Enter now to win a copy of
Iron Women: The Ladies Who Helped Build the Railroad
The sun blazed high in a brassy sky, and heat danced in undulating waves across the high plateau town of Winslow, Arizona. In the far distance, a train with the name Santa Fe Railway embossed on its side hurried along steel rails toward the La Posada Hotel. It was May 15, 1930, opening day for the newest link in the chain of Fred Harvey hotels found along the Santa Fe line between Chicago and the Pacific Coast.
The main lobby of the grand establishment was crowded with local and state politicians, Native Americans, businessmen and their wives, enthusiastic patrons, and, of course Harvey Girls, those dedicated women who worked as wait staff at restaurants and hotels from Kansas to California. Among those celebrating the launch of La Posada was its architect, Mary Colter. The sixty-two-year-old designer beamed with pride as she surveyed the rambling earth tinted structure. Inspired by the great ranchos of old Mexico, the hotel was the embodiment of simplicity, spacious comfort and colorful interest, characteristic of early Spanish craftmanship.
One of Mary’s friends handed her a glass of champagne to toast the event, but, before she could raise her glass, a pair of rowdy, well-dressed cowboys on horseback burst into the entrance of the magnificent vestibule. One of the exuberant men rode over to Mary, hopped off his horse, scooped her up in her arms, and placed her on the check-in counter. The two cowboys celebrated Mary’s accomplishment by firing their guns into the air. Before the gathering had a chance to fully process the actions of the joyful pair, the cowboys quickly walked their horses out of the hotel.
Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter’s business relationship with Fred Harvey, the hotelier, restauranteur and retailer, and the Santa Fe Railway lasted more than forty years. The gifted architect and designer created numerous, large scale projects for the Harvey Company and the rail line. All of which helped promote both businesses and made train travel pleasurable for those heading west.
