954, Box: YPC2, File: William Nichols, 1946–57, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

36. Charles Hamilton to Howard Baker, 05 July 1954, Box:

079-067A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

37. Charles Hamilton to Howard Baker, 05 July 1954.

38. Trevor Povah to Thomas Vint, 11 April 1953; Thomas

Vint to Trevor Povah, 17 April 1953, Box: 079-063A-570, File: 2,

Hamilton Stores, Bldg. & Equipment, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

39. Trevor Povah to Edmund Rogers, 16 February 1955;

Warren Hamilton to Conrad Wirth, 02 March 1955, Box: 079-

067A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

40. John Q. Nichols to Snowmobiles of West Yellowstone,

11 October 1955, Box: 54157, File: 3, C38, Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

41. Edmund Rogers to Charles Hamilton, 06 October 1955;

Charles Hamilton to Frank Mattson, 30 November 1955, Box:

079-067A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

42. Warren Hamilton to Regional Director, 31 January 1955,

Box: 54157, File: 3, C38, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

43. Howard Baker to Edmund Rogers, 10 January 1955,

Box: 54157, File: 3, C38. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

44. Richard Bartlett, Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged

(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985), 369–370. Based

upon one Denver Post newspaper article, Bartlett explained that

the Wyoming governor, who was a large stockholder in Husky

Oil Company, based in Cody, was anxious to receive some of the

profits from the sale of gasoline within the Park which were now

going to Continental Oil Company. The article listed the head of

the study commission as Glenn Nielson, head of Husky Oil Company.

45. Conrad Wirth to William Nichols, 28 October 1955;

Notes to Chapter 11
148

Hugh Galusha to Thomas Allen, 23 November 1955, Box: 54157,

File: 3, C38.

46. “Review of Contract Renewal and Building Program—

Canyon Village, August 31, 1956,” Box: YPC-75, File: Concession Contract, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

CHAPTER 12

1. Conrad Wirth, Parks, Politics, and the People (Norman:

University of Oklahoma, 1980, 237–243, 244–249.

2. “Statement of Current and Future Park Visitor Needs for

Accommodations and Facilities in Yellowstone National Park,

Report of Working Committee, April 11–15, 1955,” Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 188, File: 2, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

3. “Review of Contract Renewal and Building Program—

Canyon Hotel, August 31, 1956,” Box: YPC-75, File: Concession

Contract, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

4. Charles Hamilton to Edmund Rogers, 28 March 1956,

Box: 079-067A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

5. Charles Hamilton to William Nichols, 11 April 1957,

Box: 079-67A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

6. Trevor Povah to Lemuel Garrison, 25 March 1958, Box:

079-67A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

7. “C. A. Hamilton, Yellowstone Park Concessionaire,

Dies,” Livingston Enterprise, 29 May 1957. “Obituary Delivered

by Jack Ellis Haynes at Memorial Services for Charles Ashworth

Hamilton in Yellowstone National Park Chapel on June 4, 1957,”

Northern Pacific Railroad Papers, Box: 112, File 14, Minnesota

Historical Society.

8. Lemuel Garrison to Trevor Povah, 17 July 1958, Box:

079-067A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

9. Thomas Hallin to Orr Pickering & Associates, 26 May

1958, Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 189. Burlingame Special

Collections, Montana State University.

10. Lemuel Garrison to John Q. Nichols, 08 October 1958,

Box: 079-67A-128, File: 3, C58, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

11. Lemuel Garrison to All Park Concessioners, 21 April

1958, Box: C-10, File: General Correspondence, 1948–67, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

12. “The Minutes of a NPS-Concession Meeting, May 21,

1958,” Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 189, Burlingame Special

Collections.

13. Lemuel Garrison to Regional Director, 18 February

1959, Box: C-10, File: General Correspondence, 1948–1957, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

14. “Survey of Public Preference for Certain Proposed

Types of Concessioner Accommodations at Yellowstone National

Park—Report of Statistical Analysis, by Rendel B. Alldredge,

1959,” Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 190, File: 13, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

15. Lemuel Garrison to Regional Director, 16 September

1959, Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 190, File: 6, Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

16. Trevor Povah to John Nichols, 18 July 1959, Box: YPC125, File: Canyon Hotel Demolition, Yellowstone National Park

Archives.

17. Thomas Hallin to John Nichols, 30 September 1959,

Box: YPC-125, File: Canyon Hotel Demolition, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

18. Huntley Child, Jr. to Jack Haynes, 23 December 1959,

Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 191, File: 23, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

19. Jack Haynes to Hugh Galusha, Jr., 29 January 1960,

Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 191, File: 23, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

20. “Minutes of a Meeting the Yellowstone Park

Concessioners and the National Park Service held January 14,

1960 at Livingston, Montana,” Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504, Box:

191, File: 23, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State

University.

21. “Staff Meeting Notes, May 3, 1960,” Haynes Papers,

Ms. 1504, Box: 191, File 21, Burlingame Special Collections,

Montana State University.

22. Hugh Galusha to Lemuel Garrison, 09 May 1960, Box:

C-10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

23. “The Great Lady Chose Sudden Death,” Wyoming State

Tribune, August 10, 1960.

24. Conrad Wirth to Stewart Udall, 10 March 1961, Haynes

Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 193, File: 26, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

25. Wirth to Udall, 10 March 1961.

26. Ibid.

27. Stewart Udall to Conrad Wirth, 20 March 1961, Haynes

Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 193, File: 26, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

28. “Yellowstone Park Company Names Manager,”

Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 29 November 1962, p. 2.

29. Lemuel Garrison to Howard Baker, 06 November 1963,

Box: C-10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

30. George Hartzog, Jr. to Isabel Haynes, 22 December

1967, Box: C-38, Haynes, Inc. Miscellaneous, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

31. Lemuel Garrison to George Beall, 23 July 1963, Box:

C-10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

32. Conrad Wirth to Stewart Udall, 21 October 1963, Box:

C-10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

33. Lemuel Garrison to John Nichols, 13 October 1960,

File: Concessions, Folder: Management Study of Concessions Operations, Yellowstone National Park Library.

34. “Dedication and Opening Ceremony Grant Village, Yellowstone National Park, June 23, 1963” program, Box: YPC-2,

File: Huntley Child, Jr. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

35. James Godbolt to Bruce Barndt, 14 December 1964,

Box: 079-63A-570, File: D46, Other Structures, Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

36. “Minutes of Meeting of the Yellowstone Park

Concessioners, June 14, 1964,” Haynes Papers, Ms. 1504. Box:

197, Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

37. “Minutes of the Meeting Held at West Yellowstone on

Sept. 4, 1964, National Park Service and Concessioners,” Haynes

Papers, Ms. 1504, Box: 197, Burlingame Special Collections,

Montana State University.

