"Stir" takes to the road again!

[Stir Young]

Hey, its me, Gary Young! You know, the smart alecky guy who was gonna go out west??? I thought I might try doing one of these blog thingies about my trip to Yellowstone Park and back.

So who is Stir? Well, that's been my nickname since I was in high school. I was originally called "Youngster" by one of my friends, I guess because I only looked about 12 years old when I was a Junior. As time went on, "Youngster" got shortened to "Ster", or "Stir", as I prefer to spell it, and people just ASSUMED that the shortened variety came about because I "stirred" up trouble. Why, nothing could be further from the truth....c'mon, you know me....I'm a peacemaker!

Well, anyway, about 2 years ago, I embarked on a quest to find people whom I'd worked with in Yellowstone Park in the summer of 1969. It became a cooperative project as I found others, and they started looking too. Along the way, we've been able to account for about 12 people, and the idea for an employee reunion came about. That reunion took place on August 14th and 15th 2009, in Gardiner, Montana, and the story that follows will hopefully tell a little about the summer of 1969 in Yellowstone Park, and my journey back there 40 years later.

And just who is that mischieveous looking guy up above? Why that's me, in the summer of 1969, of course.

[Stir Young]

This might be a good time to back up a bit and relate how Nake and I got to Yellowstone National Park in the first place. I don't recall a lot of thought going into our destination. We wanted to leave Michigan and head to California. We had no specific destination in Cali. Somewhere very early in the journey we decided to go through Yellowstone on our way. I don't recall that we talked much about it, or agonized over the decision. Thats one of the beauties of being young and foolish. We were quite fearless and impetuous.

When we got to Yellowstone, we were touring around when we saw a "Help Wanted" sign in one of the Hamilton Stores. We asked about jobs, and were told to check at the company offices in West Yellowstone the next day (I recall that we inquired on a Sunday).

We found our way to West Yellowstone, set up camp in a private campground on the outskirts of town, and prepared for our job hunting the next day by doing something we were quite good at. We found a bar and got really hammered.

The next day I had a splitting headache, but we cleaned up and put our best clothes on, and headed to the Hamilton Offices. We stated our reason for being there, and presently we were ushered into a room where we were told in no uncertain terms by the Personel Manager that to even be considered for interviews we would need haircuts.

I was plenty ticked off at his tone, but on our way out Nake noticed that the waiting room had filled up with lots of girls and hardly any guys. I wanted to hit the road, but he wanted to get the haircuts and go back to Hamiltons. I quickly saw his point, so off we went for haircuts....the barber refered to what we neeeded as "Hamilton Specials".

With white sidewalls and a "princeton" style on top and in the front, back we went to Hamiltons' offices. This time the Personel Director (whom we later found out was the company founder's grandson) saw us back in for interviews. He proceded to give us the third degree about not going to college, not having goals, and he refered to us as "drifters".

Upon asking if we had ever taken accounting classes, I was able to truthfully answer that yes, I had taken three terms of it in junior college. Then the weirdest thing happened...he changed his direction and abruptly told us we were hired, me as an assistant accountant in Mammoth, and Nake as a soda jerk at Tower. He added that he was splitting us up, because he didn't want us working together. As I think back, I gotta give him points for that...who knows what kind of mischief we would have got in working together.

So off we went in the VW bus, heading for Mammoth to drop me off, and Nake to continue on to Tower Falls. What the heck had we gotten ourselves into?

[Stir Young]

Here's an old postcard of the Haynes Photo Shop. No, sorry, I don't remember this....it was way before 1969!!

[Stir Young]

This is a view of the Accounting Office portion of the building. It was one room with several tables and chairs and a desk, and a big old safe in an adjoining room. Our accounting "tools" consisted of the old fashioned adding machines with cranks on the side. We transported money back and forth to the stores in empty cigar boxes. Our "official" armored vehicle was a 1953 GMC pickup with a cap over the bed. We were state of the art!

