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Bella Union Hotel

A hotel in Echo Springs,[1] Utah Territory,[2] visited by Bret Maverick in the Dell comic book adaptation of "War of the Silver Kings."[1]

According to the original teleplay, no reference to the name Bella Union Hotel is given. The only signage above the exterior hotel lobby entrance reads "McComb's Saloon."[2] However, it is conceivable that Bella Union was the name of the hotel itself, while McComb's was the name of its saloon with two of its own marked street entrances.

The number "1883" appears at the edge of the hotel's roof in one panel, which seems to be the construction date of the building.[1] This conflicts with the teleplay's date of "War of the Silver Kings," in which we clearly see a telegram dated 1870.[2] However, it may be that 1883 is the street address.

As hotels began to spring up in small, remote towns across the American West, they often adopted the names of more well-known hotels in larger cities in an attempt to cash in on their familiarity and reputations.[3] The hotel in Echo Springs undoubtedly borrowed its name from the original Bella Union Hotel in Los Angeles, California, established in 1850.[4]

See: War of the Silver Kings