Location of originals unknown.
The Northern Pacific Railroad, its subsidiary Northwest Improvement Company, and various private parties owned many of the concessions and other businesses that provided visitor services in the earliest years of Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone Park Company was incorporated under Minnesota law in the 1880s, in association with the Northern Pacific Railroad. Though the organization of this concession has resulted in a number of associated company names (such as Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, Yellowstone Park Camping company, Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps Company) they fall under the umbrella of the Yellowstone Park Company.
In 1892, Harry W. Child, with partners Silas S. Huntley, L.H. Hershfield, Aaron Hershfield, and others, established the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company to provide stagecoach travel in the Park. In 1901 Child, Huntley, and E.W. Back purchased the stock of the Yellowstone Park Association to consolidate their control of the concessions. Later that year, Huntley died, leaving Child to control both companies. Child also operated Child & Anceny with C. L. Anceny; that business dealt in real estate and cattle ranching. In 1909 Child, his wife Adelaide D. Child, and their son Huntley Child reorganized the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company into its constituent parts, the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company and the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company.
Child died in 1931, and his son-in-law William M. Nichols took over the operation of the concessions. In 1936 Nichols merged the park's transportation, hotel, camping, and boating operations into the new Yellowstone Park Company. World War II brought a decline in the concessions as government services to all parks were curtailed and gas rationing curtailed tourist travel. Close to bankruptcy during the 1940s, Nichols was financially unprepared for the tourist boom of the early 1950s. To meet the need for improved and expanded facilities, the government initiated "Mission 66," a joint government and private financial of new facilities, the most ambitious of which was the new Canyon Village, completed in 1957.
Yellowstone Park Company continued to operate in Yellowstone National Park until the United States Government purchased all associated property of the company and their lease to operate was terminated in 1980.
The collection consists of the personal records of Harry W. Child and the records of the Wylie Permanent Camping Company, Green Meadows Farm, the Yellowstone Park Association, Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, Yellowstone Park Company, Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, and Yellowstone Park Camping Company. It provides documentation of park visitors, employees, services, and the financial health of these companies.
The collection is divided into eight series:
Series I: Harry W. Child, 5 volumes, 1893-1931
Series II: Wylie Permanent Camping Company, 1 volume, 1915-1917
Series III: Green Meadow Farm, 1 volume, 1919-1920
Series IV: Yellowstone Park Association, 1 volume, 1920-1921
Series V: Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, 29 volumes, 1892-1951
Series VI: Yellowstone Park Company, 5 volumes, 1900-1963
Series VII: Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, 22 volumes, 1905-1935
Series VIII: Yellowstone Park Camping Company, 17 volumes, 1918-1935
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.
[Name of document or photograph number], Yellowstone Park Company Records, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.
The Yellowstone Park Company loaned the materials to The University of Montana in 1967 for microfilming. The originals remained in custody of the Company after microfilming was completed.
The materials were arranged before microfilming in 1967, and a finding aid was produced. In 2004, the materials were re-described.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
This series contains Harry W. Child's personal account books. These contain financial records for his numerous real estate holdings in Helena and Toston, Montana; Gallatin Gateway, Montana; Gallatin and Madison Counties, Montana; and La Jolla, California. Many of the Helena records concern construction of a root cellar. Many records deal with Yellowstone Park ventures, including Yellowstone Park Transportation Company and Green Meadow Farm. There are extensive records of the activities of Child & Anceny, which dealt in real estate and cattle ranching in Montana. The volume of deeds and agreements concerns property transfers, many with the Northern Pacific Railroad. There is extensive correspondence with his Bozeman attorney, Hartman & Hartman.
This series contains a voucher register for the Wylie Permanent Camping Company, which consists of records of supplies purchased.
This series consists of a voucher register for Green Meadow Farm, which contains records for supplies purchased.
This series contains a voucher register for the Yellowstone Park Association, with record of supplies purchased.
This series contains the records of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, which provided first railroad and stagecoach service in the park, then automobile transport and services for visitors' automobiles. Filling station and garage records are for Mammoth, Old Faithful, Thumb, Lake, Fishing Bridge, and Canyon stations and show sales and the names of the operators. There is also a list of supplies and services available at these garages. The ledgers, journals, and voucher registers show operating expenses for the YPTC.
The last portion of the series consists of records of Park visitors from 1929 to 1951. The 1929-1930 book records visitors who entered the Park at West Yellowstone, Gardiner, and Gallatin Gateway by rail and lists them by state, town, and foreign country. The entrance registers, which run from 1946 to 1951, record visitors who entered the Park at Cody, Wyoming; Gardiner, Montana; Mammoth; Red Lodge, Montana; Gallatin Gateway, Montana; Victor, Wyoming; and West Yellowstone. Visitor information includes names, addresses, and fees paid for transportation or car rental.
This series contains records of the Yellowstone Park Company that do not fall under the purview of one of the subsidiary companies. It contains an employee register, fishing and boating records, a print shop inventory, and general ledgers. The employee registers list all YPC employees for the 1934 and 1935 seasons, their position, and whether they arrived by rail or automobile. There are both handwritten and typed versions of these records. Fishing and boating records show boat rentals and other types of sale at the docks at Lake, Fishing Bridge, Bridge Bay, and West Thumb. The general ledgers document purchases of supplies, construction materials, and telegraph and railway services, and document various other businesses operated in the Park.
This series contains records of the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, which provided lodging services to Park visitors. The series consists of financial records that record the details of the Company's financial health. There is also a 1931 employee pay book from Mammoth, which lists employees by name and occupation.
This series contains the financial records of the Yellowstone Park Camping Company, which provided campgrounds to Park visitors.