WOOD RIVER VALLEY’S RESORT HOTELS BEFORE SUN VALLEY

Hailey Hot Springs Resort in Croy Canyon Guyer Hot Springs Resort on Warm Springs Creek

Presentation to The Community Library, Regional History Department by John W. Lundin, June 23, 2015

Pictures courtesy of the Community Library, Lundin collection, and other sources.

Matt & Isabelle McFall (the authors’ great-grandparents) moved to Bellevue in 1881. They built the International Hotel on Main Street (above right), which became the premier place to stay in the Wood River Valley. It burned down in 1909. The McFalls moved to Shoshone in 1893, where they built the McFall Hotel (bottom right). Photos from Lundin collection,, & the Community Library.

HOT SPRINGS OF THE WOOD RIVER VALLEYThere are a number of hot springs in Idaho and the Wood River Valley because of the

state’s geologic history. These include Magic Hot Springs at Magic Reservoir, Hailey Hot Springs in Croy Canyon two miles west of Hailey, Clarendon Hot Springs on Deer Creek north of Hailey, Guyer Hot Springs on Warm Spring Creek two miles west of Ketchum (.5 miles west of four way stop), Warfield (Frenchman’s Bend) Hot Springs on Warm Springs Creek 11 miles west of Ketchum, Easley Hot Springs 12 miles north of Ketchum, and Russian John Hot Springs (eight miles north of the SNRA). They are the result of geological forces that shaped the local area which has been studied extensively. See, Hydrothermal Systems of the Wood River Area, by Foley, Duncan & Street.

Several were developed into commercial facilities in the early 1880s, with plunges and hotels, when thousands of migrants came into the Wood River Valley, attracted by the silver strike, hoping to strike it rich. The hot springs attracted locals and tourists who traveled to the Valley to “take the waters,” stay in a vacation paradise, and to experience the purported health effects of the hot springs. Easley Hot Springs, 12 miles north of Ketchum, is still in operation.

Map showing Hailey Hot Springs in Croy Canyon & Democrat Gulch, and Clarendon Hot Springs on Deer Creek. Clarendon Hot Springs had a hotel until WW II, and was open to the public until the late 1970s.

HAILEY HOT SPRINGSHailey Hot Springs, located two miles west of Hailey in Democrat Gulch, were part of

Perry Croy’s homestead claim filed in 1880. J.L.G. Smith bought the springs, and they were used as a recreation and health center from the early 1880s.

Carrie Adell Strahorn, wife of Union Pacific publicist Robert E. Strahorn, said in 1882, that Hailey had some “fine hot springs, which alone should have made the town a summer resort of renown, but as yet they were unimproved except for a rough rock wall around the hole scooped out in the rock for a plunge bath, which with all its rudeness proved a fountain of youth, utilized by all.”

The Alturas Mining Reporter of 1883, said Hailey Hot springs “are among the few natural sulphur springs of the U.S., and are one of the greatest curiosities as well as one of the most attractive health resorts in the Territory.” A reliable analysis shows the waters to be identical with celebrated hot springs of America and Europe. Mr. Smith made all the improvements necessary for a first-class bathing establishment, making it a resort for all, those who use it for medicinal reasons and others “finding it a luxury.”

Carrie Adell said J.L.G. Smith “was so cruel to his family that his wife picked up a shotgun and killed him, an act justified by the courts and many of the Hailey citizens.” She was acquitted of the crime in 1889.

1881 – 1884: OREGON SHORT LINE IS BUILT TO PORTLAND In 1880, Union Pacific decided to build a rail line connecting its transcontinental line to Portland, to provide access to the growing NW. It would start at Granger, Wyoming, then go through the Snake River plain in Idaho to Oregon. Since U.P.’s charter did not permit branch lines, in April 1881, it incorporated a subsidiary, the Oregon Short Line, to build a standard gauge road on “the shortest line to Oregon.” The route would “follow the path of those who plodded westward along the historic Oregon Trail.”

In May 1881, work began on the Oregon Short Line at Granger, Wyoming. In August 1882, UP surveyed a 69.2 mile branch line from Shoshone to Hailey, and a right-of-way was acquired for the Wood River Branch of the OSL. The Wood River Branch was completed from Shoshone to Hailey in May 1883, and continued on to Ketchum in 1884. In November 1884, the OSL was completed to Huntington, Oregon, where it joined tracks from Portland built by the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company.

