DOUGLAS — More than 110 years after the three-story hotel on the corner of Walnut and North Second streets in Douglas opened it doors, it remains a center of community activity as well as a place to make memories.
A popular restaurant occupies one side of the building and a sometimes-busy bar on the other. There’s a meeting space in the center, the Longhorn Room, where the local Rotary and other groups meet, along with the occasional wedding.
“We still try to be a hub for downtown activities,” said Macey Moore, who with husband Keith bought the historic Hotel LaBonte 10 years ago.
The original 54 rooms at the hotel’s opening in 1914 have been transformed over the years to 20 hotel rooms and 10 suites with kitchenettes.
The eating and drinking sides of the hotel now are opposite from its initial layout, but Moore and Manager Kelly Jestes say those businesses are popular for locals and patrons at the hotel.
‘Old West Vibe’
“There's some fun history that exists right here, (and) people are looking for that Old West vibe,” Moore said. “We get people that come out to look for homesteads and they'll stay here and then go, with landowner permission, kind of try and look for old homesteads of relatives that they've tracked down.”
They also get older patrons who just enjoy historic hotels who come to Douglas for a stay after spending time in Buffalo at the famous Occidental Hotel there.
Once they’ve discovered the LaBonte, many return.
Part of the hotel’s Wild West legacy is a historic shootout, and strange things have been known to happen that are hard to explain.
Moore said she and her husband, a fifth-generation Douglas-area rancher, bought the hotel because of their “affinity for old buildings and downtown revitalization.”
“This was a chance to kind of do something in the community and renovate different areas of the hotel that were starting to maybe not look quite as historical as they could, as well as be involved in our small little town,” she said.
Searches for the hotel in old Douglas newspapers uncover a treasure trove of history associated with the structure.
The most famous event at the hotel involved that shootout, when Sheriff Albert Peyton tracked Casper investment broker Van Gorden to a room at the hotel. Van Gorden, well known in Casper and Douglas, had murdered his young son and wife at his home in Casper and fled to Douglas.
He took a second-floor room under an assumed name at the hotel. Early on Sunday, March 16, Peyton took an adjacent room. When Van Gorden left his room at 3 a.m. the sheriff confronted him.
“Van Gorden fired at Peyton and missed and a bullet from Peyton’s gun dropped Van Gorden,” the Douglas Enterprise reported on March 18. “There were a number of patrons in the hotel lobby at the time of the shooting.”
The history of the shooting has led to speculation and stories about a potential haunting of the hotel by either the sheriff or his victim.
High-Speed Fiber Installation
While that Wild West history gives the LaBonte some outlaw nostalgia, it’s stayed relevant over the decades by keeping up with the times.
Maintenance and renovations involve a balancing act between saving the sense of the building’s history and atmosphere but providing for the modern expectations that people have for a hotel stay.
A current project during this slower winter season involves installation of fiber optic cable for high-speed internet.
Moore said when she bought the hotel, she restored the lobby to its original size and feel. It had been partitioned off over the years.
Doors to hotel rooms and suites now have automated push-button keyed locks; however, a rack of keys in the closet off the office is maintained in case the electronic version malfunctions. The glass-encased office off the lobby also features old key boxes as well as safe that links it back to its past.
An original ledger from initial operator H. O. Emery lists the hotel item expenses to other businesses in the community. Oil cloth, ribbon and thread were needed from the Collins Dry Goods Co. in 1919.
When the $50,000 hotel was constructed in 1913 and opened in 1914, promotional material advertised its “luxurious” furnishings and “latest conveniences” such as electric lights, phones in every room, hot and cold running water, and steam heat.
It had an open courtyard top Walnut Street that led to the main entrance that in 1982-83 was covered to create a dance floor. That space is now the Longhorn Room for wedding receptions, birthday parties, the Rotary meetings, and other community and private events.
When the Wyoming State Fair week arrives each year, the hotel becomes a busy place.
Hotel LaBonte owner Macey Moore, left, and Manager Kelly Jestes say they try to keep the business a center for downtown activities, similar to its role when it opened in 1914. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Hotel LaBonte owner Macey Moore found an old sign for the hotel in the basement. She had it brought up to the hotel bar and placed on the wall. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
A distinctive arched window in the hotel bar looks out onto Walnut Street in Douglas. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The second-floor corridor in the Hotel LaBonte today. In 1924, there was a shootout between the Converse County sheriff and a murderer in the floor’s hall. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Ramos Café, open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. draws locals and hotel guests from Wednesdays through Mondays. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
A photo of the LaBonte from its early days hangs on the wall in the hotel’s event room for the community. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily)
Mare’s Milk Party
Moore said the hotel has reintroduced an old fair tradition — Bud and Bette Tillard’s “mare’s milk party” to kick off the week.
“It was kind of a fun nod to history,” Moore said. “Mare’s milk is this drink, and we were able to get ahold of her actual recipe.”
