Grand Teton A Place Called Jackson Hole A Historic Resource Study of Grand Teton National Park

If you wish to sum up the dude business in a sentence, it consists in giving people homemade bedsteads but forty pound mattresses.

—Struthers Burt, The Diary of a Dude Wrangler

The Bar BC became one of the most famous dude ranches in the Rocky Mountain West. During the Bar BC's heyday in the 1920s, famous writers, artists, and Hollywood filmmakers got "westernized" at the ranch. Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

By the time Struthers Burt's autobiographical The Diary of a Dude Wrangler appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1924, dude ranching had grown like a mushroom in wet weather." [1] As much as any other business, dude wrangling pioneered the modern tourist industry in the American West, particularly in the Rocky Mountain states of Montana and Wyoming. One historian rated the dude ranch "as the single most unique contribution of the Rocky Mountain West to the every-growing national vacation industry." In turn, the antecedents of dude ranching can be traced to other enterprises—first, and most important, cattle ranching, and second, guiding and outfitting sport hunters. [2]

Travelers first toured the American West in the era of the fur trapper to hunt and take in the scenery. Historian Francis Parkman wrote one of the first travel accounts, The Oregon Trail, published in 1849. After the Civil War, travel in the American West increased as itinerant trappers and settlers guided well-heeled tourists. In Jackson Hole, trappers and hunters like Beaver Dick Leigh often guided dudes, because they were familiar with the Teton country from their trapping and hunting forays. Western landscapes provided ideal settings for dude ranches. Indeed, Struthers Burt believed an attractive setting a prime requisite in choosing a dude ranch site. [3]

No place could top Jackson Hole for scenery. William Baillie-Grohman wrote the earliest known travel narrative of two trips into Jackson Hole, one made in the 1870s and one in 1880. He recorded this scene from a knoll near the Gros Ventre River:

At our feet lay the perfectly level expanse, about eight or ten miles broad and five-and-twenty in length. Traversing the basin lengthwise, we saw the curves of the Snake River—its waters of a beautiful beryl green, and . . . from a distance of five or six miles, of glassy smoothness—winding its way through groves of stately old cottonwood-trees. A month or two before, the Snake had inundated the whole Basin, and the grass that had sprung up retained its bright green tint, giving the whole picture the air of a splendid trimly-kept old park. Beyond the river the eye espied several little lakes, nestling in forest-girt seclusion under the beckling cliffs of the boldest-shaped mountain I am acquainted with, i.e. the Grand Teton Peak, rising in one great sweep. . . . It was the most sublime scenery I have ever seen. [4]

Abundant and diverse fauna and a cast of romantic figures such as Indians, trappers, and soldiers added another dimension to the appeal of the American West. The emergence of dude ranches coincided with America's elevation of the cowboy arguably America's most eminent folk hero. Dude ranches evolved directly from working cattle ranches; their structures and physical layout were patterned after cattle ranches. Western dress mimicked cowboy garb. [5]

While the origins of dude ranching can be traced without difficulty, determining what constituted a dude ranch remains problematic. This has led to debate regarding the first dude ranches in Jackson Hole. [6] Even dude ranchers expressed uncertainty and failed to agree on a common definition. Their testimony in final proof papers demonstrates this uncertainty. One question on the Testimony of Claimant form asked, "is your present claim within the limits of an incorporated town or selected site of a city or town, or used in any way for a trade or business?" Struthers Burt on the Bar BC answered; "Yes, I am engaged in the summer tourist business." Buster Estes, the founder of the STS, responded "no," despite operating a dude ranch at the site. Tony Grace of the Danny Ranch testified in 1927, "have two cabins which I rent in summer." Harold Hammond, co-founder of the White Grass, answered in 1920 that "the claim is used some for summer tourists;" while Peter Karppi of the Half Moon responded that "we handle summer boarders." Either they failed to recognize that dude ranching had become a distinct industry or gave obtuse responses in the belief that people, particularly General Land Office officials, were unfamiliar with dude ranches. [7]

Princeton-educated Struthers Burt was a popular writer whose book, The Diary of a Dude Wrangler, inspired a whole new generation of dude ranchers. Burt was originally opposed to the creation of a national park in Jackson Hole. However, by the 1920s, Burt used his power of the pen in national publications to lobby for the protection of the scenic qualities of Jackson Hole. Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

By the early 1920s, however, dude ranchers were beginning to perceive their business as not only a distinct but unique institution. In The Diary of a Dude Wrangler, Struthers Burt reflected that "you come to the dude business slowly in actual life and you come to it usually by chance, just as I did." Burt, by this time dude ranching's most articulate spokesperson, described a dude ranch as simply an ordinary cattle ranch modified somewhat to care for dudes, but not a boarding house or hotel "much as it must seem like one or the other to the ignorant." [8]

The creation of the Dude Ranchers' Association in 1926 reflected the emergence of dude ranches as an institution and their tremendous growth during the 1920s. Association members grappled over the definition of a dude ranch. One goal of the first meeting was to "standardize practices," a reference to activities associated with dude ranching. Some suggested dropping the term "dude," believing it derogatory and undignified. The opinions of pioneer dude ranchers Dick Randall and the Eaton brothers prevailed, however, and the term dude was retained. In the northern Rockies, dude referred to "an outsider who paid for lodging, riding, hunting, or other services," and had no negative association with terms such as greenhorns or tenderfeet. The members voted unanimously to name their organization the Dude Ranchers' Association. [9]

The early membership represented three types of dude ranches. The first were working stock ranches situated in the high plains or foothills of the Rockies. Ranches set in the mountains formed the second group; often, these started as dude ranches rather than stock ranches. The final group consisted of hot springs resorts or spas, where swimming or bathing in waters known for their healing powers was the primary activity. This group later disappeared from the membership rolls. [10]

In 1933, an article appeared in Dude Rancher Magazine which defined a dude ranch as the following: They take paying guests; they evolved from old cattle ranches and many operate as both; they are "composed of little groups of cabins, corrals, and bunkhouses, all of which are familiar to the native westerner of the cattle country, they are rustic and unique;" and they present a way to "enjoy the outdoors under conditions of freedom and naturalness." [11]

In Dude Ranching: A Complete History, Lawrence Borne summarized the most important elements that have characterized dude ranches over the years. They were often the year-round home of the owner or owners. Setting was critical as virtually all were located in the western United States. They provided food, lodging, and horseback riding at one price, called the American plan. The ranch site and activities were situated in remote picturesque areas. Horse back riding constituted the most important recreational activity. Other pursuits included fishing, hiking, hunting, sightseeing and, on occasion, ranch-work. Dude ranchers accepted reservations only and sometimes even required references from prospective guests. They refused walk-in traffic, an important distinction in determining genuine dude ranches in Jackson Hole. Finally, the atmosphere was a "key ingredient," though not readily apparent to observers and often intangible. Borne described a proper dude ranch atmosphere as "informal in manners and dress, people were on a first-name basis, hospitality was genuine, and quests did things together as part of a ranch family. [12]

Borne demonstrated that dude ranching "developed slowly from several divergent sources in different locales and varying circumstances." [13] However, the Eaton brothers—Howard, Willis, and Alden—generally receive credit for establishing the first dude ranch. In 1882, Howard Eaton homesteaded a parcel of land in the North Dakota badlands near the town of Medora. Joined by his brothers and financed by A. C. Huidekoper; Eaton formed the Custer Trail Ranch; a cattle outfit. Guests soon visited the ranch to hunt or experience western life. Bert Rumsey of New York was the first to pay room and board in 1882, though this violated traditional western hospitality. However, the boom-and-bust cycle of cattle ranching became apparent as the drought of 1886, followed by the killing winter of 1886-1887, hit the Eatons hard. Unlike many ranches, the Custer Trail Ranch survived the disaster of 1887, despite severe cattle losses. Meanwhile, the Eatons became aware of another economic drain, the high cost of boarding numerous guests each year. Economic reality drove the Eatons to charge guests $10 per week for room and board in 1891. In 1902, the Eatons sold the Custer Trail Ranch and relocated their dude ranch in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. By this time wrangling dudes provided a solid income. Howard Eaton continued pack trips into Yellowstone National Park, pioneering a significant activity associated with dude ranching. The ranch continues to operate today. [14]

Although not as critical as cattle ranching, guiding hunters contributed to the evolution of dude ranching. Dick Randall, a pioneer dude wrangler, built the foundation of his well-known OTO Dude Ranch on outfitting and guiding hunters. He established a permanent hunting camp in 1888 and converted it to a dude ranch in 1898. Like the Eatons, Randall located his ranch in the Rockies, choosing a site in Montana near the north entrance to Yellowstone. [15]

Between 1900 and 1920, dude wranglers established ranches throughout the northern Rockies following the example of the Eatons and Randall. An Englishman started the IXL Dude Ranch near the Eatons. After 1900, the Cody Wyoming, area developed into a center for tourism and dude ranching. Billy Howell started the Holm Lodge, originally a stage stop between Cody and Yellowstone National Park. After visiting a homestead near Cody, Irving H. "Larry" Larom returned to purchase it in 1915, and with a partner named Winthrop Brooks, established the famous Valley Ranch. Dude rancher Charles M. Moore gradually found himself wrangling dudes, similar to Struthers Burt's experience. At first, Moore established a boys' camp at his ranch near Dubois, Wyoming, where he conducted pack trips, taught outdoor skills, and a smattering of natural sciences. After World War I, he converted his camp to a full-fledged dude ranch. Both Larom and Moore became prominent dude ranchers, organizers and advocates of the business, and conservationists. Dude ranching came to Jackson Hole in the same period. [16]

White Grass Dude Ranch interior. Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

People have disagreed over the first dude ranch in Jackson Hole. Questions over definition are the main cause of the dispute. It is generally accepted that Struthers Burt and Louis Joy became the first dude wranglers, when they built the JY in 1908. In 1932, the Jackson's Hole Courier "differed with Mr. Burt" regarding his claim to being the valley's first dude rancher. The article's author pointed out that Stephen Leek had guided dudes prior to 1900 and that Ben Sheffield had built the Teton Lodge at Moran in 1903. However, neither fit the characteristics of a dude ranch as defined by the Dude Ranchers' Association. [17]

Stephen Leek arrived in Jackson Hole in 1888, accompanied by his partner, an obscure man named Nick Gass. While camped on the west bank of the Snake River at its inlet to Jackson Lake, Leek met Elwood Hoffer, a hunting guide from Livingston, Montana, who was guiding a client. Hoffer may have inspired Leek to try his hand at outfitting. In 1889, Leek began serving as a hunting guide, as did pioneer Emile Wolff. In 1903, Ben Sheffield, also from Livingston, bought the Frank Lovell homestead at the outlet of Jackson Lake to serve as a headquarters for his outfitting business.

According to local tradition, John Carnes referred to his homestead on Flat Creek as his "dude ranch," although no evidence exists to indicate Carnes operated it as such. At an unknown date, homesteader Harvey Glidden tried to convert his Elks Ranch (also shown as Elko Ranch) to a dude outfit. Again, no evidence shows that Glidden succeeded. Some sources have described John Sargent's Merymere and the nearby Lakeview Ranch, owned by Herb Whiteman and the Heighos, as dude ranches but this appears to be careless use of the term. Good evidence demonstrates that neither were dude ranches.

Using Borne's criteria, none of the previous examples qualify as dude ranches. Leek conducted his outfitting business from his South Park ranch and built a lodge at the north shore of Leigh Lake. He guided hunters, but never provided long-term room and board or horseback riding as a recreational activity. Sheffield's Teton Lodge manifested elements of a dude ranch, but accepted overnight or transient traffic, an unacceptable practice at an authentic dude ranch. [18]

The first bonafide dude ranches in Jackson Hole were the JY, the Bar BC, and the White Grass. Burt and Louis Joy began boarding dudes at the JY in 1908. Because of a poor relationship with Joy, Burt broke off the partnership and formed the Bar BC with Horace Carncross in 1912. A year later, wrangler Harold Hammond and one of the first Bar BC dudes, George Tucker Bispham, homesteaded adjacent 160-acre parcels and formed the White Grass Ranch. Planning to start a cattle ranch, they chose to wrangle dudes instead of cattle in 1919.

In 1914, war broke out in Europe, eventually engulfing many of the world's countries. Because the First World War cut off safe travel across the Atlantic and in Europe, Americans looked to their own country for vacations. Starved for holiday destinations, easterners discovered the West. The Bar BC expanded in these years. In 1912, Burt and Carncross scrambled in May and June to complete the construction of cabins and a main house for their first dudes. Six dudes spent the summer, but it was enough to encourage expansion of the ranch. In 1917, both partners borrowed $9,200 from the Philadelphia Trust Company, putting up the Bar BC as collateral security. A large amount of money for the time, it was used to expand the ranch. In July Charles Fox, a local contractor, and a crew arrived at the Bar BC to "do some building." The war years launched the "golden age" of dude ranching, a period lasting from 1919 to 1929. [19]

Accordingly, dude ranches flourished in Jackson Hole in the 1920s. In addition to the growth in western tourism, which generated demand for facilities, the dramatic slump in cattle prices led some ranchers to start taking in dudes. The Van Cleve family's Lazy K Bar in Montana was an example of this sort of development. By the mid-1920s, more than 60 dude ranches existed in the core states of Wyoming and Montana and were spreading to other states such as Colorado. [20]

Dude ranch advertisement. Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

Following the lead of the JY, Bar BC, and White Grass, aspiring dude wranglers started ranches in Jackson Hole. The Danny Ranch, the STS, the Half Moon, the Trail Ranch, the Double Diamond, the Castle Rock, the Circle H, the Flying V, the Red Rock, the V Bar V, the Triangle X, the Gros Ventre, and the Warbonnet were established. In addition, the Elbo, Flagg Ranch, the Cross and Crescent, the Flying Diamond, the Teton Lodge, and the Jackson Lake Lodge were listed in a Union Pacific guide to dude ranches, though whether any of them qualified as dude ranches is doubtful. [21]

During this period, dude ranches in Jackson Hole established their character and influenced tourism in a significant way. More dude ranches than hotels existed in the valley and facilities that could not be considered dude ranches were listed as such in brochures. Jackson Hole dude ranches were mountain ranches situated in the midst of spectacular mountain scenery. Few were working cattle ranches. Jack Woodman described his Flying V as a "producing horse and cattle ranch." Burt and Carncross intended to expand to cattle ranching, relegating the dude business to a secondary activity, but never achieved this aim. They bought the Anderson place on the Gros Ventre in 1916 intending to raise hay for nearly 100 head of saddle horses. Calling it the Lower Bar BC, they began raising cattle. Hammond and Bispham intended the White Grass to be a cattle ranch, but started taking in dudes in 1919. These were the exceptions, rather than the norm. [22]

The Union Pacific promoted the dude ranches in Jackson Hole. "Once reported to be the secluded refuge of outlaws and cattle rustlers," a Union Pacific brochure portrayed the valley as a fine hunting and fishing region and "one of the most beautiful scenically, in the country." The town of Jackson retained "much of its frontier atmosphere," yet was "equipped with all the essential conveniences of civilization." The "Old West" atmosphere, mountain scenery and abundant fish and wildlife characterized the ambiance of dude ranches in Jackson Hole. [23]

