The Peterson Family was the long-time proprietor of the Grand Pacific Hotel and its predecessor, the Pacific Hotel.
The family’s patriarch was Louis Peterson, who founded the Pacific Hotel in 1880. For years, it was the most successful hotel in Bismarck. Louis committed suicide by gun in November 1889. Louis was reportedly deathly ill at the time.
Ownership of the hotel passed onto his widow, who re-married in 1892 to Henry Tatley.
Tatley officially became the hotel’s new owner. Peterson’s son, John, later became a clerk at the hotel under Tatley and quickly worked his way up into management.
When Tatley retired in 1924, John Peterson and his brother, Frederick, purchased both the Grand Pacific and Bismarck Hotels, restoring official ownership of the hotel to the Peterson family. John passed away in 1940, but Frederick continued its operation until his retirement in 1944, at which time ownership transferred to John’s wife and sons, John Jr. and Vernon.