IDAHO & OREGON LAND IMPROVEMENT CO. In 1881, investors associated with the Union Pacific formed the Idaho & Oregon Land Improvement Co. to buy land in advance of the construction of the OSL, where rail-stops would occur. Its owners included Robert Strahorn, Kansas Senator Caldwell (who was president of the Kansas Pacific RR, a UP subsidiary), Andrew Mellon (later Secretary of the Treasury), and others, who knew the route of the OSL in advance. The company bought worthless desert land, platted and developed townsites, constructed irrigation and water systems, and sold lots, making huge profits. The company purchased and developed the towns of Shoshone, Hailey, Mountain Home, Caldwell, Weiser, and Ontario, Oregon.

In June 1882, the company purchased the Hailey townsite, the 2,500 acre Croy Ranch (site of Hailey Hot Springs) and the 8,000 Quigley Ranch for $100,000. The Wood River Journal said the company “takes the whole loaf.” Hailey would be the terminus of the Wood River Branch of the OSL.

NEW BRANCH LINES PLANNED FROM HAILEY.The Gold Belt RR would go west out Croy Canyon to Bullion, Camas Prairie & Smoky Mining District. Other lines would go north over or under Galena Summit to Stanley, Challis and Salmon; up the East Fork of the Big Wood River to Muldoon; and out Deer Creek. None were built .

Map from McGonical, Spring of Gladness

RAILROADS PROMOTED HOT SPRINGS

The arrival of the Oregon Short Line at Hailey in 1883, opened the Wood River Valley to the outside world, and enhanced the Valley’s hot springs as tourist attractions.

“Hot springs were by far the most ubiquitous of early western tourist attractions. Health considerations figure prominently in advertisements for the Pacific Northwest’s many hot springs…When the OSL tracks reached the Wood River Valley in the early 1880s, Hailey Hot Springs became Idaho’s first real summer resort.” Scwantes, Tourists in Wonderland: Early Railroad Tourism in the Pacific Northwest.

Hailey Hot Springs Resort attracted 50 – 100 guests a day, with waters that “possess many invigorative and curative properties.” A carriage ran at all hours from Hailey. A hospital on the grounds used the waters for its patients. Elliot, History of Idaho Territory, published in 1884.Photograph courtesy of Community Library

1888 – Robert Strahorn & Co. Buys SpringsIn 1888, U.P. publicist Robert E. Strahorn, and a relative from Chicago

also named Robert Strahorn, bought Hailey Hot Springs, along with 1,000 surrounding acres, presumably from the Idaho & Oregon Land Improvement Co. The Strahorns built a resort with a first class hotel heated by spring water, separate men’s and women’s plunges, a ballroom, and a bowling alley. Newspapers reported that Strahorn had “every painter and paper hanger in town employed” at the hotel.

“No pains or money was spared in making the place attractive to people as Jay Gould and family,” who found it a charming retreat. The UP & OSL did much to make the resort a success. The resort “was a joy and comfort to all that country between Salt Lake and Huntington.” Carrie Adell Strahorn. A popular travel book published in 1890, said it was “a most delightful resort.”

Robert Strahorn & Carrie Adelle Strahorn

In 1890, a new company was formed to raise $150,000 to buy and improve the Resort. R.E. Strahorn left the company, and Robert Strahorn and local businessmen were in charge. A new addition would be added to the hotel with three stories and 65 rooms.

Map from Hailey Hot Springs prospectus showing map of Oregon Short Line. A new line out Croy Canyon is shown that would give direct access to the resort. That line was never built.

Hailey township looking west toward Croy Canyon & Hailey Hot Springs. The courthouse is shown on the left and the Alturas Hotel on the right foreground, which was built by R.E. Strahorn. From Hailey Hot Springs prospectus.

Drawing of Proposed new Hailey Hot Springs Hotel & Resort from Prospectus.

Hailey Hot Springs Hotel. Rates, $2.50-3.50 per day, $14 – 21 per week. “The beautiful health resort is kept open year around. Hotel is colonial style, three stories, and first-class in all its appointments, lighted by incandescent lights.”

Photo from Community Library.

Hailey Hot Springs Resort. The water is 100 degrees F. and is “unsurpassed for the care of rheumatism, kidney, malarial and all diseases humanity is subject to.” Trout are abundant in nearby streams, and the hunting is unsurpassed. The company had a herd of 150 Kentucky cattle “forming the finest herd west of Iowa,” which were a major attraction. Photo from Community Library.

Ad from Wood River Times, 1895.

Tragedy struck in July 1899, as the Hailey Hot Springs Hotel burned down. All guests escaped without injury but the hotel was a loss. It was never rebuilt. “The visitors to the Springs were not the eastern penny-pinching class of tourists. They were very wealthy people who demanded the best there was to be had, expecting to pay well for it.”

