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Until 1908, Yellowstone National Park belonged only to a small group of hearty souls and dedicated travelers who were determined to explore the park’s wonders. On a fateful June day of that year, the iron horse arrived at a small Montana town just west of the park’s boundary. That town was West Yellowstone and since then trains - now roads - bring multitudes of tourists to Yellowstone’s spectacular sites. That innovation heralded the tourism industry that made West Yellowstone what it is today.
The years before railroad access mainly brought visitors coming from nearby territories. A journey into Yellowstone Country at that time required lengthy planning. To help with the task, a primitive service industry quickly developed to cater to visitor’s needs and to provide transport to, from, and through the park. Gilman Sawtell of Henry’s Lake, Idaho and namesake for Sawtell Peak just south of West Yellowstone, was one of these original guides. He offered travel packages into Yellowstone via the West Entrance.
Prior to railroads, people arrived in wagons, which must have been substantially more difficult. The first known wagon trip arrived in 1877. These transportation pioneers were forced to unload and disassemble their wagons to cross the original bridge built across the Yellowstone River.
In 1881, the first stagecoach tours, operated by Marshall and Goff Stage Lines of Virginia City, Montana, arrived. They traveled up the Madison River to the Lower Geyser Basin to Marshall’s hotel at the confluence of Nez Perce Creek and the Firehole River.
As access became easier, more people visited the area, bringing on the era of modern tourism. It would still take time, though, and through the 1880’s, the railroad lines gradually drew closer to Yellowstone. Soon people only needed one or two days, instead of the traditional week, to reach the park by stage coach or horseback.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which had been given responsibility for park maintenance, worked busily to upgrade existing roads, bridges, and access, creating the present day Grand Loop.
Throughout the 1890’s the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads heavily promoted visits to Yellowstone, and the number of visitors steadily increased. In 1893 the Northern Pacific reached the north entrance at Gardiner.
In 1905, railroad executives from the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific lines met behind closed doors at the Lake Hotel. Although it is not known for certain what was said at the meeting, most historians believe that officials of the two railroads agreed on a deal to share hotel rooms built by the Northern Pacific within the park.
Upon leaving the meeting, Union Pacific president, Mr. E.H. Harriman gave the orders to begin the extension of the Oregon Short Line Branch from Ashton, Idaho, to the West boundary of Yellowstone National Park. By 1906, the line was at Big Springs, Idaho just across Targhee Pass, and on June 11, 1908, the first train of visitors arrived at the West Entrance on the Union Pacific’s ”Yellowstone Special.” For fifty-two years, the Oregon Short Line would offer train service into West.
The Town of West Yellowstone sprang up in the summer of 1908 at the terminus of the Oregon Short Line branch at the West Gate of Yellowstone.
By the end of the first decade of the 1900s, the private automobile was becoming increasingly popular. By 1915 the pressure from motorists, automobile businessmen and nearby towns was so great that Yellowstone was opened to automobiles for the first time. That first year, they shared the roads with the stagecoaches, which was an incredible challenge.
Within a year of enduring automobile traffic, Yellowstone’s roads were decimated and officials realized that they needed to widen bridges and redo the road system. Winter storms, spring thaws and summer showers created natural obstacles, rendering many roads impassable. In the mid 1930’s park roads were paved for the first time.
With the advent of the automobile, the pace of life in West Yellowstone started to pick up. With more and more people arriving by auto, the town site, leased from the Gallatin National Forest, continued to grow.
World War II brought a pause in visitation due to gas rationing and a discontinuation of train service. After the War, most people abandoned the trains for their personal automobiles. The town boomed, and more visitor services sprang up to cater to the summer trade. The 1950s saw a few adventurous folks start using snowmobiles to visit the park in the winter.
By the time train service to West was discontinued in 1960, service had declined to two trains a week, from a height of two a day in its heyday. In 1971, Yellowstone opened officially for the winter. Today snowmobiling is one of West’s most important industries.
West Yellowstone sees thousands of tourists each winter. Like the introduction of the automobile, the introduction of snow machines into the park has raised controversy and questions of how best to handle the numbers of people who want to visit Yellowstone in the winter.
Whatever the future holds, from monorails to a park bus system, West Yellowstone will be here celebrating its role in the development of transportation and visitation to Yellowstone National Park.
For more information, please contact the West Yellowstone Historical Society, P.O. Box 1225, West Yellowstone, MT. 59758, (406) 646-7461.
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