The history of tourism in Trout Lake can be traced back to the first Euro-American settlers, the Stoller family. Peter and Margarita Stoller and their seven children settled in Trout Lake in 1880, and as early as 1883 they were accommodating tourists in both their log home and in tents on their property. Tourists came to Trout Lake primarily from Goldendale, The Dalles and Portland, and would spend several weeks in the valley each summer enjoying the scenery, visiting the Ice Cave, and fishing in the lake. An article from the White Salmon Enterprise in 1916 looked back on the early days.
“Mr. Stoller is remembered by those who came here early for the excellent fishing to have been a most accommodating host, and tourists found it a pleasure to make the old log dwelling their home while in this locality . . . J. M. Filloon remembers well his first visit here in 1883 when the Stollers were living here and the good meals set before him . . . , served by Mrs. Stoller and daughter . . . Mr. Filloon says there were no roads leading to Trout Lake then and he came over the hills by way of a trail from Glenwood.”
Fishing was a huge attraction, and there are many articles describing Trout Lake in the early pages of the Hood River Glacier (Hood River’s earliest newspaper).
“Judge O. M. Scott, E. L. Scott, Hon. E. O. McCoy and Chester Soule, of Grants, were out at Trout Lake last week, and at their invitation Dr. E. H. Van Pattern, of Dayton, and C. R. Bone went out to visit them. They hired a team on the other side of the river and drove out last Tuesday night a week ago leaving White Salmon at 9 o’clock in the evening. They had a very pleasant time, caught plenty of fish, bringing in eighty pounds of them on ice which they procured from the ice caves, and arriving home Saturday night. They are enthusiastic in their praises of the place and speak in glowing terms of their treatment by Mr. And Mrs. Stoller who have a dairy ranch near the lake.”
Peter and Margarita Stoller left the Trout Lake valley in 1892 and sold their homestead for $2000 to banker and apple promoter Ezra L. Smith of Hood River. Christian Guler purchased it from Smith in 1897, for the same price of $2000. According to Guler, he put nothing down and paid as he could. The 160-acre homestead included the outlet of Trout Lake, and part of the lake.
Christian Guler was born in Switzerland in 1866. He came to the United States in 1885 and, along with his brother Antone, took up a homestead in Bear Valley (south of Trout Lake) in 1887. He married his wife Philomena Hammell in 1889 in The Dalles, and their daughter Margaret (later Mrs. Charles Coate) was born there in 1890. They returned to the homestead in Bear Valley in the early 1890’s, and in 1893 Mr. Guler was awarded the first government contract for carrying mail to Trout Lake. At the same time, he, and A. G. Winegartner started a stage business with a team and wagon, bringing people from Bingen to Trout Lake and back. The trip took two days, so they made the trip to and from the valley three times per week. It was his time as a stage driver that prompted Mr. Guler to recognize the popularity of Trout Lake to out-of-town tourists. He saw an opportunity to open a resort on the Stoller property, and he made an offer to purchase it.
During the first few years he and his wife operated the hotel out of the log cabin built by the Stoller’s, allowing tourists to set up tents on the property (as the Stoller’s had). In 1903 he built a new twenty-room hotel on the property, known as the Guler Hotel, and it would become one of the most popular resorts in the area. It became the terminus and the headquarters for horse stages that ran daily between Bingen/White Salmon and Trout Lake. Teunis Wyers of White Salmon began bringing passenger daily by Rockaway stagecoach to Trout Lake as early as 1902, and by 1910 it was not uncommon in the summer for from 10 to 30 people per day to take the stage to Trout Lake.
Peter Stoller himself visited the office of the Hood River Glacier in May of 1891, extolling the virtues of the valley.
“Mr. Peter Stoller of Trout Lake was here Wednesday – he owns a fine property situate at the outlet of Trout Lake and thirty miles distance from the mouth of the White Salmon. The country around the east side of the lake is level and is a vast meadow of timothy, which grows luxuriantly. The outlet is a good-sized stream and is filled with trout as is the lake which seems to be the breeding ground, and which makes the supply inexhaustible. The lake itself is shallow, and the greater portion grows a long moss which rises nearly to the surface and in which the trout find safe and pleasant shelter. It is a rare sight when a gentle breeze stirs the ripples in the lake to see the trout by the thousands leaping from the water. The road up the White Salmon is an excellent one, and with the abundant pasturage, beautiful campong spots, fresh butter, and milk from Mt. Stoller’s dairy and unexcelled fishing and hunting, this is one of the most available and attractive places to take a few weeks outing on the coast. The wonderful ice caves are only five miles from his place, and his place is the best starting point for Mt. Adams, which is distant but a few miles. We advise our Portland friends who want a few weeks in the mountains to visit Trout Lake. The route is by rail to this point, and by team from here to the lake.”
In an interview with the newspaperman Fred Lockley in 1921, Guler recalled:
“I took in hunters, fishermen, mountain climbers and tourists, boarding and lodging them at the rate of $1 a day or $5 a week. I was a good fisherman so I put in my spare time catching trout. I would put them into a box in the river so I could always serve my guests plenty of fresh brook trout. Yes, I served fine meals for 25 cent a meal and furnished a comfortable bed for 25 cents.”
The hotel regularly pitched dozens of tents on its lawn every summer to accommodate the overflow of tourists.
Guler opened the Guler Post Office at the hotel in 1903. He and his wife operated the hotel until 1913, when they sold the property to J. E. Reynolds for $20,000. An article in the White Salmon Enterprise from January of 1914 describes the improvements that Reynolds planned, which make it clear that the original hotel had neither running water nor indoor plumbing.
“The old Guler Hotel is the scene of much activity these days. The present proprietor, J. E. Reynolds, who last Spring bought the hotel including about a mile of water frontage on Trout Lake and Trout Creek, is making somewhat extensive improvements. He is putting up a building which will contain an ice house, cooler, woodshed and cellar. In the top of the building will be a large tank to supply water under pressure throughout the hotel. It is Mr. Reynold’s intention to make the hotel modern in the near future, putting in several bath rooms and refurnishings. When this is done Trout Lake will have a hotel to be proud of, and we believe it will be a paying investment. The natural attractions, such as fishing, hunting and mountain climbing are such as should make this locality better known as an ideal resort. It has been nothing unusual to feed from 150 to 200 people here on Sunday, and as a rule during the week the hotel is full. “
J. E. and Daisy Reynolds continued to operate the hotel through the 1940’s. The building was torn down in 1962.