The mare’s milk recipe includes vodka, Kahlua and milk served over ice.
Old copies of the Douglas Budget and Enterprise newspapers reveal the hotel was also a place where a Sheridan eye, nose and throat specialist would hold a clinic in 1915 for patients. The Converse County Republican Club also used the hotel for a special meeting in September 1920 to talk about the November election.
At its birth, the hotel had 40 employees. It now has four, Moore said, excluding employees for the bar and restaurant.
Like many historic structures, the hotel has weathered a fire in February 1981.
“It started in the basement but spread to much of the first floor and east wing before firearm got it controlled,” Jestes said.
When the hotel was bought in the late 1960s, new owners Harry and Rachel Johnston converted the third-floor rooms from regular hotel rooms to the kitchenettes that are still in use.
Moore said as with most older buildings, maintenance and renovation projects come with the territory. Since purchasing it, they have redone several rooms, replaced fixtures, painted and upgraded.
During the winter months, business from longer-term guests in the third-floor suites provides a significant part of the business during the week.
Tourists And Business Guests
Moore estimates the tourist season from May through the Christmas holiday has about 50% tourists and travelers and 50% of her business guests.
In 1922, an ad in the Douglas Enterprise stated the hotel was going to “reopen the Hotel Labonte Dining Room under the management of H. O. Emery — short orders a specialty.
Food remains a staple at the LaBonte.
Moore said she was approached by the Ramos family a couple of years ago about using the ground-floor space on the west side of the hotel to open a restaurant. The space in 1914 included a barber shop, billiard hall and bar.
The original bar can be found at the Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum in Douglas.
The Ramos Cafe employs eight in addition to members of the Ramos’ family: manager Gabriel Ramos, his father, wife and brother. He calls the space and the business they have going Wednesdays through Mondays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. “great.”
“We do it all. It’s a mix of American and Mexican food,” he said.
The restaurant offers regular specials, and on a recent day offered a rancher’s skillet that included prime rib, potatoes, onions, bell peppers and eggs smothered in queso with tortillas or toast for $12.95.
The hotel’s bar is open daily from 11 a.m. to close. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Hotel owner Macey Moore found this hotel sign in the basement when she bought the hotel. She had it installed on the hotel bar’s north wall. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
A hotel room on the second floor. Each room offers its own flavor, some have vaulted ceilings. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The event space at the hotel used to be an open courtyard but was covered by owners decades ago. The room sees a lot of use for weddings, birthday parties, as well as by the local Rotary Club and other organizations. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The hotel’s third floor offers kitchenette rooms that are often reserved during the week for oilfield and construction personnel working in the region. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
An old photo on the hotel wall shows patrons in the Hotel LaBonte lobby possibly around the holidays. The pillars are decorated. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The lobby of the historic hotel still boasts its original tile floor. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The original key and mailboxes for rooms remains on the wall in the Hotel LaBonte office in the lobby. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The original main entrance to the hotel is now inside the covered event space. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
The hotel offers an outdoor space in the summer for concerts and for parents to sip a drink while kids play in the sand. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily)
The Bar
The LaBonte Bar on the east side of the building is open daily from 11 a.m. to close. In the summer, the hotel and bar have an outdoor space across the alley to the east on Walnut Street with tables for parents with adult drinks and a sandbox for kids. They host concerts and special events there.
On the wall in the bar is a sign that once adorned the hotel that Moore found tucked away in the basement.
“I don’t know when it is from, but it is an oldie,” she said.
Strange Occurrences
Moore said she has never personally witnessed anything strange at the hotel, but has heard stories from customers.
Last summer, she said a “gentleman” staying at the hotel told her he sensed some sort of experience with a “presence” but didn’t describe the details. And there have been other stories.
“We had really recently a weird situation with a water line in the ceiling (of the basement) get shut off,” she said. “It’s not like it is readily accessible. Why would that happen?”
In February 1994, a Douglas man donated a buffalo head to the hotel. The new owner at the time, David Edwards, and his manager centered the buffalo head above the lobby window and, according to a March 10, 1994, story in The Prospect, a free shopper paper, strange things started to happen.
A bartender passing through the lobby heard “hooves scuffling” and felt a breeze. An employee serving a banquet dinner a few days earlier heard the buffalo “cry.” The buffalo head moved its position on the wall and pictures on either side of it became crooked.
Manager Jim Riordan was quoted as saying he believed the buffalo once roamed an Indian reservation and “was either trying to get back to its native grounds or closer to the kitchen.”
Moore and Jestes said they have no information on what happened to the buffalo head. It was not on the wall when the Moores bought the place and they don’t remember ever seeing it during previous visits to the hotel for events.
But they don’t tire from the stories of how the hotel has impacted a life.
“We get people coming through here that give us stories of when they were a kid waiting for their parents who were having dinner at a dance or at the bar,” Moore said. “Old timers that come in and reminisce about this hotel and how they sort of grew up here. It’s been pretty fun to hear those stories.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
