Geyser Bob's Yellowstone Park History Service
Serving the Greater Yellowstone & Surrounding Gateway & Historic Communities
Cinnabar MT
Gardiner MT
Cooke City MT
Corwin Springs MT
Cody & North Fork
LaDuke Hot Springs
Monida & Beaver Canyon MT
West Yellowstone MT
Jardine MT
Livingston MT - Original Gateway to YNP
Cinnabar MT

Cinnabar, Montana - Yellowstone's First Gateway Community
A Pictorial History 1883 - 1903

                                                      
Copyright 2018 Robert V. Goss










The Early Days . . . .

      The small community of Cinnabar was located three-four miles north of Gardiner and was the temporary end-of-line station of the first railroad service to Yellowstone National Park. It was the primary gateway to the park from 1883 to 1903. The town’s name derived from nearby Cinnabar Mountain, named during the mid-1860s by miners who originally thought the ‘red streak’ on the mountain was the mercury ore cinnabar.  In August 1870, the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition observed the formation and named it The Devil's Slide

Left: 1st photograph of Devil's Slide, W.H. Jackson, 1871, USGS
Right: Modern day view of Devil's Slide

Abel Bart Henderson, who started prospecting around Yellowstone in 1867, began building a road in 1871 from Bottler’s Ranch near Emigrant to Mammoth Hot Springs. He acquired land around Stevens Creek and he and his brothers established a ranch in 1877. Clarence Stevens, George Huston, and Joe Keeney all owned parts of the land at various times.  Huston and Keeney purchased part of the Henderson Ranch at Stephens Creek Nov. 19, 1883, which totaled 116.45 acres. They resold the land later that year to Carroll T. Hobart, a Northern Pacific RR Superintendent and manager of the Yellowstone Park Improvement Co.  A plat map was created and the site became the town of Cinnabar. Construction on the Northern Pacific's Park Branch Line began in April of 1883 from Livingston to Cinnabar and was open for business on September 1 of that year and in 1884 began in earnest transporting tourists to enjoy the breathtaking beauties of Wonderland. The Cinnabar Town Site Co. was later incorporated in 1895 by J.D. Finn, H.J. Hoppe, and A.J. Campbell.

   Left: CT Hobart Land Claim, Livingstone Enterprise, 12Dec1883
   Right: Hobart run-in w/builders for non-payment. Helena Independent Record, 21Mar1883


The Northern Pacific RR Moves in . . . .

A land dispute regarding Buckskin Jim Cutler's mining claims had prevented the railroad from extending the line to Gardiner, the desired destination. A small town quickly grew up around the Cinnabar depot and provided basic visitor services. The post office opened in 1882, in anticipation of the railroad's arrival and a small depot was soon built to accommodate travelers to the park. A variety of transportation companies sprang into existence to serve this new crowd of tourists. George W. Wakefield and Charles W. Hoffman of Bozeman established the Wakefield & Hoffman stage line early in 1883 and provided service from Cinnabar to Mammoth and into the park under an exclusive agreement with Yellowstone Park Association (YPA). They had previously operated from Livingston to Cinnabar until NPRR’s line was open to Cinnabar. The following year local rancher A.W Chadbourn began hauling tourists into the park from Cinnabar. It was noted in 1893 that he added $2,000 worth of Concord coaches and surreys to his outfit. 

Right: A.W. Chadbourn, Livingston Enterprise, 1Jan1900  
Left: 1883 ad for GW Wakefield Stage Line, YNP Archives  


To read a summary of the proposed and hotly debated bill in 1884 to allow a railroad to be built to Cooke City within the northern boundary of Yellowstone Park, scroll to the bottom of this page.





Cinnabar with NPRR train ca1880s. W.A. Hall store at right.
From old newspaper article

Cinnabar Valley looking toward town with Yankee Jim Canyon in background - Stereoview
 

Top: Undated photo of Cinnabar
Doris Whithorn, Aldridge Book
Bottom: Train arrival in Cinnabar
Burton Holmes Yellowstone Travelogues
Top: Train and Tally-Ho coach at Cinnabar ca1895. Anon. photo
Bottom: Passengers loading up for Yellowstone
Burton Holmes Yellowstone Travelogues
Top: Cinnabar Hotel and north end of town.
Autry Museum of the American West
Bottom: Specimen Schmidt selling artifacts from "out of the park"