38. Suzanne Miotti to John McLaughlin, 14 June 1965, Box:

C-10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

39. Newell Gough, Jr. to George Hartzog, Jr., 04 June 1965,

Box: C-10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

40. John McLaughlin to George B. Hartzog, Jr., 12 August

Notes to Chapter 12
149

1965; John McLaughlin to George Hartzog, Jr., 09 December 1965,

Box: C-10, Yellowstone National Park Archives.

41. “General Host’s Frontiers—West,” Cornell’s Hotel and

Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Cornell University, V. 9.

February 1969, 65–76. “Yellowstone National Park Concession

Management Review of the Yellowstone Park Company, February–October 1976,” Richard Bartlett, Yellowstone: A Wilderness

Besieged (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985), 376–379.

Bartlett’s book has a good discussion on the later transactions.

This entire period and up to the present should be covered in deNotes to Chapter 12

tail in a section of an Administrative History for Yellowstone

National Park. All documents retrieved concerning concession

policy can be found with the manuscript collection for this study.

42. Yellowstone Park Company Buildings—January 20,

1966, Office of Barry Cantor, Director of Engineering, Amfac

Parks and Resorts, Inc., History Files, Yellowstone National Park.

43. Cabin Removal, September 29, 1975, Office of Barry

Cantor, Director of Engineering, Amfac Parks and Resorts, Inc.,

History Files, Yellowstone National Park.
150 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Bibliography

PUBLISHED PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

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_____. Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent of the

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_____. Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent of the

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_____. Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Yellowstone

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Annual Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the

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1925, and the Travel Season 1925. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1925.

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1926, and the Travel Season 1926. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1926.

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Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1929. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1929.

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Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

1932 and the Travel Season 1932. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1932.

Ballinger, R. A. Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the

Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1907. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1907.

Boutelle, Capt. F. A. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park, 1890. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1890.

Conger, P. H. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior for

the Year 1883. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883.

Congress, Senate. Letter From the Secretary of the Interior, Accompanying a Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone

National Park for the Year 1872. 42nd Cong., 3rd sess., 1873. S.

Ex Doc. 35.

Cramton, Louis. Early History of Yellowstone National Park and

Its Relation to National Park Policies. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1922.

Culpin, Mary Shivers. The History of the Construction of the Road

System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966. Historic Resource Study, Volume I. Selections from the Division of Cultural Resources, Rocky Mountain Region. National Park Service. No. 5, 1994.

Erwin, Capt. James B. Annual Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the

Interior, 1898. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1898.

Harris, Capt. Moses. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park, 1887. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1887.

_____. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone

National Park, 1888. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing

Office, 1888.

_____. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone

National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1889. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1889.

Ickes, Harold. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for

the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1940. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1940.

Lane, Franklin. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for

the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1916. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1916.

Norris, Philetus. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park, 1877. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878.

_____. “Report Upon the Yellowstone National Park for the Year

1878, to the Secretary of the Interior,” Annual Report of the

Interior for 1878. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878.

_____. Report Upon the Yellowstone National Park for the Year

1879. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880.

_____. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone

National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1880. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1881.

_____. Fifth Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park. Washington, D.C.: Government

Printing Office, 1881.
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Pitcher, Major John. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1903.

Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1903.

_____. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone

National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1905. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905.

Proceedings of the National Park Conference Held at the

Yellowstone National Park, September 11, and 12, 1911. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1912.

Proceedings of the Second National Park Conference Held at the

Yosemite National Park, October 14, 15, 16, 1912. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1913.

Proceedings of the National Park Conference Held at Berkeley,

California, March 11, 12, and 13, 1915. Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1915.

Proceedings of the National Parks Conference. Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1917.

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Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1918.

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Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1919.

Young, Col. S. B. M. Annual Report of the Superintendent of the

Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1897.

Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1897.

UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS

“Address by Hon. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, November 20, 1934.” Box: 2, File: Historical. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Albright, Horace. “Report on Construction to Mr. D. R. Hull by

Horace Albright, October 27, 1922.” National Archives. Record

Group 79. Entry 7. Yellowstone National Park—610–620.

Box: 470.

_____. Annual Report for 1924. Yellowstone National Park Library.

Allredge, Rendel B. “Survey of Public Preference for Certain Proposed Types of Concessioner Accommodations at Yellowstone

National Park—Report of Statistical Analysis, by Rendel B.

Alldredge, 1959.” Haynes Papers. Ms. 1504. Box: 190, File:

13. Burlingame Special Collections. Montana State University.

“Annual Report of Yellowstone—Western Stage Company, December 31, 1915.” F. Jay Haynes Papers. Series III, Box: 22,

Folder; 12. Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State

University.

Atterbury, Grosvenor. “Notes on the Architectural and Other Esthetic Problems Involved in the Development of Our Great

National Parks, Made during August and September 1929.”

Series Post 1926, Box: Landscape Architect Files, File: No.

239. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Baker, Howard. “Comments of Branch of Plans and Design, October 10, 1941.” Box: 079-63A-570, File: 3, Bldgs. Haynes.

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Brett, Col. Lloyd. “Annual Report for Yellowstone National Park,

1916.” Yellowstone National Park Library.

“Capacity of Hotel, Lodge, and Cabin Accommodations, National

Park Service Concessioners, August, 1948.” Yellowstone

National Park Archives. Box: 079-63A-570, File: 4, YP Co.

“Capacity of Hotel, Lodge, and Cabin Accommodations, March

12, 1951.” Box: 079-63A-570, File: 2, Hamilton Store, Bldgs.

Equipment. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

“Concessions in the National Parks. A Statement by Western Conference National Park Concessioners,” May 23, 1943.

“Concessions Policies of the National Park Service, October 13,

1950.” Yellowstone National Park Archives. Box: YPC-97.

“Dedication and Opening Ceremony Grant Village, Yellowstone

National Park, June 23, 1963” program. Box: YPC-2, File:

Huntley Child, Jr. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Drury, Newton. “Statement Concerning Facilities Available to the

Public in National Park Areas During the 1943 Season.” Box:

YPC-5, File: Accommodations 1943–45. Yellowstone National

Park Archives.

