North Cascades

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE NORTH CASCADES

CORRIDORS OF SETTLEMENT: STEHEKIN RIVER

Field

Soon after John Horton arrived he persuaded his son-in-law George Hall to join him in Stehekin. Moving from Minneapolis, Hall came uplake in 1889 with his wife and four children and built Stehekin's second log cabin and its first hotel. [174] The "Argonaut," as it was called, was a 2-story building with a lower floor curtained off into a kitchen and bedroom -- by no means a luxurious affair. After operating the hostelry for several years, Hall sold the business and building to Merritt Field in 1892, and left the valley permanently that same year. [175]

Although Merritt Field was not a homesteader in the typical sense of the word, he did reside in the valley year-round, and he was one of the few settlers who actually filed for homestead entry. When he arrived in 1892, he acquired rights to the Argonaut and continued to operate the small hotel. In 1893 he married and brought his new wife uplake to help run the business. Nearly ten years later, Field filed this land for homestead entry (T33N R17E, Section 36). [176]

When Field's property was surveyed for entry in 1902, the examiner noted that Field had settled on a squatter's location. Also recorded were the many improvements, including a 25-room hotel (32' x 132'), a barn (28' x 56'), a laundry building (24' x 32'), a cellar, and a wagon shed. Timber had been cut from the claim between 1890-1894 and 1898-1901, allowing Field to put 20 acres "under plow" and 80 acres "under fence." Hay, vegetables, and fruit were all raised on the property. [177]

Field's hotel venture was so successful that it was necessary to expand. In 1905 he built a large and picturesque structure that could accommodate one hundred guests overnight. This new building incorporated the Argonaut. [178] Known as the Field Hotel, this first-class hostelry catered to miners and tourists by offering good food, boating on the lake, backcountry guide service, horsepack trains, and many other services. Concurrent with the hotel operation, Field also engaged in the shingle business and in mining, and served as Stehekin's first postmaster. [179]

In 1906 Field sub-divided his homestead claim, selling a portion to Alice B. Wick, who purchased it for the considerable sum of $10,000. [180] When the Chelan Electric Company began formulating plans for the construction of a dam downlake which would raise the lake level and flood the hotel site, Field sold his remaining homestead acreage, including the hotel, to the power company. He moved downlake to 25-Mile Creek shortly thereafter, devoting his attention to apple growing until he died in 1949. [181] Today, the site of Field's homestead lies underwater. Nothing remains of the impressive Field Hotel except photographs and select building materials that were saved in the process of dismantling the old structure and incorporated into another Stehekin hotel, the Golden West Lodge.

Historic view of Field Hotel at head of Lake Chelan.
This 1911 photo by L.D. Lindsley shows the structure as it finally appeared after several additions.
(University of Washington Photo Collection)