The Merchants Hotel was among Mandan's earliest hotels. Built by Henry and Philomena Yunck, it opened in January 1880 at 112 East Main Street and operated until 1920. The hotel stood between the early railroad depot and the Emerson Institute, later expanded as the Opera House. After the railroad opened a larger depot three blocks west in 1883, the Merchants primarily served railroad workers and immigrants.
Henry and Philomena Yunck moved with their two-year-old daughter, Marie, to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, in 1878. They lived at the steamboat landing and operated a boardinghouse. Philomena prepared meals for the bridge-construction crew, while Henry worked as a laborer at the landing. In 1879, the couple and their children, now including son Joseph, moved across the river to Mandan and opened the hotel the following January.
Philomena became known for her meals. A ten-cent breakfast included hotcakes, sausage or bacon, fruit, and unlimited coffee; dinners cost no more than 65 cents. She prepared meals for the Marquis de Morès while he was jailed behind the hotel awaiting trial for murder. Chief Si Tanka—also known as Spotted Elk or Big Foot—frequently dined with the Yuncks while traveling to and from Cannonball. Theodore Roosevelt was a familiar figure at the hotel during early-1880s trips between Bismarck and Medora, when he stopped to hunt ducks with friends. Grover Cleveland also appears in the 1884 hotel register.
Countless immigrants relocating to Dakota Territory stayed without registering. The Yuncks often provided them free meals and lodging, eventually erecting a separate building at the rear of the property for that purpose.
Herman Yunck, Henry's younger brother, was born in Richmond, Minnesota, in 1854. He moved to Mandan in 1881 and worked for druggist D. R. Taylor and the Northern Pacific Railway. After several years aboard riverboats, he operated a saloon owned by Henry.
Henry died in April 1884. Herman married Philomena in 1886 and continued operating the hotel with her. Together, they raised six of Philomena's seven children. Herman was a charter member of the Mandan volunteer fire department and ran its Hook and Ladder Company. He died September 23, 1913. Pallbearers at his funeral included early city leaders D. R. Taylor, Charles Wyman, John Foran, Pat Tobin, H. L. Henke, and George Bingenheimer.
The hotel became a boardinghouse in 1920. Polish immigrant Emil Block moved from Bismarck, married the Yuncks' daughter Willamina—also called Minnie—and opened a tailor shop in front. Philomena lived with her daughter and son-in-law until her death in 1925. After Block retired in 1953, Seeb's Shoe Repair occupied the shop, followed by Ray's Bootery.
In February 1965, firefighters spent three hours battling a major fire that began in the basement and spread in high winds to both adjacent commercial buildings. Firefighters rescued a family member. At the time, Ray Mosbrucker owned and operated Ray's Bootery. Seeb's Shoe Repair and the vacant former Friesz Grocery building were also involved in the fire.
The Society thanks Laine Pope for sharing information about her great-grandparents.