The loss of the hotel to the town was serious, as it had brought in $300 to $500 a day. The hot springs continued to be a local attraction, but their days as a first class resort were over. This is an ad from the Wood River Times in 1900.

Hailey Hot Springs, current view, photo from internet.

Guyer Hot Springs are located on Warm Springs Road just west of the Warm Springs ski lift, .5 of a mile beyond the four way stop. They provided recreational opportunities since the early 1880s, and hot water for the Philadelphia Smelter.

Guyer Hot Springs is shown by the red balloon, west of the Warm Springs lift. Guyer Hot Springs is shown by the red balloon, west of the Warm Springs lift.

The Philadelphia Smelter, built in 1881, had rights to 2,000 inches of water from WS Creek, and built a dam just below Guyer Hot Springs to bring water to propel its turbines and a flume to float logs to the smelter. Its employees used the springs to bathe. Photos from Community Library.

Flume bring water from Guyer Hot Springs to Philadelphia Smelter.Flume bring water from Guyer Hot Springs to Philadelphia Smelter.

Henry Guyer & Isaac Lewis Develop Hot SpringsIn 1880, Guyer & Lewis filed mining claims covering the hot springs and laid

out a townsite, Saratoga. Lewis built a bar, restaurant house, a 20 x 40 dance floor, and opened a resort on July 4, 1882. Opening day bar receipts were $253, worth $6,043 in 2015 dollars.

A local newspaper said in 1882, it was a “delightful summer resort” where the “medicinal qualities of the waters have been fully tested and endorsed by many of our citizens,” and are equal to springs in Germany. “A first class bar” is stocked with the best brands of liquor and cigars. Trout were abundant and the fishing outstanding. “Strangers…should not leave without visiting the springs, one of the greatest luxuries of the country.”

The 1883 Alturas Mining Reporter said Guyer Hot Springs “are among the great healing springs of the world,” with a grand hotel, a large plunge and swimming for ladies and gentlemen.

Elliott, History of Idaho Territory, 1884, said Guyer Hot Springs are “the grandest hot-springs watering-place in the United States.” Mr. Lewis “brought them into public notice, and fine large buildings have been erected.” He planned to spend $23,000 on to build a larger and model hotel, with parlors, bar, billiard rooms and “other watering place accommodations.”

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1885 – Guyer Buys out Lewis, Improves the Resort & Leases it Out

Carrie Adell Strahorn was not impressed by Guyer Hot Springs resort, however. She the springs were “located in a grand natural park for pleasure parties, and it was most deplorable that the owner of such a glorious location should spoil it by such inferior improvements, but the springs were better than a gold mine for him and every dollar they brought in cost him but the loan of a couple of clean towels.”

In 1884, Guyer and Lewis spent $23,000 building a two story 10 room building, with a ladies parlor, plunge bath, an underground cellar, and a stable. The resort was much improved.

Guyer and Lewis had different philosophies about running the resort, so in spring of 1885, Guyer bought out Lewis for $4,000. Guyer wanted to operate the resort on a “temperance plan,” while Lewis wanted a “rowdy plan.” Guyer and his wife improved the resort further, and it was operated by lessees for several decades. The resort was the center of Ketchum summer activities, social events, and gala parties, including parties to celebrate spring openings, mid-summer night, the 4th of July, and virtually any other reason.

The OSL ran excursion trains to the Guyer Resort from Shoshone, as seen by article from the News Miner of 5/26/86. Trains left Shoshone at 8;00, arriving at Ketchum at 11:00, fare $3. From Bellevue, $ .90, and from Hailey, $.65. Carriages and hacks took passengers to the resort, for $ .50. The resort offered baths, a good bar, dancing, swings, trout fishing and more.

RAILROADS PROMOTE GUYER HOT SPRINGS & RUN EXCURSIONS

The Union Pacific promoted western resorts reached by its tracks. Its 1889 publication called Western Resorts for Health and Pleasure said of Guyer Hot Springs, “there is no more attractive place in the NW to spend a hot summer.” They were noted for their medicinal waters. The springs have a flattering reputation throughout southern Idaho, Utah and a portion of Oregon.

Union Pacific and the Oregon Short Line ran excursion trains from Shoshone and elsewhere to Guyer Hot Springs, offering special fares. Round trip tickets to the resort cost the following: Pocatello, $9.40; American Falls, $8.15; Minidoka, $6.50; Kimama, $5.75; Shoshone, $5.75; Glen’s Ferry, $6.65; Mountain Home, $8.10; Kuna, $10.40; Boise City, $14.40; Caldwell, $11.30; Ontario, $12.85; Payette, $13.05.

