Thousands of cattle herds graze peacefully in the Colorado Rockies, says the back of this menu, “unaware of their ultimate destiny on the dinner tables of the nation.” The menu notes that, at a 1945 auction in Denver, someone interested in breeding cattle paid $50,000 apiece for “two bulls raised in the Gunnison country.”
Click image to download a 1.4-MB PDF of this menu.
This menu, and the menus in the next two days, were made for the Ohio State Medical Association, which was traveling from Denver to Salt Lake City on June 26 and 27. No year is given, but considering the above quote refers to 1945, it must have been 1946. The medical association tour was probably part of a trip to a convention.
If the convention were in San Francisco, it would have been logical for association members to take the Exposition Flyer from Denver to Salt Lake. However, the fact that the menu says the trip was on both June 26 and June 27 suggests they instead took an overnight train. I have menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and since the overnight Prospector didn’t operate during lunch hours, they must have taken the Royal Gorge, which left Denver at 8:50 am and arrived in Salt Lake at 7:30 am the next day.
Despite the cover photo, steaks were not on the menu. Instead, it offered prime rib, mountain trout, or turkey.