Birkby - Touring hot springs: Montana and Wyoming

FALCON GUIDES

Copyright 2013 by Morris Book Publishing, LLC.

Previously published by Falcon Publishing, Inc. in 1999

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Birkby, Jeff.

Touring hot springs Montana and Wyoming : a guide to the states best hot springs / Jeff Birkby.

Second edition.

pages cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7627-8530-8

1. Hot springsMontanaGuidebooks. 2. Hot springsWyomingGuidebooks. 3. MontanaGuidebooks. 4. WyomingGuidebooks. I. Title.

GB1198.M9B57 2013

551.2'309786dc23

2013010055

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The author and Globe Pequot Press assume no liability for accidents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities described in this book.

During a road trip to visit the ruins of a Montana hot springs resort, my brother Bob commented that its not easy to make a thriving business out of a puddle of hot water. Ive learned that its also not easy to write a book about those puddles of hot water, and it certainly would have been impossible without the support and expert assistance of many individuals. The fascinating histories that enrich the text were generously shared by hot springs owners throughout Montana and Wyoming, to whom I am grateful. Thanks also to the many museum archivists who helped me bring to light the buried stories of Montana and Wyoming hot springs. These individuals include Dave Walter and Lory Morrow of the Montana Historical Society; Lee Whittlesey, archivist for Yellowstone National Park; and the museum staffs of the Wyoming Historical Society, the Park County (Wyoming) Museum, the Gallatin County Historical Society, the Hot Springs Museum in Thermopolis, and the Fremont County (Wyoming) Historical Society. Also thanks to Jessie OConner of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce for sharing his knowledge of hot springs in the Jackson Hole area.

My thanks also to the awesome team at Globe Pequot Press for their hard work in guiding this second edition through the publication process. Special thanks to Senior Acquisitions Editor Jessica Haberman, Associate Editor Imee Curiel, and Project Editor Ellen Urban.

Im also grateful to my father, Robert Birkby Sr., and my mother, Evelyn Birkby, who taught me the joy of adventure and the pleasure of writing.

Finally, thanks to my many friends and colleagues with whom Ive enjoyed soaking in the warm water of the Rocky Mountains over the last three decades. The memories of all of those soaks are woven into the text of this guide.

Of all the natural features of Montana and Wyoming, perhaps none has inspired as many legends or been the object of as much wonder as the regions primeval hot springs. The number and variety of thermal springs found in these two states are unsurpassed anywhere in the world. Theres something for everyone here, from the beautiful mineral terraces in Hot Springs State Park near Thermopolis and the magnificent geysers in Yellowstone National Park to Montanas secluded mountain soaks and the sleepy resorts on the eastern prairie.

Native Americans bathed in the regions hot springs for perhaps thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. Tribes considered many springs to be sacred ground, gathering places where warring factions would call truces to soak in the pools. Members of the Crow, Arapaho, Shoshone, Sioux, and Flathead tribes frequented the regions hot springs, and fur trappers heard ancient legends of the great healing power of the water. When Dr. A. J. Hunter visited a hot springs near Livingston, Montana, in 1864, he reported seeing more than 1,000 tepees of the Crow tribe clustered around the springs and many tribal members bathing in the mineral water.

The first explorers to discover hot springs in the region were Lewis and Clark, who visited Lolo Hot Springs near the current MontanaIdaho border in 1805. Captain Clarks diary contains the first recorded description of a hot springs in the Rocky Mountains:

[We] passed several springs which I observed the deer, elk, etc. had made roads to, and below one of the Indians had made a hole to bathe. I tasted this water and found it hot and not bad tasted. In further examination I found this water nearly boiling hot at the places it spouted from the rocks. I put my finger in the water, at first could not bear it in a second.

Captain Clarks journals also contain entries indicating that he visited what is now Jackson Hot Springs, in Montanas Big Hole Valley, on his return from the Pacific Ocean in 1806.

John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also figured prominently in the early exploration of hot springs in the Northern Rockies. Colter was the first to describe the geothermal wonders of Yellowstone, as well as the geothermal area near present-day Cody, Wyoming.

In 1832 Captain Benjamin Bonneville discovered the large hot springs near Thermopolis in what is now Hot Springs State Park. Ten years later the explorer John C. Frmont described a gurgling springs, later named Emigrants Laundry Tub, which served as a major landmark along the Oregon Trail in southeastern Wyoming.

The discovery of gold in the 1860s prompted a major period of discovery and development for the regions hot springs, especially in Montana. From 1864 to 1870, bathhouses and hotels were built at hot springs near gold camps in Chico, Virginia City, Boulder, Clancy, and Helena. Gold miners would soak their aching bones in the hot water, and local physicians prescribed daily soaks as a cure for a variety of diseases.

The decades from 1890 to 1920 were the heyday of the regions elegant hot springs resorts. Luxurious hotels were built at Hunters, Chico, Corwin, and Broadwater hot springs, and the newly constructed Northern Pacific Railroad brought a constant stream of vacationers eager to enjoy these resorts.

The era of sumptuous resort hotels lasted only about thirty years. Several of the resorts were destroyed in spectacular fires, and one was severely damaged by an earthquake. The enactment of Prohibition laws forbidding the consumption of alcoholic beverages proved to be the fatal blow to several other popular hot springs resorts.

After World War II many of the commercial facilities at hot springs in Montana and Wyoming struggled to survive. Although they often had a loyal local clientele, few of these resorts could attract sufficient tourists to really thrive. One resort had more than ten different owners in a fifty-year period.

The last thirty years have seen a rebirth in the popularity of hot springs in the region. Several new resorts have been built, including the Saratoga Inn Resort and Hot Springs Spa, and Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. Older resorts have been renovated, including Boulder Hot Springs and the Spa Hot Springs Motel in White Sulphur Springs. Not only are these resorts popular with locals, but an increasing number of national and international visitors are discovering the pleasure of soaking at these scenic escapes from civilization.