Specific information about dudes is difficult to locate, but available sources indicate they were Easterners or from heavily populated centers in the Midwest. Owen Wister, Burt, and Carncross drew their clientele from Philadelphia and its surrounding environs, starting the so-called "Philadelphia connection" with Jackson Hole. Some early dudes at the Bar BC were former associates of Burt at Princeton University. The Double Diamond Boys' Ranch recruited its clients from the Philadelphia area. Guests had to be financially well-off to afford a holiday at dude ranches. Dudes tended to be more educated than average Americans. The Bar BC attracted writers, possibly because both Struthers and Katharine Burt were established authors. When journalist Harry W. Frantz's typewriter was unloaded at the Bar BC, a cowboy laughed and remarked "that's the eighth typewriter on the ranch." [24] Burt found Bar BC guests to be a diverse group:

We have entertained millionaires and poets and artists, business men of every description, spoiled little bobbed-hair flappers and large selfish women who have allowed their minds and bodies to grow fat; angels and those who weren't; people whose homes were in every part of the country from New York to San Francisco; Prohibitionists and Anti-Prohibitionists, Fundamentalists and Modernists, Reactionaries and Radicals, Futurists and Classicist, those who enjoy Ethel Dell and Frank Crane and those who read nothing but D. H. Lawrence and The Dial; the bow-legged and knock-kneed; the fortunate creatures with legs resembling Venus and Apollo—for, like the street car conductor, there is one thing at least every dude-wrangler knows, and that is the shape of the lower limbs of the men, women, and children on his place; Englishmen and Frenchmen and Canadians; and with a few exceptions this rule has held good. [25]

What drew affluent people to dude ranches? The cultural and natural setting has been alluded to already, but informality in dress and manners was another lure. The emergence of dude ranches coincided with a rebellion against convention. A growing middle class questioned and rejected dress codes enforced by most hotels, particularly in dining rooms. A Bar BC brochure suggested that men wear "ordinary clothes" for railway travel, but for the dude ranch listed the following items:

felt hat, 2 neck handkerchiefs (silk or bandanna); 2 flannel shirts, 2 pair trousers (khaki and wool, long or short as preferred); 1/2 doz. heavy wool socks, 1/2 doz. suits woolen underwear; waist overalls, light mackinaw, waistcoat, with large pockets; coat or heavy sweater; 1 pair heavy boots, pair riding boots; 1 pair camp shoes, moccasins or rubber soled; heavy gloves or gauntlets.

Women received a similar list:

Felt hat; neck handkerchief; riding suits (breeches, or divided skirts); raincoat for riding; heavy boots; field boots or riding boots; heavy sweater; heavy (wool-lined) coat; heavy wool stockings, etc.

In addition, lightweight clothing was suggested for warmer days. "In most cases any clothes will do, provided they are sufficiently old, and comfortable." The JY claimed proudly that it did not conform to summer hotel conventionalities, ranch clothes being worn almost entirely." Dude wranglers, according to Burt, encouraged "Eastern damsels" to don western dress not to look like cowgirls, rather "because it is good for the souls and adds color" to the dude business. Some went to extremes, donning gaudy outfits they perceived to be cowboy dress, but appeared outlandish to experienced dudes and Westerners. One account described the spectacle of a dude dressed in lavender chaps, another in bright orange chaps. Even wranglers adopted more colorful apparel as western dress became more ornamental. Local residents coined a derogatory term for such dress—diamond-pointed. In the town of Jackson, stores carried western clothing such as cowboy hats, boots, belts, and denim jeans, then called waist overalls. Western dress became the preferred apparel of many dudes. [26]

Regarding living arrangements, dudes lived among the owners and wranglers. The Castle Rock Ranch proclaimed itself a "Home Away From Home." Indeed, dude ranches were very individualistic in that they manifested the personality of their owners or managers and attracted dudes of similar character, who regarded the ranch as a second home. It was impossible to assemble universally compatible dudes at larger dude ranches. Burt conceded that they need not "adore" each other, but learn to tolerate and be polite to each other. One writer recalled dining at a dude ranch in the valley where the hostess sat at the head of the table and rang a cowbell for service. While the waitress served food, the hostess dished food to her plate before passing it on to the guests. The author speculated that this may have been a usual custom at dude ranches, "but appears so woefully unfitting with dude ranch technique." The custom was likely peculiar to this hostess. [27]

Dude ranches in the 1920s provided a western outdoor experience with few discomforts experienced by real cowpunchers. The trick was to balance simplicity with comfort or, as Struthers Burt portrayed the dude business, "giving people homemade bedsteads but forty pound mattresses." Food at dude ranches needed to be simple, yet wholesome and tasty. In the early years at the Bar BC, Nathaniel Burt recalled that canned food provided much of the fare, supplemented for a very short time by fresh produce from the vegetable garden. The first dude at the Bar BC in 1912 dined on canned fruits, coffee, beans, and carrots, while cabins were being completed. He did not complain, "but ate his bad food contentedly and slept on the ground, and made friends immediately." In 1911, Owen Wister brought his family to the JY at the foot of Phelps Lake. His daughter, Fanny Kemble Wister, recalled less than appetizing cuisine. "Food at the ranch was often scanty, being driven 104 miles by team over the mountains from St. Anthony Idaho." Canned tomatoes were common, supplemented on occasion by fresh peas from Bill Menor, who Wister's daughter mistakenly believed raised the only vegetables in Jackson Hole. Meat consisted of elk and "Dried, smoked, salted bear meat (like dark brown leather)." At breakfast, she often found dead flies plastered between the flapjacks, like so many winged raisins. [28]

By the 1920s, the food had improved significantly, transportation had become more reliable, and many dude ranches in Jackson Hole prided themselves on their self-sufficiency. The Bar BC advertised its meals as tempting, supplemented by an "excellent garden" and dairy. Icehouses prevented food spoilage. H. H. Harrison's Circle H was a producing hay ranch, which also had a garden and dairy cows. Woodman's Flying V advertised daily supplies of milk, cream, eggs, and vegetables produced at the ranch. At the JY, the management produced fresh eggs, vegetables, milk, and meats. The Double Diamond and STS provided fresh vegetables and dairy products. Others bought these supplies. Wholesome food and outdoor life proved a great draw for dude ranches. [29]

Although a key attraction of a dude ranch experience was the opportunity to "rough it," ranchers made concessions to modern conveniences. Dudes lived most often in small single and double cabins set around a main house. The main house could include a dining room, kitchen, and sitting room, or it could anchor a complex of smaller buildings used for these functions. The JY had separate cabins for the living room and dining room. Dudes were seldom lodged in the main house. The Flying V was one exception, as the main lodge contained a few guest rooms. In Jackson Hole, dude ranch buildings were overwhelmingly rustic log structures. Roofs were dirt and pole in the early years, but board-covered, with rolled asphalt roofing became most common; later, wood shingle roofs the more common. Fireplaces were usually built of native quartzite cobble. As was the case at the Bar BC, dude ranchers obtained standard window and door frames ordered through catalogues or from sources in Idaho.

The dude ranch experience represented a compromise between western rustic ambience and comfort. Dude ranchers made concessions to the comfort of clients, but resisted providing what they considered luxuries. Two luxuries were indoor plumbing and electricity. Many dude ranches relied on kerosene lamps well into the 1930s, while others in stalled electricity—a notable improvement. Pit toilets were the standard sanitary facilities, while tin tubs filled with hot water hauled from a laundry or kitchen served as bathing facilities. Simplicity characterized the Bar BC's charm. Dudes "roughed it in comfort," as "all necessary comforts are provided, but luxuries are neither expected nor desired." As of 1927, the ranch supplied hot water and portable tubs for bathing. Buster and Frances Estes provided the same service each morning at the STS. Other dude ranches succumbed to pressure for comfort. The Crescent Lazy H boasted electric lights and a bath house with showers. Going a step further, the Elbo, new in 1927, offered the latest in indoor plumbing; each four-room cabin had hot water, a bath, and a toilet, while hot water, shower, and tub baths were available for each of the six one and two-room cabins. However, the Elbo resembled a "cabin camp," the predecessor of the modern motel more than a dude ranch. Henry Stewart, the owner of the JY, compromised; dudes could wash themselves old-style by having a tub and hot water brought to their cabins, or use a central bathhouse with hot and cold running water. Thus, even as the dude ranch arrived as an institution, technological improvements such as indoor plumbing, electric power and, especially the automobile, influenced peoples' expectations and altered the dude ranch. [30]

Dude ranches in Jackson Hole offered traditional activities. Horseback riding was the primary recreational activity, followed closely by pack trips, hunting, and fishing. Some dude ranches mentioned hiking, but its omission from most lists suggests that it was not all that popular with dudes. Phelps Lake provided an icy but convenient swimming hole for JY dudes, while the White Grass had a concrete lined pool and the Bar BC a ditch-fed swimming hole. Bowing to the times, the Cross and Crescent Ranch, a small facility at Moran, advertised automobile tours of Yellowstone. But then, so did the venerable JY, offering dudes motor trips to Yellowstone and other scenic areas. They provided boats at some ranches, both for fishing and sightseeing. Only the JY mentioned mountain climbing as an activity, which was just emerging as a recreational sport in the 1920s. [31]

By its very nature, the dude business required tracts of undeveloped land, the more pristine the better. Ironically dude wranglers introduced people to Jackson Hole who stayed on and increased development by homesteading public lands in the valley. For example, Owen Wister bought a homestead along the Snake River in 1912, after spending a season at the JY. Struthers Burt claimed responsibility for bringing a score of settlers into Jackson Hole. Some had worked at the Bar BC. Among them were Alfred and Frank Bessette, who came west to work at the Bar BC as a waiter and chef respectively. In 1914, Alfred Bessette homesteaded land south of Timbered Island. The following spring, his brother filed preemption papers on nearby acreage. Foreman and partner Joe LePage took over a relinquishment north of the Bar BC in 1924. Dudes also stayed. Bryant Mears homesteaded the Sun Star Ranch in 1915, now known as the 4 Lazy F. Tucker Bispham, an original Bar BC dude, teamed up with Harold Hammond in 1913 to form the White Grass. Bar BC dudes Eleanor Patterson, "the Countess of Flat Creek," and Lambert Cadwalader bought their own ranches, beginning the trend of affluent people buying ranches to realize their dream of owning a western ranch. Maud Noble was another Bar BC dude, who purchased Menor's Ferry in 1918. Dr. George Woodward established a camp at the outlet of Leigh Lake known as the Bar None or Wildmere. Much has been made of cowboy and dudene romances—perhaps too much. Yet it happened. Frances Mears, a young socialite from Pennsylvania, met wrangler Buster Estes at the Bar BC around 1918 and, much to her family's dismay married him. In the early 1920s they established the STS, a small dude ranch near Menor's Ferry. [32]

Costume parties, as well as literary discussion groups, provided the well-heeled clientle of the Bar BC with activities not normally associated with a "ranch." Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

Dude ranches in Jackson Hole contributed to the economy in a significant way. First, dudes brought money to spend in a cash-poor valley. During the 1920s, the only other important sources of cash were game animals and cattle. Further, the cattle business experienced a depression in these years, which magnified the importance of the dude ranching and tourist-related businesses. Dude ranches employed significant numbers—a larger dude ranch hired as many as 20 to 25 employees, from cabin girls to wranglers. Walt Callahan, a top wrangler, worked at both the JY and the Bar BC. In 1917, the Courier reported homesteaders Jimmy Manges working at the White Grass, while Norm Bladon was employed at the JY. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Price were employed at the Bar BC. The expansion of dude ranches required builders providing another source of wages. In 1917, Charles Fox took a crew to the Bar BC to construct buildings. In 1920, Louis Joy remodeled the Wister cabin at the JY; nearby homesteader Charles Ilse helped with the project, while Frank Waterman hauled logs. Dude ranches also purchased produce from local farms and ranches. In late 1922, the Bar BC bought hay from Roy Nipper and Jake Johnson to feed livestock. John Moulton, who homesteaded on Mormon Row, turned to dairy farming in the 1920s, selling milk, cream, and butter to nearby dude ranches and tourist resorts. [33]

Wrangling dudes became a complex business. Some ranches remained small, such as the Danny Ranch and STS, while others such as the JY, Bar BC, and Crescent Lazy H grew into large outfits. Burt and Carncross learned "that a dude-ranch can be made profitable, because you can run it as an ordinary ranch" with little overhead. They built for 15 dudes in 1912, but found to their dismay that "overhead charges ate up the profits." They expanded the ranch to house 50 dudes in the decade between 1912 and 1922. Burt found they could wrangle 50 dudes with about the same outfit as it took to care for 30. To emphasize the point that dude ranching was a business, the Bar BC incorporated as Bar BC Ranches by 1922. It was the largest operation in the valley, with the upper ranch on the Snake boasting 45 buildings and housing 50 dudes. Located to the south, on the Snake River, was the JO, a boys' camp. On the lower Gros Ventre, Burt and Carncross operated the Lower Bar BC. In addition, they entered a partnership with Hammond and Bispham, and operated the White Grass under the Bar BC Ranches in the 1920s. The owners of the Half Moon, the Karppis and Anita Tarbell, filed articles of incorporation in 1928, issuing $30,000 worth of stock. [34]

Inventories indicated the complexity of the business. According to a 1932 inventory, the JY included more than 40 buildings, including a post office, library and casino. Burt listed:

eighty saddle-ponies, two work teams, ten cows, sixty saddles with their paraphernalia of bridles, blankets, and so on, complete camping outfits for about twenty people, a motor-bus, a smaller car, and an incredible amount of diversified supplies. We must be in a position to replace anything at a moment's notice. I can not tell you how many sheets and blankets and quilts and things like that are stored away. These, I am glad to say, are in charge of a person delegated to keep track of them. [35]

An inventory of the Bear Paw Dude Ranch in 1949 took a full 26 pages and included everything from saddles and tack to furniture and linens, dishes, and kitchen utensils, to items such as a rubber boat, a moose head, and a "rawhide tomyhawk." [36]

Dude ranching made significant economic contributions to the West, but historians rely on general information rather than exact figures. Laurence Borne noted that the dearth of detailed statistics made it impossible to demonstrate conclusively the significance of dude ranching to the economy of a state or region. In March 1925, a Jackson's Hole Courier article, titled "Dude Ranches Grow Popular," reported that a total of 600 dudes vacationed in Jackson Hole in 1924. Jackson Hole dude ranches could house 394 guests in 1927. The Elbo, Flagg Ranch, Jackson Lake Lodge, Sheffield's Teton Lodge, and Leek's Camp could provide lodging for 325 guests. Assuming a ten-week season and 65 guests, Henry Stewart of the JY would earn $43,500, excluding extended pack trips. Assuming a monthly rate of $300, the popular Bar BC would gross $37,500 for a ten week season. Tony Grace, owner of the Danny Ranch, charged a daily rate of $8, which included lodging, meals, and a saddle horse. Assuming 15 dudes stayed at the ranch for ten weeks, the gross in come would total $8,400. At the Double Diamond boys' ranch, Joe Clark and Frank Williams charged a total fee of $800 for three months, including train fare from Philadelphia. A pack trip to Yellowstone cost $50 extra. The potential income of dude ranches suggests that the business contributed significantly to the local economy especially in light of its growth in the 1920s. [37]

