Marshall's Hotel
Encyclopedia
Marshall's Hotel, subsequently known as the Firehole Hotel was the first public accommodations built in the Firehole River
geyser basins of Yellowstone National Park
and among the earliest tourist hotels in Yellowstone. The first hotel was built in 1880 by George W. Marshall (1846–1917) and his partner John B. Goff and was located just west of confluence of the Firehole River and Nez Perce Creek. A second hotel, the Firehole Hotel, was built in 1884 in partnership with George Graham Henderson very near the present day Nez Perce Picnic area. The hotels operated for eleven years under various ownership ceasing operation in 1891. By 1895, all the structures except a few cabins associated with the two hotels had been razed
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to Mammoth Hot Springs
in 1879. It was cancelled at the end of that year. The route from Virginia City to Mammoth took Marshall over the Madison Plateau on the Old Fountain Pack Trail (abandoned today). This trail passed right by the confluence of the Firehole River and Nez Perce Creek on its way to Mammoth. Upon losing his mail contract, Marshall chose to build a cabin on the Firehole River with the aim of servicing visitors to the park.
In the 1881 season, there were six rooms in the hotel, a lounge, a dining room, a kitchen and quarters for the Marshalls. There were two guest rooms. An 1881 visitor described the hotel thus:
. Once Henderson and Klamer owned the property, they renamed it The Firehole Hotel.
Unfavorable accounts from visitors such as this one did not help the hotel:
The location of Marshall's was fully a 1 miles (1.6 km) away from the nearest geysers and plans were being made for bigger and better hotels at Lake Hotel and at the Fountain Paint Pots. Army administration of the park had allowed significant improvement of the park's road system and travel time between attractions were significantly shorter than a decade previous. The Yellowstone Park Association constructed the significantly larger and more luxurious Fountain Hotel
very near Fountain Paint Pots
in 1890 and opened it in the spring of 1891. By June 1891, all the old Marshall or Firehole Hotel properties had been vacated and operations transferred to the Fountain Hotel. The Fountain Hotel operated until 1916. Most of the older Marshall buildings were burned in 1891, but a few survived until 1895 when the Firehole Hotel itself was razed.
,ensured a proper burial, memorial and fenced in tombstone near the hotel. The grave is visible today a few 100 feet (30.5 m) west of the Nez Perce Picnic Area.
Firehole River
The Firehole River is one of two major tributaries of the Madison River. It flows north approximately from its source in Madison Lake on the Continental Divide to join the Gibbon River at Madison Junction in Yellowstone National Park...
geyser basins of Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
and among the earliest tourist hotels in Yellowstone. The first hotel was built in 1880 by George W. Marshall (1846–1917) and his partner John B. Goff and was located just west of confluence of the Firehole River and Nez Perce Creek. A second hotel, the Firehole Hotel, was built in 1884 in partnership with George Graham Henderson very near the present day Nez Perce Picnic area. The hotels operated for eleven years under various ownership ceasing operation in 1891. By 1895, all the structures except a few cabins associated with the two hotels had been razed
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
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1880-1884
George Marshall had a U.S. government mail contract to carry mail from Virginia City, MontanaVirginia City, Montana
Virginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. In 1961, the town and the surrounding area was designated a National Historic Landmark District, the Virginia City Historic District...
to Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate...
in 1879. It was cancelled at the end of that year. The route from Virginia City to Mammoth took Marshall over the Madison Plateau on the Old Fountain Pack Trail (abandoned today). This trail passed right by the confluence of the Firehole River and Nez Perce Creek on its way to Mammoth. Upon losing his mail contract, Marshall chose to build a cabin on the Firehole River with the aim of servicing visitors to the park.
In the 1881 season, there were six rooms in the hotel, a lounge, a dining room, a kitchen and quarters for the Marshalls. There were two guest rooms. An 1881 visitor described the hotel thus:
1885
In May 1885, Marshall (age 39) and his wife Sarah, and four children having spent four seasons, including four winters in Yellowstone decided to sell out. He sold his interest in the hotel to his partner George Graham Henderson. Henderson had partnered with Henry Klamer, the son-in-law of George L. Henderson (no relation) the owner of the Cottage Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs. Klamer would later be the owner of the Old Faithful store that is now known as the Lower Hamilton StoreHamilton's Stores (Yellowstone National Park)
Hamilton's Stores were concessioners in Yellowstone National Park from 1915 to 2002. The stores were founded by Winnipeg native Charles Hamilton, who arrived in Yellowstone in 1905, aged 21, to work for the Yellowstone Park Association. The stores provided food, souvenirs and sundries to tourists...
. Once Henderson and Klamer owned the property, they renamed it The Firehole Hotel.
