The Pearl of the Plains

The Virginian Hotel, a historic hotel in Medicine Bow, has hosted many guests over the years and has been in the family of owner Vernon Scott for several generations.

"It was known as the 'Pearl of the Plains'," said Scott.

Construction on the hotel began in 1901 and was completed in 1911. It was built by August Grimm, the first mayor of Medicine Bow, and his partner George Plummer. 

"August knew the Lincoln Highway was coming through Medicine Bow and the railroad was already here," Vernon said. "He even named it after Owen Wister's novel because he knew Wister was associated with Medicine Bow."

Vernon said Wister slept in his great grandfather's store which is directly across the street from the present day hotel.

"I still have the counter that he slept on," Vernon said. "If you go to the building now, you will see a literary plaque dedicated to him that is on the side of the building."

"The Virginian" by Wister is considered by many the first commercial Western novel.

"August knew what he was doing when he named the hotel 'The Virginian', Vicki Scott, Vernon's wife, said. "He was planning ahead for the hotel to be famous."

She and Vernon said it was the first place in the area to have electricity, indoor plumbing and asewer system.

"Because he was mayor, he knew all this was going to eventually happen," Vicki said. "The hotel was really ahead of its time."

Upon completion, it was the biggest hotel between Denver and Salt Lake City.

Although The Virginian provided a place for cowboys and railroad workers to stay–the town of Medicine Bow was a terminus for various freight while they were in town– the hotel was actually built to serve a much broader clientele. Grimm was convinced the Lincoln Highway would make The Virginian a venue for many to meet, eat and stay. He imagined it to be a setting for many business dealings in the region.

Grimm asked for shareholders as the hotel neared completion because he was running out of money. That is when Vernon's great grandfather bought into it.

Grimm eventually sold out to Frank Boyd who, in turn, sold it to the Scott family.

"My grandfather was successful opening stores all over, and he was going to Salt Lake City to run Little America before he was sold The Virginian," Vernon said. "He bought it in the 1920s. It has been in my family for 80 to 90 years."

"He was a master carpenter and there are buildings throughout Carbon County where you can see his work," Vicki added.

Vicki and Vernon have expanded the hotel, buying the old Trampas Motel down the street and converting several nearby buildings into motel units.

"We have 60 units," Vernon said. 

Although COVID-19 protocols and restrictions were in place, the hotel did not suffer due to the nearby wind projects.

"Summers are usually good for us," Vernon said. "But companies contracted out for rooms for two years and we did really well."

Vicki said although the hotel did well, the restaurant did take a hit.

"We followed all the rules and did only allow four people in our bar when we could serve again," Vicki said. "We did curbside dining, but it was not like a regular summer as far as food goes."

The Scotts did not lay off any employees, although business was slow for the restaurant. 

"Our business model has mostly part time workers and we couldn't let them go. We kept them in hours even though there wasn't the business to back it up." Vicki said. "We kept them on and lost money as far as staff goes, but they were going through tough times because we do depend on tourism in the summer. It went by in a motor home."

"It is true, all our RV spots were rented out," Vernon said.

Vicki said not only did the restaurant lose business but costs were higher because to serve to-go meals, single serving packets of condiments had to be purchased.

"Originally single serve everything was the way of life and so were masks," Vicki said. "We followed the governor's guidelines the entire time. We still do. Not only for ourselves, but for our workers and customers. This hotel has been around a long time and we certainly aren't going to do anything that would ever endanger its business."

In 1978, The Virginian Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel had a grand reopening in 1984, after it had been completely renovated and restored to its current turn of the century décor.

The main floor has an 'Eating House,' when a guest first comes through the doors. Then there is the formal 'Owen Wister Dining Room,' where it feels like a cattle baron would have felt comfortable 100 years prior. On the ground floor there is also the 'Shiloh Saloon,' which still has bullet holes throughout to let guests know that shootouts did occur often enough in times gone by.

The Virginian has been a part of the Scotts' lives for as long as they can remember. 

They met as children, but didn't really notice each other until they were 15.

"I am the one who gave him the name 'Scotty' because it sounded better than Vernon," Vicki laughed. "He went off to college and when he came back, we got married."

"I love Medicine Bow," Vernon said. "I really do. This is a great place and I get to be around my family."

"The past year dealing with COVID has been tough, but we actually were really lucky," Vicki said. "The wind projects with their workers offset what could have been a very bad time for the hotel. We were able to keep our workers in hours and although business did suffer, it could have been much worse."

The Scotts are hoping the past year the hotel endured in 2020 will ebb away as the vaccine for the pandemic is administered throughout the population because, they said, the world can't sustain living in fear constantly.

"You have to believe it will get better," Vicki said. "The Virginian has been a place for people to visit from all over the world over the years and we hope it will be around for years to come."

Vicki makes a good point. After over 100 years, it would be hard to imagine Medicine Bow without the 'Pearl of the Plains'.