The Union Pacific answered the Santa Fe's Grand Canyon with Yellowstone. The concession used two million feet of lumber on four acres at the Van Ness Avenue end of the Zone. Its mountains of burlap and stucco rose high above the Exposition fence, and the park itself was shown as a topographical model in which geysers erupted. A 1914 fact book promised a copy of the "Nature's Paint Pot" mud pots as well.
The real draw was Old Faithful Inn, a copy of the lodge in the park. It became one of the Exposition's leading places to dine and the scene of countless banquets. It was also the concert hall of the Exposition Orchestra, led by Max Bendix. The inn alone took in about $332,000, and the whole concession nearly $386,000, which put it third among all the fair's concessions. The Exposition Family Dinner, at which the directors thanked the working staff, was held here near the end of the season.
Its neighbor across the street, the Mysterious Orient (later the Streets of Cairo), shared the far end of the Zone. Todd noticed that many visitors either turned back before they got this far or kept walking out through the Van Ness gate.