The stock market crash of October 29, 1929, crushed the optimistic future projected for dude ranching. Because of a banner season, 1929 became known as the "golden year" of dude ranching. Looking back during the depression, 1929 appeared even more gilded, especially in the spring of 1932, when a large number of businesses failed nationwide. These failures had a ripple effect on tourism and dude ranching, as people put off or cancelled vacations. Dude ranches experienced several fates in this gloomy period—failure, change of ownership, or survival. Those encumbered with large debts were especially vulnerable and some went bankrupt. Inability to pay property taxes drove others under. Some sold out, such as pioneers Dick and Dora Randall, who sold the OTO in 1934. Others weathered the depression and even thrived. Shrewd managers cut staff, activities, and overhead costs. For example, Larry Larom ended extended pack trips from his Valley Ranch west of Cody to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. [38]

In spite of the depression, dude ranching fared better than many other businesses and industries. Wyoming citizens perceived them as a hedge against hard economic times that had crippled agriculture and coal mining, both mainstays of the state's economy. The Great Depression forced stockmen to convert to dude ranching to bring in extra cash. The Dude Ranchers' Association, formed in 1926, thrived and remained active through the 1930s. Indeed, its promotional activities probably helped sustain the industry. Railroads also provided valuable publicity, especially by publishing booklets and brochures. In 1934, the University of Wyoming began offering a degree in "recreational ranching," offering evidence of the acceptance and stability of dude ranching, even during harsh times. [39]

In Jackson Hole, the experience of dude ranchers mirrors events in the West. Union Pacific brochures indicate stability. About 1927, 20 dude ranches and lodges were listed in the valley. Around 1930, 17 were listed. A subsequent booklet separated dude ranches from other lodging facilities, recording 11 ranches and seven camps or lodges. Yet in 1932, Dick Winger, an agent for the Snake River Land Company, wrote an assessment of the dude ranches in the valley, reporting only the Half Moon booked full for the season and in sound financial shape.

When silver fox fur coats became fashionable in the 1920s, some dude ranchers established fox farms to provide extra income. Harold Hammond set up a fox farm at the White Grass in 1925, selling pelts to guests. John Hogan operated a small dude outfit in "connection with the Snake River Fox Ranch" at the confluence of the Snake River and Buffalo Fork. Nathaniel Burt recalled the putrid odors that emanated from horse carcasses used to feed foxes at Hogan's ranch. At the worst of the depression in 1932, the large main house at Jack Woodman's Flying V burned to the ground. Woodman did not rebuild, but sold out to mountaineers Paul Petzoldt and Gustav Koven in 1935. The depression forced Coulter Huyler to convert his summer retreat, the Bear Paw, to a dude ranch in 1935. [40]

In 1927, the Snake River Land Company formed to buy up lands for park purposes. Funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr., company agents bought out numerous important dude ranches and resorts. They purchased the Elbo, the Danny Ranch, the Triangle X, Hogan's fox farm, and pioneer dude ranches, the JY and Bar BC. John S. Turner continued to operate the Triangle X through a series of short-term leases, while Burt and Irving Corse secured a lifetime estate in exchange for the sale of their ranch. This buy-out reduced the level of dude ranching in Jackson Hole. [41]

Jackson Hole dude ranches influenced the history of this valley tremendously and, in a larger context, this area became a major dude ranching center in the West. Three early dude ranches pioneered the business and led the way for a second wave of dude ranches in the golden age of the 1920s. A third wave grew out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Each ranch exhibited distinctive characteristics, usually the stamp of its owners, yet each shared common traits that shaped the business as a whole.

The first dude ranch was the JY. At the outlet of Phelps Lake, Louis Joy fled a cash entry on 119 acres in October 1906, taking over a homestead entry filed first by David Spalding in 1903 or 1904. In 1903, Joy had filed a separate desert land entry on 159.75 acres. To prove up on the entry, he cut two main ditches with laterals, and raised oats, barley and timothy on 23 acres. It is doubtful that Joy intended to farm or raise cattle, for Struthers Burt described the ranch as timbered land "absolutely useless for ranching purposes." Rather, Joy set up a dude out fit. He received patents to the two parcels in 1907 and 1908. [42]

Dudes began coming to the JY in 1908 according to most sources. About this time, Struthers Burt approached Joy to buy a half-interest in the ranch. Having no cash, he secured a five-year option. Burt and Joy formed a partnership common to the dude business, merger of Easterner and Westerner. Burt was a Philadelphian educated at Princeton, while Joy though born in the East, "had emigrated to a big Spanish-American ranch in the Southwest" at the age of 18. Since about 1886, he had worked as a cowboy foreman, forest ranger, cook, guide, and sometime professional gambler. For the next three years, Burt learned the craft of wrangling dudes. [43] They began modestly, building two small cabins to house five of Burt's Princeton associates; the next season they expanded their operation to 15 dudes. The next year Burt and Joy took in no fewer than 40 dudes, turning some away. [44]

In 1911, Owen Wister brought his family to the JY for three months. Fanny Kemble Wister described the experience in the preface of Owen Wister Out West; His Journals and Letters. The four Wister children stayed in a small sleeping cabin. Bunks consisted of wooden frames filled with pine boughs and covered with gray blankets. "Every morning a bucket of hot water was brought to the cabin door by a filthy old man who, we thought, had something permanently wrong with his jaw." This man was the roustabout, an indispensable character who hauled hot water and wood to cabins, filled kerosene lamps on demand, and emptied slops from chamberpots if he could be persuaded to do so. Wister learned later that the lumpy jaw turned out to be a wad of tobacco "kept in his mouth in the same place for months." Presumably he bit off a fresh chew occasionally. This may have been the same roustabout who attacked Horace Carncross with an ax. Fanny Wister was more impressed with the old wrangler who "filled us with awe and admiration." The children "hung around him as much as possible, for we knew he was the real thing." The cook was a cockney English woman, who had converted to Mormonism and emigrated to the United States. She left an indelible impression on Wister's daughter, who recalled vividly the cook's "terrible noisy rages" vented at her young daughter—"I'll knock your blooming 'ead against the blooming wall." [45]

Yet, when the season ended, Fanny Wister hated to return to the East. "What—sleep in a real bed again and see trolley cars? How frightful! No more smell of sagebrush, no more Snake River, no more Grand Teton. Why did we have to go back?" In her own way, she summed up the appeal of a dude ranch experience. [46]

In three seasons, the JY outfit had expanded its capacity from five to 40 dudes, demonstrating the potential of the business. In 1911, Struthers Burt fell out with Louis Joy and decided to start his own dude ranch. Burt formed a partnership with Horace Carncross and created the Bar BC in 1912. [47] Meanwhile, Joy continued to operate the JY.

Henry S. A. Stewart of Pittsburgh became enthralled with dude wrangling and leased the JY from Joy in 1916. Four years later, Stewart purchased the ranch along with additional lands and raised cattle on the property. [48] Two personalities associated with the JY were Shadwick (also Chadwick) Hobbs and Dave Spalding. In 1924, Spalding, the original entry-man on the JY, died at the age of 92. He had remained at the ranch after relinquishing his claim to Joy and was buried on the premises. During this period Shad Hobbs, a top wrangler, worked as the foreman at the ranch. [49]

Stewart continued to expand the ranch. In 1927, the JY was the largest dude ranch in the valley, housing 65 guests. Rates were $65 a week, which included food, lodging, and the use of boats and saddle horses. Popular activities included swimming, boating, mountain climbing, fishing, horseback riding, hunting, and camping. Stewart bought a separate ranch to provide fresh vegetables, eggs, milk, and meat and boasted that the ranch had managed to keep the same cook for a decade. For bathing, the ranch provided hot water and tubs or a central bath house. Stewart built a "unique" waterwheel to furnish power for the laundry house. In a concession to the times, the JY offered motor tours of scenic areas and rented automobiles to guests. Stewart also ran a store, selling licenses, camping clothes, candy tobacco, cigarettes, and medicine, an unusual practice for a dude ranch. [50] Around 1930, Stewart reduced the capacity of the ranch to 60 guests but raised the rates to $75 per week. [51]

In 1932, Stewart sold the ranch to the Snake River Land Company for $49,064.03. A company inventory listed 38 buildings at the dude ranch with additional buildings on the "homestead" and the "farm." The more significant buildings included a new casino, a lodge, a new "living room" cabin, 50 x 25 feet, a dining room, a library, a two-story post office, a bathhouse, a large bunkhouse, and 20 dude cabins. The homestead complex consisted of a main cabin, foreman's cabin, barn, granary, and several out buildings. The farmstead included a large chicken house, log pen, vegetable cellar, chicken house and incubator house, and a variety of barns and stables. The inventory indicates that the JY was a complex, self-sufficient operation. The 1932 sale ended dude ranching at the JY. Soon thereafter, the Rockefeller family began using the ranch for a private summer retreat. [52]

The Bar BC, an offshoot of the JY, was established by Struthers Burt and Dr. Horace Carncross. Burt severed his association with the JY after the 1911 season. Over a period of time, Burt perceived Joy "as a sort of financial Blue Beard who inveigled others into intimate business relations and then, when he had derived all the benefit he could from them, got rid of them with infinite subtlety." Burt believed Joy had no intention of making good on the option to buy a half interest in the JY and used Burt's eastern connections to bring dudes to the ranch. In the fall of 1911, Burt set out to find a suitable location for a dude ranch, fired "by a good old-fashioned hatred" for his former partner, possessing "infinitesimal capital"—$2,000—most of it borrowed. His new partner, Dr. Carncross, accompanied him. [53]

During their last two months at the JY, Burt and Carncross would saddle up and ride until evening, inspecting the countryside. Existing ranches were unsuitable, so they decided to take up homesteads and began to survey available public land. After considerable argument, "always with infinite mutual respect and forbearance," they settled on terraced lands along the Snake River east of Timbered Island. The partners considered a number of factors related to stock ranching, among them soils, terrain, prevailing winds, timber for winter shelter of livestock, building material, and firewood, grazing range, and water sources. In addition, scenic beauty, isolation or at least the feeling of it, the availability of fishing and hunting, and points of interest were considered in selecting a site. They even studied sites for a "river wind" to reduce mosquito problems. [54]

Burt and Carncross intended to run the Bar BC as a dude ranch, then hoped to expand into cattle ranching after the dude business was established. Becoming dude wranglers exclusively was not the goal of either man. Carncross was 41 years old in 1912 and well established as a physician. Burt's dream was to be a writer, but rather than reside in New York City, declare himself a writer and hold down a subsidiary job until he established himself, he chose to become a western rancher while he developed his reputation as an author. At the JY, Burt thought the outfit would be devoted primarily to cattle ranching, but found himself wrangling dudes. Looking back in 1922, he wrote "for sixteen years I have been starting other things, only to find myself always in the dude business." [55]

To open by summer, Burt and Carncross boarded in Jackson and attended to a myriad of details over the winter of 1911-1912. They ordered supplies, ranging from building materials and tack to food staples and building logs. They recruited help for the following season such as teamsters, ranch hands, and builders. These tasks completed, they returned east to secure commitments from 15 dudes. [56]

On May 12, 1912, Burt and Carncross established residence on adjacent tracts through the Homestead Act of 1862. Burt staked out a claim on 154.03 acres, while Carncross took up 158.63 acres. The 1862 law required five years of continuous occupation, and farming the land for five years. On Carncross's acreage, improvements included nine log cabins, 320 rods of fences, and 25 acres of oats cultivated by the end of 1916. On Burt's property, by the same year, they constructed a frame laundry building (25 x 12 feet), nine cabins of various sizes, and seven 12 x 14-foot cabins. Other improvements consisted of a 20-foot well, 21 acres of grain, and 800 rods of fence. In addition, each partner filed a desert land entry in 1913, adding a total of 252.72 acres to the ranch. By 1917, the Bar BC comprised more than 600 acres and the home ranch consisted of 26 buildings, capable of accommodating as many as 25 dudes. Burt recorded those first hectic days in 1912, when he and Carncross set up camp at the ranch and scrambled to build a functional outfit. "In short, we had to build a small town in the wilderness, complete and self-sustaining in every detail." [57]

Burt and Carncross put most of their profits back into the ranch. In 1916, they purchased a ranch along the Gros Ventre River near Spring Gulch from John C. Anderson to raise hay and cattle. This ranch became known as the Lower Bar BC. A year later, each partner borrowed $4,600 from the Philadelphia Trust Company, securing it with the ranch. In the summer of 1917, the Courier reported that Charles Fox and a crew had left Jackson to "do some building" at the Bar BC. The operation paid well enough that the men were able to pay 15 percent interest per annum and pay off the loan in 1924. [58]

By 1922, the Bar BC had expanded to 45 buildings. In addition to single and double sleeping cabins, a main house consisted of two dining rooms, a kitchen, two sitting rooms, and two smaller rooms. Other buildings included a blacksmith shop, garage, saddle shed, granary, camp store house, three storage sheds, root cellar, office, ice house, outfit dining room, five bunkhouses, store, laundry, dance hall, and four houses for the owner and foreman. The cattle ranch and a boys' camp added 50 more buildings. There were four partners, three foremen, and around 45 employees. The Bar BC had emerged as a small empire in the valley. [59]

To control the increasingly complex operation, Burt and Carncross formed the Bar BC Ranches. Incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, the Burts and Carncross transferred all property to the corporation. New partners joined them, Irving Corse and Joe LePage. Corse came to the Bar BC after the First World War, working his way up from driver to foreman, and finally to full partnership. Joe LePage, a Canadian by birth, migrated west and became a cowboy. He made his way to Jackson Hole from Montana in 1917. A top wrangler, he became a foreman and a partner in a short time. [60] From 1924 through 1928, the White Grass was affiliated with the Bar BC Ranches. In 1924, Bispham and Hammond sold out to the Bar BC Ranches and became partners. They bought back the ranch in 1928. [61]

The Bar BC became a social center and a major employer in the valley. The comings and goings of people affiliated with the ranch were reported regularly in the Courier. In September 1914, the Courier noted the visit of Bar BC "tourists" to Jackson. Even during the winter, residents at the Bar BC hosted social activities such as a dance in February 1916. Felicia Gizycka recalled vividly her arrival at the Bar BC with her mother Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson in 1916. From Victor, they bounced over the pass in a crude ranch wagon. They reached the ranch after dark, soaked by a drenching rainstorm to find the Burts and Carncross hosting a costume party. Katherine Burt introduced herself to Cissy Patterson, saying, "Hello, I'm a cave woman." Gizyka's mother was determined to leave the next day but did not. They spent the summer at the ranch. [62]

