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Pioneer Hotel

Hotel chain throughout the West,[1] owned by hotel magnate Ep Clark.[2] Named for the pioneering spirit of its intended patrons.[1]

Shortly after the Civil War, Ep Clark saw the opening of the American West as a tremendous business opportunity. His idea was to evolve the bare-bones roadhouses along western stage routes into a much higher level of accommodations for travelers of all kinds, offering amenities of a more "civilized" nature. Rather than being scattered along the dusty trails in open territory, he established a chain permanent hotels on the main streets of frontier towns from Kansas to California.[1]

A Pioneer Hotel would often be the first permanent structure built in a new town or camp, establishing a community sense of civilization amongst the rustic collections of make-shift tents and shanties. By shipping prefabricated building materials to promising western locations, the Pioneer Hotel could be erected quickly, and looked generally identical from town to town. As the first structure built, it's footprint would often establish the formal platting of the town, becoming a familiar landmark on the corners of main streets across the West.[1]

War of the Silver Kings: Bret Maverick passed the Pioneer Hotel on his ride into Echo Springs in 1870, and again with Big Mike McComb as he rode out of town.[2]

According to Hoyle: The Pioneer Hotel in Wagon Wheel, Wyoming Territory, stood across and down the street from the Palace Hotel in 1876.[3]

Ghost Rider: The Pioneer Hotel in White Rock, Texas, stood across and down the street from the Palace Hotel in 1872.[4]

Relic of Fort Tejon: Bret Maverick passed the Pioneer Hotel on his ride into Clayville in 1878.[5]

Locations of Pioneer Hotels:

NEW MEXICO TERRITORY

• Clayville[45]

TEXAS

• White Rock[4]

UTAH TERRITORY

• Echo Springs[2]

WYOMING TERRITORY

• Wagon Wheel[3]