At the massive, log-built Old Faithful Inn, the timbers gave out loud creaking and popping noises as the structural torment continued.
“We had to evacuate the building,” Superintendent Garrison said. “Hot water from a broken pipe in the attic was running down the floor of the east wing. Half an hour later the fireplace and chimney crashed through the dining room floor, activating the sprinkler system. The water damage was horrible.
“A few hours earlier, with the dining room full, the casualty list would have been gruesome.
“As it was, our only casualty was a woman who sprained her ankle leaping out of bed after the first tremor.
“Later in the week a ranger, exhausted from quake duty, skidded on a rain-slick pavement and went off the road.
“We feel that God had his arm around us all the way.”
The quakes continued with especial violence at Old Faithful. Evacuees from the Inn sat out the night, wrapped in hotel blankets, in their cars and in the big, distinctive Yellowstone Park Co. busses, trembling with fear at each new quake.
At the new Canyon Village, guests were reassured by the big-voiced man who, in the midst of the turmoil, marched up to the reservations desk and demanded accommodations for an additional two nights.
Canyon, too, was the place where, they say, another guest left a note on his pillow for the chambermaid, saying,
“An awfully rough bear stayed under my cabin last night. Had an awfully hard time sleeping. Better tell the night man to do something about it.”