Opened to the public Nov. 1, 1882, the Grand Union Hotel was Fort Benton's pride, a haven of relaxation in a boisterous frontier town at the head of navigation on the Missouri. Built at a cost of $200,000, it was considered the finest hostelry between Seattle and the Twin Cities. Its name reflected reconciliation after the Civil War, in which many guests had served in blue or gray. Within sight and sound of the hotel, steamboats signaled their landings and great cattle herds crossed the Missouri, while army officers, Canadian Mounties, miners, trappers, freighters, river captains, stockmen, missionaries, Indian agents, and road agents mingled in its lobby, dined in its spacious dining room, and gathered at its well-stocked bar.