They lined up starting about about 11:30 a.m. They formed a queue that went down the road.

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Back in those days, the Log Cabin Cafe opened at noon. Alvilda Caulk owned it. She came from a large family of 13 siblings who all tended toward sleeping late. But they paid for it. “You hated to open the door,” remembers Alvilda’s sister Mavis Hoenke, who used to serve there. Tourists always came flooding into the dining room in droves as soon as they unlocked the doors!

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The favorite was the trout dinner. A fisherman in those days could even bring in their own catch for Alvilda to fry up, in between baking her fresh breads, dinner rolls and pies from scratch with her sister Clara.

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Alvilda life's story told of her hard work. Al “required a lot” and even fired an employee once in the middle of the busy dinner rush because the girl wasn’t doing what she was told. Alvilda's work ethic was second to none and she expected the same from her staff. She made no exceptions for her family and indeed expected them to set the standard of excellence and hard work for other employees.

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The hours were noon to about 10p.m. But clean up had to be “just so,” according Mavis.  After they locked up, though, they blew off steam. The Log Cabin crew used to pile up to Cooke City to laugh, dance and listen to the bands “uptown.” Or they had time for picnics and fishing some sunny summer days that still live on. The job lasted "100 days," night and day, Alvilda always said. The day after Labor Day, she fried chicken and took her staff out for a picnic in the Park. 

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“You have to run it yourself, you can let them run you. You have to have faith in yourself,” Mavis tells me. Indeed...she speaks from her sister's experience and wisdom. 

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