1886-1891
In 1886, through a series of ownership transfers, the hotel became the property of the Yellowstone Park Association, owned by Charles Gibson. The Association was becoming the preeminent concessionaire in the park at the time. They were building the Mammoth Hotel (completed in 1886), operated tent hotels at Norris and Canyon, and eventually completed the first Canyon Hotel in 1890. Park visitation was increasing every year and these hotels—Mammoth and Canyon were setting a new standard; one that Marshall's could not meet. In 1886, the U.S. Army took charge of Yellowstone, and then military superintendent Captain Moses Harris began a campaign to rid the park of this particular hotel. In official reports he wrote:Unfavorable accounts from visitors such as this one did not help the hotel:
The location of Marshall's was fully a 1 miles (1.6 km) away from the nearest geysers and plans were being made for bigger and better hotels at Lake Hotel and at the Fountain Paint Pots. Army administration of the park had allowed significant improvement of the park's road system and travel time between attractions were significantly shorter than a decade previous. The Yellowstone Park Association constructed the significantly larger and more luxurious Fountain Hotel
Fountain Hotel
The Fountain Hotel is a historic former hotel in downtown St. Marys, Ohio, United States. Built in 1889 in a mixture of the Queen Anne and Victorian architectural styles, the hotel building sits in the 100 block of West Spring Street....
very near Fountain Paint Pots
Fountain Paint Pots
The Fountain Paint Pot is a mud pot located in Lower Geyser basin in Yellowstone National Park.The Fountain Paint Pot is named for the reds, yellows and browns of the mud in this area. The differing colors are derived from oxidation states of the iron in the mud. As with all hot springs, the heat...
in 1890 and opened it in the spring of 1891. By June 1891, all the old Marshall or Firehole Hotel properties had been vacated and operations transferred to the Fountain Hotel. The Fountain Hotel operated until 1916. Most of the older Marshall buildings were burned in 1891, but a few survived until 1895 when the Firehole Hotel itself was razed.
Notable visitors and events
- In September 1885, the son of General Oliver O. HowardOliver O. HowardOliver Otis Howard was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War...
of the Nez Perce War of 1877Nez Perce WarThe Nez Perce War was an armed conflict between the Nez Perce and the United States government fought in 1877 as part of the American Indian Wars. After a series of battles in which both the U.S. Army and native people sustained significant casualties, the Nez Perce surrendered and were relocated...
, 19 year old John Howard was visiting the park with his brother James, General Howard, his wife and John's fiancee, a Miss Chase. During their stay at Marshall's, James and John got in a very heated argument over Miss Chase. After another argument with Miss Chase herself, John Howard attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest. He survived and convalesced in the hotel, but the incident made two separate editions of the Livingston EnterpriseLivingston, Montana-Geography:Livingston is located at , at an altitude of 4.501 feet .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.38% is waters.-Climate:-Demographics:...
. - Known to have stayed at the hotel in 1881 were Wyoming Territorial Governor John W. HoytJohn Wesley HoytDr. John Wesley Hoyt was an American politician and educator.Born in Worthington, Ohio, in 1831, he graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and attained a medical degree from Eclectic Medical Institute in Ohio. He moved to Wisconsin in 1857 and became active in politics...
and then Senator Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
(later the 23rd President of the United States). - Sarah and George Marshall's fourth child Rosa Park Marshall was born at the hotel on January 31, 1881. Rosa Marshall is purportedly the first white child born in the park. Northern Pacific RailwayNorthern Pacific RailwayThe Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
surveyors working is North Dakota in 1882 named Rosa Lake 48°50′14"N 097°45′09"W, a small lake near Cavalier, ND in her honor. - During the 1884 season, noted naturalist, George Bird GrinnellGeorge Bird GrinnellGeorge Bird Grinnell was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880. Originally specializing in zoology, he became a prominent early conservationist and student...
visited Marshall's and later wrote the following in Forest and StreamForest and StreamForest and Stream was a magazine featuring hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. Founded in 1873, it was the ninth oldest magazine in the United States....
about the site as he approached from the west:
- In 1886, Charles Warren StoddardCharles Warren StoddardCharles Warren Stoddard was an American author and editor.-Life and works:Charles Warren Stoddard was born in Rochester, New York on August 7, 1843. He was descended in a direct line from Anthony Stoddard of England, who settled at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1639...
Mattie Culver grave
One of the few marked graves in Yellowstone outside of the Mammoth Hot Springs area is that of Mattie S. Culver, age 30, who died of childbirth at the hotel on March 2, 1889. Mrs. Culver was the wife of the hotel's winter keeper, E. C. Culver. Because of frozen ground at the time, Culver's body was stored in two end-to-end barrels outside the hotel until spring. Adelaide Child, the wife of the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company president Harry W. ChildHarry W. Child
Harry W. Child was an entrepreneur who managed development and ranching companies in southern Montana. He was most notable as a founder and longtime president of the Yellowstone Park Company, which provided accommodation and transportation to visitors to Yellowstone National Park from 1892 to 1980...
,ensured a proper burial, memorial and fenced in tombstone near the hotel. The grave is visible today a few 100 feet (30.5 m) west of the Nez Perce Picnic Area.