Welcome to The Royal Wulff Tavern at the Range Rider Lodge in Silver Gate, Montana. Silver Gate was founded in 1932 and the building was built in 1937. It opened in 1938 as the Gorham Chalet. After the completion of the Beartooth Highway in 1936 the Cooke City/Silver Gate area became an Entrance to Yellowstone instead of the end of the road ghost town it had been for some time. The Chalet had a sophisticated menu in order to cater to travelers using the new road to access the Park. Ralph Nelles, who helped build the Lodge and tended the bar for the first couple of years it was open, remembered Hemingway coming into the bar with his wife Pauline every Saturday night for dinner, drinks and dancing.

“On Saturday Nights, Ernest and his wife would come for dinner and to do some dancing. You see, we had the only dance band in that area. Ernest was a very heavy drinker and always wanted to stay until we closed the bar.”

Ralph Nelles, Village Boy Pg. 25