Many well-known wranglers worked at the Bar BC at one time or another. Cal Carrington was the foreman until lured away by Cissy Patterson in 1917. Joe LePage became foreman and partner until his death in 1929. Bill Howard began his association with the Bar BC in 1922 and took over the foreman's job after LePage's death. A few wrangled dudes at the Bar BC, then moved on to start their own dude ranches, such as Hammond of the White Grass and Frank Williams of the Double Diamond. Some secured work guiding hunting parties from the Bar BC. One was George Ross, who worked at the ranch for 18 years and reputedly received a tip of $1,300 on one occasion—such a stupendous amount for the times it is difficult to believe. Other Bar BC alumni were Billy Stilson, Walt Callahan, Bill Jump, Jim Budge, and Fred Deyo. [63]

The arrival of dudes each summer created an interesting blend of East and West. The dudes at the Bar BC were affluent, often well educated individuals. The first Bar BC dudes knew Burt through their associations in Philadelphia or Princeton. Among them were Sydney Biddle, Tucker Bispham, Adolph Borie, Abram Poole, David Adler, and George Porter. Nathaniel Burt recalled that "it was this blend of wildness and sophistication, of remoteness and civilization that gave Jackson Hole and especially the Bar BC a special quality." [64]

By the late 1920s, the Bar BC was one of the best known western dude ranches. The unknown contributor to the 1927 Union Pacific brochure believed simplicity characterized the ranch best. "All necessary comforts are provided, but luxuries are neither expected nor desired." Fifty dudes could be accommodated in 32 rooms. The rates were $300 to $310 per month. Like many other dude ranches, the Bar BC management required references from prospective guests. At the end of July 1925, 35 dudes were at the Bar BC and, in 1928, more improvements were built at the ranch. [65]

In the late 1920s, the character of the ranch began to change. Writing was Struthers Burt's first love, and by this time both he and Katherine Burt were popular authors. Burt eased out of active management to devote his efforts to writing. In 1929, he purchased two homesteads along the south side of Pacific Creek and established the Three Rivers Ranch. He formed an association of partners who built cabins on the land as a summer retreat. It was patterned after a dude ranch, except that there were no paying guests. Even a contributor to the Courier sensed the changing times in reporting the arrival of Burt at the Bar BC in July 1927. It seemed like "old times" with Burt at the ranch. Further, the Bar BC held a few bitter memories for the Burts. In 1918, Burt's sister, Jean Burt, swallowed three antiseptic tablets and died one day later. Then, early in 1928, Horace Carncross died at his home in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania. The death of Carncross ended a close partnership of two men of "opposing qualities." Several months later, Joe LePage died of influenza and pneumonia. Alone at his ranch above the Bar BC, he had grown so sick that he tied a note to the collar of a horse and set it loose to be found by neighbors. Help arrived and transported LePage to Jacksons small hospital, but too late. Bispham and Hammond had bought back the White Grass in 1928, severing their business connections with the Bar BC. This left Burt and Irving Corse as active partners. [66]

In the late 1920s, significant events were taking place that would impact the future of Jackson Hole. Influenced by his experience at wrangling dudes and living in the West, Struthers Burt became a fierce advocate of conservation. Along with a few others in Jackson Hole, he grew very concerned with developments that threatened the frontier and wilderness character of the Teton country. In particular, water reclamation projects and commercial developments associated with the automobile aroused his ire. He was a vocal opponent of Wyoming State Engineer Frank Emerson's proposal to build a dam at the outlet of Jenny Lake, the pristine mountain lake at the foot of the Teton Range. When Burt and Carncross filed their homestead entries in 1912, they were virtually alone. Jimmy Manges had a homestead a mile and a half to the west, while Bill Menor operated his ferry two miles to the south. During and after World War I, new settlers arrived in the area. When Chester Goss and Scott developed the Elbo, Burt wrote to Horace Albright "this speedway down here, the El-Bo Ranch and the south end of Timber Island, not to mention Jenny's Lake, has about sickened me with this neck of the woods." [67] He established contacts with Horace Albright, the superintendent of Yellowstone by 1922, after the two had clashed over the proposed Yellowstone extension of 1919. Burt participated in the July 26, 1923, meeting at the Maud Noble cabin, where Albright formed an alliance with local conservationists to devise a way of saving Jackson Hole from commercial exploitation. For the next six years, Burt found time, in the midst of operating a dude ranch and writing, to work for the creation of a Grand Teton National Park. He and other advocates were rewarded when Congress set aside a 96,000-acre park in 1929.

Meanwhile, agents of John D. Rockefeller Jr. had created the Snake River Land Company in 1927, a Utah corporation formed to purchase lands in the valley. In 1929, the company proposed buying the Bar BC. This came as a complete surprise to Burt, who understood that his dude ranch would not be included in the purchase schedule. To Kenneth Chorley, he wrote, "out of a clear sky this whole thing was sprung on us a little over a month ago. After considerable negotiation over the price and the terms of a lifetime lease, plus the buyout of Horace Carncross' sole heir, Corse and Burt sold the ranch in 1930. [68]

After retiring from active management of the Bar BC, the Burts fell out with Irving Corse. In 1935, Burt wrote Harold Fabian requesting a copy of the Bar BC corporation's charter and by-laws. He confided to Fabian that "I want to get hold of a copy and, as I am not on the best of terms just at present with Irv [Corse]," was reluctant to ask Corse for the documents. In 1937, Corse bought out the Burts interest in the dude ranch. The Bar BC lease was modified in 1938: The Burts and Corse's first wife, Angela, were dropped as designated lessees and Corse's new bride, Margaretta Sharpless Corse, added to it. According to Nathaniel Burt, his parents feuded with the Corses and the Pavenstedts, who were two percent shareholders, over management matters and profit sharing. [69]

Under the management of Corse and Bill Howard, the fortunes of the Bar BC declined slowly but relentlessly. Corse believed "that a Real Western Ranch should be as rundown as possible." The buildings at the ranch deteriorated. Also, fires took a toll. In the summer of 1939, fire destroyed a portion of the main house, the kitchen, and a commissary. Corse replaced the burned section of the lodge with a new wing. In the 1940s, fire destroyed a laundry house, the ruins of which are visible today. Then, in late 1959, fire burned one of the main residences, a 42 x 18-foot log cabin. Meanwhile, buildings were added. In 1934, Corse bought the LePage residence from the Snake River Land Company, dismantling, moving, and reassembling the cabin at the ranch. In 1938, he leased it to a family named Crocker. Three years later, he allowed a family named Harrison to build a cabin on the property, issuing a sublease for the cabin sites. At the south end of the ranch, Corse cleared an airstrip and constructed a small frame hangar. All of these changes eroded the distinct character of the Bar BC. [70]

The Corses operated the Bar BC as a dude ranch until the Second World War. Because of severe labor shortages, they suspended the operation. Corse left the valley to work for the navy as a flight instructor at the University of Wyoming. In 1942, Bill Howard sold his interest in the ranch and left the valley. After the war, Corse, stricken with arthritis and emphysema, was too ill to manage the Bar BC. He died in 1953. [71]

In 1950, Margaretta Corse issued a sublease to T H. and Margaretta (Peggy) Frew Conderman to run a dude ranch operation through 1959. This was an unhappy arrangement. Mrs. Conderman later divorced her husband and married John Cook, who took over the lease. Mrs. Corse resumed management of the ranch, renting cabins and campsites through the summer of 1985. Poor health forced her to cease operations in 1986 and she died in 1988. [72]

The Bar BC was the second dude ranch in Jackson Hole. As such, it was one of the pioneer dude ranches in the cradle of dude ranching—Montana and Wyoming—and, under the guidance of Burt and Carncross, became the best known dude ranch in the valley during the 1920s golden age of dude ranching.

The White Grass was the third and last of the pioneer dude ranches in Jackson Hole. In September 1913, Harold Hammond took up 160 acres of meadow and forest land at the foot of Buck Mountain. Two years later, George Tucker Bispham took up residence on 160 acres adjacent to Hammond's homestead. Easterner and Westerner—dude and wrangler—formed a partnership, bringing together one element Struthers Burt believed necessary for a successful dude outfit. At first, Hammond and Bispham intended to start a cattle ranch; taking in dudes was a secondary pursuit if done at all. According to Hammond's stepson Frank Galey, they did not start taking in dudes until 1919, the first summer after the Great War. However, the Jackson's Hole Courier in 1916 reported that Francis Biddle was a guest of the ranch and that Alexander Cadwalader was expected later in the season. [73]

A lack of capital and the First World War hindered their efforts to improve the ranch. For example, Hammond was absent from May 1 to October 1, 1914, "working four miles" from the White Grass, probably at the Bar BC. When the United States entered the war in 1917, Hammond enlisted in the army and was absent for nearly two years. Bispham seems to have been less active in managing the outfit, although he stayed at the ranch while Hammond served in the army. By 1919, the partners were determined to wrangle dudes, henceforth raising cattle became a secondary activity. Hammond reported the following improvements in his final entry papers, filed in July 1920: Buildings consisted of a 28 x 48-foot log house, a 30 x 50-foot log barn, a 16 x 48-foot storehouse, and a 14 x 28-foot bunkhouse. Harry Clissold, owner of the Trail Ranch, constructed the main lodge and some of the cabins. Other developments included three corrals, 120 panels of eight-pole fence, and 800 rods of buck-and-pole fence. Beginning in 1915, Hammond cultivated land, starting with 16 acres and expanding to 80 acres by 1920. He raised oats, barley alfalfa, and timothy harvesting it as hay. A one-mile ditch irrigated the fields. In 1922, Bispham fled his final proof papers. Improvements included three log houses, one being 26 x 36 feet, and 640 rods of buck and-four-pole fence. Bispham had a total of 25 acres plowed and cultivated. [74]

Hammond testified that "his claim is used some for summer tourists," but the combined improvements of Bispham and Hammond suggest a small-scale operation. Indeed, they may have experienced some financial difficulties, for in 1924 both men and their wives sold the White Grass to the Bar BC ranches. Both were partners in the corporation and Hammond continued to manage the White Grass. Further, in the same year, Hammond established a fox farm, raising silver fox for their pelts. In early 1925, Hammond joined Lars Anderson of Cincinnati to set up the operation. At the end of the year, six pairs of silver fox arrived at the White Grass. In 1927, Hammond, Anderson, and Irving Corse filed articles of incorporation for the White Grass Silver Black Fox Ranch, Inc. Four hundred shares were issued at $25 each. The White Grass also continued to run a few head of cattle. [75]

Associated with the Bar BC empire, the White Grass appeared to prosper. Operating the ranch as a boys' camp in 1927, they had 16 guests. The White Grass could accommodate about 25 dudes during this period. A concrete-lined swimming pool was an unusual amenity. The rates were $11 per day for stays less than one month, reduced to $10 per day for a month or longer. Like the Bar BC, the White Grass required personal references from prospective guests. [76]

In 1928, Hammond and Bispham bought back their homesteads from the Bar BC Corporation, severing their ties with that outfit. Bispham ended his partnership in December, when he sold his land and improvements to Hammond for $12,500. Bispham built a new cabin at the White Grass where he and his wife spent several summers. Later they moved up to Burt's Three Rivers, where they built a cabin and joined this association. After Helen Bispham was thrown and dragged by her horse at Three Rivers in 1935, the Bisphams returned to the White Grass according to one source. Tucker Bispham died in 1949, never returning to Jackson Hole after 1935 according to his obituary. [77]

Meanwhile, Hammond expanded the capacity and amenities at the White Grass despite the Great Depression. In 1930, the ranch had 18 cabins in addition to the main house, outbuildings, and swimming pool. By the 1930s, the ranch could accommodate 35 dudes. In 1935, Hammond constructed a large log shower house, which provided showers and indoor plumbing and served as a laundry. A year later, private baths were added to many of the cabins. According to Frank Galey, the ranch's last owner, several long-time dudes rebelled at these conveniences. They continued to use outdoor privies and insisted on bathing in tin tubs with hot water delivered by the roustabout. During these years several wings were added to the main house, more than doubling its size. The front porch was closed off and wooden steps added. In recent years, modern sliding glass doors were added to one wing, marring its rustic character. [78]

Born in 1891 in Blackfoot, Idaho, Harold Hammond had come to Jackson Hole in 1901 to live with a sister. In 1910, he worked for the Reclamation Service at the Jackson Lake Dam, supervising the stock and stable. He then worked at the Bar BC as a wrangler before homesteading at the White Grass in 1913. After the war and while struggling to establish a dude ranch, Hammond married Marie Ireland in 1922. Several years later, she died. In 1936, Hammond married a longtime dudene named Marion Galey. She first came to Jackson Hole in 1919. A friend of Burt and Bispham, she spent the summer at the Bar BC. A young widow, she was accompanied by her two-year-old son, Frank. Smitten with Jackson Hole, she moved to the White Grass and stayed on through Christmas. Mrs. Galey may have been the first paying dude at the White Grass. Frank Galey believed that his mother may have fallen for Hammond as early as this period. The Galeys continued to spend time at the White Grass and after Mrs. Hammond's death, she married Hammond. Up to that time, Frank Galey had acquired a working knowledge of the dude business as a guest; in 1936, he started working as a hand for $30 a month. The Hammonds were married only a short time, when health problems began to beleaguer Hammond. After wintering in Arizona, he died in the summer of 1939. Marion Hammond and Frank Galey took over the operation. [79]

The Second World War hamstrung operations, nearly forcing the White Grass to close because of serious labor and supply shortages. Frank Galey enlisted in the service, and the ranch was left to caretakers. Galey returned in 1946 to find the ranch in disrepair. Because materials were still in short supply, they could only patch up cabins with makeshift materials. Galey bought a portion of the ranch in partnership with Norman Mellor.

This began the modern era of the White Grass. In 1966, Galey closed the silver fox farm, which had operated since 1925. He and his bride, Inge Galey, expanded the outfit's capacity from 30 to 55 dudes, and the ranch was booked full until it closed after the 1985 season. Galey bought out his mother and Mellors in the 1950s. In 1956, he sold all but a few acres of the White Grass to the National Park Service for $165,000 and a life estate. Frank Galey died of a heart attack in the midst of the 1985 season, ending the run of the longest operating dude ranch in the valley from 1919 through 1985. [80]

After World War I, dude ranching exploded in Jackson Hole. The growth of tourism and depressed agricultural prices following the war persuaded ranchers and entrepreneurs to take up dude wrangling. In addition, the success of the JY and Bar BC in the early years encouraged rapid growth of the business in the 1920s.