The resort attracted locals and wealthy tourists. In 1889, the proprietor said he had $7 M of capital at his table. Wealthy travelers such as Astors & Goulds came west by private RR car and visited the resort. The Jay Gould party stayed at Guyer in 1891 & 1892. The picture is of Jay Gould, the UP financier who was instrumental in getting the Oregon Short Line built. Jay Gould Jay Gould

In the early 1900s, the resort added tennis courts, croquet grounds, swings and a dancing pavilion. It was a fashionable resort where ladies wore plumed hats and 16-button shoes. The baths were separated by sex. Women wore long pantaloons and dresses, and men swam naked.

Guyer Hot Springs was not just a summer resort.Note the single long pole that was used like an oar to turn, and between the legs to slow down or stop.

Photo from Community Library.

Water works at Guyer Hot Springs on Warm Springs Creek. The water wheel cooled water for the bath house. The elevated pipe line carrying hot water can be seen, as well as the bridge to the hot springs coming out of the hillside across the creek.

Setting of Guyer Hot Springs Resort.

1907 – Guyer Dies, Railroad Considers PurchaseCapt. Raymond Guyer died in Peru in 1907, where he worked as a

mining engineer, and the Oregon Short Line considered buying the Resort. Newspapers reported the “railroad is expected to extend its line from Ketchum to the springs, and build a large hotel, several cottages, a gymnasium, bowling alley, large plunges, and other necessaries of a first class summer resort.” The area was expected to be “the premier summer resort of the mountain country.”

The sale never went through, and in 1913, Capt. Guyer’s son Raymond, who was also a mining engineer, returned from Peru to run and expand the resort. A beautiful new $25,000 hotel was built, and opened in May 1914. It was a gracious two-story hotel with gables, 18 rooms upstairs, a beautiful lobby with fireplace, small cottages on its grounds, and a turbine to provide lighting. It was called “one of the famous hot springs of the world and in the midst of an ideal setting for a resort hotel.” It would be “one of the famous hot springs of the west.”

New $25,000 Guyer Hot Springs Hotel, 1914.

Guyer Hot Springs Resort.

Guyer Hot Springs Resort looking east showing Warm Springs Creek and new hotel

Swimming pool at new Guyer Hot Springs resort, ca 1915. There was a single pool rather than separate men’s and women’s plunges. By 1915, men were wearing bathing suits rather than swimming naked.

Pictures of the interior of the Guyer Hot Springs Hotel show lavish accommodations. The living room had a large fireplace and the obligatory mounted heads of dead animals.

Tourism Promotions for Guyer Hot Springs In 1914, owners of the McFall Hotel in Shoshone, the Hiawatha Hotel in

Hailey, and the Guyer Hot Springs Hotel, advertised nationally seeking tourists to visit the “Sawtooth National Park,” offering a package deal involving staying in all three hotels, and a motor tour of Stanley Basin. There was no Sawtooth National Park, although there were efforts to form one for many years. Dick D’Esaum, Sawtooth Tales.

The 1916 Oregon Short Line schedule contained an advertisement for Guyer Hot Springs Resort. “The Guyer Hot Springs are located in the heart of some of Idaho’s most beautiful scenic territory…The waters of the springs have been analyzed by eminent scientists and have been pronounced beneficial for any ailments. A new cement swimming pool has recently been completed and bathing facilities are first-class…A new mission-style hotel, completed in 1914,…provides accommodations equal to those of many metropolitan hostelries and is perfect keeping with the beautiful natural setting…A spacious dance floor…and lawn tennis courts are provided.”

In 1915, the owners of the Hiawatha Hotel in Hailey (top), the McFall Hotel in Shoshone (below), owned by the author’s great-grandparents, and Guyer Hot Springs, advertised tours of the Sawtooth National Park, where tourists would stay in all three hotels. There was no Sawtooth National Park.

1927 - Brandt Family Buys Guyer Hot Springs

By the 1920s, Guyer Hot Springs Resort had fallen into disrepair. Carl Brandt, a retailer from Shoshone & Hailey, bought the resort from Raymond Guyer in 1927. Concerned that the resort was too far from Ketchum out a three mile seasonal road, Brandt decided to open a new resort in downtown Ketchum. He bought a lot on Main Street, paid $30,000 to have a wooden pipe laid along Warm Springs Road to the site to bring in 160 degree hot water from the springs, and built the Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge in 1929. It had a large 200,000 gallon concrete natatorium and 31 tourist cabins built in rustic log style. It attracted visitors from throughout the region, and legions of Ketchum kids learned to swim in the pool.