Hill, Sanford. “Monthly Narrative Report to Chief Architect

Through the Superintendent on Major and Minor Roads and

Trails and Projects Other than E.C.W. for Yellowstone National

Park.” June 24–July 25, 1936.” Landscape Architect—Engineer Box: 10. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

_____. “Narrative Report on Yellowstone National Park, September 1939.” Landscape Architects—Engineers Box: 10.

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Johnston, Fred T. “An Analysis of the Business of Hamilton Stores,

Incorporated in Yellowstone National Park, December 1, 1950.”

Box: C-11. Hamilton Stores. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Mattison, Ray. “Report on Historical Structures at Yellowstone

National Park,” September 1960. Yellowstone National Park

Library.

“Minutes of the Eighth National Park Conference Held In Mesa

Verde National Park, Colorado, October 1, to 5, 1925, Inclusive.” Yellowstone National Park Library.

“Minutes of A NPS—Concession Meeting, May 21, 1958.”

Haynes Papers. Ms. 1504. Box: 189. Burlingame Special

Collections, Montana State University.

“Minutes of a Meeting the Yellowstone Park Concessioners and

the National Park Service held January 14, 1960 at Livingston,

Montana.” Haynes Papers. Ms. 1504. Box: 191, File: 23.

Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University.

“Minutes of Meeting of the Yellowstone Park Concessioners, June

14, 1964.” Haynes Papers. Ms. 1504. Box: 197. Burlingame

Special Collections, Montana State University.

 “Minutes of the Meeting Held at West Yellowstone on Sept. 4,

1964, National Park Service and Concessioners.” Haynes Papers. Ms. 1504. Box: 197. Burlingame Special Collections,

Montana State University.

“Obituary Delivered by Jack Ellis Haynes at Memorial Services

for Charles Ashworth Hamilton in Yellowstone National Park

Chapel on June 4, 1957.” Northern Pacific Railroad Papers.

Box: 112, File 14. Minnesota Historical Society.

“Proceedings of Joint Council of National Park Operators and

Superintendents Held at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona—May 1–5, 1934.” Yellowstone National Park Library.

“Report of Meeting with Representatives of the Western Park

Operators’ Conference, Chicago, Illinois—December 1, 1942.

Box: YPC-125, File: Lodge Division. 1941–45. Yellowstone

National Park Archives.

“Report on Annual Meeting Western Conference National Park

Concessioners, Washington, D.C., March 25 and 26, 1953.”

Haynes Papers. Ms. 1504. Box: 187, File: 34. Burlingame Spe-
152 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

cial Collections, Montana State University.

“Review of Contract Renewal and Building Program—Canyon

Village, August 31, 1956.” Box: YPC-75, File: Concession

Contract. Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Rogers, Edmund. “Annual Report for 1936.” Yellowstone National

Park Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1937.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1939.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1942.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1943.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1945.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1946.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1948.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

“Staff Meeting Notes, May 3, 1960.” Haynes Papers. Ms. 1504.

Box: 191, File 21. Burlingame Special Collections, Montana

State University.

Toll, Roger. “Monthly Report for April 1929.” Yellowstone National Park Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1929.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Monthly report for June 1930.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1931.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1932.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1933.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1934.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

_____. “Annual Report for 1935.” Yellowstone National Park

Library.

“Yellowstone National Park Concession Management Review of

the Yellowstone Park Company,” February–October 1976.

Yellowstone National Park Library.

BOOKS

Bartlett, Richard. Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged. Tucson:

University of Arizona Press, 1985.

Haines, Aubrey. The Yellowstone Story: A History of Our First

National Park. Boulder, Colorado: Associated University Press,

1977.

Ise, John. Our National Park Policy. Baltimore: John Hopkins

Press, 1960.

Peterson, Gwen. Yellowstone Pioneers. The Story of the Hamilton

Stores and Yellowstone National Park. Santa Barbara, California: Hamilton Stores, Inc., 1985.

Topping, E. S. Chronicles of the Yellowstone. Minneapolis: Ross

& Haines, Inc., 1968.

Whittlesey, Lee. Yellowstone Place Names. Helena, Montana:

Montana Historical Society Press, 1988.

Whithorn, Doris. Twice Told on the Upper Yellowstone.

(Livingston, Montana: Doris Whithorn, 1994.)

Windum, Thomas, the Earl of Dunraven. The Great Divide: Travels in the Upper Yellowstone in the Summer of 1874. London:

Chatto and Windus, 1876.

Wirth, Conrad. Parks, Politics, and the People. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.

ARTICLES

“General Host’s Frontiers—West.” Cornell’s Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. Cornell University. v. 9. February 1969.

Whittlesey, Lee. “Marshall’s Hotel in the National Park,” Montana the Magazine of Western History. Autumn 1980.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Denver Post

Livingston Enterprise

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Wyoming State Tribune
 Index 153

