The evolution of permanent camps and hotels was complementary to the development of travel. The first permanent house built was in Clematis Gulch, on the north side of Mammoth Terraces. It was erected in 1871 by James C. McCartney. This “hotel” and C. J. Baronett’s bridge and cabin at the forks of the Yellowstone River were the only improvements made before the Dedicatory Act was passed. These gentlemen managed to collect the sum of $9000 for their foresight and property, although they had to wait until March 1, 1899 to get it.
P. W. Norris’ Annual Report of 1880 lists the following facilities then in operation: Mammoth, McCartney’s house and Matthew McGuirck’s baths; Norris, a rude cabin and barn; Riverside, a cabin and barn; Firehole River, near the forks, “a fine shingle roofed mail station and hotel.” The latter three stations were built by Marshall and Goff. In the Upper Geyser Basin a small cabin was built by Superintendent Norris in 1879; at the Lake a cabin and boat were operated by Captain E. S. Topping.
Ernest Thompson Seton
“Uncle” John F. Yancey.
Two years later John Yancey secured a mail contract and established a station in Pleasant Valley at the base of Crescent Hill. Here he was familiarly known as “Uncle John.” He was an old Kentucky frontiersman stranded in the Park by the flood tide of civilization. He chafed constantly at the uneventful days of the eighties and told his guests thrilling tales of the forties. A pen portrait has been preserved of him:
Yancey is an odd character, whose looks encourage a belief in reincarnation, so forcibly does he remind us of the prehistoric. His hotel, too, belongs to the primeval; its walls are of logs; its partitions and ceilings of cheese cloth.... Uncle John’s housekeeper, who performs the duties of cook and chambermaid, confidentially informed one of our party that it was hard to find time to wash so many bedclothes every day.[236]
The meals were most generous, which was a custom closely observed in those days. This type of accommodation was very repulsive to some people. Judge Lambert Tree, an ex-United States Minister to Belgium, characterized the management in general as outrageous. A report was current that three married couples and two young women were thrust into a small room to pass the night. The next camp was twenty miles away, and the only transportation belonged to the company. In addition, this same party was advised to walk up Mary Mountain because it was such a hard pull for the horses. Someone was evidently justified in making the statement, “As it is today [1884.], I do not think it too strong to say that at certain points on the route travellers are treated more like cattle than civilized people.”[237]
These reports reached the Secretary of the Interior, and a number of new leases were promptly granted for the erection of hotels and the necessary outbuildings.[238] About this time Superintendent Wear was accused of persuading Graham and Klamer, owners of the Firehole Hotel, to sell out. In any case, a new hotel was built in the Lower Geyser Basin in 1884 by C. T. Hobart. He and Robert E. Carpenter also erected a frame building the next year on the present site of Old Faithful Inn. At the same time the Cottage Hotel was erected in Mammoth by Walter L. Henderson.[239] The Yellowstone Park Association also built hotels in Mammoth and Norris in 1885, Lake in 1887, Canyon in 1890, and the following year they completed the peerless Fountain Hotel. It was located on a hill in a strategic position in the Lower Geyser Basin. From its lofty veranda the Fountain Geyser could be observed playing. The Fountain House was an imposing structure. It was modern in every way, having electricity and steam heat. Two hundred guests could be entertained, and when they went to dinner a head waiter in evening dress greeted them. In 1887 the Norris Hotel burned down, and in 1894 the one at Old Faithful did likewise.[240]
During the season of 1894 the pressure of criticism was brought to bear upon the entire Yellowstone transportation and accommodation setup. The country was in the throes of a depression, and the rates seemed exorbitant. It appears that the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company had been very reluctant in allowing stopover privileges. It collected just as much by holding strictly to schedule; whereas, the hotels made more on holdovers. This diversity of interest suggested the idea that it might be expedient to have the management of both industries in the same hands.
It was William W. Wylie, of Bozeman, who conceived a plan which met the demand. Since 1883 he had operated a ten-day tour, using portable tents. He would organize a stage line and cater to the masses by establishing a string of permanent camps, with eating halls and sleeping quarters. By using canvas, his investment would be small, and he could cut the cost of a trip through the Park in half. Therefore, in 1896, he secured a franchise, and the “Wylie Way” went into operation.