Fred Harvey 1835 - 1901

Introducing Fred Harvey

The creation of the Southwest Indian Detours is perhaps best understood in the context of the development of the Fred Harvey Company in the late 1800s. Rail travel across the Southwest in the 1870s was pretty miserable for passengers. Coaches were hot, open windows allowed dust and cinders into the cars, and meals were spotty and often consisted of rancid beef and beans served at the cantinas where the train’s steam engine stopped to take on water and coal. “Prior to Fred Harvey’s arrival in 1876, travelers on the AT&SF were offered two types of food: barely edible and badly spoiled.” 

An English Immigrant's Success Story 

Fred Harvey was an English immigrant, who came to America in 1853 at the age of seventeen. Fred found work as a dishwasher at a New York restaurant and worked his way up to busboy, waiter, and line cook, learning as much as he could about the business. On July 27, 1858, Fred Harvey became an American citizen. He eventually moved westward to St. Louis and then to St. Joseph, Missouri, working for a small regional railroad as a postal clerk and then as a passenger agent. This combination of knowledge of the restaurant business and railroading served Fred well in his future career. As a passenger agent he traveled extensively on the nation’s rails, selling tickets, and eating the horrible food in train stations. Something had to be done. “Fred was certain it was possible to serve the finest cuisine imaginable along the train tracks in the middle of nowhere.” 

Restaurants, Hotels and Indian Detours 

Fred’s opportunity came in January 1876, when he took over management of a twenty-seat lunch counter on the second floor of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (AT&SF) train station in Topeka, Kansas. Bringing in fresh food on AT&SF trains, Fred Harvey created the first of what would eventually be a network of highly successful restaurants and hotels across the Southwest.  

Perhaps an inevitable outcome of the success of Fred Harvey Hotels and restaurants was the desire to bring even more income to the company by inducing train travelers to stay longer. This could be done by offering motor coach service from the hotels to the remote country of New Mexico and Arizona, prompting guests to stay one, two, three nights, or even longer, in a Harvey hotel. Beginning in 1926, these tours would be through “Indian Country,” visiting ancient ruins and adobe pueblos with native inhabitants performing ritual dances and offering handmade items for sale. Thus, were born the Indian Detours of the Southwest, offered by the Fred Harvey Company. “In a HarveyCar, the entire Southwest suddenly opened up to people who were afraid to drive across one of our last frontiers by themselves.”