Bessie Sevanovich was only 5-1, but she had a giant’s heart filled with drive and love for her family, and her fellow man. Bessie was known to most of Fremont County, and to many travelers through Hudson as “Mama Svilar.”
Her story is intertwined with the history of the little town nestled between Riverton and Lander on the Popo Agie River and is a tale of triumph in the face of incredible challenges.
Bessie was born in 1895, in Lika, Yugoslavia.
Bessie grew up herding sheep on the sun swept hills near her family farm. The political climate of the Balkans was turbulent. It was where World War I began with an assassination in August of 1914. Bessie’s parents wanted a better life for her, and though the war was a few years in the future, they knew the political climate.
A letter arrived from America from a man in Nebraska looking for a wife. The young Serbian man lived in Grand Island, Nebraska and worked for the Union Pacific Railroad.
“The mayor of Lika knew of a man in America looking for a wife, he went to her parents and told them about it,” granddaughter Ruby Calvert said.
Her parents took her to the train station with a one-way ticket purchased by her future husband Joe Mantovich. Bessie left her weeping parents forever at the train station. She knew she would never see them again.
In Germany she was examined by a doctor for the first time in her life and approved for immigration to the United States.
“I never go to school,” Bessie once said. “And I never see Dokter till to comen to Germany.”
Bessie spoke no English when she left home, but the ship to America had many other Serbian people who helped her.
Bessie told family members of the experience of entering New York Harbor. “People were sobbing at the railing when they saw the Statue of Liberty,” she said.
At Ellis Island, she was examined again and passed the physical, many fellow Serbians were turned away for health conditions and sent back.
She left Ellis Island with a sign around her neck reading, “Grand Island, Nebraska.”
Though the trip was arduous, Mama Svilar often told her family that the prospect of marriage to man she’d never met was more frightening than anything that happened on the voyage.
She became Mrs. Joe Mantovich in 1909.
Bessie was an intelligent, hardworking girl, but knew nothing of being a wife and mother. German women living nearby taught her to cook and to care for her babies.
They lived in a boxcar taking in up to 15 boarders. Bessie cooked meals for everyone living in the box car, becoming an incredible cook in the process.
Joe was short tempered and abusive. The couple had two children, Nick and Mary. Mary passed away from pneumonia at age three and Joe died of blood poisoning in a Nebraska hospital.
Joe took all of his money with him to the hospital, where it disappeared, leaving Bessie penniless.
She didn’t know what to do, but knew she had a brother somewhere in America. She put an advertisement in a national Yugoslavian language newspaper and her brother who was working in Rock Springs saw it.
“The railroaders raised enough money to send her to Rock Springs with her son Nick,” Ruby said. “Someone in Rock Springs knew of grandpa in Hudson and knew he was a good guy.”
Dan Svilar was a coal miner. Hudson was a booming little coal town, incorporated in 1909. It took the arrival of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad in 1906 to bring coal from the Poposia mine to market, but when it did, the town boomed.
Dan immigrated from Yugoslavia in 1908.
They were married and Dan adopted Nick. The couple had seven more children. After Nick came Ruby, Sophie, Dessie, Eli, Red, Katherine, and Mike.
“There is a brass bed up in my bedroom,” Ruby said. “All of the Svilar children were born in that bed, with a midwife. Mom and grandma both told me about Dr. Mary Higdon, from Lander.”
In 1912 Dan acquired rights to the Buckhorn Bar on Main Street in Hudson in an unusual way.
His brother Rade won the bar in a card game.
“Frank Ninkovich lost the Buckhorn to Rade Svilar,” Mike Dabich said. “Rade never got into a hurry. He was the last of the good guys, he always had a joke for you.”
Rade was a character, here is a story of his interrupted wedding that went statewide in 1924.
The Buckhorn evolved into the familiar Fremont County landmark, Svilar’s, over the next few decades.
Hudson was a busy mining town, and Fremont County was rapidly growing with the completion of irrigation projects near Riverton, Pavillion and Lander.
