West Yellowstone, Montana
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Ask nonresidents what makes West Yellowstone special, and they'll mention its proximity to Yellowstone National Park.
Well, they're half right. The town and Yellowstone Park are intricately intertwined, but that's merely the veneer on a close-knit mountain community. West Yellowstone has heart, soul, heritage, and family.
In the early 1900s the Union Pacific Railroad wanted a rail line to Yellowstone National Park's western boundary in order to better access famous thermal features. A rough stagecoach road following the Madison River into Yellowstone already existed. The flat, tree-covered ground where this road entered Yellowstone was the obvious terminal site for Union Pacific.
At first, residents simply called it "Terminus," and later, "Boundary." Eventually, the name "Yellowstone" emerged. But as Yellowstone (the town) could be too easily confused with Yellowstone (the park) the village officially became West Yellowstone in 1920.
The Old Union Pacific Ticket Office in Heritage Park is today the Yellowstone Museum, with a fine Old West collection and railroad memorabilia.
The Union Pacific dining hall still exists as well. Trains used to pull up on its south side, where uniformed "Beanery Queens" welcomed descending passengers with song before serving them piping-hot breakfasts inside.
Between the ticket office and dining hall sits a small, obscure stone building with a fascinating past. Long ago it was the baggage office, processing all passenger luggage along with licit and illicit freight. Prohibition saw bushels of "feed corn" entering West while kegs of Yellowstone "spring water" departed for speakeasies across the nation. Yellowstone Spring Water is still bottled in West, although today's version is pure H2O.
The Madison Hotel was built in 1912 by Dolly and Roxy Bartlett after their arduous trek to Yellowstone on foot. Eagle's Store stands on the same corner where Sam and Ida Eagle constructed their first store in 1908, and an Eagle still sits behind nearly every counter. West's original one-room school house is home to Yellowstone Bicycle, and the Schoolhouse Mall occupies another multi-room version.
Of course, not everything about West Yellowstone dates back to the turn of the century. Across the street from the railroad station sit a state-of-the-art IMAX theater and the Grizzly Discovery Center, a bear and wolf preserve where eight grizzlies and a pack of 10 grey wolves live in a naturalistic habitat.
And, of course, tourists are still coming to discover "West's" neighbor, Yellowstone National Park.
Kurt Westenbarger
Want to know more? Call: 406-646-7701
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