Founded in 1880, the Occidental Hotel
quickly became one of the most renowned hotels in
Wyoming. Located
near the Bozeman Trail at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, it was
visited by
many famous people of the Old West as they traveled along the
Trail.
Among those who enjoyed the hospitality of the Occidental in the early
days were Buffalo
Bill Cody, Teddy Roosevelt, and
General Phil Sheridan. Calamity Jane, who drove freight
wagons on the
Bozeman Trail, stopped often
at the hotel.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid rode to the Occidental from their
hideout at the nearby Hole-in-the-Wall. The famous cattle detective
and killer, Tom Horn, was another frequent visitor. And legendry
frontier sheriffs like Frank Canton and "Red" Angus were regulars at the
bar.
In 1880, the hotel was housed in the handsome log buildings shown in
the photo at the top of the page. It boasted six rooms upstairs in
the main building, with a lobby, restaurant and saloon on the ground
floor. The outbuildings contained a livery stable and a kitchen.
Early in its existence, the Occidental established a reputation for
hospitality and fine food. Owen
Wister, author of The Virginian, spent many happy hours in
the Occidental lobby and
saloon, and based characters in his celebrated
novel on cowboys and gunslingers that he observed there. Many
historians believe that the shoot-out at the climax of the book
— the
first "walk down" in Western literature
— took place in front of
the
Occidental. As time passed, the Occidental was expanded and re-built until it
became a "grand" hotel, with elegant decor and fine service.
Cowboys and ranchers from miles around, and many business travelers and
tourists, went miles out of their way to enjoy the many pleasures
offered by the Occidental.
Among the famous people who visited the hotel at this stage were
President Theodore Roosevelt, President Herbert Hoover and
Ernest Hemingway.
Then, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the splendor of
the hotel began to fade. As everybody in Wyoming tightened their
belts, money became scarce. As business dried up, the owners of
the Occidental began a long struggle to keep the doors open.
During World War II, business picked up temporarily. But
after the war, the slow decline of the hotel continued, as motels began
to take business away from hotels. By the 1970s and 1980s, the
Occidental was barely functioning as a hotel, and many of its rooms had
been turned into apartments for retirees. In 1986, the hotel
finally closed its doors.
A few small businesses continued to occupy shops on the ground floor of
the building, but very little money was available to keep up the
structure. Year after year, the building became more and more
dilapidated and unsafe. By 1997, the final demolition of the
Occidental seemed close at hand.
 But
the Occidental was not demolished. Instead, 1997 proved to be
the year in which the grand old hotel was re-born. In that year,
Dawn and John Wexo purchased the building and began a 10-year
restoration process that has returned the Occidental Hotel to its status
as one of the fine hotels of the West.
As a result of this Award-Winning Restoration, you can visit
an authentic Frontier hotel today that looks as it did almost 100 years
ago. You can stay in elegant suites and rooms...eat at the finest
restaurant in Northern Wyoming...and enjoy one of the most beautiful
saloons in all of the West. The good old days at the Occidental
Hotel are back!
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