Union Pacific Hotel, Evanston, Wyoming

Evanston, named after Union Pacific Division Engineer James A. Evans (1830-1887), was founded in November 1868, when the first Union Pacific graders arrived in the area. Originally, the division point was to be Wahsatch, Utah Territory, but a water shortage there assured it would be Evanston. Since Evanston was a division point, the railroad constructed a hotel and eating house, The Mountain Trout House, operated by the Kitchen Brothers of Omaha. Under its African American manager, Howard W. Crossley, the hotel received good reviews by early travelers for the quality, neatness, and attentativeness of its Chinese waiters. The main portion of the hotel burned in 1899.