   August “Specimen” Schmidt, a German immigrant and Civil War veteran, was a colorful character that dwelled in the small burg of Cinnabar, MT area from the late 1870s to 1914. The town had slowly sprung up in 1883 with the arrival of the Northern Pacific railroad and boomed in its small way until 1903 when the rail line continued some 3-4 miles on into Gardiner, on the northern border of Yellowstone. Schmidt earned his daily bread by offering local specimens to the traveling public. He set up a small table near the depot and hawked his wares for about 20 years (See photo above at right). He peddled petrified wood, common in the mountains above town, and probably agates, deer/antelope horns, and no doubt whatever else he could find in the surrounding hills and valleys that he reckoned would appeal to the public. That income, along with a small stipend from the government for his service during the Civil War apparently met his meager needs. Schmidt, sometimesreferred to as "Specimen Smith," spent June to September every summer peddling his wares to the tourists, while during the off-season spent his days exploring the nearby mountains and canvassing the area gathering his specimens, and then preparing them for the following summer in his humble cabin on Cedar Creek.
Schmidt was a crafty fellow and created a sign for his specimen stand that read, “For Sale – Specimens from Out of the Park.” His intent, of course, was to beguile the public into thinking his goods were from Yellowstone Park. His plan generally worked well, almost too well on one occasion. Sometime in the 1890s, Acting Superintendent Capt. George Anderson got wind of “Specimen Schmidt’s” sign and rushed down to Cinnabar to lambast the old gent for daring to sell Yellowstone curiosities. According to a story told by park photographer Jack Haynes, Anderson, a robust man with red hair and temper to match, “. . . laced into Shultz [Schmidt] without preliminaries. The old German took some stiff abuse before his opportunity for a rebuttal. “Captain, I vas careful mid dot sign; you see it says ‘specimens from out of the park, ’nod from in the Park.””  
    Occasionally Schmidt would be joined on the platform by Calamity Jane, who was known to hang out in the Horr and surrounding areas in the late 1890s to early 1900s. When she was not drinking or carousing, she might be found in Cinnabar hawking a picture of herself and a small autobiography she had printed up. Schmidt, who was a great enthusiast for the 4th of July, certainly would have been around Calamity in 1894 when she was in Cinnabar to celebrate. Ida McPherren, resident of Cinnabar and great niece to Hugo Hoppe, recalled Jane’s appearance there: She was “dressed in buckskin trousers, fringed buckskin jacket and a man’s wide brimmed hat." Calamity was "in the height of her glory because she was creating a sensation.” She also went into Yellowstone to peddle her wares at the various camps or hotels.

Left: Calamity Jane in her typical photographic mode uf dress, undated.
Right: Calamity Jane in dress (right) at Larry's Lunch Station at Norris, Burton Holmes, 1905
After Cinnabar closed up in 1903, Schmidt continued to live in his cabin on Cedar Creek on the Hoppe ranch near the rail line until his dying day, waving to the tourists on the train as it passed by.  "Specimen" Schmidt quietly passed way on June 29, 1914. His body was wrapped in an American flag and transported into Gardiner where he was interred in the local cemetery.

Right: August "Specimen" Schmidt with Paul Hoppe, Yellowstone Gateway Museum  
Left: August Schmidt Tombstone, Gardiner Cemetery


Yellowstone Adventures Await . . .

Beginning in the 1884 Yellowstone summer season (June-mid-Sept), trains ran daily from Livingston to Cinnabar, in both directions transporting tourists in and out of Yellowstone. (During the off-season trains ran one to three days a week, depending on demand)  Most visitors utilized the services of the authorized transportation carrier of the Yellowstone National Park Improvement Co. (Yellowstone Park Association in 1886 and YPTCo in 1892). With these companies passengers would ride in Tally-Ho stagecoaches led by a team of six horses from Cinnabar to the National Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs. From there smaller 4-horse, 8-10 passenger Abbot Downing Concord coaches would carry the guests around the park, staying at different hotels for 5-6 nights before returning to Cinnabar and the train to Livingston. Other transportation companies for the traveling public were also available, including the Wylie Camping Co., A.W. Chadbourn, a number of smaller private coach companies and by the late 1890s, the Shaw & Powell Camping Co. Wylie and Shaw & Powell utilized portable tent camps with all the comforts possible, and located at all the major points of interest, with Lunch Stations along the route. Some tourists opted to hire their own carriage and these “sage brushers” traveled the park on their own accord.


6-Horse Tally-Ho stagecoach at Mammoth Hot Springs, 1903
NPS Photo 62-212

With the formation of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Co (YPTCo) in 1892, Chadbourn and many of the other small, private transportation operators were kicked out of the park after the 1893 season, however Wylie managed to continue his operation and Chadbourn and a few other managed to regain their privileges. Freight operations also developed to service the hotels in the park and the Army at Ft. Yellowstone. Hugo and W.M. Hoppe were operating the Cinnabar & Cooke Transportation Co. at least by 1886, hauling freight from the railhead at Cinnabar to the mines in Cooke City and stops in between. They also hauled freight for YPA.

