Historic Hotels of the West

By Kristy McCaffrey

This holiday season, how about a visit to a historic hotel in the Western United States, built during the glory days of leisure travel.

Arizona Biltmore

Located in Phoenix and opened in 1929, the Arizona Biltmore was built by Albert Chase McArthur with famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s collaboration. It was constructed with pre-cast blocks made from desert sand that was found at the construction site. Chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. once owned the resort, which has hosted many famous celebrities: Marilyn Monroe, the Reagans (they spent their honeymoon here), and Irving Berlin (who penned White Christmas during a stay). Also, a bartender created the famous tequila sunrise cocktail for a guest at the resort. Of note is The Mystery Room, a Prohibition-era speakeasy that once had a light to warn partiers of approaching federal agents.

Arizona Biltmore, circa 1931.

Arizona Biltmore today.

Camelback Inn

Opened in 1936, this resort was the dream of a young hotel manager who convinced investors to help him build a resort in the desert outside of Phoenix, Arizona. When it opened, visitors endured a 12-mile bumpy ride along a dirt road from the train station to the secluded property. Early guests included Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, and Bette Davis. In 1967, frequent guest Willard Marriott, Sr., purchased the Inn and made it the company’s first resort. Camelback Inn is the only Arizona resort with its own chapel, built in 1959.

Camelback Inn, circa 1936.

Camelback Inn.

Camelback Inn today.

Hotel del Coronado

In 1888, the Hotel del Coronado opened on Coronado Island in San Diego, California—a seaside resort that would become “the talk of the Western world.” The all-wooden structure was a technological marvel—it had its own ice machine, electrical generator, and a steam-powered hydraulic elevator. It has been the backdrop for dozens of movies, and Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz developed their “Ricky and Lucy” personas here. The Crown Room’s expansive ceiling is paneled in Oregon sugar pine, and some reports say Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum designed the massive chandeliers. The author spent his winters at the hotel from 1904 to 1910, during which he wrote four books.

Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

Hotel del Coronado today.

The Brown Palace Hotel

Opened in 1892 in downtown Denver, Colorado, the Brown Palace Hotel was made with Colorado red granite and Arizona sandstone, and cost $1.6 million, an astronomical sum at that time. Dwight Eisenhower used the hotel as his presidential campaign headquarters in 1952, and The Beatles stayed here on their U.S. tour. Tunnels beneath the hotel reportedly once led to a brothel across the street.

The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, an example
of Italian renaissance architecture.

The Brown Palace Hotel today.

*****

Happy Holidays!!

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THE TWO DOCTOR BATES by Doris McCraw

Before 1900, Denver had two women doctors with the same name: Dr. Mary Bates. Although there is still so much to learn about these two women, their stories so far are still the stuff of legends. The stories can and will lead to so much more.

Putting their stories into context, Colorado became a state in 1876. The early days of Colorado were filled with people seeking gold and other minerals to be found in the high mountains. If they weren’t searching for gold, remember the 1859 “Pikes Peak or Bust” slogan, they were providing services and goods for the searchers. There also was an influx of people who found the Colorado climate beneficial for their health. This combination lead many women to brave the new territory to practice their medical skills.

MINE IN LEADVILLE IN 1908
The first Dr. Bates to arrive was Mary Helen Barker Bates (b.1845-d.1934). She was the daughter of Dr. Ezra Barker who had a practice in New York. This Mary graduated from the Woman’s Medical College in Philadelphia. Before she moved to Colorado she practiced in Salt Lake City, Utah, where some of her patients were the family of Mormon leader Brigham Young. (The family site said she was “Brigham Young's Family Physician”. There she met and married George Bates in 1876. Two years later in 1878, at the age of 33, she and George moved to the mining town of Leadville, Colorado where George was an attorney and Mary practiced medicine.

Leadville, for those who don’t know, sits at 10,152 feet above sea level in the Colorado Rockies. During the 1870's- 80's it was a booming town. It was here the Guggenheims, Horace Tabor and others made their fortunes in silver. Even Doc Holliday spent time there.

From the Hayden survey of the Colorado Territory in July of 1869. Two miles south of Georgetown on the Denver road.
While there, one source says Dr. Bates founded the Ladies Relief Hospital. In 1881 she and George moved to Denver for his health. When Colorado started licensing physicians in 1881, Mary was one of the first women licensed by the State. (Her license #271). She took special interest in Woman’s Suffrage, children and education. She introduced the Colorado Law for the Examination and Care of Public School Children which went into effect in 1910.

"Denver in 1898"
Our second Mary, Mary Elizabeth Bates (b.1851 d.1954) arrived in Denver in 1891. Prior to arriving in Colorado she was the first woman intern (1882-1883) at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois after a grueling exam in which she beat out a number of male candidates. She studied in Vienna from 1883-1884. Upon her return she was a professor of anatomy at the Woman’s Medical College in Chicago from 1884-1889. After moving to Colorado she also was involved in the Woman’s Suffrage movement and was part of the group that affected the passage of the 1893 referendum which gave Colorado women the right to vote. This Dr. Mary Bates also was a champion of the strict adherence to the liquor and gambling laws of the state. Her other passion was animal rights and prior to her death in 1954 she created the Mary Elizabeth Bates Foundation for animal care.