[Stir Young]

This is a view of the back side of the former Haynes Photo shop. As best as I can recall, the second window from the right, on the second floor, was my dorm room. My fellow Assistant Accountant, David had the room next to me on the left, and on the far left was a married couple, Tom and Linnea, who left very early in the summer. I don't recall that the room on the far right was occupied. Directly below our rooms was the dining hall, and adjoining that in the back was the kitchen. The accounting office was on the ground floor to the left, separated from the dining hall by a hallway and the stairs to the second floor.

[Stir Young]

This a front, or storeside view of the old Haynes Photo Shop. The building is built in an eclectic fashion...it has a disjointed look which I presume is due to being added on to over the years.

[Stir Young]

The first thing I saw entering Mammoth was the Chapel and several sturdy and subtantial buildings, all on the right hand side. Those building are part of the former Ft. Yellowstone. Then on the left, and easily missed or overlooked, was a somewhat neglected, wooden building. It obviously was a store at one time, and in fact it WAS a store up until 1968, I believe. In 1969, it was the building in which I worked, roomed and dined. The summer I worked here this building had housed the accounting office, the dining hall and several dorm rooms for the accounting staff, the kitchen staff, and married couples.

I had seen several aerial views of this building, taken over the years since 1969, and it had remained basically unchanged. For many years it had been the Haynes Photo Shop, until the Haynes interests sold out to Hamilton Stores in 1967 or 1968. In 1969, all of the workers from the Accounting Department, the General Store, the Gift Shop, and the Service Station ate there. Three meals and lodging cost us $3.75 a day back then, as I recall.

Without further ado, I parked my car, and got out to take some pictures.

[Stir Young]

Now I was coming across several pieces of roadway and scenery that I kind of remembered. As with all the drvies in Yellowstone, this was very nice. I came upon the entrance to the Blacktail Plateau Drive and made a note to take that another time. Its one way heading easterly back almost to Roosevelt Lodge, and frankly, I really wanted to get to Mammoth.

In due time I saw Mammoth up ahead...it seemed to be sitting on a plateau, and the whiteness of the Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace was very distinct. I crossed the bridge over the Gardner River, and very quickly I was there...back in Mammoth!

[Stir Young]

Now I was on the road to Mammoth. I was really excited to have come this far, after so many years. In 1969, I drove this stretch of road at least 3 times a week to conduct the daily money runs. I also made the trip several times to party with the Tar gang.

Quite quickly, I came upon the turnout to see the petrified tree. I stopped to look at that....a nice paved road lead to it, and there were quite few parking spaces laid out. I seem to remember that it was a very minor attraction 40 years ago. I believe the turnoff was gravel, and although there was metal fencing around the actual tree remains, I didn't remember so many interpretive signs and a boardwalk. I took a couple of pictures and headed out for Mammoth again.

[Stir Young]

As I was backtracking a couple of miles to Roosevelt Lodge, I decided to brave the crowds there, and stop back in to look around a little. i found a place to park, and went into the lodge itself to look around. It has maintained much of its charm from 40 years ago.

I also went in the store, and bought a 1/2 pint of Old Yellowstone Whiskey as a souvenir. Uh, when did they start bottling liquor in plastic bottles? Maybe I'm behind the times a little. I chatted with the sales attendance, and of course i had to bring up about working in the park 40 years before. Since this guy was a little older, he at least feigned some interest. He also told me to be sure and apply for a job next summer, as they really needed me there at Roosevelt! Gee, it felt good to be wanted.

[Stir Young]

The Tower Falls Store looked much as I remember it. Upon entering the building, it was apparent that it had been modernized since 1969....gone were the rustic look and quaint old fixtures. It was very crowded with people both looking and buying.

I was very hungry, so I stepped up to a kiosk that sold food, and bought a chili dog, small (very small indeed) bag of chips and a Pepsi. In 1969, there was a very typical (for the times) soda fountain. Nake was a "Soda Jerk" when he started working, but he was bumped up to a better job quite quickly.

My meager fare killed all but 14 cents of a $10 bill, and I have to say it was NOT very good! The chili was extremely salty and had the consistency of paste, and the hot dog itself was rubbery with very little taste. On the bright side, the Pepsi wasn't bad! Oh well, at least I wasn't hungry any longer!

After eating at a shared picnic table outside, I walked back to my car and hit the road again....it was only 18 miles to my old Yellowstone haunt...Mammoth!