It would be fair to inquire if the bus driver (gear jammer) showed any improvement over the stagecoach driver in the matter of instructing the public. Not if the 1921 edition of Truthful Lies correctly represents the situation, because that little booklet was a congeries of unadulterated nonsense reduced to a system.[253] However, a gradual improvement has been made, and in recent years all of the new drivers have gone around the “Loop” with a naturalist. From him they received helpful suggestions relative to natural interpretation. A few days after one of these induction tours the following conversation was reported to have taken place when passing a beaver dam: “Now, there is a beaver dam, but where are the dam beavers?” The driver straightened up and replied, “I’ll be damned if I know.”
At this point it should be remembered that, although the great concourse visit Yellowstone in cars, many tourists come in buses, motorcycles, and bicycles. It should also be noted that travel by horseback has always persisted. Until the advent of the automobile this method was in general use. Indeed, firms were organized to provide grand tours of several weeks’ duration. The Howard Eaton Trail and various adjuncts are still used by horseback parties each summer. In fact, several trail-riding associations sponsor these trips under competent leadership. In this manner an excellent Park tradition is being sustained for the benefit and enjoyment of a chosen few possessed of the necessary time and hardihood.
In 1936 the long-expected union of transportation and accommodations took place. The Yellowstone Park Transportation Company acquired all of the housing facilities and deleted the word Transportation from its title.[254] In analyzing the business of previous years, President William M. Nichols and his associates noticed a definite trend away from commercial transportation and first class American plan hotel accommodations. Therefore, they rapidly expanded the lower-priced cabins, together with cafeterias and coffee shops. They are now pursuing a carefully worked out program of improvement. Practical pre-fabricated cabins are to be established in well-arranged units in every station.[255] In 1956 the company had available some 3,150 rooms or units of lodging, with an aggregate capacity for housing 8,500 people. These accommodations consist of hotels, lodges, and housekeeping cabins. The services of twenty-seven hundred employees were required to operate these facilities. The annual Park population census taken on August 9, 12, and 14, 1955, disclosed an average population of 14,912 for the three days. Of this number 11,183 were visitors while 3,729 were employees. The grand total for the 1955 season was 1,368,515 visitors.
Tourists require many things besides food and shelter. Yellowstone’s policy has favored making these wants attainable. In this field regulations have also modified certain practices common to general business conditions. Franchises have been kept at a minimum, and competition does not exist within a particular camp. However, Park merchants are required to keep their prices in line with the index of the market area.
Motion pictures and other forms of indoor recreation are conspicuously absent, although the lodges sponsor two hours of entertainment and dancing for their guests and the public at large. These also function to keep the employees contented.
A general statement having been made, a brief sketch of Yellowstone’s business enterprises would be in order. Frank Jay Haynes, the pioneer photographer, built his first picture shop at Mammoth in 1884. Since that time a Haynes Studio has been a familiar institution in Yellowstone camps. Another Mammoth Hot Springs store was opened in 1889 by Ole Anderson. For a time he was allowed to sell bottles of highly colored Park sand and also specimens coated with calcium carbonate. This store was purchased by Anna K. Pryor and Elizabeth Trischman in 1908. They soon reorganized it into the Park Curio and Coffee Shop. Later they acquired the Mammoth general store and a grocery store near Canyon Junction. The latter had been established by a released Park soldier, George Whittaker.
The first store in the Upper Geyser Basin was built by Henry E. Klamer in 1897. A ten-year franchise for a geyser water swimming pool was granted Henry J. Brothers in 1914. The following year Charles A. Hamilton acquired control of these interests and laid the foundation for a thriving business there. Hamilton also has general stores at Thumb, Lake, and Fishing Bridge, and in 1953 acquired the Pryor interests in the Park.
The Yellowstone Park Service Stations are owned jointly by Hamilton Stores, Inc. and the Yellowstone Park Company. Gasoline, oil, and supplies are available at the lone multi-pump service station assigned to each camp.[256] The public garage business is in the hands of the Yellowstone Park Company. Thus, it is obvious that all of the Park’s mercantile business is the concern of three operators, Haynes, Hamilton, and the Yellowstone Park Company. Each operates under the terms of a government franchise and is subject to National Park Service regulation and supervision at all times.
The essential public utilities are provided by the National Park Service. They consist of public camp grounds with cement cooking units, toilet facilities, telephones, water, lights, and sewage disposal. These substantial projects have been developed through the years with a capital expenditure that runs in excess of a million dollars.[257]
In 1912 a general hospital was built in Mammoth. It is closely affiliated with a similar institution in Livingston, Montana. Medical doctors and trained nurses are on duty at the principal stations throughout the Park. This arrangement assures the public of medical attention in case of accidents or illness.