“Mama” Svilar, as Bessie became known to everyone, started cooking for the miners. Her specialty was “chicken in the rough” aka, chicken in a basket. She made mouthwatering pizzas as well.
When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, Mama Svilar became a known stop for transients riding the rails.
“She was known on the railway bum circuit,” her grandson Danny Svilar said. “They could get a hot meal of fried chicken and shower.
Sadly, Mama’s pizza recipe has been lost.
Svilars officially opened in 1941 after a fire in the Buckhorn Bar. They rebuilt the damaged building, expanded it and Svilar’s came to life 83 years ago.
They didn’t start serving steaks until the 1950s. It’s the ribeye, porterhouse and filet mignon that have made the restaurant known from coast to coast.
Along with the steaks, Svilar’s featured Mama’s unique recipe for Sarma and ravioli. Many patrons of the restaurant come for the Sarma and ravioli as often as they come to order a steak.
Mama and her daughter Sophie Irwin ran the restaurant for decades.
Dan Svilar was an enterprising man, in addition to the bar and restaurant, he dabbled in many other businesses.
“My grandfather started Svilar Light and Power,” Ruby said. “The powerhouse is now gone, and we sold the diesel engine we ran each evening to the homes in Hudson. We sold that to Rocky Mountain Power in 1983 or 84.”
The power station provided enough electricity to the people of Hudson to run one electric light in their homes from 6 to 8 pm each day. It didn’t provide enough power for refrigeration or other appliances.
Dan also cut ice on the frozen Popo Agie in the winter with his sons.
“Grandpa built an icehouse, stored the ice with straw and hay. He chopped up the ice and sold it in the summer to people with ice boxes,” Ruby said.
Mama and Sophie rolled cigars to sell at the bar.
There was a Svilar Creamery in Hudson too, offering milk, butter, cream and ice cream.
“Grandpa had tobacco leaves brought in on the train,” Ruby said. “The kids all had jobs, that’s how they were raised.”
Hudson, South Pass and Shoshoni were just a few decades removed from the days of the wild west and many attractions of the 19th century remained.
“There were some good times when gambling was legal in Wyoming,” Ruby said. “Then prohibition came. There are tunnels under Hudson. People could move the liquor under the street in tunnels to avoid the revenuers.”
Townspeople in Hudson pooled their money during prohibition and ordered entire railcar loads of grapes.
“Mom (Dessie Bebout) and Aunt Soph would mash the grapes with their feet, they made their own wine, a lot of it,” Ruby said. “Grandma used to sell it to the Native Americans. Revenuers came at one point and handcuffed grandma and put her in a car, she got out of it quickly.”
Hudson was an interesting little town during Dan and Bessie’s tenure.
The Svilar clan had a tradition of naming the next generation after the one before. Eli Bebout was named after his uncle Eli Svilar, Nick Bebout after Nick Svilar and Ruby Calvert, after her aunt Ruby Svilar.
Dan had a sister named Desanka, Dessie was named after her.
The tradition continued with their cousin Sue Homec.
“My given name is Reddi Sue Homec,” Sue said. Her father was Red Svilar.
Mama Svilar passed away in 1981, and Sophie passed in 1995.
Sue took over the restaurant soon after Sophie’s passing in 1996, she managed it until she retired in 2020.
“I started working there when I was going to high school in the late 60s early 70s,” Sue said. “When I retired Kristi (Connell) kind of took over, Danny was there to help her. I knew both my grandparents, Dan and Bessie. My grandmother was more involved with the kitchen stuff.”
There was no cashier station in the old restaurant.
“Customers came in and paid in the kitchen,” Sue said. “They usually played rummy with my grandmother.”
Svilar’s biggest competition was just 50 yards away, across the highway to the west at the El Toro.
“It was a friendly competition between El Toro and Svilar’s,” Sue said. “We’d be open one Monday and they’d be closed, and vice versa. It’s sad that those days are gone. I feel it brought more people to Hudson.”
Tradition runs deep at Svilar’s.
