Child, Harry W. (Harry Wilbour), 1857-1931

Harry Wilbour Child was born in San Francisco in 1857. He attended prep school in Massachusetts to prepare for Harvard, but went to work in a wholesale clothing house in Boston instead. He returned to San Francisco, where he worked as a broker with his father. He did not like the business and left California for Montana. During the early 1880s he managed mines at Gloster and Gregory for A.J. Seligman, and in 1888 moved to Great Falls to manage a silver smelter. After it closed in 1890, he moved to Helena.

He took over operation of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company on the death of his brother-in-law Silas S. Huntley in 1901. That same year the company acquired the Mammoth Hotel from the Northern Pacific Railway. H.W. Child built the hotels at Upper Basin, Grand Canyon, Fountain, Yellowstone Lake, and Mammoth. The Yellowstone Park Transportation Company owned 800 horses and 500 coaches. These horses were raised by Child in partnership with Charles Anceny at the Flying D Ranch.

Child married Adelaide Dean. They had one daughter Ellen Dean Child and one son Huntley Child. Harry W. Child died February 4, 1931, in La Jolla, California.

From the description of Harry W. Child papers, 1902-1931. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 425746084