Index

A

Acker, W. B. 51

Alaska-Yukon Exposition 51

Albright, Horace 60, 63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75,

76, 77, 78, 97, 115

Allen, E. F. 43

Allen, H. B. 118, 132

Ames, Christian 118

Anderson, Captain George S. 39, 40, 42, 43, 44

Anderson, Ole 35, 36, 41, 58, 127

Anderson, Walter and Helen 127

Anna (boat) 132

Apollinaris Camp 130

Apollinaris Spring 45

Army Corps of Engineers 28, 29, 63, 105

Arthur, Chester 10

Ash, George 41

Ash, Jennie 43, 48, 55, 127

Atterbury, Grosvenor 77

automobiles 48, 51, 53, 58, 59, 61, 62, 64, 65, 69

rental 75, 76

repair 92

Avery, H. 118

B

Bachelor’s Quarters 62

Baker, Howard 84, 103

Baldwin, J. 31, 119

Ballinger, R. A. 51, 52, 57

Barker, Ed 117

Barmore, David 118

Baronett, Collins J. (Yellowstone Jack) 2, 3, 5, 25, 31, 43, 120,

126

Baronett, Mrs. M.A. 120, 132

Baronett's bridge 3, 5, 25, 120, 126, 133

Bartlett, Richard A. 33

Basin Auto Camp store 92

Bassett Brothers 31

Bath Lake 34

bathhouses 2, 3, 7, 26, 30, 65, 66, 71, 72, 79, 84, 125, 126, 128,

129, 132

Bazata, Art 114

Beall, George 112, 114

Bear Gulch 12

Beattie, J. 120, 132

Beatty, James 117

Beckett and Associates 103

Beckett, Welton 108

Beehive Geyser 8

Benson, Major Harry C. 52

Bihler, C. S. 41

Billings, Frederick 6, 27

Billings, Montana 35, 86

Black, L. M. 117

Blacktail Deer Creek 132

Blacktail Deer Plateau 120

Blakely, R. 118

Blakenship, J. V. and S. S. 129

Blankenship, J. and H. 130

Blister Rust Control Crew 124

Boiling River 2, 126

Bonnor Lumber Company 90

Boutelle, Captain Frazier A. 35, 36

Boyer, S. E. 91

Bozeman Avant Courier 2

Bozeman, Montana 39, 40, 88, 97

Brett, Colonel Lloyd M. 54, 55

Bridge Bay 104, 106

Brisbin, General James S. 10, 31, 132

Brodix, C. R. 117

Brooklyn Eagle Tour 65

Brothers, Bassett 118, 119, 120, 131

Brothers, Francis 132

Brothers, Henry 71, 72, 79, 126, 132

Brothers, Marshall 129, 130

Brown, A. 31

Brown, Otto 105

Buffalo Farm 62

Buffington, L.F. 12

Bureau of Public Health 93

Bureau of Public Roads 105

Bureau of Reclamation 105

Burke, F. T. 110

Burleigh, W. A. 117

Butte, Montana 7

C

cabins 74, 80, 81, 82, 83, 86, 108, 109. See also locations with

the park.

Caitlin, Melson 120

Cammerer, Arno 83

Camp Roosevelt 66, 91, 98, 128, 130. See also Roosevelt

Lodge.

stores 131

campgrounds/camping 35, 43, 45, 46, 50, 58, 65, 66, 70, 71,

72, 74, 75, 76, 80, 88, 109, 130

travel trailers 82, 102, 103
154 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

camps (permanent) 41, 43, 45, 46, 53, 55, 58, 60, 63, 65, 74.

See also locations within the park.

Canyon (area) 33, 34, 35, 42, 44, 45, 48, 52, 53, 54, 55, 85, 92,

98, 102, 104, 107, 120, 124, 125, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132

auto camp 128

cabins 94, 102, 107, 108, 124, 128, 129

dormitory 108

garbage disposal 73, 77

hotel tents 127

hotels 12, 27, 117, 118, 127, 132

service stations 66, 71, 79, 95, 126

stores 55, 71, 79, 127, 131, 132

visitor center 131

Canyon camp 64, 70, 100, 130

Canyon Hotel 16, 17, 37, 41, 46, 52, 53, 67, 79, 81, 87, 93, 94,

100, 109, 111, 115, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131

Canyon Lodge 17, 18, 91, 94, 100, 103, 128, 129

cabins 18, 103, 112

service station 95

stores 131

Canyon Village 102, 103, 107, 108, 111, 112, 115, 129

stores 108, 131

Capitol Hill 29

Carlos Construction Company 109

Carpenter, Robert C. 26, 28, 127

Carroll, John 60

Carroll, Thomas 118

Carter, Senator Thomas 52

Carver, George 25

Cascade Creek Meadows 108

Casey, T. B. 36, 38

Catlin, Nelson 31, 132

Cavanaugh, Thomas 119

Chadbourne, A. W. 40

Chadbourne, A. W. and C.C. 129, 130

Chapman, Oscar 97, 98, 100, 101

Chestnut, Col. J. D. 117

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad 59, 61

Child Corporation 110

Child, Harry W. 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 59, 63, 67, 68, 69,

70, 72, 76, 79, 111, 128

residence 64

Child, Huntley 55, 59, 61, 62, 63, 91, 100, 102, 110

Child Trust 110

Chinese gardens 64, 120, 128

Christmas Tree Park 50

Cinnabar and Clarks Fork Railroad 29

Cinnabar, Montana 10, 12, 26, 31, 127

Clagett, W. H. 4

Clark, J. 118

Clark, James A. 28, 30, 120, 132, 136

Clark, Major Gilmore 77

Clematis Gulch 2

Clematis Gulch Dairy 127

Cleveland, Grover 41

Cobb, B. S. 129

Cody Road lunch station 128

Cody, Wyoming 86, 131

Cody-Sylvan Pass Motor Company 59, 60, 131

Comfort, H. W. 120

Compiegne, Lionel 130

Concord coaches 44, 58

Concord stagecoach line 131

Condon, Dave 105

Conger, Patrick H. 9, 10, 12, 25, 26, 117, 118

Conoco Oil Company 82, 100

Continental Oil Company 88, 100

Cooke City, Montana 11, 12, 25, 29, 31, 41, 84, 120

Cooke, Jay 6

Cooper, Thomas 53

Corrine, Utah 5

Cottage Hotel 28, 29, 34, 36, 47, 121, 124, 127, 136

Cotter, Joseph J. 63

cows/cattle 25, 64, 118, 120, 126, 127, 132

Crater Lake National Park 58

Crepin, Dr. Henri 4

Crevice Gulch 12

Cummins, R. 36, 37, 39

D

Dakota Territory 5, 7, 8, 9, 11

Daniels, Mark 56, 57, 58

Davidson, Girard 96

Davidson, Halsey 92, 93

Davis, H. C. 33

Dawes, Senator 132

Dean, J. H. 42, 48

Del E. Webb Hotel Company 112

Delano, Columbus 2, 4

Delano, Warren 67, 72

Demaray, Arthur 83, 86, 96, 100

Department of Commerce

National Production Authority 97, 100

Department of the Interior 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29,

31, 33, 34, 36, 37, 40, 42, 44, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57,

58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 67, 68, 69, 75, 78, 93, 99, 101, 104

Depression 78, 81, 116

Devil’s Kitchenette 72, 73, 127

Dewing, Jennie Henderson 36, 120

Dewing, John 129

Dillinbaugh, G. H. 117

Dixon, W. S. 129

Dot Island 43, 45

 game coral 45, 120, 127

Douglas, Henry 10, 11, 132

Downey, S. W. 118

Drury, Newton 84, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99,

100

Dunraven, Earl of 3

Dunraven Pass 62
 Index 155

E

E. C. Waters (steamboat) 42, 62, 67

East entrance 59, 128, 129, 130

lunch station 71

Eaton, G.O. 118

Eaton, Howard 60

Elliot, Howard 67, 68

Emery, Roe 128

Emigrant Gulch 12

Engessor, John 3

Errett, Eva Mary 28

Erwin, Captain James 44

Everglades National Park Company 114

Explorer (boat) 132

F

Fall, Albert 70

Fargo, Dakota Territory 7, 8, 11

Farguhar, Francis 72

Farrell, Thomas J. 118

Federal Trade Commission 80

filling station 98. See also service station.

