Freelan Oscar Stanley and the Steamer

The man behind the Stanley Hotel did not come to Estes Park to build a resort. He came here to survive. Freelan Oscar Stanley, along with his twin brother Francis, had made a fortune inventing and manufacturing the Stanley Steamer, an elegant steam powered automobile that was one of the fastest cars in America in the early nineteen hundreds.

But in nineteen oh three, Freelan Stanley was struck by a dangerous return of tuberculosis. Doctors of the day prescribed dry mountain air, sunlight, and rest, so Stanley traveled west and came up into this high valley for the summer. His health improved so dramatically that he returned year after year.

Grateful and captivated by the place, Stanley decided to give something back. He built the grand hotel, but he also invested in the town itself, helping bring water and electric power. He even used his own steam cars to solve a problem.

The nearest railroad stopped miles away in Lyons, so Stanley put his automobiles to work carrying guests up the mountain to his hotel. The car that nearly failed him in the city helped him build a life in the Rockies.