The Stanley Hotel Story by Jay Sternitzky Art by Mateo Cantu Teacher Guide by Quinn Rollins

Elementary (Grades 3-5)

Discussion Questions:

• Where is the Stanley Hotel located? • Why was the hotel closed every winter? Are there still places in Colorado that are closed every winter? • How did building the Stanley Hotel help contribute to the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park? • The comic states that roads up the canyon were impassable to cars in 1909. What obstacles might make a mountain road impassable? How do you think the “Model Z” mountain wagons overcame those obstacles? • The Stanley Hotel is very old, and some people think it might be haunted. Would you rather stay in an old hotel that might have ghosts, or a new hotel with no ghosts? Why? • F.O. Stanley was a very wealthy man, whose money came from the invention of a steam-powered car, called Stanley Steamers. On page one of the comic, there’s a drawing of one of the cars. What are things that are different about the Stanley Steamer when compared to modern cars? • The comic describes the Stanley Hotel as “opulent,” which is another word for fancy. Looking at the drawings of the hotel, what are some details that make the hotel seem opulent? • The comic describes Estes Park before the hotel was built as a “small population of hunters and naturalists.” What’s a naturalist? Would those hunters and naturalists find the “bustling tourist town” of Estes Park as appealing today?

Activities and Extensions:

• Imagine you are F.O. Stanley and you live in a small town that you want people to come visit! Draw a picture of a hotel that you think would be an exciting place to visit. What kind of jobs would be needed to build your hotel, and then keep the hotel open for guests year-round? • Colorado is beautiful and has many sights to see. Hotels like the Stanley help people travel and see new things. Where in Colorado would you build a new hotel? Make a

travel poster explaining what makes it such a special place, and why people should visit. • The Stanley Hotel has been used in several television shows and movies. What kind of movie would you make with the Stanley Hotel as a setting, and how would the hotel be part of the story?

Middle School/High School

Discussion Questions:

• The Stanley Hotel has inspired novels and been used in movies and television programs, most famously Stephen King’s The Shining. Why do you think the Stanley Hotel in particular has been so inspiring? • The comic includes several technologies that were innovative in 1909, including the Model Z Mountain Wagons and hydraulic elevators. How do hydraulic elevators work? Should the Stanley Hotel modernize and remove those features, or keep them intact? Why? • The comic mentions that the hotel closed every winter because there wasn’t a heating system. Was there another solution for this in the early twentieth century? • On page two of the comic, there’s a quote from F.O. Stanley engraved on a monument. What are the things that Stanley loved about Estes Park? Did building a hotel on that site enhance those things, or put them at risk? • Page two of the comic mentions that the hotel is a popular destination for celebrities and politicians. Using online resources, find out more about Johnny Cash, Barbra Streisand, John Ritter, and other celebrities pictured in the comic. What time period would they have been a visitor at the Stanley Hotel? What do you think they would enjoy about the hotel or its location? • In October 2017, hotel visitor John Mausling took a photograph on a “ghost tour” that appears to have ghosts in it. You can see the photographs and read more about Mausling’s experience here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stanley-hotel-little- girl-ghost_us_59d70686e4b072637c431df7 What would it take to convince you that a photograph of a ghost is real? What else could cause an image of a “ghost” in a photograph?

Activities:

• The canyon roads that led from Lyons to the Stanley Hotel were impassable without special vehicles. If a hotel was constructed in a hard-to-reach location today, what other methods could we use to reach it? Design a transport system and showcase the basic structures or vehicles that would be needed. • Many national parks, including Rocky Mountain National Park, are in danger of being “loved to death” from overuse. Is it better to open these beautiful places to the public via the National Park System, allow them to be sold to private individuals or corporations, or

keep them preserved as wilderness areas? What are pros and cons of each course of action? Create a brochure advocating for the action you think is in the best interest of the state of Colorado. • Building a hotel such as the Stanley can have a great impact on a small town. Describe how the town could build up infrastructure, agriculture, housing, entertainment, and other attractions to support the tourism boost provided by the hotel. • Imagine the year is 2020, and the Stanley Hotel is in need of major upgrades to make it a competitive hotel of the future. Design a plan of improvements to the hotel that would preserve its historic nature, but also continue to attract tourists. • There are many stories about the Stanley Hotel being haunted; so many in fact that the staff provides “ghost tours” of the hotel. Write a short ghost story set in the Stanley Hotel, using details from the comic in your story. • Online Resources Stanley Hotel official website www.stanleyhotel.com • Wikipedia: Stanley Motor Carriage Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Motor_Carriage_Company NBC Dateline: A Haunted Postcard from the Field https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/video/a-haunted- postcard-from-the-field-the-stanley-hotel-630315587909 Rocky Mountain National Park https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm Estes Park Environmental Center http://estesparkenvironmentalcenter.org/