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w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
Gone, too, are the dusty streets rutted with horse and carriage
tracks, and the Northern Pacific cars disgorging passengers en
masse. The men, for the most part, no longer carry rifles. The
women, for theirs, have abandoned parasols and petticoats.
Still, for all the changes wrought by time, the character of the
town in that period is largely preserved today, as is the Grabow.
Many, about to embark on the wilderness, therefore chose to seek
lodging in Livingston. H. F. Sanders wrote in his three-volume His-
tory of Montana (1913) that visitors "will usually find themselves di-
rected to the Grabow Hotel, one of the finest hostelries in the state,"
and adding additional praise for its "modern hotel building... fitted
with the finest equipment, with hot and cold running water in every
room, European cafe in connection, and every known convenience
for the comfort of [the hotel's] guests." A later volume, Montana: the
Land and the People by Robert George Raymer, concurred when it
declared that the Grabow Hotel, "while possessing all the modern
features and conveniences of the up-to-date caravanseries, also has
that indefinable something that makes the weary traveler feel at
home." The high-ceilinged lobby had rows of rocking chairs under
the watchful eye of a taxidermied elk head, and the long wooden
back bar was well-appointed with high-proof refreshment. In short,
nothing was lacking.
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
PATRICIA
GRABOW
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
PATRICIA
GRABOW