Cinnabar and Cooke Transportation Co. ad  
Livingston Enterprise, 4Dec1886  


A Lady's Trip to the Yellowstone Park

By O.S.T. Drake 

A Brief Description of the Cinnabar Hotel in 1887

    ". . . Livingstone, on the Northern Pacific Line, is the station whence we took our departure for the National Park, by a short line 57 miles in length, which deposited us at Cinnabar, ten miles from the Mammoth Springs . . . Cinnabar, where the line terminated, consisted of a wayside saloon and a few huts. From here we drove to the Mammoth Springs"

    "That night [after leaving Canyon on their return] we slept in tents at Norris' Camp, breakfasted early and departed, reaching the Mammoth Springs again at noon ; then on to Cinnabar; the scenery very lovely. High on a sharp rock above the Yellowstone river we spied the eyrie of an eagle, which resembled a mass of sticks on the edge of a perfectly inaccessible rock. There sat the eagle, showing her white throat, sunning herself in her majestic solitude. The hotel at Cinnabar turned out to be a little timber house, consisting of a bar and back parlour, and two or three bed-rooms above. A married couple kept the house ; the wife said she had never had a lady under her roof before. They gave me a very clean bed-room, provided with the only jug and basin in the house. There was no door, but she nailed a sheet over the door-way and unnailed it in the morning ; the food was excellent, and the good woman waxed quite pathetic in her regrets over the fact that we were hardly likely again to meet in this world. Next morning we took the train at Livingstone, and pursued our journey to New York."

from: "Every Girl"s Annual" 1887. Edited by Alicia A. Leith



Affairs of Business . . .

A number of business operations were conducted in Cinnabar between from 1883 - 1903. Although the community got off to a slow start, businesses increased their presence as tourist crowds increased. Some of these businesses are listed below, in no particlular order. Obviously not all operated at the same time, and several are the same but with different owners/managers:

·         Hugo J. Hoppe, among the earliest gold miners at Virginia City Mt., he came to Cinnabar in the mid 1880s and received title to 160 acres of land in the area. He formed the Cinnabar and Cooke Transportation Co. and by 1885 had established the somewhat crude log Cinnabar Hotel that came under the ownership of several individuals over the years including his son Walter, who had been managing the saloon associated with the hotel. A stable and blacksmith shop was also a part of the hotel operation.

·         Lee B. Hoppe, Hugo’s son, operated the Cinnabar Store, advertised in 1892 as the only store in town.

·         Joe Keeney ran a couple of saloons and boarding house, in addition to the hotel for a time.

·         T.J. Loughlin & F.R. Brazil operated a restaurant and saloon in the mid-1880s.

·         W.A. Hall, Golden Rule Cash Store beginning in 1892 and operated camping outfit with teams, wagons & drivers. Click Here for Wonderland Ad

·         O.M. Hefferlin of Livingston operated the OK Store for time.

·         Larry Link, later of Gardiner fame, ran a saloon and pool hall with Alfred R. Christie. He reportedly also operated the Link & George saloon.

Hobbs & Link, National Park Hack & Express Line, 1884

Earley & Holmes, Livery Feed and Sale Horses, ca1883-84

·         W.W. Wylie, who operated the Wylie Permanent Camping Co. into and around Yellowstone, maintained a barn and livery for his equipment to transport visitors on tours of the park.

·         Shaw & Powell arranged camping trips into the park from the Cinnabar Depot and no doubt had some transportation facilities in the area.

·         A.T. French operated the Cooke Transportation Line in the late 1880s.

·         A.W. Chadbourn provided passenger service to Yellowstone in 1884 and later operated a park camping company in conjunction with his business.

Wilbur Williams, Daily Stage & Express, Yellowstone, Gardiner, Cinnabar

·         During 1898 the Report of the Acting Superintendent of Yellowstone listed the following parties from Cinnabar licensed to guide camping parties into the park: AW Chadbourn, CC Chadbourn, EC Sandy, CT Smith, Frank Holem, Adam Gassert, WJ Kupper, Henry George, JW Taylor, HM Gore, RH Menefee and GW Reese.


