North Cascades

RECREATION AND TOURISM IN THE MOUNTAINS

HOSTELRIES AND RESORTS

Argonaut / Field Hotel

"The hotels are all that the most fastidious summer boarder could wish." Great Northern Railroad brochure, 1902. [20]

George Hall's "Argonaut" hotel at the head of Lake Chelan, n.d.
(NOCA-Stehekin photo file: Wenatchee World files)

Lodging was readily available for tourists along the shores of Lake Chelan. Although camping was always an option, early travelers often chose the comfortable inns and hotels conveniently sited on the water between Chelan and Stehekin. Without question the most prominent of all lake hostelries was the Field Hotel. Situated at the head of the lake, the Field was a rather imposing cultural presence in an otherwise natural environment. Touted as "one of the most popular resorts in the state" by some, the Field had humble beginnings. [21] It was originally built, owned, and operated by George Hall, an early Stehekin settler and entrepreneur. First christened the Argonaut, it was a simple 2-story lumber structure with a wide wrap-around porch. After a few years Hall left Stehekin permanently, selling his business in 1892 to a recent transplant from Colorado, Merritt E. Field. It was Field who transformed the Argonaut from a backwoods hostel to an elegant hotel, bringing the structure and Stehekin itself a fame and recognition felt long after the hotel was gone.

Field capitalized on the overnight lodging needs of miners and tourists traveling to the head of the lake. At that time boats required a full day's travel to reach Stehekin, and as a result, visitors had to spend the night before they were able to return downlake. Furthermore, when the steamers docked at the head of the lake, passengers disembarking from the boat found themselves on a wooden boardwalk leading directly to Field's hotel. Apparently first impressions were misleading:

One would naturally expect here but rough backwoods cheer and accommodations, but when you step inside the hotel as by magic the scene changes and one could well imagine, surrounded by elegant furniture, treading upon soft carpets, gazing upon elegant and tastily selected works of art, that he were in some noted city hotel parlor instead of the heart of the Cascade Mountains . . . [22]

Early view of Field Hotel under construction at the head of Lake Chelan.
Note Argonaut in center and new unattached addition to right.
(NOCA-Stehekin photo file)

To accommodate the traveling public Field enlarged the Argonaut to 25 rooms by building a 2-1/2-story unattached structure nearby. A succession of additions through the years resulted in a T-shaped hotel of 2-1/2-stories, marked by a 5-1/2-story tower, and a new name -- the Field Hotel. Despite these alterations that increased the size of the original building threefold, the Field Hotel remained an unassuming edifice architecturally. A series of cross gables punctuated the roof of the otherwise simple building. Verandas on the two main floors enwrapped the building creating light and airy passageways between sections of the hotel and rooms, all of which had electric lights and most of which had plumbing. By 1905:

The building has 60 guest chambers, besides a capacious parlor and ballroom, offices and a dining room . . . The Kitchen is perfect in its appointments and the tables afford among the best spreads and appetite provokers to be found in the Northwest . . . one can be lazy as they like, in cozy armchairs or hammocks, with all the latest papers and literature . . . [23]

An annex was built in a similar style and sited adjacent to the main hotel, providing additional rooms for tourists. The hotel facility was self- sufficient in every manner. A barn, woodshed, chicken house, ice house, and laundry building were all sited on the property. Land was cleared to grow hay for Field's packhorses, and fruit trees and vegetables were raised to supply hotel guests with the freshest produce available. [24]

Merritt Field operated his highly-esteemed hotel until 1906 when he sold all interests to Alice B. Wick for $10,000. [25] Wick may have been an agent for the Great Northern Railroad (GNRR), an entity which ultimately gained control and operated the hotel until its removal in the late 1920s. The GNRR continued to advertise the "Hotel Field" as "a resort with quality in the heart of the mountains." [26] In 1919, eighteen dollars could buy a week of hunting, fishing, bathing, boating, and dancing at the hotel. [27] Every Saturday night a grand dance was held, supplemented by weekday evening dances. Autos were available for hire to take tourists to Rainbow Falls and other nearby points of interest. Indeed, there was "something doing all the time at Hotel Field." [28]

Field Hotel at the head of Lake Chelan, prior to 1927.
Boardwalk led from hotel to boat landing and dock at water's edge.
(NOCA-Stehekin photo file)