Liam Guthrie

The Bald Mountain Hot Springs

by

Kristine Bretall, Wood River Museum Community Engagement Manager

A person dives off a diving board into a pool surrounded by people.
The Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge Pool, taken by Martyn Mallory. Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History (F 08069)

School’s out for summer! For many across the country, swimming only happened in the summer time, but here in Ketchum, Bald Mountain Hot Springs was a year-round fixture on the south end of Main Street in Ketchum from 1927 until the late 1990s. Hot springs were the very first tourist attraction in the Wood River Valley and in the late 1880s in Ketchum, near the Warm Springs base of Baldy, Guyer Hot Springs was built and featured a hotel, a spring fed hot pool, tennis courts and a bandstand. But by the early 1900s, the distance from town and time had taken their toll on the place, and entrepreneur Carl Brandt bought the hotel and springs in 1927. 

Deciding that the future of the hot water lay in Ketchum, Brandt piped the hot water all along Warm Springs Road in wooden pipes to the corner of South Main and 1st Streets, to create a hot springs pool right in town (where the Limelight Hotel is now located). Hired for the project was the renowned Boise-based architecture firm, Tourtellotte and Hummel, who in Boise designed the Idaho State House, the Egyptian Theater, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and Boise Junior High. 

The original design for the hot springs pool and lodge included a covered pool, rustic looking tourist cabins, and an elaborate, luxury two-story hotel with an enormous stone fireplace. However, with the Crash of 1929, instead of the full plan coming to fruition, Brandt scaled the project and built the pool without the cover, but surrounded by a full rectangular building that contained offices and changing rooms, and surrounding the pool building in a three-sided “U”, was a one-story motor lodge catering to the growing number of tourists traveling in their own cars.  

In 1935, Averell Harriman’s scout Count Felix von Schaffgotsch stayed here on his final stop of his search of Western states for the perfect place on the Union Pacific’s spur train lines to build a ski area. The hot springs pool flourished for decades and was a focal point of most kids’ youth in Ketchum. Kids learned to swim there, adults had parties and even “Aqua-Cades” in the 1950s and 1960s that featured synchronized swimming and diving, and a lot of clowning around.  

By the late 1990s, however, the wooden pipes and other equipment was failing and the site was sold. The motor lodge was moved to a private hunting ranch in Hagerman in the early 2000s and the sign for Bald Mountain Hot Springs now hangs in lounge at the Limelight Hotel.  

Note this story was originally published in June of 2025 in the Idaho Mountain Express.

Flying in the 1970s

by

Mary Tyson, Director of the Center for Regional History

Pilot Betty Bell looks back over her shoulder sitting in the pilot seat of a small airplane.
George Matsumoto photograph albums, Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History

In the cockpit of the plane is Betty Bell. By 1970, she had been flying for six years. Bell trained on a J-3 Piper Cub. Her instructor was Lawrence Johnson who managed the Friedman Memorial Airport and taught many to fly. According to Betty’s oral history, Lawrence’s teaching style was to not say a word and let his students make mistakes and figure out as much as possible on their own while he sat next to them. It was hard to talk anyway, she said, because it was so noisy. Learning to fly back in the mid-sixties was without a radio and grass airstrips. Friedman’s runway then was 50 ft. wide and had no lights.

The system seemed to be to get to know the terrain really well. Betty flew as a private pilot first, then became a flight instructor and a professional pilot for charter companies. The first company she worked for that was scheduled at Friedman was Rolland Smith’s Sun Valley Air.

In this photo, Betty was taking George Matsumoto for a ride. Motts, as he was known, was behind the camera. Notice his hand on the bottom of the photo. George was always with his camera whenever he and his friends and family were having a great time in the seventies and eighties. This airplane ride from Betty was one of them.

To see more of George’s snapshot photos in his voluminous scrapbooks, or to hear Betty Bell talk about her flying experience, contact the Center for Regional history at regionalhistory@comlib.org or (208) 806-2630.

Note this story was originally published in May of 2025 in the Idaho Mountain Express.

