Almost 68 years ago, on Sunday, Dec. 17, 1916, a fire in Cheyenne brought to an end the story of the Inter Ocean Hotel.

Built in 1875 by Chicago restaurateur Barney L. Ford -- with the official opening on Sept. 1 -- the hotel was the largest building in Cheyenne and one of three spectacular hotels in the city.

Erected on the northwest corner of 16th and Hill Streets (now Capitol Avenue) at a cost of $38,000 or $65,000, depending on which records in the Wyoming State Archives the researcher chooses to believe, the three-story, 56-room Inter Ocean became known as "The Best in the West."

The hotel boasted many "firsts." It was the first hotel in the U.S. to be lighted with electricity using 16 ...