Firehole Hotel 126

Firehole River 7, 8, 26, 31, 95, 127

Fish and Wildlife Service 106

Fisher, P. H. 118

Fisher, Walter 53, 57

Fishing Bridge (area) 85, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 98, 100, 103, 106,

113, 115, 116, 125, 129, 131

auto camp 128

cabins 87, 88, 94, 96, 102, 106, 112, 115, 125,

129 

cafeteria 84, 87, 106, 115, 125, 129

campground 131

garbage disposal 77

lunch station 129

service station 103

stores 126, 131

tent hotels 127

Flint, Senator 54

Folk, Pierce 118

Forsberg, Knut 117

Fort Benton, Montana 5

Fort Ellis, Montana 5, 6

Fort Yates, Dakota Territory 11

Fountain 52

Fountain Hotel 37, 38, 41, 43, 46, 48, 51, 67, 76, 89, 122, 123,

127, 128, 129

Fountain Paint Pot 127

Fountain and Specimen House 41

Fouts, Mary 31

Frank Island 45, 110

Franke, Paul 99

French, Mr. 41

Friant, Thomas 34

Furch, Mrs. C. M. 132

G

Gallagher, Percival 59

Gallatin County, Montana 2

Gallatin Mountains 50

Galusha, Hugh 109, 110, 111

Gardiner Depot 15, 127

Gardiner, Montana 8, 10, 26, 43, 49, 86, 92, 99, 103, 107, 108,

115, 120, 127, 128, 129, 132

Gardner Canyon 64

Gardner River 2, 7, 44, 118, 120, 128

Garrison, Lemuel 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 125

Gassert, Adam 129

Gassert, Charles 130

Gassert, Sarah 130

General Baking 114

General Host Corporation 129

General Host, Inc. 114

George, Henry 129

Gibbon Falls 130

Gibson, Charles 33, 34, 37, 40, 43

Gilbert, Cass 43, 45

Glacier National Park 53, 58, 59

Swiftcurrent 82

Goff, John 7

Gogel, Charles 131

Goldfield Corporation 114

Goodwin, Vernon 72, 80, 82, 128, 129

Gordon, George 37

Gore, H. M. 129

Gore, M. H. 130

Gough, Newell, Jr. 114

Gourley, James 117

Grand Army of the Republic 51

Grand Canyon National Park 58, 80, 100

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone 30, 62. See also Canyon

(area).

Grant, General U.S., III 113

Grant Village (area) 104, 109, 110, 112, 113, 114, 125

campground 113

marina 113

Grayling Inn 44

Great Northern Railway 53

Griffith, Frank 63

Gusfenhoven, Walter 117

H

Hague, Arnold 28, 29, 30, 35

Hall, A. W. 7, 117, 134

Hall, A. B. 117, 134

Hall, W. 118

Hallin, B. O. 85, 90, 91
156 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Hallin, Thomas 110

Hamer, H. G. 118

Hamilton, Charles Ashworth 62, 64, 66, 71, 79, 81, 84, 87, 88,

89, 90, 92, 93, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 108, 109, 126,

132

Hamilton, George 118

Hamilton stores 44, 64, 71, 84, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 100,

101, 108, 109, 110, 112, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 131, 146

Hannaford, J. M. 55

Haraden, G. F. 34

Harber, W. J. 119

Harris, Capt. Moses 2, 33, 34, 35

Harrison, William 101

Hartzog, George, Jr. 100, 112, 114

Harvey, Daggett 96

Harvey, Fred 58, 80

Hass, F. 31

Hatch, Rufus 10, 11, 12, 25, 27, 33, 134

Hawkes, Alfred 126

Hayden, Ferdinand V. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 132, 133

Haynes (stores and studios) 12, 15, 25, 41, 42, 44, 52, 55, 59,

62, 89, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 107, 110, 112, 124, 130, 131,

135, 141

Haynes, F. Jay 8, 12, 13, 25, 28, 30, 35, 41, 42, 44, 47, 48, 50,

51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 69, 130, 131

Haynes, Isabela 112

Haynes, Jack 8, 13, 55, 59, 61, 62, 68, 69, 71, 77, 78, 79, 88,

89, 90, 92, 96, 97, 100, 101, 103, 108, 109, 110, 112, 130

Hays, Howard 66, 69, 70, 72, 128

Hays, J. A. 37

Heart Mountain Relocation Project 85

Hefferlin, W. N. and O. M. 130

Helena, Montana 3, 37, 91

Helppie, Gar 87, 102

Henderson and Lyall Company 126

Henderson, George L. 29, 126

Henderson, Jennie 127

Henderson, Walter 127

Henderson, Walter and Helen 28, 29, 30, 34, 136

Henrys Lake 5, 7, 85, 120

Hertz Driveurself Company 76

Hess, F. 118

Hickey, James 59, 60

Hill, Albert 129

Hill, J. A. 60, 61

Hill, Louis 53

Hill Manufacture 44

Hobart, Carroll 10, 11, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 40, 127, 132

Hobart Hotel 127

Hofer, Elwood T. (“Billy”) 31, 120, 132

Hoffman, Charles 120, 131

Hoffman, Pete 99

Holm, Frank 129

Holm, Tex 53, 131

Holm Transportation Company 58

Hommon, H. B. 77

Hoppe, H. J. 118, 120

Horr, Harry R. 2, 4

hotels 7, 25, 27, 28, 58, 66, 74, 105, 117, 118. See also

locations within park.

Howard, General O. O. 3

Hoyt, Samuel J. 117

Hull, Daniel 70, 73

Hulme, George 26, 27

Humphrey, W. W. 44, 54, 131

Huntley, Silas 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49

Husky Oil Company 147

Hymen Terrace 2

I

Ickes, Harold 81, 83, 84, 96

Indian Creek Campground 125

Indians 81. See also stores–Indian merchandise.