“It’s our heritage, and to many other people who aren’t even in the family,” Danny said. “Being a part of the history here is such an honor, so many amazing things for the state.”
Danny is the son of Mike Svilar, the youngest of Dan and Bessie’s children.
Mike went to a prep school in New Mexico in high school where he excelled in basketball. He went on to play at New Mexico State University where he was name All-American.
“It’s pretty much the same, it’s our staple, we don’t change a whole lot,” Sue said. “My aunt Ruby picked those orange booths that are still in the dining room in the 1940s.”
Running a restaurant for a quarter-of-a-century is a remarkable achievement, but Sue considers the tale of her grandma truly amazing.
“Coming to a strange country to marry a man she didn’t know, that took a special kind of courage,” Sue said.
As the manager, Sue did it all, prepping, cooking, service, cleaning, ordering, it was a never-ending task.
Svilar’s was and remains known for their steaks, gigantic ones. The T-bones weigh around two pounds each.
“T-bones are still a big seller,” Sue said. “We didn’t have as many filets available. Then filets and ribeye’s.”
The restaurant serves a lot of shrimp and offers Mama’s original recipe for fried chicken.
“The celery and carrots in relish tray are all cut right there. When Mike Vinich had the market next door, he brought over everything,” Sue said “Ravioli and Sarma, the blue cheese dressing were all made on site. Everything is still made on site. We get our meat from Iowa Beef Packers through Sysco or Food Service depending on who has the best price.”
They buy halves of beef and short loins for T-bones, butts for club steaks, and prime riv.
“We don’t have the bone in on ribeye,” Sue said.
She recalled how the business used to offer charge accounts.
“We used to do billing, people would sign a ticket and we’d send an invoice to them,” Sue said.
The business is now in the hands of Kristi and Danny.
“If it wasn’t for Kristi, we wouldn’t have it now,” Sue said.
Danny agreed, “We wouldn’t have Svilar’s without her,” he said. “Kristi and I were being primed to take over two years ago.”
Ruby wrote a poignant essay about her grandmother when she passed, here are a few excerpts:
The carrots were all peeled, and a plate of cabbage leaves were now in front of Mama Svilar. One leaf at a time was taken from the plate and carefully flattened. A handful of ground meat was then placed at one end of the leaf and rolled. Her hands and fingers have a memory all their own as each of the cabbage rolls was deftly tucked into a little pillow. “Sarma” as this was called was one of the Yugoslavian specialties that made Momma Svilar’s restaurant unique.
Frugality wasn’t a surprising trait for a woman who had experience the life she had as a teenager. Bessie remained frugal her entire life.
A United Parcel Service employee came in with a package. Mama watcher her daughter, Sophia cut the string the package was bound in and Mama called to Soph, “Bring me that string.” I then watched as Mama dug into an open basket behind her and pulled out a softball sized ball of string. The loose ends from the ball were quickly knotted to the new piece string and the UPS string was added to the ball.
“I worked there every summer when I was in high school,” Ruby said. “Mama cleaned shrimp, peeled potatoes, trimmed meat, and sat at the table for hours. They baked their own bread and made their own salad dressing. it was what we did every day.”
Everyone in the family had a job, grandkids included.
“I would go with Aunt Soph and help with the kitchen. I didn’t get to wait tables, I got to do dishes.
We didn’t have an automatic dishwasher,” Ruby said.
She was a bit envious of her older brother Eli, who worked around the county.
“Eli rode the beer truck with Uncle Red,” Ruby said. “Grainbelt and Pabst Blue Ribbon distributors. My grandfather was kind of a slave driver. There were some buildings for sale in Superior, he loaded them on trucks and brought them to Hudson. Eli had to pound the nails out, straighten the nails and used them again.”
Dan had his sons and daughters working in the many businesses he ran in and around Hudson.
Mike Dabich had a comment on the second oldest son Eli, and his work at the bar.
“Eli did the bouncing,” Mike said. “When Eli Svilar bounced you, you got bounced.”
Eli and Sue’s father Red were big, powerful men who took care of what was needed.
