Grand Hotels Step Back In Time With A Stay Amid Old West History

Whether simple boarding houses at railheads, or roadhouses along stagecoach routes, or elegant big-city showcases for the rich and famous, hotels have played a role in America’s history.

Each one has its own character and ambience. If the walls could talk, imagine the stories they could tell.

Montana has many often-overlooked historic hotels that have been preserved by their owners. These are places where you can turn back the clock to the days when hotels were social institutions and not merely a place to rest your head.

Some of the hotels are members of the Historic Hotels of America Association, which fosters an appreciation of fine craftsmanship, integrity and authenticity by protecting the legacy of historic hotels.

This article contains a sampling of Montana’s historical hostels, where you can experience more than a night’s sleep. When you check in, you will wonder whom you might meet and see. You’ll rub elbows with cowboys, railroaders, authors, celebrities, politicians and other travelers like yourself. Come and listen to the conversations among cattle and sheep ranchers, small town politicians and general travelers.

Gallatin Gateway Inn, Gallatin Gateway

The Gallatin Gateway Inn was built in four months by 500 workers and first opened on June 27, 1927. It was intended to be one of the grand railroad hotels for the opening of the West, and it served as a destination summer resort for Yellowstone Park visitors.

After years of abuse and neglect, the inn has been painstakingly restored to showcase its original craftsmanship, with Polynesian mahogany woodwork, decoratively carved beams and high arched windows. The original railroad clock in the lobby continues to keep accurate time.

The original 35 rooms now offer the flexibility of single, double or two-room suites. No two rooms are alike. Rates range from $60 to $85. (406) 763-4672 or (800) 676-3522.

The Grand Hotel, Big Timber

The Grand was built in 1890 and has retained its original pressed tin ceiling in the lobby. The sunlit Victorian-era rooms have high ceilings and period furnishings.

In keeping with the era, the hotel offers shared bath facilities. There are two bathrooms with clawfoot tubs, pedestal basins and elevated tank toilets; two lavatory rooms with commode and basin; and two shower rooms. These nostalgic facilities brought back childhood memories as I soaked in the large clawfoot tub and pulled the chain on the famous Thomas Crapper-style toilet. (Thomas Crapper was the English plumber who invented the “valveless water waste preventer” and perfected the “flusher,” which also became known by such names as the biffy and throne.)

The original sitting room at the top of the wooden staircase still offers overstuffed chairs from which to discreetly observe hotel patrons from over the top of a newspaper.

Room rates range from $55 to $125. Breakfast is included. (406) 932-4459.

Kalispell Grand Hotel, Kalispell

The Kalispell Grand was constructed in 1911 and is an historic landmark. It played host to the well-to-do travelers arriving in the Flathead Valley by the Great Northern Railway. Its original guest room rate was $2 a night, which was twice the going rate of any other hotel in town. The red brick building has retained the original stately decor of oak staircase, high pressed tin ceilings and terrazzo flooring.

There are 40 guest rooms of varying sizes. The rooms are richly appointed with dark cherrywood furnishings. Double occupancy rates begin at $40. (406) 755-8100 or (800) 858-7422.

Murray Hotel, Livingston

The Murray Hotel is an antiquated classic, which originally opened for business in 1897 as the Elite Hotel. As with many fine hotels, it was built near a railroad depot, which is also a historic landmark in Livingston. The hotel was and still is one of Livingston’s premier dining, drinking and meeting places.

During the filming of the movie “A River Runs Through It,” Robert Redford was a frequent visitor to the Murray Bar. Hollywood director Sam Peckinpah listed the Murray as one of his homes, and he was known to occasionally fire a shot through the ceiling of his suite, as evidenced by the reported ten holes that needed patching.

Humorist Will Rogers and his friend and railroad tycoon, Walter Hill, tried to bring a favorite saddle horse to a third floor suite on the hand-cranked, 1905 Otis elevator.

The lobby has 700 square feet of marble, and there is a marble staircase that climbs to the 32 rooms. You can still ride up in the original elevator. The rooms have historic photos on the walls and turn-of-the-century furnishings. Room rates range from $39 to $49, and suites range from $75 to $150. (406) 222-1350.

The Pollard Hotel, Red Lodge

Red Lodge is the town where the Sundance Kid, Kid Curry and the Wild Bunch attempted to rob the Carbon County bank and where a famous mountain man, “Liver Eating” Johnston, was the constable. Johnston, Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, William and Marcus Daly (the copper kings), General Nelson Miles (a noted soldier during the Indian Wars) and William Jennings Bryan (orator) stayed at the hotel, which was the first brick structure in town in 1893.

The Pollard is the centerpiece for the town’s historical district. It has been newly renovated in rich colors and oak trim and furnishings. The use of natural lighting lends a special warmth. Double occupancy rates range from $75 to $175 and include breakfast and use of the indoor health club. 406-446-0001 or 800-POLLARD.

Sacajawea Inn, Three Forks

The inn was originally called the Madison House, which was built in 1882 at the original town site (now known as Old Town) near the headwaters of the Missouri River. Because of frequent flooding and the chosen depot location for the Milwaukee Railroad, the Madison House was cut in half and moved on log rollers. A team of horses pulled the building to its present-day site. In 1910, the center portion of the inn was built to connect the two halves. It was then renamed after the Indian woman Sacajawea, who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition in the Three Forks area.

The high-ceiling rooms are comfortably furnished with antique-inspired furniture and have private baths. Double occupancy rates range between $59 and $89, depending on number and size of beds in the room. The rate includes a continental breakfast served in the lobby. (406) 285-6515 or (800) 821-7326.