International Association of Rotary Clubs 65

J

Jackson, George 25, 31

Jackson Lake Lodge 102

Jasper Park, Canada 72

Jean D. (boat) 62

Joffe, Joe 88, 91

Johnson, M. R. 40

Johnson, W. G. 36, 37

Johnston, Fred 88, 93, 100

Joslin, Merritt 10

K

Kammermeyer, F. E. 91

Keefer, Harry 118

Kingman, Dan 28, 29, 136

Kirkwood, Samuel 8

Kirkwood, William 117

Klamer, Henry E. 29, 44, 55, 118, 120, 126

Klamer, Mary 126

Klamer Store 44, 126

Korean War 97, 99, 116

Krug-Davidson 100

Kupper, W. J. 129

Kurg, Julius 93, 94, 95, 96

L

Lake (area) 34, 35, 48, 52, 53, 85, 87, 89, 103, 104, 106, 109,

118, 120, 125, 128, 129, 131, 132

boat house 42

cabins 124, 129

garbage disposal 73, 77

hotels 31, 117, 127

lunch station 127

service stations 66, 71, 126
 Index 157

stores 48, 71, 93, 117, 126, 131, 132

Lake camp 64, 66, 70, 130

Lake Hotel 20, 21, 36, 37, 45, 50, 62, 66, 67, 70, 72, 76, 79, 80,

81, 82, 87, 91, 92, 94, 96, 98, 100, 112, 115, 122, 127, 128,

129, 130

cabins 85, 98, 100, 106, 115

Lake Lodge 22, 79, 92, 94, 96, 98, 100, 102, 106, 115, 128

cabins 84, 85, 86, 98, 102, 106, 112, 115

cafeteria 106

service station 95

Lakeview, Montana 61

Lamar, Lucius 27, 29, 31, 34

Lamar River 11

Lane, Franklin 54, 56, 57, 58, 63

Langford, Nathaniel P. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 117

Langford-Washburn-Doane Expedition 1

Lee, Donald 100

Leterllier, Francis 34

Lewis, Orme 101

Libby, W. S. 118

Lilley, Robt. 118

Lindsley, Chester 62, 64

Lindstrom, William 119

liquor sales 6, 8, 31, 33, 39, 80, 81, 98

Livingston Enterprise 29

Livingston, Montana 12, 25, 37, 40, 50, 75, 88, 120

Lodges 58, 72, 74, 76, 82, 83, 84, 109, 140. See also individual

lodges.

Lost Creek 66

Love, A. L. 26

Low, Herrick 114

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River 4, 11

Lower Geyser Basin (area) 5, 26, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 45, 126,

131

hotels 126

hotel tents 26, 127

stores 71, 119

Lower Geyser Basin Hotel 30, 36

Ludlow, Thomas 31

lunch stations 40, 42, 45, 46, 52, 130. See also locations within

the park.

Lyall and Henderson Store 54

Lyall’s Store 79

Lycan, Alfred 129, 130

Lyall, Alexander 127

Lyman, Happy 88

Lyons, Frank 130

M

Madison Junction auto camp 128

Madison River 7, 11, 31, 50, 118

Maginnis, M. 117

Maginnis, Martin 117

mail service 7, 12, 120

mail station

East Fork of the Yell. River 12

Norris 7, 126

Pleasant Valley 25, 126

Riverside 7, 126

Norris 126

Mailes, S. 118

Mammoth Auto Camp 70, 127, 128

cafeteria 86

store 86

Mammoth camp 13, 64, 70, 100, 128

Mammoth campground 128, 131

cafeteria 91

store 91

Mammoth chapel 89, 108

Mammoth Hot Springs (area) 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 25, 26, 28,

29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 41, 43, 44, 48, 52, 53, 54, 58,

62, 64, 73, 85, 88, 89, 107, 113, 115, 118, 120, 123, 124,

126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 135

cabins 86, 91, 94, 100, 107, 115, 124, 129

cafeteria 86, 91, 92, 124

corral 125

dump 92

hotels 10, 80, 117, 119, 127

lime kilns 118

mail carrier residence 42

museum 77

permanent camp 62

plan 77, 82

post office 36, 64, 41, 77, 120, 126, 127, 132

service stations 66, 71, 79, 101, 107, 126

stores 70, 71, 79, 92, 107, 117, 124, 127, 128,

130, 131, 132

tennis court 92

terraces 70, 72, 107, 108

Mammoth Hotel 26, 34, 37, 41, 47, 50, 57, 67, 78, 79, 81, 82,

87, 91, 94, 100, 112, 121, 127, 128, 129

Mammoth Lodge 14, 67, 81, 82, 90, 99, 128, 129

cabins 14, 119

swimming pool 99, 129

Mammoth Motor Inn 83

cabins 107

Manning, Warren 59

Marshall, George W. 7, 9, 25, 26, 30, 126

Marshall Hotel 7, 25, 34, 126

Marshall House 127

Massachusetts Forestry Association 65

Mather, Stephen 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69,

70, 72, 75, 76, 77, 115

Mattson, Frank 98, 105

May, D. B. 35

McCartney, James C. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 26, 43, 126

McCartney's Hotel 2, 3, 6, 126

McDowell, James 118

McGowan, Eleanor 119

McGuirk, Matthew 2, 5, 43, 126
158 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

McGuirk’s Medicinal Springs 2

McHenry, E. H. 48

McKay, Douglas 101

McKay, Robert J. 120

McKenna, John 120, 132

McLaughlin, John 113, 114

McMaster Camping Car 39

McMinn, Silas 118, 120

McNeil and Company 103

McNeil Construction 108

Meldrum, John 54

Menefee, R. H. 129, 130

Merchants Bank of Glendive 138

Merriam, Lawrence 93

Mesa Verde National Park 72

Miles, A.W. 50, 59, 60, 62, 65, 129, 130

Miles City, Montana 7

Miles, Nelson 129

Miller, Adolph 54

Mills, Enos 59

Minnesota Territory 9

MISSION 66 102, 105, 108, 109, 111, 112, 114, 116, 124

Monarch Lumber Company 85, 90

Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company 44, 45, 48, 54, 130,

131

Monida, Montana 44, 131

Monroe, George 117

Moorman, E. H. 128

Mount Everts (McMine) mine 63, 118, 120

Mount Rainier 58, 69, 90

Mount Washburn 62, 108

Muldrow, H. 27, 33

Myriad Spring 108

N

N. J. Olson Construction Company 124

National Hotel 3, 12, 25, 26, 28, 30, 33, 34

National Park Service conference 53, 57, 72, 83

National Park Service 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 71, 75,

76, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97,

98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110,

111, 112, 113, 114

Western Office of Design and Construction 103

National Park Transportation Company 36

National Production Authority (Dept. of Commerce) 100

National Touring Association 65

National Wilderness System 111

New World Mine 3, 12, 29

New York Times 9

Newton, John 27

Nez Perce 3, 5, 133

Nez Perce Creek 127, 130

Nichols, John Q. 103, 107, 110, 113

Nichols, William M. (Billy) 59, 62, 70, 72, 75, 79, 82, 83, 85,

86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 102, 103, 107,

108, 128, 129

Nielson, Glenn 147

Noble, John W. 38, 39

Norris Geyser Basin (area) 27, 30, 31, 33, 35, 44, 45, 48, 52,

53, 115, 125

hotel 34, 127

hotel camp 12

lunch station 39, 45, 68, 76, 127, 128

tent hotel 26, 34, 127

Norris Hotel 48, 122, 127, 129

Norris, Philetus W. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

North entrance 6, 73

Northern Pacific Railroad 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 26, 33, 34,

35, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 53, 55, 60, 61, 67, 68,

86, 127

station 15, 127

Northwest Fur Company 110

Northwest Improvement Company 49, 52, 61, 72

O

Oastler, Frank 77

Old Faithful 11, 29, 36, 70, 81, 83, 85, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 98,

103, 106, 108, 109, 113, 118, 125, 128, 129, 131

cabins 80, 84, 87, 88, 94, 100, 115, 124, 129

cafeteria 87, 129

campground 126, 131, 132

delicatessen 70

earthquake 110

garbage disposal 77

hotels 87, 127

service stations 71, 103, 125, 126

stores 71, 84, 89, 93, 126, 130, 131

swimming pool 20, 71, 72, 80, 84, 93, 95, 97, 99,

126, 132

Old Faithful Auto Camp 99, 128

store 71

gas station 87

Old Faithful Baths 132

Old Faithful camp 64, 70, 100, 125, 128

cabins 125

cafeteria 125

Old Faithful Camper's Cabins 112, 115

Old Faithful Camping Company 130

Old Faithful Geyser 11, 26, 135

Old Faithful Inn 18, 19, 49, 50, 67, 79, 81, 93, 94, 100, 112,

115, 122, 123, 127, 128, 129, 130

Old Faithful Lodge 74, 75, 91, 94, 96, 100, 102, 112, 115, 129

cabins 20, 74, 115

recreation hall 74, 129

service station 95

Olmstead, Frederick L. 59

Oregon Short Line Railroad 48, 50, 51

Organic Act (1916) 98

Organic Act (Yellowstone) 1, 2, 4, 6, 7
 Index 159

P

paint 64, 67, 81, 98, 112

Panama-Pacific Exposition 57

Park Curio Shop 70, 72, 127

Parker, Jim 120, 132

Pearce, W. G. 36, 39, 43

Pence Auto Company 59

Pendleton, Warren 118, 119, 132

petrified trees 62

Pettigrew, Dr. F. 31, 36

Phillips, William Hallett 29, 30, 31, 32

Pickering, L. 118

Pleasant Valley Hotel 34, 126

Pleasant Valley, Montana 25

Ponsford, J. W. 25, 31, 118

Porcelain Basin 127

Portland Exposition 52

Potter, John 117, 118

Potts, Governor 117

Povah, Trevor 95, 96, 102, 103, 109, 126, 129

Povah, Trevor and Eleanor (Ellie) 93

Powell, J.D. 130

Powell, John 59, 60

Pritchard, J. 120

Pryor and Trischman (stores, fountain, cafeteria) 58, 62, 64, 70,

71, 72, 79, 127

Pryor, Anna (Mrs. George) 54, 62, 77, 79, 86, 89, 92, 95, 101,

127

Pryor Stores 86, 95, 101, 124, 126, 127

Pryor's Coffee Shop 15, 88, 89

Punchard, Charles, Jr. 63, 64, 65

R

Rea, G. 31

Reamer, Robert 49

Red Lodge, Montana 86

Reese, George 130

Reynolds, Harris 59

Richards, C. & A. 79

Richardson, Tom 120, 132

Riverside 115, 117, 125, 128

Roads 4, 5, 10, 58, 117, 136

Canyon to Lake 76

Dunraven Pass 62

Grand Loop 40, 58, 101

Madison Junction 89

Mammoth Hot Spring to Norris 76

Mount Washburn 44, 53

Norris 89

Norris to Canyon 76

Northeast Entrance 92, 101

Old Faithful to West Thumb 40

Rockefeller, John D., Jr. 77

Rocky Mountain National Park 77, 82

Rogers, Edmund 82, 83, 84, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 98, 101,

103, 105, 107

Roosevelt Arch 49

Roosevelt, Franklin 83

Roosevelt Lodge 79, 84, 91, 92, 94, 98, 100, 107, 109, 115,

125, 129, 130

cabins 69, 107, 112, 115, 129

stores 94

swimming pool 129

Roosevelt, Theodore 49

Rose, A. W. 117

Roseborough, Oscar 41

Rowland, R. 117

Russell, E. 117

Ryan, A. L. 40

S

Sanborn, J. S. 118

Sanders, W. T. 117

Sandy, E. C. 129, 130

Sawtelle, Gilman 117

Schurz, Carl 5, 6, 7, 9, 134

Schuyler, P. 118

Scott, Frank 130

Sebastin, Frank 129

Secretary of War 33

Sedgwick, Thomas 118

service station 93, 95, 98, 100, 106. See also locations within

the park.

Shaw & Powell 128

Shaw, Amos 129, 130

Shaw and Powell Camping Company 55, 59, 60, 92, 130

Shaw Camping Company 130

Shaw, Leo 59

Sheffield, B. D. 130

Shoshone Lake 35

Silver Bow, Montana 7

Simmons, Robert 79

Smith, A. L. 37, 138

Smith, C. T. 129

Smith, Hoke 40, 43

snowmobiles 103

Soda Butte Springs 7, 11, 31, 117, 118, 120, 132

Solderholm, Nels 120

South entrance 42

Spalding, A.W. 48

Staley, Ed 129, 130

Sterling, Wallace 117

Stevenson Island 45, 67

Stevenson, James 132

Stores. See also locations within the park.

foreign merchandise 79, 80, 101

Indian merchandise 58, 62, 79, 80, 144

Strong, J. N. 33

Swan Lake Flats 44, 127
160 “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”

