Building the Dude
West Yellowstone News
story #3
by Forrest Fenn
In 1962 my
brother Skippy asked me if I wanted to help him build a motel in
West Yellowstone. The question was funny and we both started
laughing. I wanted to shake my head yes and no at the same time but I
didn’t know how to do it. So I did. We brought our good friend Donnie
Joe Heath into the deal mostly I think, because that’s what guys in
their thirty somethings did in those days. We were all stars in the
movies that played in our minds.
Donnie’s mother
was the postmistress in town and his stepfather made rifles in the
winter, and hunted a lot. They were good people and I remember that they
had the second go-away toilet in town. I forgot who had the first.
Anyway, those
two guys didn’t have any money but Skippy would build the thing almost
single handed because he could do anything. And Donnie….well, I guess he
saw himself as the ultimate supervisor. On cold mornings he would order
a cup of coffee just to keep his hands warm. I don’t remember seeing him
drink any of it but he probably did.
The problem was
that I was still a pilot in the Air Force teaching the fighter gunnery
school in Arizona
with eight more years before retirement. Forget that I had a wife and
two small daughters. The thought occurred to me that Skippy wanted me to
be his partner because I had about $20,000 that I had saved over many
years by buying Savings Stamps for ten cents or a quarter. I remember so
many times, going to the post office wherever I was, buying a couple of
stamps and pasting them in a little book that they provided.
Sometimes I was able to buy a Savings Bond, which cost $18.75
and if I held it for ten years to maturity, it would be worth $25. I had
a lot of those because I was very patriotic.
So we built a
sixteen-room motel on the south corner of Boundary and
Madison
and named it The Dude. We ordered a huge neon Cowboy
sign to put out front because we wanted the tourists to see us from
blocks away. Everyone was so proud, and we decided to be the most
expensive motel in town. Donnie went around to the better places and
discovered that the best room to be had was $15 a night. So of course we
charged $16.
One summer a
governor’s conference was held in West and Ronald Reagan, then the
governor of California,
checked into our motel. We gave him room #4. That night, when he came in
late, he couldn’t find his key and no one was in the office. The Los
Angeles Times reported that “Our governor went around back and climbed
in through the bathroom window.” We were famous.
I have fond
memories of West Yellowstone and try to
stay at The Dude when I come to town. I always ask for room #4.
Forrest Fenn
ffenn@earthlink.net