The STS was one of the most prominent of the second wave of dude ranches in Teton County. A good example of a small family dude ranch, its atmosphere reflected the character of its owners, Buster and Frances Mears Estes. Their marriage was perhaps the most famous of the wrangler-dude romances in the valley. Frances Mears, a Bar BC dudene from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, first came to the valley in 1914, traveling over Teton Pass in a "white-top " wagon. At the Bar BC, she met Buster Estes, a wrangler at the ranch. Their romance blossomed and they married in spite of the objections of Mears's family. Her parents apparently disowned her, beginning an estrangement that lasted for several years. [81]

From Holiday Menor, Estes learned of a 76-acre tract along the Snake River that remained open to settlement and promptly filed preemption papers. The Estes built a cabin in November and December 1922 and moved in January 1923. Starting with $50 and a milk cow, they built up a small but prosperous dude ranch. In the spring of 1923, their cow gave birth to a calf, which they traded to one of the Woodwards, a local family in exchange for help in adding a roof and fireplace to their cabin. The Estes began a modest operation. Aside from their main house, they had only one cabin and one tent to house dudes. To earn cash, Estes worked at the sawmill located at Sawmill Ponds. Frances Estes sold food to tourist traffic, which increased steadily in the 1920s. They offered fresh eggs, milk, bread, tea, coffee, cake and cookies to walk-in traffic, advertising in the Jackson's Hole Courier. In 1924, they advertised ice cream, lemonade, and chicken dinners or suppers to order. Although this was not a typical dude ranch practice, the Estes did it to make ends meet and build up the ranch. Bill Woodward added the large fireplace to the lodge in 1925. When Buster Estes filed final proof papers in 1927, the ranch consisted of the following improvements: the five-room main house (14 x 46 feet with a 14 x 30-foot wing), a log garage (12 x 20 feet), a log cabin (12 x 14 feet), two frame cabins (12 x 10 feet), and a barn (14 x 30 feet). The entire tract was fenced with post, pole, and wire. Estes plowed and planted eight acres to oats and barley in 1923, but failed to harvest a crop. In succeeding years, they were content to raise a garden. [82]

In 1927, the STS was included in the Union Pacific brochure "Dude Ranches Out West." Riding, hiking, hunting, fishing, and camping were the listed activities. Able to accommodate ten guests, amenities included portable tubs and hot water each morning, along with ice, spring water, fresh vegetables, eggs, and milk. Around 1930, the Estes promoted their dude outfit as "the only small ranch left in this country." They charged $55 per week per person, cheaper than the $70 charged at the White Grass or the $70 to $105 charged at the Bar BC. Mardy Murie recollected that the Estes expanded their capacity to 24 dudes and were nearly always full. Indeed, the local paper periodically announced the arrival of dudes at the ranch, indicating success. By the 1930s, they had added up to ten cabins, two bunkhouses, a chicken house, and a laundry and bath. [83]

The depression hit the Estes hard. During the 1930s, they lowered their rates drastically to $20 per week. This included room and board but, in a break from traditional dude ranching practices, did not include saddlehorses. Horses cost $3 per day or $15 per week. In 1935, the Estes leased a 200-square-foot lot to Stella Woodbury, a dude from Kansas City, Missouri, for use as a cabin site. Two years later, the Nelson brothers built a large log house that is the current Murie residence. They may have granted the lease to bring in extra revenue. Around 1940, the Estes constructed a new log residence. They had been in the new home only a short time when the United States entered World War II. Closing the dude operation, they moved to Salt Lake City and worked in war industries to support the war effort. After the war, the Estes determined to quit the dude business. At this time, the Murie family—Olaus and Mardy Murie, and Adolph and Louise Murie—approached the Estes about purchasing a portion of or the whole ranch. The parties signed an agreement for a warranty deed in 1945; the Muries made a down payment with the balance due in 1950. The Murie family has owned and lived at the ranch since 1945. They never operated it as a dude ranch, making a handshake agreement to that effect with the Estes. [84]

The Double Diamond was another prominent dude ranch in the 1920s. Like the owners of the STS and White Grass, the partners of the Double Diamond were Easterner and Westerner, Frank Williams and Joseph Clark. Born in Colorado in 1883, Frank Williams moved to Jackson Hole in 1900 with his parents Otho and Josephine Williams and five siblings. As a young man he worked as a cowboy, wrangling cows in the Timbered Island area in 1908 and 1909. Later, Williams gained experience wrangling dudes at the Bar BC.

Joseph Clark was a dude from Philadelphia, who stayed first at the Bar BC and later at Dr. Woodward's Bar None on Leigh Lake. Years later, Clark passed his bar exam and became a prominent Philadelphia attorney. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1957 to 1969. Clark met Williams while staying at the Bar None, and the two men agreed to start a dude ranch together. [85]

While working as a cowboy in the Timbered Island area, Williams had camped at the base of the bench east of Taggart and Bradley Lakes. The site left a strong impression on him as a prime location for a dude ranch. Much of the suitable land in the area belonged to Jimmy Manges, so Clark and Williams offered to buy a portion of his homestead. Manges sold 40 acres in 1926. Emma Williams, the wife of Frank, filed a desert entry on a minute tract consisting of 12.97 acres in 1924. She irrigated eight acres with a ditch and four laterals, drawing water from Bradley Creek. They raised timothy and clover for hay and a small garden. [86]

Clark and the Williams wasted no time in constructing buildings for the 1924 season. For unknown reasons, they decided to operate a boys' ranch. Perhaps they believed there would be less competition if they specialized in a different clientele. On May 1, 1924, the Courier announced the new partnership of Clark and Williams, calling their venture a "tourist resort." The two entrepreneurs assembled building materials and recruited 15 to 20 boys for the first season. One year later, they hosted 27 boys. The Double Diamond succeeded immediately. [87]

In July 1927, the Double Diamond expected 20 dudes. The boys were housed in tents on frames over flooring, centered around two wide log buildings that served as a kitchen and dining room. The ranch accommodated 25 boys of high school and college age. The main house was described as an extra large recreation hall and dining lodge. Forty-two saddle horses were kept at the ranch. The season ran from June 15 to September 15. The Union Pacific brochures of 1927 described the Double Diamond as follows:

This ranch draws its patronage almost entirely from Philadelphia territory, and charges $800 for the season, including transportation from Philadelphia in the custody of counselors who remain with the boys throughout the entire trip; a side trip to Yellowstone is also offered at $50 additional, with refund if the trip is not made. The ranch has its own fresh vegetables, milk and cream. References are required and given. [88]

By the early 1930s, Clark and Williams had expanded the capacity of the Double Diamond to 35 boys. Possibly because of the depression, they reduced the price from $800 to $700 for the season. Nonetheless, increasing the capacity from 25 to 35 dudes increased their potential gross revenue by $4,500. [89]

During the depression, several changes occurred at the ranch. First, Joe Clark dropped out of active management as his law practice and political ambitions took more of his time. By the late 1930s, Clark was no longer listed as a contact for reservations. In 1946, Harry and Nola Brown bought his interest in the ranch. Clark, in turn, purchased one acre for a summer cabin. Second, the Double Diamond ceased operating as a boys' ranch and began catering to dudes of all ages. Since tents were inadequate for adults, who expected modern conveniences, they housed them in log cabins. However, this reduced the Double Diamond's capacity to 20 guests. Finally, to provide more flexibility for guests, they charged weekly rates ranging from $25 to $35 rather than a rate for the full season. Dudes also reduced the time of their stay in this era; most Double Diamond guests stayed from three to six weeks. [90]

Frank Williams continued to operate the ranch through World War II. In 1950, the ranch had eight guest cabins capable of housing 28 people. A tract appraisal, prepared in 1961, listed 18 buildings on the property. Most were log structures with wood sheathing and rolled asphalt roofing. All but two had indoor plumbing. The buildings were constructed around 1943; the barn and shed were all that remained of the original buildings. [91]

After Frank Williams died in 1964, his heirs sold the Double Diamond to the National Park Service for $315,000. Harry and Nola Brown acquired a lease to operate the property from 1964 through 1969. In 1970, the ranch was turned over once again to the National Park Service. The American Alpine Club has leased the property since 1970 using it as a hostel for mountaineers. In 1985, a wildfire swept through the ranch and burned eight buildings, more than half of the structures on the site. [92]

Not far from the Double Diamond was the Half Moon. The July-August issue of Midwest Review described it as a "new venture" for girls located near the Moose Post Office on Cottonwood Creek. "It is directly under the famed Tetons and brand new rustic log buildings have been erected and the rugged beauty of the surroundings make it an ideal resort for girls." Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kaippi took up residence on the 160-acre tract in the summer of 1923. Over the next five years, they built a four-room log building (30 x 22 feet), 12 cabins (14 x 15 feet), a log barn (18 x 20 feet), an icehouse, a well, and corrals and buck-and-pole fence. Kaippi plowed and planted 20 acres of alfalfa, timothy, barley, and wheat. The crop was harvested, but used for grazing. In response to the question about using the property for business, Karppi wrote that "we handle summer boarders." [93]

Anita Tarbell became a partner in the operation by 1928, when the owners formed a corporation and issued stock. Tarbell worked at the ranch from 1928 until 1944. The ranch was an active dude operation from 1927 to 1962. Betty Anderson, an employee and later a co-director of the ranch, recalled that the teenage girls were usually from wealthy families who lived in urban areas in the East and Midwest. The Half Moon charged a flat rate of $500 to $600 for a two-month season, which included room, board, and a saddle horse. Pack trips were offered to backcountry areas. [94]

By the early 1960s, 27 buildings comprised the ranch: a dining hall, the owners residence, a lodge, an ice house, a rest room and shower house, a wash house, a saddle house, a loafing shed, and 15 cabins. Anita Tarbell had acquired controlling interest in the ranch in 1930. Tarbell died in July 1960 and left the ranch to Charles Guss. He sold it to the National Park Service in 1967 in exchange for a lease that he surrendered in 1972. The park removed the buildings soon after acquisition. [95]

One of the most short-lived dude ranches was the Danny Ranch, owned by Tony S. Grace. He established residence on a 160-acre homestead east of String Lake in October 1922. Grace built up a small dude ranch that consisted of a three-room log house (30 x 30 feet), two large guest cabins, store room, ice house, and barn. He cleared and cultivated 20 acres with little success. By 1927, he was content to seed the ground and allow his stock to graze on the crop. Grace wrote in his final proof papers that he rented the two cabins during the summer. About the same year Grace added two more cabins, raising the total capacity to 15 guests. The rates were $8 per day which included room, meals, and use of a saddle horse. Grace also used the ranch as a headquarters for conducting hunting trips in the fall. The Danny Ranch was one of the smallest Jackson Hole dude ranches.

In 1930, Grace and his wife, Viola, sold the Danny Ranch to the Snake River Land Company for $24,000. After leasing the property for residential use, the Teton Lodge Company renovated it as a dude ranch. In 1934, the buildings were in poor condition, and the main house burned in 1935. In the late 1930s, however, the Jenny Lake Ranch was advertised in the Union Pacific brochure "Dude Ranches Out West." It consisted of the central lodge and dining room surrounded by one and two-room cabins capable of housing 65 dudes. Grace's gutted residence formed the nucleus of a much larger main lodge, which remains in use. Jenny Lake Lodge is operated by the Grand Teton Lodge Company today. [96]

On the eastern side of Jackson Hole where Ditch Creek enters the valley from the Mount Leidy Highlands was the old Flying V Dude Ranch. In 1928, Jack and Dollye Woodman bought the 160-acre homestead of Ransom Adams. They may have leased the property from him prior to that year as there are several references to the Flying V in the Jackson's Hole Courier prior to 1928. Jack Woodman described himself as a "university man, a bonded guide of wide experience, and a former U.S. Forest Ranger." Dollye Woodman was a daughter of the pioneer Budges and a registered nurse.

Accommodations at the ranch included a large 11-room main lodge, heated cabins, and floored tents for sleeping quarters. Because it had functioned originally as a working cattle ranch, Woodman promoted the Flying V as a "producing horse and cattle ranch, providing daily supplies of milk, cream, eggs and vegetables." The main lodge was one of the more impressive among dude ranches in the valley. It was a two-story cross-shaped building with a gambrel roof covered with wood shingles. The front facade had two gable-roofed dormers on each side of the main wing. [97]

In December 1932, fire, possibly started by a banked woodstove, destroyed the lodge. The fire severely burned Florence Jones McPherson, who died several days later. She was the daughter of pioneer Joe Jones. In addition to the loss of life, this incident dealt a severe setback to the Flying V, happening in the worst period of the depression.

The rates at the Flying V were comparable to the more well known dude ranches, such as the JY and Bar BC. In the late 1920s and 1930s, the Woodmans charged both a flat rate of $550 for a two month season, and a regular rate of $70 per week. Because of the depressed economy and the loss of the main lodge, Woodman decided to sell the dude ranch. In 1935, he signed an agreement for a deed with Gustav Koven and Paul Petzoldt to sell the ranch for $5,000. Koven made a down payment of $2,500 and agreed to pay the balance by April 2, 1936, at eight-percent interest. They conveyed the deed to Koven in 1935. [98]

Koven and Petzoldt were mountaineers, who hoped to set up a profitable dude ranch, hunting camp, and climbing headquarters at the Flying V. Few buildings existed on the property in 1935, suggesting that Woodman's operation had not been particularly successful. Paul Petzoldt recalled only a two-room guest cabin and a few outbuildings on the site. Over the next two seasons, Petzoldt helped construct three cabins, burned a dilapidated barn, and gathered logs and excavated a cellar for a new main lodge. [99]

Meanwhile, Koven formed a corporation, following the example of other dude ranchers. In 1936, he surrendered his ownership to the Flying V Ranch, Inc., a New Jersey corporation. About this time, the partners changed the name of the property to the Ramshorn. Petzoldt recalled that he suggested the name because he felt it would be more attractive to prospective dudes. A more cogent reason may have been to avoid confusion over brands, for Jack Woodman had sold his cattle, along with the Flying V brand, to the Chambers family. Thus, Koven and Petzoldt could not use the Flying V brand to identify their livestock, and continued use of the name would have been confusing. Petzholdt and Koven broke off their partnership by 1937.