Swan Lake Flats camp 62

Swan Lake Valley Permanent Camp 130

Swanson, Oscar 118

Sylvan Lake 53

Sylvan Lake Camp 130

Sylvan Lodge 129

Sylvan Lunch Station 22, 128

Sylvan Pass Lodge 22, 71, 128

T

T. E. Hofer Boat Company 132

Tanger, G. L. 120

Taylor, J. W. 129

Teller, Henry 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 118, 119

Tex Holm Transportation Company 131

Thompson, William 117

Thresher, B. S. 129, 130

Thurston, W. H. 117

Tolhurst, Frank B. 120

Toll, Roger 77, 78, 80, 81, 82

Tolson, Hillory 93

Topping (boat) 126, 132

Topping, E. S. 117, 118, 126, 132

Tourism 10, 37, 40, 52, 65, 86, 87, 100, 106, 118

foreign 6, 10, 40, 45

Tower Fall (area) 11, 42, 53, 59, 61, 84, 98, 107, 125, 128,

130, 131

auto camp 128

delicatessen 77

hotel 44

lunch counter 77, 130

stores 92, 130, 131

service station 92, 101

Travel Club of America 65

Treven, Richard 117

Triggs, J. H. 117

Trischman, Elizabeth 62, 79, 101, 127

Trout Creek lunch station 40, 132

Truman, Harry 96, 100

Turkey Pen Pass 120, 132

Tuttle, Merritt 70

TWA Services 114, 115

U

Udall, Stewart 111

Uncle Tom’s Trail 120, 132

Underwood, Gilbert Stanley 102

Union Pacific and North Western Railroad 66

Union Pacific Railroad 5, 6, 40, 44, 48, 50, 51, 61

United States Army 3, 6, 33, 56

United States Bureau of Animal Industry 64

United States Cavalry 33

United States Chamber of Commerce 65

United States Geological and Geographical Survey 2

United States Geological Survey 28

United States Health Service 77

United States Treasury 101

Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River 120, 132

Upper Geyser Basin (area) 25, 26, 29, 30, 32, 36, 41, 42, 44,

45, 48, 49, 52, 53, 62, 118, 120, 128, 130, 131, 135

garbage disposal 73

hotel 27, 41, 117, 118, 127

hotel camp 12

hotel tents 26, 127

lunch station 41, 127

service station 66

stores 44, 126, 132

Upper Geyser Basin camp 64, 130

Upper Geyser Basin Hotel 27, 34, 48, 122

Utah 5, 6, 7, 48

Utah and Northern Railroad 31

Utah Northern Railroad 6, 7

V

Vehicles

horse drawn 57, 59, 60, 61, 64

passenger 51, 52, 58, 59, 61, 64, 68, 71, 73, 76,

78

Vest, George 11, 29

Vint, Thomas 81, 83, 103

Virginia City, Montana 3, 5, 7

Visitation 6, 31, 34, 35, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 51,

52, 53, 58, 61, 65, 66, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84,

85, 87, 90, 92, 94, 96, 99, 100, 113

Vitale, Ferruccio 77

Vivian, R. P. 31

Voigt, Edward 118

W

Wakefield & Hoffman 120

Wakefield and Haynes Yellowstone Park Stage Company 130

Wakefield and Hoffman Company 12, 31

Wakefield, George 12, 31, 34, 36, 37, 40, 120, 131

Washburn, I. 117

Washburn, W. D. 7, 117

Waters, Ella C. 34, 36, 37, 42, 43, 45, 49, 132, 138. See also E.

C. Waters (steamboat).

store 48, 62

Waters, M. B. A. 37

Wear, David W. 29, 30, 31, 33

Weather Bureau service 87

West entrance 40, 44, 50, 51

West Thumb (area) 35, 42, 43, 45, 48, 52, 62, 92, 93, 94, 97,

106, 109, 112, 115, 123, 125, 130, 131, 132

auto camp 128

cabins 86, 100, 115, 125, 129

cafeteria 115, 125

lunch station 40, 45, 67, 128, 129, 130

service stations 71

stores 71, 84, 93, 126, 131
 Index 161

West Yellowstone, Montana 52, 82, 87, 91, 92, 103

Western Airlines 82

Western Conference of National Park Concessioners 101

Western entrance 6

Western Governors Conference 65

Western Union Telegraph Company 33

White buses 78

White Company 59

White, T. Stewart 34

White, Walter 128

Whittaker, George 54, 62, 64, 66, 71, 79, 126, 128

Whittaker stores 127

Wiggins, William 77

Wilcox, Jay 120, 132

Wilcoxson Dairy 88

Wilderness Act 111

Williams, H. F. 117

Williams, John 118

Willow Park 92, 130

Willow Park camp 62

Willson, Fred 93, 102

Wilson, Woodrow 67

Windom, William 7, 9, 10, 117, 134

Wirth, Conrad 100, 101, 103, 105, 109, 111, 112

Witsie, Teltz, and Joy 48

World War I 56, 60, 61, 65, 79, 116

World War II 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 96, 99, 100, 102, 116

Selective Service 85

Wylie and Wilson Company 39

Wylie Permanent Camping Company 23, 24, 45, 50, 51, 52, 55,

58, 59, 60, 66, 71,128, 130

Wylie, William W. 39, 40, 43, 45, 50, 60, 130, 138

Wyoming 26, 42, 54

legislature 103

Wyoming Territory 2, 5, 26

X

Xanterra 115

Y

Yancey, John L. 25, 34, 35, 41, 42, 126

Yancey’s Hotel 35

Yard, Robert Sterling 58

Yellowstone and Western Stage Company 61

Yellowstone Lake 4, 5, 7, 11, 31, 33, 35, 43, 45, 62, 127, 131

boats/steamboats 5, 9, 10, 31, 37, 42, 43, 67, 72,

110, 117, 119, 132

Yellowstone Lake Boat Company 45, 67, 120, 127, 132

Yellowstone Lodge and Camps Company 75

Yellowstone National Park Improvement Company 127

Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company 40, 44

Yellowstone Park Association 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,

42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 120, 127, 128

Yellowstone Park Boat Company 62, 72, 128, 132

Yellowstone Park Camping Company 60, 62, 65, 66, 71, 72,

75, 128, 129, 130

Yellowstone Park Company 82, 83, 84, 86, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93,

94, 95, 96, 98, 100, 102, 103, 104, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111,

112, 113, 114, 126, 127, 129

Yellowstone Park Hotel Company 60, 61, 67, 71, 76, 128

Yellowstone Park Improvement Company 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 26,

27, 29, 32, 33, 118, 135

Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps Company 80, 128, 129

Yellowstone Park Service Stations 126, 129

Yellowstone Park Transportation Company 60, 61, 66, 67, 68,

70, 71, 73, 76, 78, 128, 130, 131, 141

fire 73

Yellowstone River 1, 3, 5, 7, 25, 69, 120, 126, 132

Yellowstone Valley 5, 11, 12

Yellowstone-Western Stage Company 54, 59, 60, 61, 62, 131

Yosemite National Park 58

Yosemite Park and Curry Company 96

Yosemite Park Company 71

Young, Colonel S. B. M. 43, 44

Z

Zeus, Carl 117

Zillah (steamboat) 43, 62, 132

Zion National Park 73