The Hall and Field Families: Pioneers of Hospitality in Stehekin
In the late 1880s, as mining excitement swept through the North Cascades and the wood-fired steamboat Belle of Chelan began carrying passengers up Lake Chelan, the remote head of the lake welcomed its first organized hospitality.
George W. Hall and his family arrived in Stehekin around 1889, encouraged by George’s father-in-law, John W. Horton — often remembered as the valley’s earliest settler. Coming from Minneapolis, the Halls saw opportunity in the growing stream of prospectors and travelers. That same year, George Hall began building the Argonaut Hotel, a modest but much-needed lodging near the steamboat landing. The small hotel offered shelter, meals, and a friendly welcome to those stepping off the boat into the wild beauty of the valley. Hall also acquired ranch land nearby and, in early 1892, was appointed postmaster for the budding community.
In 1892, Merritt E. Field (M.E. Field) arrived in Stehekin with his family. He first helped manage the Argonaut Hotel under Hall’s ownership. Within a year, after friendly negotiations — with Hall holding firm on his price and Field briefly walking away before returning to complete the deal — the Fields purchased the hotel outright around 1893.
Under the Fields’ vision and hard work, the modest Argonaut was transformed and expanded into the grander Field’s Hotel (also known simply as the Field Hotel). This handsome destination resort could accommodate up to 100 guests and featured welcoming amenities for its time: acetylene gas lights, lavatories, a ballroom, a parlor, and spacious porches overlooking the lake and towering mountains. For more than three decades, Field’s Hotel served as a beloved hub of Stehekin life — a place where visitors, miners, and locals alike gathered, rested, and experienced the magic of the upper valley.
By 1893, George Hall had sold his ranch property to the Fields and moved on from Stehekin with his family. His daughter, Belle Hall Laroux, later captured memories of those pioneering days in writings such as “The Pioneer Story,” preserving a vivid firsthand account of early valley life.
The Field family continued operating their hotel until 1926, when rising lake levels caused by the new Chelan Dam led to its dismantling. Though the building itself is gone, the spirit of warm hospitality the Halls and Fields helped establish remains very much alive in Stehekin today.
This early chapter — from the simple Argonaut Hotel to the elegant Field’s Hotel — marks the beginning of Stehekin’s long tradition of family-run lodging and genuine mountain welcome. It is a cherished part of the valley’s rich heritage.