The Fabulous Vuarnettes

by

Ellie Norman, Wood River Museum Collections Specialist

Three women in flamboyant costumes and sunglasses sing into three microphones.
Wood River Journal Photo Morgue, Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History (F 15005235)

The Sun Valley après ski scene has seen many legendary acts, but none quite like The Fabulous Vuarnettes. This all-female cabaret group took the stage in 1981 and remained a beloved fixture for 30 years, captivating audiences with a dynamic blend of singing, dancing, and irreverent comedy. Performing at venues such as Silver Creek Saloon, Elkhorn Saloon, Whiskey Jacques, Creekside Bar & Grill, and the Boiler Room, The Fabulous Vuarnettes consistently packed the house with their high-energy shows. Their name paid homage to Jean Vuarnet, whose groundbreaking ski sunglasses from the late 1950s revolutionized eyewear by enhancing depth perception—a fitting choice for a group thriving in a ski town.

The original lineup included Mary “Buddha Schwartz” Stevens, Cherie “Kitty Litter” Kessler, Callie “Cheetah Velveeta” Galpin, and Vickie “Titsa Hoy” Saito. Over the years, the group evolved, with Karen “Lola Motorola” Hale joining in 1984 and Linda “Fern Fein D’Buck” Badell in 1986. The final iteration featured Kessler, Galpin, Badell, and Heidi “Ruby Rose Hips” Bates. Bates, the youngest member, had been a devoted fan long before joining—sneaking into bars at just 16 to catch their performances.

A defining aspect of The Fabulous Vuarnettes was their flamboyant stage presence. Dressed in 1950s prom dresses, metallic jumpsuits, bejeweled platform shoes, and wildly adorned headpieces, they brought a theatrical spectacle to their performances. Their humor shone through in their cheeky parodies of 1950s and 1960s songs, tackling subjects from the quirks of men to midlife crises and the passage of time. Over the years, they wrote and performed more than 200 parody songs, all crafted by the group members themselves, along with their elaborate choreography, sets, and props.

Their popularity extended beyond Sun Valley. In 1990, they made a cameo in Warren Miller’s ski film Extreme Winter, where they were filmed on the Warm Springs side of Baldy. The segment featured them riding the lift, skiing, and performing at the North Face Hut while lip-syncing an original song, “Vuarnette Daze,” which they wrote for the film.

This photograph from January 1990 captures the essence of their performances. Taken at Creekside in Warm Springs, it shows three Vuarnettes on stage, each adorned in extravagant attire—frilly prom dresses, oversized sunglasses, sparkling jewelry, and crimped and curled updos. The image is a testament to an era when après ski entertainment in Sun Valley was as much about humor and spectacle as it was about music.

Note this story was originally published in April of 2025 in the Idaho Mountain Express.

The Flowers Sawmill

by

Liam Guthrie, Regional History Librarian

A long wooden building in a snowy mountain-scape, with workers, a wagon, and a sleigh in front.
The Flowers Sawmill at Adams Gulch, Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History (F 00088)

Adams Gulch is well known today for its popular hiking and biking trails, but the gulch’s history is deeply intertwined with the lumber industry and the Flowers Sawmill, which inhabited it for decades. This 1911 photo shows the sawmill that once stood at the mouth of Adams Gulch, along with wagons and sleds used to haul lumber.

The gulch’s first sawmill was built much further up the gulch, near the confluence with Eve Gulch, by Abijah Adams, for whom the gulch is named. Adams had already been operating a sawmill on Warm Springs Creek since 1881, but the mines and boom towns of the valley created a high demand for lumber, so Adams opened his second sawmill in Adams Gulch by 1886. Adams operated this sawmill until his death from illness in 1892. The sawmill was sold to Hobart Beamer of Hailey, who hired Wes Flowers to work in the sawmill.

In the busier summer logging season, Wes and his family would live at the sawmill. The sawmill had several houses, cabins, a boarding house, and a blacksmith shop. Wes worked at the sawmill and his wife Addie assisted with cooking for the sawyers living in the boarding house. During the winter, the rest of the family would return to Hailey so the children could attend school, while Wes remained in Adams Gulch to run the sawmill.

By April of 1907, Wes Flowers had bought the sawmill from Beamer. The Flowers family loved their summers in Adams Gulch and soon applied for a homestead at the mouth of the gulch. Here they built a frame house and a few outbuildings. In 1910, they relocated the sawmill from its old location up Adams Gulch to be nearer the homestead. Wes also took up farming and ranching on the homestead.

