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Hi. I’m Ben Benton from Flagstaff, Arizona. I believe that you will enjoy my daily journal from Yellowstone National Park during the summer of 1999. I left downtown Flagstaff with my saddle and duffel in early July and lighted in the horse corral at Mammoth Hot Springs. My journal will continue through September 20th, unless the weather shuts us down earlier. You’ll read about adventures on the back country trails, Yellowstone history, people I meet, and anything else I can think of to write about. I’m the author of “National Park Employment Data,” a guide to working in national parks, which is available for purchase on my web site at www.gorp.com/nped/. I’ve been working in national parks and ski areas off and on for over twenty years. Because I want the data in my book to always be fresh, I continually test the concepts, employers, and tips that I provide. Right now, I’m working for Amfac Parks and Resorts. They are a top notch concession company because they place employee training, morale, and amenities first. |
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Previous 7/16 |
Friday, 9-3-99The corrals at Mammoth were closed today because of rain last night, so J.C. and I went in at 11:00 and fed and went to lunch. Then a beautiful day developed. I drove to Livingston, 53 miles north of Mammoth Hot Springs, for a haircut. With that done, I pulled into Martin’s Cafe for pie and coffee. The menu said, “Since 1902 . . . Livingston’s oldest and best family restaurant.” Now that’s thought provoking. How many restaurants do you know that have been in business 97 years? The menu also said that the restaurant was “The Original Northern Pacific Beanery.” It opened in a wing of the Livingston, Montana, railroad depot which was completed in 1902. The station is now a museum, so I decided to tour it.The depot is eye-catching with ornate details and majestic colonnades. It was designed by the architectural firm in St. Paul that designed Grand Central Station in New York. Why did they build such a grand station in a small town in Montana? The fact that it was a transfer point to Yellowstone is only part of the reason. The main reason is that Livingston is exactly half way between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Seattle, so Northern Pacific Railroad made it the Central Division Headquarters. At its peak, the roundhouse and maintenance facility across from the depot employed 2,200 men. The Northern Pacific Beanery where I had pie and coffee probably did very well all those years! From Livingston, I drove west across Bozeman Pass to Bozeman, Montana. From there I followed US 191 south through the Gallatin Gateway to West Yellowstone, Montana, and back to Mammoth Hot Springs. US 191 follows the Gallatin River through some of the most
beautiful scenery in the world. About midway between Bozeman
and West Yellowstone is Big Sky, which was visualized and created
by Chet Huntley.  |
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