A.W. Chadbourn
from Livingston Enterprise, 1Jan1900
W.W. Wylie Camping Co.
from Anaconda Standard, 14Aug1896
 Shaw & Powell Camping Co.
from Livingston Enterprise, 1Jan1900
 Hugo J. Hoppe
from Livingston Enterprise, 1Jan1900

M. A. Holem
This general store, conducted by M. A. Holem, has had a successful business career, first starting in August, 1897, with a small stock in a room at the corner of Main street and South avenue. By trying to please the public in honest prices and just deal ings, M. A. Holem was forced to establish herself in larger quarters, now occupying the postoffice building near the Park line depot. The stock is now complete in its line as to the present demands of its patronage, carrying a neat line of gloves, stationery, patent medicines, cigars and tobaccos, fruits, confectionery and toilet articles. M. A. Holem is also postmistress, and besides waiting on the public in a pleasant and congenial way, she is
numbered as one of the promoters in any enterprise that has a tendency to develop the town.
Obit: Anaconda Standard, 5Dec1918 
Smith & Holem
The Smith & Holem Stage and Trans portation line for Yellowstone Park make a specialty of catering to the desires of tourists in furnishing local camps with hacks, carriages and saddle horses for their conveyances. Competent drivers and guides are provided, with headquarters at Cinnabar, Montana. Their patronage are always delighted on a return trip through the Park, as they know that with these experienced pioneers they have certainly seen all there is to be seen, and not that they have merely passed through it in a hurried manner. Messrs. Smith & Holem are so wellequipped with outfits that they can accom modate any number of tourists, who are ready to start for Wonderland, immediately after the arrival of trains. Cleanliness, courtesy and a jovial spirit are ele ments that are prominent throughout their trips.
Ad: Wonderland, 26Mar1903 
Text: Livingstone Enterprise, 1Jan1900

Cooke Transportation Line
  Livingston Enterprise, 30Nov1889
 Link Saloon
  Livingston Enterprise, 4Jun1892
 Loughlin & Brazil Saloon
Livingston Enterprise, 25Apr1885
 The Cinnabar Store
  Livingston Enterprise, 28May1892

 Cinnabar Hotel - Hoppe
  Livingston Enterprise, 23Jan1886
 Cinnabar Hotel - WA Hall
  Livingston Enterprise, 20Jun1891
 W.A. Hall Store
  Livingston Enterprise, 20Jun1933
 W.A. Hall Store
  Livingston Post, 26Mar1900


A hotel in Cinnabar has been noted as early as 1885. Prior to that, the Northern Pacific RR had a pair of sleeper and dining cars stationed at Cinnabar for the use of Yellowstone travelers awaiting transport to or from town.  Hugo Hoppe built the original log cabin hotel. It was rebuilt/replaced ca1889, probably by miner/businessman Joe Keeney. It had a number of owners/managers over the years, including Hugo Hoppe, Walter M. Hoppe, Joe Keeney, M.T. Williams, W.A. Hall and finally Geo. L Hoppe. George had previously been running the saloon in the hotel.


W.A. Hall
originally operated a Golden Rule (Cash Store) store in the coal mining town of Aldridge, but seeing the potential business advantages of the tourist trade and rail access in Cinnabar, Hall established a new store in that town late in 1892. The W.A. Hall Company at Cinnabar housed a general store, a beer hall and a restaurant. Hall closed the store down and moved his stock to Gardiner in 1903 when the railroad continued on to Gardiner and the town of Cinnabar was abandoned. He also closed his store in Aldridge, but served the area by delivery wagon for a few years.


Earley & Holmes Livery
Livingston Daily Enterprise, 24Oct1883
Hobbs & Link Livery
Livingston Daily Enterprise, 9Sep1884
Wakefield & Hoffman Stages
  Livingston Daily Enterprise, 25Jan1884
Article Regarding
Preparations for tourist Season
Livingston Enterprise, 4Jun1892


The Coal Mines . . .

Horr (named Electric after 1904) was the site of the coke ovens of the Park Coke and Coal Company. The name was bestowed upon it in honor of either Harry Horr, the discoverer of the coal mines in the vicinity, or Major Jos. L. Horr, who in 1884 opened up, the coal mines. On Oct 22, 1887, The Livingston Enterprise announced the shipment of the first three carloads of coal on the Park train to Livingston and Butte. The village itself came into existence in 1888 as a result of the commencement of operations there by the Park Coal & Coke Co. The coal was mined nearby in a community that acquired the name of Aldridge in 1896. On July 1, 1888 the Horr post office opened with Laura A. Pinkston as postmistress. During the nineties the Montana Coal & Coke company became the owners of the property and by the year 1900 quite rapid advancement was made in the little village owing to the increased activities of the company. [An Illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley, Western Historical Publishing Co., Spokane WA, 1907]

Cinnabar was also an important rail station for the gold mines of Bear Gulch/Jardine and Cooke City areas. Mining supplies were carried to Cinnabar from all over the country and delivered by various freight carriers in Cinnabar for transport to these areas. Gold, silver, and other ores and bullion were likewise transported by rail from Cinnabar, as was travertine from the quarries above Gardiner.