“Mama and Sophie worked together every day,” Ruby said. “They had a lot of chickens, and pigs, but they didn’t have a lot of beef. Aunt Ruby’s job was to cut off all the heads of the chickens. That’s why they started with fried chicken.”
Svilar’s is a family corporation started in the 1950s.
“Sue said she wanted to retire, the board met to hire a manager,” Ruby said. “We decided Kristi would be a good option. She has three boys and works at the Arapahoe school and has a lot going on.”
Kristi is the daughter of Sue’s sister Sherri Lynn, who passed away from cancer when she was just 42.
Red also had a son, “Byrd” Svilar who was an outstanding athlete at Lander Valley High School, graduating in 1975.
Eli (Bebout) had a new corvette. Red and Eli had a deal with Eli trading his Corvette to his uncle Red. Bird was driving the Corvette home from Lander one night in 1977 when he fell asleep at the wheel and was killed.
Sue has two daughters, Candi and Brandi. Brandi married Brady Hamilton of Hudson.
The workday that Mama established long ago remains today.
“We wake up early to put on Sarma by 8 am, so it can cook low and slow all day,” Danny said. “We put prime rib on at same time. In the meantime, doing other prep work, rolling silverware. Then I go home and relax with my little dog until it’s time for my dinner service “
Danny didn’t plan on joining the business so quickly.
“I knew I’d do this, but I never expected it to be so soon, “Danny said. “My childhood dream has come true. Kristi has things she’s good at doing, and I have mine. We both use our best qualities.”
Business is good at Svilars.
“We have been busy. I’m very blessed,” Danny said. “There are restaurants that are failing and don’t have the customers. Kristi and I want to keep Svilar’s, Svilar’s.”
The history of Hudson is so intertwined with the Svilar family that it is hard to separate.
Kristi Connell is the great-granddaughter of Mama and Dan. Her grandparents were Red and Marion Svilar.
“I started busing when I was 13. I stopped for a while when I was in high school,” Kristi said. “
I quit when I started driving when I was 16. I came back when I was 19.”
Kristi has worked at Svilars for 22 years, and also works as a cook at the Arapahoe School.
“I’m just learning the books. I’ve been going on for almost a year. My aunt Sue has been working with me a lot,” Kristi said. “The bookwork has been a struggle. My aunt has been very kind to me. I need to learn to slow down. My aunt is very particular and detailed. I’m learning a lot to slow down and look at things. She was amazing, if there’s a mistake, anything wrong, she’ll find it. She’s a good teacher. I hope to turn out just like her.”
Kristi has done every job in the restaurant from busing tables to taking reservations and ordering.
“I don’t work in the bar much,” she said.
She doesn’t cook very often either.
“I’ve been back there before, but never on a busy night, I always have a lot of help in the kitchen when I’m back there,” Kristi said. “I get pretty nervous.”
She works with her cousin Danny each day.
“If I can’t be there on a night, then he’s there. He’ll make sure everything gets done, if a delivery driver shows up or if something breaks,” Kristi said. “He’ll answer the phones during the day. Danny will set up our relish trays and roll silverware. He’s a great waiter, he knows the family history pretty well.”
Kristi didn’t know a lot of the Svilar family history growing up though her mom worked at the restaurant.
“My mom was always working, so I never heard too many stories from her,” Kristi said.
Like her aunt Sue, Kristi pays close attention to the most popular items on the menu.
“Our best sellers are T-bones, ribeyes and fillets,” Kristi said. “Chicken is not as popular as the steak, but It’s weird, some nights we won’t sell any chicken and other nights we’ll sell seven orders.”
She tries to sell desserts, but there is so much food offered at Svilars that most people don’t order desert.
“I love dessert, so I try to sell dessert as much as I can,” Kristi said. “We should do desert first because there’s no room for it after.”
Like everyone in the Svilar family, Kristi has hopes for the restaurant to stay open a long time.
“We hope to keep the place going, it means a lot to me and Danny, and my kids too,” she said.