Koven continued to improve the ranch. The Woodward brothers constructed the new main lodge in 1937. Most of the present buildings were added in this period. Available information indicates that Koven was not active in operating the dude ranch. The Ramshorn is not listed in either the Union Pacific's "Dude Ranches Out West" published in the 1930s or the dude ranch index in the 1938 edition of Burt's The Diary of a Dude Wrangler. Koven leased the property for several years. Local guides Tom and Bill Jump rented the ranch, and used it as a headquarters for their hunting outfit. In 1946, Koven sold the Ramshorn to a partnership that included Greer Sugden, David Alleman, and Robert Irwin. None were local residents. Over the next five years, a succession of partners bailed out of the association, until only Sugden remained. He sold the ranch to Alvin Adams in 1951. The Sugden partnership and Adams intended to operate the Ramshorn as a dude ranch during the summer, a hunting camp in the fall, and a ski resort in the winter, hoping to squeeze revenue out of the ranch for most of the year. The only significant event occurred when the Prime Minister of Pakistan stayed at the Ramshorn as Adams's guest. [100]

However, Adams had no sooner acquired the ranch than he expressed an interest in selling it. Several reasons may have prompted this decision. As a vice-president of Pan American Airlines, Adams found himself too busy to devote time to the Ramshorn; further, the cost of maintaining the ranch proved expensive, more than Adams expected or wished to pay. After several attempts to sell the property and prolonged negotiations with the National Park Service, Adams sold the Ramshorn to the federal government in 1956 for $68,000. In 1958, the park issued a concession permit for the Ramshorn to Katie Starratt, who had managed the Old Elbo as a dude ranch since the 1940s. She took the name and brand to the Ramshorn, rechristening it the Elbo. Starratt operated the new Elbo as a modest but successful dude ranch. After Katie Starratt died in 1974, the National Park Service issued a special use permit to the Grand Teton Environmental Education Center to operate the Teton Science School at the ranch. [101]

In early 1927, the Jackson's Hole Courier reported that Jack Turner was building a new dude ranch on Spread Creek in the upper end of the valley. John S. and Maytie Turner were Utahans, who vacationed periodically in Jackson Hole and became attached to the country. Their favorite campsite was situated in the forest above the Bill Jump and Jack Fee homesteads. In 1926, Jump was in the hospital, unable to care for his homestead. Seeing an opportunity, John Turner sold his land in Utah and bought the 160-acre property from Jump for $1,000. The Turners hoped to farm the land, raising potatoes, but gave up because of the short, unreliable growing season. Instead, they decided to raise cattle and build a few guest cabins for hunters. With this modest beginning, the Turners created the Triangle X Dude Ranch. Two years later, they bought the adjacent Jack Fee homestead from R. E. Miller for $3,655. The ranch totaled 320 acres at this time. About 1928, the ranch consisted of a large rustic headquarters and six dude cabins capable of housing 20 dudes. The rates were $5 per day. [102]

During this period, the family built up the ranch, despite indications of economic trouble. When the Snake River Land Company began purchasing land in 1928, the Triangle X was included in the purchase schedule. In 1929, John Turner and Harold Fabian, a company vice president, began negotiations. Fabian suggested to Tony Grace of the Danny Ranch that he sell his property "and concentrate the joint efforts of himself and Turner on building up the Turner place." Fabian expressed the willingness of the company to lease the Triangle X and any additional land the two dude ranchers thought necessary for a "successful operation." Grace lost interest in the partnership when one of the Turner daughters, Marian, married, his real motive for joining the Triangle X. John Turner wrote to Fabian that Grace "got sore" over the marriage. A month later, Tony Grace informed Fabian that he decided not to enter into a partnership with Turner. In July 1929, John and Maytie Turner sold to the Snake River Land Company for $20,000. The company leased the property to Turner in 1930 "to occupy and use as a cattle ranch, farm and dude ranch." The rental charge was one-third of all crops grown. A year later, the company and Turner agreed to alter the lease; the company charged ten percent of gross receipts as a rental fee. [103]

The elder Turner and his sons operated the property as a dude ranch through 1935. They charged $50 per week for room, board, and exclusive use of a saddle horse. In 1936, John S. "Dad" Turner and his wife left the ranch and moved to Turpin Meadows on the Buffalo Fork, buying the old Neal place. They started the Turpin Meadow Lodge, running it as a dude camp and hunting camp until 1952, when they sold the property. Meanwhile, the eldest son, John C. Turner, secured a lease to the Triangle X in 1936 from the Snake River Land Company and later from its successor, the Jackson Hole Preserve. After the Triangle X was incorporated into the new Grand Teton National Park in 1950, John C. Turner and Louise Turner (later Berschy) secured a concession permit to operate the ranch in 1953. Today John C. Turner's sons continue to run the ranch, the only concessioner-operated dude ranch in the National Park System. With the closing of the White Grass in 1985, the Triangle X enjoys the distinction of being the longest-operating dude ranch in Jackson Hole. [104]

The Circle H Ranch was a small dude ranch situated west of the Snake River, not far from the White Grass. In the 1920s, H. H. and Ethyl Harrison started a small dude ranch on land homesteaded by Louis Joy and Billy Giant. About 1927, the Circle H had seven guest cabins and a "pleasant central lodge, containing dining and recreation rooms . . . tastefully furnished and ornamented with trophies of the hunt." The Circle H was a working hay ranch with its "own horses, dairy cows, and garden, insuring abundant fresh milk and vegetables on the table." It housed 14 dudes. Rates were $12 per day for room, board, and a saddle horse. [105]

It was a short-lived operation, for the Harrisons sold the ranch to John C. Dilworth in 1928 for $20,000. Dilworth did not operate the Circle H as a dude ranch. In 1945, Harry Barker Sr., bought the Circle H, revived the dude ranch and turned it into a successful enterprise. In 1966, Harry Jr. and Margaret Barker sold the Circle H to the National Park Service in exchange for a 30-year or lifetime estate. [106]

In 1924, a young woman named Eva Sanford rode in a Model T over the graveled Togwotee Pass road into Jackson Hole, escorted by her parents. From Douglas, Wyoming, Sanford came to the valley to teach at Elk, the small country school located between Spread Creek and the Buffalo Fork. She taught at Elk for three years, boarding with the Cunninghams and the Harolds. In 1927, she learned of an available tract of public land located south of Spread Creek. Seizing the opportunity, she filed entry papers in May and established residence in November. In that same year, Sanford married Fred Topping, a middle-aged widower. Together, they built up a hunting lodge and dude ranch at their homestead. [107]

Topping had built a good reputation as a cow hand and hunting guide. Born in Quebec in 1883, he came west at the age of 24. He and his partner, George Greenwood, had settled in Wyoming in 1910. Working at Lander and, later, Pinedale, Topping came to Jackson Hole in 1912, bringing horses over Union Pass for the Frontier Days rodeo. Liking the area, he took up a homestead in the Spread Creek area in 1913. Topping developed a hunting guide business, working through both the White Grass and Sheffield's at Moran. In 1916, he married Doris Coffin, who died of influenza during the 1918 epidemic. He sold his homestead to Rudy Harold that year. [108]

In 1927, newlyweds Fred and Eva Topping moved into an existing residence on her 120 acres, which indicates that the parcel had been relinquished by a previous entrant. They cultivated 19 acres, grazed 20 head of cattle and horses, and started a fox and mink farm. However, because Executive Order 4685 had withdrawn public lands from settlement they experienced some difficulty in securing a patent. The entry was protested and investigated in 1930. The General Land Office examiner found the following improvements: four log cabins of various dimensions, three small chicken coops (possibly the fox farm), a log barn, a cow barn, a log garage, a partially constructed cabin, and more than two miles of buck-and-pole fence. The General Land Office concluded the Toppings had complied with the homestead laws and approved the entry. Eva Topping secured a patent in 1931. [109]

During the depression, Topping worked at various dude ranches as a guide, while Eva Topping kept up the homestead. The dude business started as an afterthought, when hunters camped on the property. Soon Eva Topping began providing meals for a fee. By 1937, they had decided to go into the dude business full time. The Union Pacific listed the ranch in its brochure. Called the Moosehead, it was listed under "Camps—Guides—Lodges—Resorts" rather than dude ranches, because it was not an "operating stock or grain ranch." Accommodations consisted of a: "dining room and kitchen in one building; a ranch lobby; separate sleeping cabins of one and two rooms. Hot and cold tub and shower baths. Mrs. Topping is hostess and her garden and poultry department are show places. Ranch has its own dairy." Activities included horseback riding, fishing, and hunting trips, while the rates were $35 per week for room, board, and a saddle horse. Room and board cost $25 per week. The Toppings continued to expand the ranch until there were accommodations for 40 guests. [110]

In 1932, Eva Topping became the postmistress of the Elk Post Office, which was moved to the Moosehead. The post office was located here until its closure in 1967. At the end of that year, the Toppings sold to John Mettler, who continues to operate the Moosehead as a dude ranch. [111]

The Bear Paw, founded by Coulter Huyler, was another dude ranch dating from the 1930s. Huyler was a dude from Connecticut, who first came to Jackson Hole to hunt in 1925 or 1926. Taken with the valley, he began looking to buy a summer retreat. South of the JY, the homestead of Eliza Seaton caught his eye. Huyler purchased the property in 1927 and, for the next decade, used it as a private retreat for family and friends. [112]

In 1935 or 1936, Huyler started a small exclusive dude ranch that housed 16 guests. According to his son, Jack Huyler, the depression forced Coulter Huyler to make this decision. The accommodations consisted of a main cabin, three double cabins with baths, and two large one-room cabins. Influenced by the standardization of lodging in the 1930s, Huyler furnished the cabins with twin Simmons beds. He placed the ranch in charge of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Neal, both westerners. Neal was an experienced wrangler and guide, while his wife was a trained nurse. Activities included horseback riding, fishing, swimming, mountain climbing, camping, motoring, and big game hunting in season. The rates were $77 per week with references and reservations necessary. [113]

The Bear Paw continued to operate during the Second World War. Margaret Murie helped manage the ranch for two seasons, which she described so well in Wapiti Wilderness. In this period, as many as 40 dudes stayed at the ranch. Murie recalled that the Huylers maintained the highest standards of fine, simple, western life for their guests. In 1949, they sold the Bear Paw to the Jackson Hole Preserve. [114]

Not far from the JY was the R Lazy S. In 1912, Owen Wister, the author of The Virginian, bought the homestead of Elsie James, intending to use the property as a private retreat. The Wister family stayed at the JY for four weeks while they constructed a primitive two-story cabin at the homestead. In mid-summer, they moved in, even though the cabin was unfinished. Cots and furniture built of packing crates served Wister, his wife, five children, a German governess, and a houseman named Lloyd Cook. They lived in the house for six to eight weeks. It was the only time Wister resided on the property for, in 1913, Wister's wife died giving birth. Stricken with grief, Wister never returned to Jackson Hole. The house stood empty for the next several years, until Wister sold to the Roeslers and Chauncey Spears in 1920. [115]

Although considered a dude ranch according to local tradition, the R Lazy S was not operated as one in those years. In 1928, Chauncey Spears added 40 acres to the ranch through a timber and stone entry. Roeslers and Spears sold to Robert McConaughy in 1929, who started the dude ranch operation. McConaughy sold the ranch to the Jackson Hole Preserve in 1947, but continued to lease it until 1972, seven years after Rockefeller had donated the property to the United States. The buildings were removed after 1972. The McConaughys shifted their operation to the Aspen Ranch north of Wilson, Wyoming. [116]

Another property known as a dude ranch, but never advertised or promoted as such, was the Trail Ranch. Located one mile north of the White Grass, the ranch consisted of two homesteads totaling 260 acres. Harry C. Clissold homesteaded 160 acres in a meadow in the midst of lodgepole forest in 1916. Clissold testified that he built a log cabin (20 x 20 feet), barn, milk house, and ice house. In 1919, he plowed 20 acres and planted timothy and alsike clover. Harvesting only seven to eight tons of hay Clissold converted the field to pasture. In September 1922, Clifford Ward and his wife filed an entry on 100 acres next to Clissold's parcel. Ward constructed a log house and a shed and cleared two acres for a garden. [117]

Clissold sold his ranch to J. Steven Conover Jr., in 1929 and moved to Jackson. Conover operated it as a dude ranch, hosting ten guests at rates of $55 per week per person. Conover sold to the Snake River Land Company in 1939. A man named Wesley leased the property from the company and the National Park Service until 1971. The park allowed the buildings to deteriorate until 1984, then demolished the remainder. [118]

The Four Lazy F, located one mile north of Moose, is a good example of a family retreat patterned after a western dude ranch. A Philadelphia dude named Bryant Mears filed an entry on the land in 1914 and took up residence in the winter of 1915. Improvements consisted of two log cabins, a small barn, a well, a ditch, fencing, and 18 acres cleared and cultivated. In 1916, he planted eight acres of oats and barley and harvested 14 tons of hay. One year later, he planted 18 acres of winter wheat, but harvested none of it. Mears had little time to develop what was then called the Sun Star Ranch for he was absent for long periods of time, first to marry in 1916-1917, then to serve in the army from 1917-1919. In 1927, Edward Mears sold the ranch to William Frew, a wealthy dude from Pittsburgh.

The Frews invested a considerable amount of money to build the ranch, patterning it after dude ranches. They named the ranch the Four Lazy F, the brand for the Four Lazy Frews. The family used it as a retreat rather than an active dude ranch. In 1967, Emily Frew Oliver sold the ranch to the United States, retaining a life estate. For a number of years, the Frews and Olivers have accepted paying guests, but at the family's invitation only. [119]

Tourist enterprises existed that were called dude ranches, though such usage requires a loose definition. The Elbo Ranch, Leek's Camp, and Ben Sheffield's outfit at Moran were not dude ranches, even though they shared some similarities with dude ranches. The 1927 Union Pacific brochure listed both the Elbo and Leek's Camp as dude ranches. The Elbo and Leek's were listed under this heading based on the definition of a dude ranch "as home operating stock or grain ranches with accommodations for guests on advance reservations." [120]

The Elbo was the brainchild of Chester Goss, a California resident. Goss initiated his plan by purchasing 115 acres from James Manges in April 1926. The following May and June, he purchased the homesteads of Frank Bessette and Alfred Bessette. In addition, Goss homesteaded 11.6 acres adjacent to the western boundary of the Manges homestead. Possessing more than 423 acres, Goss and his partners, J. M. Goss and James G. "Gibb" Scott, began building tourist accommodations. [121]

In May 1926, the Jackson's Hole Courier reported that a store and cabins were being constructed and plans underway to build a racetrack and ball diamond. In July the Elbo opened for business. Accommodations consisted of four-room cabins with hot water, baths, and toilets and one and two-room cabins with hot water, shower, and tubs for every six rooms. Goss built a store and gas station along the road to cater to tourist traffic, but the completed rodeo grounds located south of Timbered Island was the most conspicuous development. The Elbo rodeo grounds included a large grandstand, a one-half mile racetrack, a parking area, and concession stands under the grandstand. He also built small "tourist cabins" to cater to overnight traffic. Goss patterned the Elbo after western dude ranches, by raising breeding horses, requiring reservations, providing room, board, and use of saddle horses to dudes, and constructing rustic log cabins. However, cottage cabins, rodeo grounds, and a roadside store and gas station were not characteristic of bonafide dude ranches. Goss even installed a large sign at the Elbo, proclaiming it the "home of the Hollywood cowboy." While patterned after dude ranches, the Elbo was not in practice a dude ranch. [122]

In 1929, Goss sold the Elbo to the Snake River Land Company for $64,000. The company allowed the National Park Service to use some of the buildings for employee housing in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1942, Harry Espenscheid leased the property and operated a dude ranch. Katie Starratt leased the ranch from the late 1940s until 1958, when the Park Service moved her to the Ramshorn. The remaining buildings were removed in the early 1970s. [123]