This photo shows the sawmill in the winter of 1911, which unfortunately would prove a tragic year for the Flowers family. While logging that winter in Adams Gulch, Wes and his eldest son Arthur were struck by an avalanche, killing them both. This was the start of hard times for the family, as Wes’s younger sons Eugene and George, respectively eighteen and fourteen, were forced to take over the sawmill and ranch to support their family.

Though the sawmill and ranch were mortgaged and even put up for sale multiple times, the Flowers family persevered. The Flowers Brothers ran the sawmill, planted crops, ranched cattle, and even trapped wild game in the winter to get by. The brothers were well-liked and respected in the community. Even in the dead of winter, there are many stories of Ketchum residents trekking up to Adams Gulch on skis to fetch the brothers for a dance or a potluck. The brothers eventually married two Swedish women from Illinois in a 1939 double wedding and built a log cabin for each couple on the Flowers homestead. They continued operating the sawmill all the way until George’s death in 1968.

Note this story was originally published in March of 2025 in the Idaho Mountain Express.

The Challenger Inn

by

Kristine Bretall, Wood River Museum Community Engagement Manager

Two kids ski towards the Challenger Inn
Challenger Inn, 1955. Union Pacific Photo Collection. Photo courtesy of the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History

Here, we look back on an old image of kids on skis approaching the Challenger Inn from the pond near the Sun Valley Opera House in about 1955. The shot was taken for publicity purposes by the Union Pacific Railroad, which owned Sun Valley Resort at the time.

From the start of the resort in December 1936, Union Pacific’s goal was to get travelers to arrive by train and stay at the resort for all their needs. The Sun Valley Lodge opened that first winter of 1936-37, but quickly saw a need for a more affordable place for people to stay with their families in tow. The Challenger Inn was designed to resemble a Tyrolean village, with the building painted a variety of colors to look like individual buildings.

For the resort’s second winter, the Inn opened in 1937 and rooms were $4 per person per night—with up to four per room. Meanwhile, in the Lodge, a suite with en suite bathrooms and a deck cost $36-$48 per night. In addition to being much more affordable, the Challenger also featured a bowling alley, a 500-seat movie theater, an outdoor pool, a game room with billiards and slot machines, the Ram Restaurant and even a drug store and general store.

The Inn quickly became the hub of fun and activity at the resort and many a guest chose the livelier Inn over the high-society atmosphere in the Lodge. The Challenger Inn was later rebranded as the Sun Valley Inn to ensure that the Sun Valley name wasn’t used on a hotel elsewhere and cause confusion.

The Community Library’s Center for Regional History has a trove of incredible photos. The Union Pacific Photo Collection was saved from a landfill in Omaha, Nebraska, by librarian Dottie Thomas in 1982. She happened to be there when Union Pacific was clearing out its “photo morgue.” Lucky for all of us.

Note this story was originally published in February of 2025 in the Idaho Mountain Express.

Gloria Batís and Club Rio

by

Mary Tyson, Director of the Center for Regional History

Gloria Batis lights candles on a cake in Club Rio while a crowd looks on.
Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History, Dorice Taylor Collection (F 06443)

Club Rio, where this photo was taken, was known for great Basque meals served by chef Gloria Batís. It was also frequented as a place to drink, to gamble, and for Basques to board for a night or two. Gloria and her husband, Pete Batís, started the club in 1941, and lived in the back. It was in a central location on the north side of Sun Valley Rd. just behind where Enoteca is now.

Gloria served traditional fare in the Rio such as chicken and rice, potatoes with garlic and parsley, baked lamb, shrimp, fish, fried pimientos (peppers), and mina salsa (chili sauce). Many luminaries ate her food. Ernest Hemingway, who was known to love Basque cooking, was a frequent early customer and followed her from her first club restaurant, the Idaho Club on Main St. to the Rio. He would come in with Martha Gellhorn, and sometimes brought in pressed ducks, that he had pressed himself, and Gloria cooked them in the oven for him.

When WWII started, the Sun Valley Lodge closed and became a Naval Convalescent Hospital. Gloria and Pete shut down Club Rio for the war years as well, though they cooked many meals for the navy servicemen during that period.

In this photo, Gloria, center, is lighting birthday cake candles for a party. The other man helping her light candles is the distinguished British Ambassador, Archibald John Kerr. Gloria and Pete closed the Rio in 1951, and she went to work as the chef for Trail Creek Cabin for twenty more years.

Note this story was originally published in December of 2024 in the Idaho Mountain Express.

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