Dude ranches have always offered an escape from life’s hustle and bustle, even in the late 19th century when Howard Eaton welcomed his first guests — family and friends — to the cattle ranch he owned with his brothers. These first guests told their friends, who then traveled to the North Dakota ranch to see the West and sometimes help with ranch chores.
Initially, the Eatons didn’t charge their guests, but when one offered to pay for room and board, Eaton decided to charge guests $10 per week to offset expenses. Other ranchers took note and followed Eaton’s lead. Before long, a steady supply of “dudes” (a term used by cattle ranchers to describe city slickers) came from cities like New York and Chicago to spend the summer months at cattle ranches riding horses, hiking, fishing, and hunting.
Early dude ranches were usually located in the Rocky Mountain states of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. (Eventually, the Eaton brothers sold their North Dakota ranch in 1904 and bought another in Wolf, Wyoming, where the family still runs Eatons’ Ranch today.) You’ll also find guest ranches in Arizona, Texas, California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
At first, most guests were young, single men, but Lynn Downey, author of American Dude Ranch, says following World War I, women like novelist and Saturday Evening Post journalist Mary Roberts Rinehart began to join them. Invited on a pack trip, Rinehart found the experience so empowering and healing that she wrote articles encouraging women to vacation at dude ranches.
Wealthy families followed. According to Downey, even though these families were used to staying in fine hotels, they loved being away from the formality of society. Most stayed for entire seasons, and many returned year after year. “They wanted unique experiences and to slow their lives down,” she explains.
No matter who came, the railroad played an integral role in getting them there before automobiles. Guests took trains to the city nearest the dude ranch, then someone from the ranch met them at the station to bring them the rest of the way. As dude ranches became more popular, railroads began promoting them as destinations.
The new national park system drew visitors, too. Laura Long, who owns the Crossed Sabres Ranch near Yellowstone National Park with her husband, says their ranch was once a way stop Tex Holm used when he transported visitors from the Cody train station into the park. Today, Crossed Sabres Ranch still takes guests on day tours of Yellowstone National Park.