Right Top: Aldridge, undated photo, Goss Collection  
Right Bot: Electric, undated postcard view, Goss Collection 
 


The Final Days . . . .

    In 1902 the land dispute with Jim Cutler was finally settled and the rail line continued on to Gardiner as originally planned. This move rang the death knell of the town of Cinnabar, and the small community quickly faded away after that time and the once bustling town turned into a ghost town. Cinnabar was removed as a station stop on May 3, 1903, and the post office was closed shortly after on June 15. An effort was made by the railroad to change the name of Gardiner to Cinnabar, to maintain the existing 20-year legacy of that station name, but the proud residents of Gardiner soundly defeated that effort.  Many of the Cinnabar buildings were moved into Gardiner, while others were transported to Horr. The rail depot was loaded onto a flatcar and hauled into Gardiner where it was used as the freight depot. The only remaining evidences of the site today are some depressions in the ground, a few foundation stones, and broken pieces of glass and ceramics scattered over the flats.

Cinnabar Vanishing, Billings Gazette, 10Apr1903   



The Cinnabar & Clark Fork Railroad      

    Late in 1883 efforts were made by the mining interests in Cooke City and the NPRR to extend the Park Branch line beyond Gardiner to the mines in Cooke City. This feat would have required passing through the northern border areas within Yellowstone Park. It became a volatile issue and stirred 10 years of debate in Congress. Cooke City, the greatest mining district of Montana, as described by the Livingston Enterprise, reported on Jan 5, 1884,   
... It is believed that Congress will grant the right of way through the park with little opposition, as the road will run along the ... border of the park and interfere with no point of interest. This would be a great boon to Cooke City and would increase the value of her mineral discoveries to an incalculable extent. ... Cinnabar would also have a great accession of prosperity ... even without the ore reduction works the township proprietors propose to erect.”

    Two weeks later the Enterprise noted incorporation of the line,
“The company is to build and operate a railroad from Cinnabar to Cooke City ... and it also has for an incidental object the erection of ore reduction works at Livingston. The names of the incorporators as they appear in the certificate are Col. Geo. O. Eaton and Geo. A. Huston, of Cooke City, D.E. Fogarty and Major F.D. Pease, of Livingston, and George Haldorn, of Billings, and beside those a glittering array of Eastern capitalists, some of them of national fame, are connected with the company.”

 
Bozeman Daily Chronicle 23Jan1884

    It was known as the “Bullion Railroad Company” with Capital Stock of $1,000,000 and Articles of Incorporation were filed in Jan 1884 at Helena. By February 1885 a bill was working its way through Congress that is to segregate the northern tier of Yellowstone Park into private lands so that the railroad from Cinnabar to Cooke City could build along that section of land.  Many miners, speculators and profiteers in Gardiner were awaiting news that the bill passed so that they could file claims on the most valuable pieces of property for themselves; either as homesteads, mining claims or for speculative purposes to resell to the railroad or other potential businesses.  Although the bill had merely passed the House and had not yet been considered by the Senate, through some communication error, word was put out that the bill had passed and rapidly spread through the local community. Dozens rushed out to file location notices, including, George Huston, Joe Keeney, A.L. Love, C.T. Hobart, Hugo Hoppe, Park Supt. R.E. Carpenter and assistant park superintendent S.M. Fitzgerald.  Needless to say, none of the property claims were valid as the bill never did pass the hallowed halls of Congress.

    Various controversial efforts to build the railroad that were hotly debated continued until 1892. Finally, Thomas F. Oakes, president of the NPRR, finally declared at the end of that year, “his company had thoroughly examined the mines at Cooke City and the various routes to them, and that under no circumstances would his company build a road to them.” Case closed – much to the relief of Yellowstone enthusiasts.

For more detailed information on this subject, the following sources may be of interest:

Leeson’s History of Montana, 1885
Yellowstone Story, V2, Aubrey Haines
Yellowstone – A Wilderness besieged, Richard Bartlett
Livingston Enterprise newspapers
http://home.netcom.com/~whstlpnk/parkc.html





Copyright 2018 by Robert V. Goss.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.
















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