The lodge was estimated to cost $100,000 to build, was the most expensive development in Ketchum, and was a premier tourist attraction.

Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge, 1930s, Main street, Ketchum.

Photos from Hailey & Community Libraries

Bald Mountain Lodge Hot Springs pool, 1930s. The upper left picture shows two McFall grandchildren swimming in the pool.

St. Georg HotelIn 1937, Brandt dismantled the hotel at Guyer Hot Springs, and the hotel

was reconstructed on Ketchum’s Main Street at the SW corner of Main and Second. The new St. Georg Hotel opened on June 19, 1937, to great acclaim. It was a replica of a Swiss chalet, had 28 rooms, each with a shower or bath, many with sun porches. It was a “superb structure” with “native stone fireplaces, a fine bar room and a commodious lobby.” Natural hot water from the springs heated the hotel. “No effort and no expense has been spared in making the St. Georg a place of comfort and of pleasure.

The downstairs was finished in hardwoods, furnished with easy chairs and davenports, and had a great stone fireplace. There was a circular bar in back “with half devoted to dancing.” Management said there would be no gambling devices or games in the hotel setting it apart from other Ketchum establishments.

The St. Georg was a prominent landmark in Ketchum until it burned down in January 1939, in a $50,000 fire. It began on the third floor and within two hours, the building was “reduced to a heap of burning embers.”

The St. Georg Hotel opened in June 1937. “The building is shrouded in an atmosphere of old worldese. It is understood to be a replica of many Swiss chalets. No effort and no expense has been spared in making the St. Georg a place of beauty and of pleasure.”Photo from Community Library F-00399.

The hotel had 28 guest rooms “with outside exposure and bath.” The downstairs was finished in hardwoods, had a circular bar, a great stone fireplace, and a dance floor. The hotel burned down in January 1939. St. Georg Hotel, Ketchum Idaho, 1930s. Picture courtesy of Ketchum

Community Library. F05927. St. Georg Hotel, Ketchum Idaho, 1930s. Picture courtesy of Ketchum Community Library. F05927.

Photos of Guyer Hot Springs site taken from Warm Springs road, .5 miles west of the four way stop. The pipe carries hot water to houses on Warm Springs road. John Lundin & Miriam McFall Starlin, 2012.

1956 - Brandts Sell Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge

The Brandt family owned the Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge until 1956, when it was sold and continued operation under new owners. The Lodge’s swimming pool closed in 1988, but the motel continued in operation. The site was purchased in 1996 by Brian Barsotti, a local developer, who planned to build a new resort hotel on the site. The structures were torn down or moved in 2003, but the plan to build a new hotel remained uncompleted until recently. However, in 2015, the Aspen Skiing Co. announced it was building the Limelight Hotel on the site. Construction would start in the summer of 2015.

Guyer Hot Springs site looking east toward Warm Springs area & Scorpion ski run.

Guyer Hot Springs site, south of Warm Springs creek, showing pipe & concrete structures. Hot water seeped from the hillside into the creek.

Guyer Hot Springs site, south of creek, showing hot water seeping from hill and concrete structures.

Guyer Hot Springs site looking west (upstream) showing now dry hillside & soaking pools in the river.

Guyer Hot Springs site, pipe leading to Warm Springs Road seen on south and north of sides of creek.

Jane Lundin taking picture of Epipactis gigantea orchid at Guyer Hot Springs site.

Development ProposalsHailey Hot Springs – 2008 proposal for Spring Creek Ranch development. Guyer Hot Springs - Owned by Cimino family company, Natural Energy Resources:

1999 – 2002, hot water for pool at Janss Center (present YMCA); 2007, snow melt 4th Ave. plaza & Warm Springs lift area; 2008, Final Concept-Level Proposal for Redevelopment Guyer Hot Springs Geothermal Resource. Proposed use for Warm Springs lift area, Cimino residence, Warm Springs Ranch, Lewis Industrial District; 2013, study for a hot springs spa/pool at Warm Springs. Guyer Hot Springs water heats around 20 residences along Warm Springs

road, and is used for snow melting at the Warm Springs lift by Sun Valley Co.

Clarendon Hot Springs Ranch on Deer Creek is for sale, 2015: $8.5M, 320 acres, geothermal springs, five ponds, surrounded on three sides by public land, 45 lots of record, and is an “ideal property for creating a recreational haven.”

June 22, 2015, Aspen Skiing Co. submitted plans for its building permit for a five story Limelight Hotel on the old Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge site. Work will begin in the summer of 2015. The old lodge sign is missing and the public’s help is sought to find it.