The successful partnership between the Santa Fe Railway and the Fred Harvey Company changed the face of the West. Harvey, an Englishman, was appalled at the poor fare and service he found in train stations and at depot hotels.

A restaurant owner turned freight agent, Harvey convinced the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad that he could do better, given the chance. The first Harvey House opened in 1876, and its success led to dozens of restaurants, hotels, and gift shops throughout the region.

Critical to the company’s success was its efficient, neat, and attractive young waitresses. Thousands of Harvey Girls, hired to work in lunchrooms from Topeka to Los Angeles, brought refinement and wholesomeness to rough-and-tumble communities settled by prospectors, loggers, merchants, and train crews. Harvey Girls married ranchers and other locals, and it’s said that many a boy baby was christened “Fred” or “Harvey” as the wild and woolly West was tamed.

Partnering with Fred Harvey wasn’t the only way the Santa Fe endeavored to boost passenger traffic. Through a calculated campaign of image crafting, the railroad paid fares for artists to encourage them to visit locations and paint them. The Santa Fe then distributed free lithographs (such as Thomas Moran’s Chasm of the Colorado) to popularize its destinations.

The railroad banked on the romantic appeal of the West. Between 1896 and 1920, the Santa Fe built 17 hotels and more than a dozen train stations, most designed in regional styles.

At Grand Canyon, the Santa Fe Railway built a “log palace” to rival Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn, and the Fred Harvey Company lured them in with Harvey Girls, an Italian chef from New York City, and “steak more tender than a woman’s love.” Then Fred Harvey Company and Santa Fe partnered again to hire brilliant architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, whose fanciful constructions romanced visitors at Hopi House, Lookout Studio, Hermits Rest, the Desert View Watchtower, and Bright Angel Lodge.

Fred Harvey died in 1901 without seeing the company’s marvelous Grand Canyon buildings, but several El Tovar staff members claim to have witnessed his ghost wandering about. You can see him, too — his portrait hangs in the History Room at Bright Angel Lodge.