West Yellowstone in Gallatin County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

Madison Hotel

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 9, 2024

1. Madison Hotel Marker

Inscription. The Forest Service granted Jess Pierman a special-use permit to build a hotel and restaurant here in 1910. A large tent accommodated guests until the present hotel was under construction in the fall of 1912. Doll Bartlett began cooking for Pierman in 1910, saving much of her weekly ten-dollar paycheck. Her husband Roxy drove the stage between Monida and West Yellowstone. By the time the hotel was under construction, the Bartletts had saved enough money to buy the business, which they ran until Roxy died in the 1920s. Doll continued to run the hotel with her second husband, George Pickup. The two-story rectangular plan is of simple log construction with saddle-notched corner timbering and a prominent front dormer. The original six upstairs rooms, warmed by a cut stone fireplace in the downstairs lobby, catered to rail and stage travelers. Each room had a pitcher, a wash basin, and a chamber pot. Water came from a well across the street. The hotel expanded, adding fourteen rooms in 1921 and a bar and dance floor soon after, but there was no running water until the 1930s. In 1923, President Harding was a guest and antiquated

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registers show that many Hollywood greats, such as Wallace Beery and Gloria Swanson, enjoyed the hospitality of the Madison Hotel. Log support columns and beams, wood floors, light fixtures, the stone fireplace, and many of the room furnishings are original. Although not the first hotel in West Yellowstone, the Madison is the only hotel that remains from this early period when tourism was in its infancy.

Erected by Montana Historical Society. (Marker Number 13.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Montana National Register Sign Program series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1910.

Location. 44° 39.526′ N, 111° 6.097′ W. Marker is in West Yellowstone, Montana, in Gallatin County. It is on Yellowstone Avenue near Dunraven Street, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 139 Yellowstone Avenue, West Yellowstone MT 59758, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Yellowstone Country

and in Greater Bozeman.

It is

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 9, 2024

2. Madison Hotel Marker

also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Rock (a few steps from this marker); Union Pacific Dining Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); Snowed In! (within shouting distance of this marker); Oregon Shortline Terminus (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Montana's Centennial Train (about 500 feet away); Oregon Short Line 1903 (about 700 feet away); Union Pacific Identification Pylon (approx. 0.2 miles away); Madison River (approx. 3.3 miles away in Wyoming). Touch for a list and map of all markers in West Yellowstone.

Madison Hotel image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 9, 2024

3. Madison Hotel

Credits. This page was last revised on July 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 1, 2024, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 236 times since then and 52 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 1, 2024, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.