Stephen Leek and his sons, Holly and Lester, developed Leek's Camp at Jackson Lake in 1927. It was an expansion of a hunting camp approved by the Forest Service in 1925. Unlike the majority of dude ranches and resorts, Leek's Camp depended on public lands for its existence. Leek secured a special use permit to 1.44 acres of forest land "for the purpose of maintaining a resort for the accommodation of tourists including hotel accommodations, store and gas station." Working vigorously, the Leek family had the camp ready to operate in the summer of 1927. [124]

As the permit suggests, the Leeks intended the operation to be a resort rather than a dude ranch. However, they set up a boys' camp, patterned after dude ranches. The Midwest Review reported the establishment of the Teton Camp for Boys and Leek's Camp in its July-August 1927 edition. According to the report, Leek was building "a series of lodges and cabins to accommodate parties of boys and dudes." Partners in the venture were the Leeks, Dillon Wallace, Arthur G. Timm, Dr. Thomas S. Dedrick, and Willis Howie. The article listed boating, fishing, hunting, pack and hiking trips as activities. In addition, the Leeks and Dillon Wallace set up a wildlife studies program for the boys. While the camp promised to be one of the "great popular resorts," it was not a dude ranch. By this time, the camp had a new central lodge and dining room, surrounded by cabins and tent cabins. Hunting and fishing were emphasized as the brochure boasted excellent trout fishing with catches weighing 10 to 20 pounds. The rates were $5 per day for meals, cabin, and a boat. Between June 15 and August 17, Dillon Wallace conducted a boys camp for youths aged 14 through 19. Reservations were limited to 25 boys, and the cost, including transportation from Rock Springs, was $610. [125]

By 1934, Leek had turned the operation over to his sons. After Lester Leek died in that year, Holly Leek operated the lodge as a hunting and fishing camp. The Park Service issued Leek permits after the creation of Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943. After the war, Holly Leek sold his permit to Dr. N. E. Morad, who formed a corporation called Leek's Lodge, Inc. Morad ran the camp until 1965, when he sold the permit to Keith Wright. The new owner failed to pay off the loan, and the concession reverted to Morad. The permit went through two more owners until the National Park Service bought the permit in 1975 and, two years later, turned the operation over to Signal Mountain Lodge. Leek's Lodge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 because of its architectural significance and association with pioneer and conservationist Stephen Leek. Most of the remaining buildings were removed. [126]

Sheffield's Teton Lodge at Moran and the Jackson Lake Lodge (Amoretti Inn) resembled dude ranches, but were early resorts that tapped increasing tourist traffic to Yellowstone. Moran was an ideal location for accommodations, situated between Jackson and the south entrance of Yellowstone, and near the junction of the road to Dubois and Lander to the east. Flagg Ranch, built by Ed Sheffield, was located just south of Yellowstone on the highway.

In the Moran area, two small resorts were started in the 1920s, both patterned after dude ranches, the Cross and Crescent, and the Flying Diamond. M. R. Grimmesey built the Cross and Crescent dude outfit on land leased at Moran. A small operation, the Cross and Crescent consisted of a lodge and three cabins capable of housing seven dudes. Services included room, meals, saddle horses and guided pack, hunting, boating, and auto trips. A short-lived enterprise, the Cross and Crescent seems to have operated in the late 1920s. The Flying Diamond was the registered brand of John W. Hogan, who operated the small dude ranch in conjunction with the Snake River Fox Ranch, known locally as Hogan's fox farm. Hogan purchased the property from homesteader William T. Carter in 1924. Around 1926, Hogan built the log lodge, which serves today as Park Service housing. In addition, he built three cabins to house up to 12 guests. The rates were $6 per day for room and board, and another $3 per day for a saddle horse. Hogan also outfitted pack trips and provided licensed guides for hunters. [127]

The Episcopal Church dedicated the Chapel of the Transfiguration near Moose in 1925. It was well attended by guests of nearby dude ranches. Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

Outside of the present boundaries of Grand Teton National Park, a number of prominent dude ranches were established. Located south of Wilson, Wyoming, along Fish Creek was the Crescent H. Founded by Edward Brown in the 1920s, it could house 50 dudes. In 1927, Brown built a large lodge and dining room (40 x 60 feet), along with "commodious" log cabins. Brown also managed the Warbonnet, a boys' ranch associated with the Crescent Lazy H. The Red Rock Ranch, situated up the Gros Ventre valley along Crystal Creek, was originally a cattle ranch. W. P. Redmond, a Jackson Hole pioneer, started a dude operation in the 1920s. The outfit was small, accommodating 20 guests in log cabins and tent houses. The Red Rock remains a working cattle and dude ranch today having weathered a number of owners, lessees, and hard times. At Kelly, Wyoming, the Teton Valley Ranch continues to operate as a boys ranch. Founded by David and Cornelia Abercrombie in 1927, it was originally known as the Gros Ventre Ranch, then the A Lazy D. The Wilson family purchased the ranch and converted it to a boys ranch around 1935. Other dude ranches included the Brooks Lake Lodge east of Togwotee Pass, the Skyline Ranch on the Snake River south of Moose, the Aspen Ranch north of Wilson, the Teton Pass Ranch west of Wilson, Elizabeth Woolsey's Trail Creek Ranch at the foot of Teton Pass, and the V Bar V located on the Hoback near Bondurant. [128]

During the Second World War, dude ranchers adapted to survive. They reduced ranch size to lower costs, rationed resources, and adjusted to the labor shortages caused by the war. In some cases, dudes themselves provided labor. Demand for foodstuffs made it attractive to raise cattle again; thus, many dude ranches began raising cattle and other foods to contribute to the war effort. Further, the Dude Ranchers' Association promoted dude ranches as retreats for weary soldiers and civilians involved in the war effort. [129] The owners of the Bear Paw, the Huylers, solved their labor shortage by persuading Mardy Murie to accept the job of housekeeper. Her daughter worked as a waitress, while her youngest son performed odd chores. Volunteer work for the Red Cross and at St. John's Hospital had failed to take Mardy's mind off of her oldest son and others who served in the military so she entered the work force like so many other women during the war. In Wapiti Wilderness, she recalled the effort to keep the ranch going despite wartime shortages. [130]

In general, dude ranching has changed significantly and declined since 1945. The automobile emerged in the 1920s as a force of change, radically altering American society in ways no other technological advance in this century has duplicated. Cars were the first of many challenges dude ranchers confronted. Since the golden age of dude ranching, the western landscape has changed significantly. Developments to accommodate a larger population, notably urban centers, suburbs, increased industry, and highways have altered the landscape so important to the dude ranch setting.

The expectations of dudes have also changed over the years. Rising demand for modern conveniences evolved as dude ranching developed. By the 1930s, many Jackson Hole dude wranglers provided modern bathrooms and electric lights. In his preface to the 1938 edition of The Diary of a Dude Wrangler, Struthers Burt noted that dude ranching had changed as had Americans. In 1914, "we weren't one quarter as bathtub conscious, as twin-bed conscious, and as food conscious as we are today. The wise dude-wrangler has met this increased consciousness." He further noted that dudes enjoyed fresh fruit such as cantaloupe every day; in his day "you speedily for got what a melon looked like." Dude ranches followed the trend to standardize amenities. For example, early automobile cottage camps advertised conveniences such as "Beauty-rest" mattresses; in the late 1930s Cornelia Aberciombie listed Simmons Beautyrest mattresses on each bed at the A Lazy D. The rustic simplicity of the first dude ranches could not survive the evolving expectations of guests. [131]

Further, Americans' tastes and demands in recreation have changed significantly. In general, rather than participate in vigorous outdoor activities, people have become more sedentary. As a result, horseback riding has declined as an activity. Trips tend to be shorter, and only the adventurous are interested in pack trips today. In contrast, cocktail lounges and modern pools have become typical at dude or guest ranches. In the 1970s and 1980s, the White Grass sported a game room in the loft of the barn, replete with a pool table, juke box, and pinball machine. The popularity of motorized recreation has exploded in the last 30 years. Today the Triangle X offers snowmobiing for winter guests. Rafting the Snake River was unheard of in the 1920s; today dude ranches offer float trips. In the early years, dudes were more self-reliant in choosing activities. Over time, dudes, like most tourists, have come to expect to be entertained.

Other factors influenced the decline of dude ranching. In Jackson Hole, the value of land has made it almost impossible for cattle and dude ranchers to resist selling out to developers. The properties have been either subdivided or converted to elaborate resorts. In some cases, the family dude ranch has succumbed because of the reluctance of children to take over the operation. Taxes and government policies and regulations have been, at best, neutral and at times hindered dude ranch operations. [132]

Today dude ranching remains a small yet stable part of the tourist industry in Jackson Hole. Some ranches have retained distinct characteristics and preserve the dude ranch legacy begun by the JY, Bar BC, and White Grass. Historically dude ranching left a strong mark on the valley and, from a broader perspective, Jackson Hole was an important center for western dude ranching.

1. Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 48.

2. Jackson's Hole Courier, April 3, 1924, and September 15, 1932; University of Wyoming Archives, American Heritage Center, Charles Roundy Collection, 3550, Box 1; and Lawrence R. Borne, Dude Ranching: A Complete History (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1983), p. 27.

3. Edith M. Schultz Thompson and William Leigh Thompson, Beaver Dick, the Honor and the Heartbreak: An Historical Biography of Richard Leigh (Laramie, WY: Jelm Mountain Press, 1982); and Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 9-10.

3. Saylor, Jackson Hole, p. 116.

4. William A. Baillie-Grohman, Camps in the Rockies (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1882), pp. 208-209.

5. Freeman Tilden, Following the Frontier with F. Jay Haynes, Pioneer Photographer of the West (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964), pp. 115-139; Owen Wister, Owen Wister Out West: His Journals and Letters, ed. Fanny Kemble Wister (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958), pp. 52-58; and Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 94-95.

6. Borne, Dude Ranching, p. 19.

7. Homestead Patents: 578666, M.S. Burt, 1916; 799046, Harold Hammond, 1920; 1014042, Buster Estes, 1927; 1037758, Peter Karppi, Jr., 1928; 1010872, Tony Grace, 1927.

8. Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 48-53.

9. Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 49-50.

10. Ibid., p.51.

11. Roundy Collection, 3550, Box 1, University of Wyoming Archives.

12. Borne, Dude Ranching, p. 4.

13. Ibid., p. 9.

14. Ibid., pp. 19-22, 29-30.

15. Ibid., p. 27.

16. Ibid., pp. 31-37.

17. Jackson's Hole Courier, January 19, 1932.

18. Ibid.; Roundy Collection 3550, Box 2, University of Wyoming Archives; Brown, Souvenir History, p. 9; and Homestead Patents, Desert Land Entry 187, Lander, Harvey Glidden, 1901; Homestead Certificate 1245, Evanston, A. A. Adams Kiskadden, 1907; and 138274, Kiskadden, 1907.

19. Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 39-40; Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 90; Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, p. 7; Office of the Clerk and Recorder, Teton County, Mortgage Record Book, pp. 103-104, Maxwell S. and Katherine N. Burt and Horace Carncross to Philadelphia Trust Co., May 1, 1917; and Jackson's Hole Courier, July 24, 1917.

20. Borne, Dude Ranching, p. 46.

21. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927.

22. Ibid.; Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, p. 52; and interview with Frank Galey by John Daugherty, February 3, 1984.

23. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927.

24. Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, p. 7; El Paso Times, August 19, 1923, Horace Albright Papers, 1923-1927, Yellowstone National Park Archives; Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 304; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927, p. 9; and Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 50. Lawrence Borne found a dearth of information regarding the composition of dudes.

25. Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 148.

26. Warren James Belasco, Americans on the Road: From Autocamp to Motel, 1910-1945 (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1981), p. 48; "Dude Ranches Out West" ca. 1927; "The Bar BC Ranch, Rates, Outfit, Etc.," pamphlet, Bosler Family collection 5850, Box 5, File 16, University of Wyoming Archives; and Borne, Dude Ranching, p. 112.

27. Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 55; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; and Nellie Van Derveer, "Wyoming Folklore and Customs, Teton County," Dude Ranches, WPA Subject File 1448, State of Wyoming, Archives, Museums, and Historical Department.

28. Wister, Wister Out West, pp. xv-xvi; Jackson Hole Guide, September 9, 1978; and Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 130-131.

29. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927.

30. Ibid.

31. Ibid.

32. Wister, Wister Out West, pp. xv-xvi; Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 4; Jackson Hole Guide, February 23, 1967; Homestead Patents: 799048, Frank Bessette, 1920; 824385, Alfred Bessette, 1921; and 1035980, Joe LePage, 1928; Jackson's Hole Courier, July 30, 1925; and Jackson Hole Guide, December 3, 1970.

33. Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 180-181; interview with Walt Callahan by Jo Ann Byrd; #6, in "Last of Old West;" and Jackson's Hole Courier, July 12, 1917, May 31, 1917, July 1, 1920, July 26, 1917, and November 2, 1922.

34. Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 91-92; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; and Jackson's Hole Courier, November 29, 1928.

35. Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 91.

36. Harold P. Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 61, File 574, Real Estate-Huyler, 1943-1949, Inventory, Bearpaw Ranch.

37. "Dude Ranches Out West" ca. 1927; and Jackson's Hole Courier, March 5, 1925.

38. Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 59-69, 80-81.

39. Larson, History of Wyoming, pp. 423-425, 443-446; and Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 59-69, 80-81.

40. "Dude Ranches Out West;" ca. 1927; Kenneth Chorley Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, IVA3A, Box 21, File 176, "Dude Ranches Out West," pamphlet, ca. 1930, Union Pacific Railroad; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1937, Union Pacific Railroad, Wyoming State Archives; Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 16, File 144, Hammond, 1929-1939; Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, p. 97; and Teton County Records, Mixed Records, Book 3, p. 389, John F. Woodman to Gustav Koven and Paul Petzoldt, Agreement for Deed, October 2, 1935.

41. Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 17, File 153, Elbo Ranch, 1932; Box 20, File 205, Elbo Ranch, 1929-1932; Box 22, File 244, Grace, 1928-1936; Box 22, File 232, Turner, 1929-1941; Box 21, File 229, Hogan, 1929-1935; Box 19, Files 183-184, JY Ranch, 1901-1945; Box 20, File 187, Bar BC, 1929-1940.

42. Homestead Patents: Homestead Cert. 560, Evanston, Louis Joy, 1906; Desert Land Cert. 748, Evanston, Joy, 1905; and Jackson's Hole Courier, June 2, 1932.

43. Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 42-43 and 65.

44. Ibid., p. 64.

45. Wister, Wister Out West, pp. xiv-xvii; and Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 79

46. Wister, Wister Out West, p. xvii.

47. Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 78-102.

48. Teton County Records, Mixed Records, Book 1, p. 257, JY to H. S. A. Stewart, Lease, November 17, 1916.

49. Jackson's Hole Courier, September 25, 1924, and November 13, 1924.

50. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; and "Tourism in Jackson Hole," Midwest Review 8 (July-August 1927):32-34.

51. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1930, pp. 15-16.

52. Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 19, Files 183-184, JY Ranch, 1901-1945; Jackson's Hole Courier, June 2, 1932.

53. Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 65 and 86-87.

54. Ibid., pp. 93-96.

55. Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, p. 7; and Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 15 and 48.

56. Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 97

57. Homestead Patents: 577944, Horace Carncross, 1916; 578666, Maxwell S. Burt, 1916; 584624, Burt 1916; and 584625, Caincross, 1916; and Struthers Burt, Diary, p. 88.

58. Jackson's Hole Courier, December 7, 1916, and July 26, 1917; and Teton County Records, Mortgage Records Book 3, p. 103, M. S. and Katherine Burt to Philadelphia Trust Co., mortgage, May 1, 1917; Book 3, p. 106, Horace Carncross to Philadelphia Trust Co., mortgage, May 1, 1917; see Mortgage Release Book 1, pp. 88-89.

59. Struthers Burt, Diary, pp. 90-91.

60. Teton County Records, Deed Records, Book 1, p. 307, Warranty Deed, Struthers and Katherine Burt and Horace Carncross to Bar BC Ranches, Inc., December 5, 1921; Jackson's Hole Courier, October 12, 1953 and January 10, 1929; "The Bar BC Ranch, Rates, Outfit, Etc.," Bosler Family Collection, 5850, University of Wyoming Archives; and Jackson Hole Guide, August 16, 1964.

61. Teton County Records, Deed Record Book A, p. 99, Warranty Deed, George Tucker Bispham to Bar BC Ranches, June 10, 1924; Deed Record Book A, p. 74, Harold and Marie Hammond to Bar BC Ranches, Warranty Deed, April 21, 1924; see Deed Record Book 3, pp. 536-537.

62. Jackson's Hole Courier, May 10, 1917, September 3, 1914, February 24, 1916; May 3, 1917, February 10, 1916; and Felicia Gizycka, "Jackson Hole, 1916-1965: A Reminiscence," Vogue (April 1, 1965):203.

63. Gizycka, "Jackson Hole, 1916-1965," p.203; Jackson's Hole Courier, January 10, 1929, January 27, 1949, and May 1, 1941; Jackson Hole News, July 30, 1970; Interview with Walt Callahan, #6, in "Last of Old West."

64. Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, pp. 7-9.

65. "Dude Ranches Out West, ca. 1927; and Jackson's Hole Courier, July 30, 1925, and June 14, 1928.

66. Jackson's Hole Courier, July 4, 1918, July 14, 1927, March 8, 1928, and January 10, 1929.

67. Struthers Burt to Horace Albright, July 18, 1927, Albright Papers, 1923-1927, Yellowstone Archives.

68. Chorley Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 16, File 133, Bar BC Ranch, 1929-1942, Struthers Burt to Kenneth Chorley, March 4, 1929; Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 20, File 187, Bar BC, 1929-1940.

69. Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 20, File 187, Bar BC 1924-1940, Struthers Burt to Harold Fabian, January 3, 1935; Chorley Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 16, File 133, Bar BC Ranch, 1929-1942, S. Burt to K. Chorley, September 20, 1937; and Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, pp. 78-79.

70. Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 20, File 187, Bar BC, 1929-1940, Bar BC Ranches to Frank W. Crocker, sub-lease, May 26, 1938; Bar BC Ranches to E. Webster Harrison, sub-lease, May 7, 1941; Jackson's Hole Courier, July 27, 1939, and November 7, 1959; and Federal Records Center, Denver, CO, Grand Teton National Park, 217320 Individual Fire Report, November 7, 1959.

71. Jackson's Hole Courier, October 12, 1953; and Jackson Hole Guide, August 6, 1964.

72. Corse, Tract 04-130, Bar BC Ranches Inc., to T. H. and Margaretta F. Conderman, Lease, September 30, 1950, Land Files, Grand Teton National Park.

73. Homestead Patents: 799046, Harold Hammond 1920; 902573, G. Tucker Bispham, 1922; interview with Frank Galey by Jo Ann Byrd, #12, in "Last of Old West Series," Jackson Hole Guide, April 30, 1981; and Jackson's Hole Courier, June 8, 1916, and July 17, 1930.

74. Homestead Patents: 799046, Hammond, 1920; 902573, Bispham, 1922; and Jackson Hole Guide, July 19, 1973, and September 24, 1964.

75. Teton County Records, Deed Record Book A, p. 99, George Tucker Bispham to Bar BC Ranches Inc., Warranty Deed, June 10, 1924; Deed Record Book A, p. 74, Harold and Marie Hammond to Bar BC Ranches Inc., Warranty Deed, April 21, 1924; and Jackson's Hole Courier, February 26, 1925, December 3, 1925, April 7, 1927, and April 28, 1927.

76. Jackson's Hole Courier, July 7, 1927; and "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927.

77. Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 3, p. 536, Bar BC Ranches to Harold Hammond, Warranty Deed, November 15, 1928; Deed Record Book 3, p. 537, Bar BC to G. T. Bispham, Warranty Deed, November 16, 1928; Deed Record Book 3, p. 557, G. T Bispham to H. Hammond, Warranty Deed, December 19, 1928; Jackson's Hole Courier, November 1, 1928, and April 14, 1949; and Nathaniel Burt, Jackson Hole Journal, pp. 118-119.

78. Jackson's Hole Courier, July 17, 1930; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1937; Jackson Hole Guide, August 8, 1973; and interview with Frank Galey by Jo Ann Byrd, #12, "Last of Old West Series.

79. Interview with Frank Galey, #12, "Last of Old West;" Jackson Hole Guide, September 24, 1964, and August 8, 1973; and Jackson's Hole Courier, July 20, 1939.

80. Ibid.; Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 11, p. 10, Frank Galey to the United States of America, Warranty Deed, December 17, 1956. There is some question whether the ranch operated at all during the war.

81. Jackson Hole Guide, June 11, 1964; interview with Margaret Murie by John Daugherty, February 13, 1984, tape, Grand Teton National Park; and Jackson Hole News, January 17, 1979.

82. Interview with Margaret Murie; Jackson's Hole Courier, July 27, 1922, August 7, 1924, and October 15, 1925; Homestead Patent 1014042, Buster Estes, 1927; and Jackson Hole Guide, June 11, 1964.

83. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1930; and Jackson's Hole Courier, July 7, 1927.

84. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1937; Interview with Margaret Murie; Teton County Records, Mixed Records Book 6, p. 29, Buster and Frances Estes to Stella Woodbury, Lease, August 12, 1935; Deed Record Book 9, p. 89, Buster and Frances Estes to Adolph Murie, et al., Agreement for deed, August 22, 1945; Warranty Deed Record Book 8, p. 628, Buster and Frances Estes to Adolph Murie, et al., Warranty Deed, July 25, 1950; and Murie, Wapiti Wilderness, pp. 266-269.

85. Jackson Hole Guide, October 1, 1964, and February 20, 1964.

86. Jackson Hole Guide, October 1, 1964; and Teton County Records, Misc. Records Book 1, p. 307, James M. Manges to Frank Williams and Joseph Clark, Agreement for Deed, April 6, 1926; Deed Record Book 3, p. 447, James M. Manges to Double Diamond Ranch, Warranty Deed, August 30, 1926; and Homestead Parent, 1003939, Emma Williams, 1926.

87. Jackson's Hole Courier, May 1, 1924, June 26, 1924, and July 16, 1925.

88. Jackson's Hole Courier, July 7, 1927; interview with Harry Brown by Jo Ann Byrd, #3, "Last of Old West Series;" and "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1930.

89. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1930.

90. Interview with Harry Brown, #3, "Last of Old West;" and Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 6, p. 417, Double Diamond Ranch to Joseph Clark, Warranty Deed, May 21, 1946.

91. Lodges and Dude Ranches, memorandum, February 27, 1951, Grand Teton National Park, Federal Records Center, Denver, Colorado; and Williams, Tract 05-122, Land Files, Grand Teton National Park.

92. Williams, Tract 05-122, Land Files, Grand Teton National Park.

93. "Tourism in Jackson Hole," Midwest Review: 35; Homestead Patent 1037758, Peter Karppi Jr., 1928.

94. Jackson's Hole Courier, November 29, 1928; Roundy Collection, 3550, interview with Betty Anderson, Tape #2, University of Wyoming Archive.

95. Half Moon Ranch, Tract 05-123, Land Files, Grand Teton National Park.

96. Homestead Patent 1010872, Tony Grace, 1927; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1937; Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 22, File 244, Grace, 1929-1936; and University of Wyoming Archives, Fryxell Collection, 1638, Alexander Sprunt to F.M. Fryxell, April 2, 1934.

97. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 3, p. 496, Ransom Adams to John F. Woodman, September 17, 1928; and Photograph of Main Lodge, Flying V, courtesy of Don and Gladys Kent.

98. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1930; Teton County Records, Mixed Records Book 3, p. 389, John Woodman to Gustav Koven and Paul Petzoldt, Agreement for Deed, October 2, 1935; Deed Record Book 5, p. 275, Jack and Zina Woodman to Gustav Koven, Warranty Deed, October 2, 1935; and Jackson's Hole Courier, December 22, 1932, December 29, 1932, and November 21, 1935.

99. Telephone Interview with Paul Petzoldt by John Daugherty, December 10, 1982.

100. Teton County Records, Warranty Deed Record Book 9, p. 278, Greer Sugden to Alvin Adams, Warranty Deed, May 14, 1951; interview with P. Perzoldt; and Superintendent's Monthly Report, October 1954, Grand Teton National Park, Box 743799, Federal Records Center, Denver, CO.

101. Adams, Tract 06-108, Land Files, Grand Teton National Park; and Jackson Hole Guide, October 12, 1963.

102. University of Wyoming Archives, Roundy Collection, 3550, interview with Louise Turner by C. Roundy, tape; interview with Louise Turner Bertschy by Jo Ann Byrd, #1, "Last of Old West Series;" Jackson's Hole Courier, March 3, 1927; Teton County Records, Deed Record Book A, p. 377, William Jump to John S. Turner, Warranty Deed, July 6, 1926; Deed Record Book 2, p. 509, R. E. and Grace Miller to John S. Turner, Warranty Deed, April 19, 1928; and "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927.

103. Fabian Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Box 22, File 232, Turner, 1929-1941.

104. Triangle X, Concession Files, Grand Teton National Park.

105. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; Jackson Hole Platbook, Harold and Josephine Fabian Collection, Grand Teton National Park.

106. Jackson Hole Guide, September 18, 1969; and Barker, Tract 02-136, Land Files, Grand Teton National Park.

107. Interview with Eva Topping Briggs by Jo Ann Byrd, #2, "Last of Old West Series;" and Homestead Parent 1052322, Eva Topping, 1931. Mrs. Briggs recalled taking up residence on the property in 1925, while she testified to a date of 1927 in her final proof papers.

108. Jackson Hole Guide, March 5, 1970; and Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 3, p. 118, Fred and Doris Topping to Rudolph Harold, Warranty Deed, October 29, 1918.

109. Homestead Patent 1052322, Topping, 1931, Robert W. Dyer, G. L. O. Examiner, to Commissioner, G. L. O., February 18, 1931.

110. Interview with Eva Briggs, #2, "Last of Old West," and Jackson Hole Guide, March 5, 1970.

111. University of Wyoming Archives, K. C. Allan collection, 7636, Teton County Post Offices; Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 14, p. 407, Fred J. Topping to John Wyckoff Mettler, Jr., Warranty Deed, December 8, 1967; and "Big Wyoming Accommodations," leaflet, Wyoming Travel Commission, ca. 1981.

112. Jackson Hole Guide, September 3, 1964, and September 8, 1955.

113. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1957; and Jackson Hole Guide, September 3, 1964.

114. Murie, Wapiti Wilderness, pp. 257-278; and Jackson Hole Guide, September 3, 1964.

115. Wister, Wister Out West, p. xiii; Franny K. Wister Stokes to Ray H. Mattison, October 2, 1962, Grand Teton National Park; Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 2, p. 26, Elsie M. James to Owen Wister, warranty deed, December 18, 1911.

116. Homestead Parents 1019746, Chauncey Spears, 1928; Jackson Hole Guide, September 17, 1964; and Jackson Hole News, December 7, 1973.

117. Homestead Patents: 908182, Harry Clissold, 1922; and 977162, Clifford Ward, 1925; and Jackson Hole Guide, July 19, 1973.

118. Jackson Hole Guide, July 19, 1973 and January 28, 1971; and Jackson Hole News, November 2, 1977; and "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927.

119. Homestead Patent 805788, Mears, 1920; Jackson's Hole Courier, August 9, 1917, and October 6, 1949; and Teton County Records, Deed Record Book 2, p. 295, Bryant F. Mears to Edward B. Mears, Warranty Deed, April 1, 1921; Deed Record Book A, p. 541, E. Mears to William and Margaretta Frew, Warranty Deed, February 9, 1927; Deed Record Book 14, p. 351, Emily Oliver to the United States of America, Warranty Deed, August 4, 1967.

120. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; and "Dude Ranches," ca. 1937.

121. Teton County Records, Misc. Records Book 1, p. 280, James M. Manges to C. A. Goss, Agreement for Deed, April 1, 1926; Deed Record Book 4, p. 114, James M. Manges to C. A. Goss, Warranty Deed, May 16, 1929; Deed Record Book A, p. 355, Frank and Gertrude Bessette to C. A. Goss, Warranty Deed, June 7, 1926; Deed Record Book 4, p. 136, Alfred and Ella Bessette to C. A. Goss, Warranty Deed, May 1, 1926.

122. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; Jackson's Hole Courier, May 6, 1927, July 7, 1927, and July 14, 1927; and "Before and After Pictures of Jackson Hole National Monument," Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1945.

123. Teton County Records, Deed Records Book 4, p. 119, Chester A. and Jessie Goss to the Snake River Land Company, Warranty Deed, August 8, 1929; Jackson's Hole Courier, December 4, 1941; and Elbo Ranch, Concession Files, Grand Teton National Park.

124. Jean Carlton Parker, "Leek's Lodge: Historic Structures Report" (Denver, CO: National Park Service, 1978), pp. 20-21.

125. "Tourism in Jackson Hole," Midwest Review: 35; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; and University of Wyoming Archives, S. N. Leek Collection, 3138, "Teton Camp for Boys," pamphlet; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1930.

126. Parker, "Leek's Lodge," pp. 38-45.

127. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; and Teton County Records, Deed Record Book A, p. 155, William T. and Esther Carter to John W. Hogan, Warranty Deed, November 1, 1924.

128. "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1927; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1930; "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1937; Jackson's Hole Courier, April 14, 1927; and "Tourism in Jackson Hole," Midwest Review; and Jackson Hole Guide, September 18, 1969.

129. Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 173-177.

130. Murie, Wapiti Wilderness, pp. 256-263.

131. Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 180-189; Struthers Burt, Diary, preface to 1938 ed., pp. xii-xiii; Belasco, Americans on the Road, pp. 140-141; and "Dude Ranches Out West," ca. 1937.

132. Borne, Dude Ranching, pp. 189-190. Based on the use of limited sources and misinterpretation of data, Borne overestimates the impact of government policies on dude ranching.