The Appeal of Dude Ranch Vacations in Canada and the United States, 1920-1940
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2015-09-21 A Refreshing Contact with Something Real: The Appeal of Dude Ranch Vacations in Canada and the United States, 1920-1940 Herriman, Margaret Herriman, M. (2015). A Refreshing Contact with Something Real: The Appeal of Dude Ranch Vacations in Canada and the United States, 1920-1940 (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/24995 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2474 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY A Refreshing Contact with Something Real: the Appeal of Dude Ranch Vacations in Canada and the United States, 1920-40 by Margaret Herriman A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA AUGUST, 2015 © Margaret Herriman 2015 ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines the popularity of dude ranch vacations in the first half of the twentieth century. It demonstrates that the appeal of dude ranches rested on the appeal of the cowboy and the western environment, both of which relied on currents of antimodernism and discomfort with an increasingly urbanized world. Popular literature disseminated the constructed image of the cowboy and the west to people in eastern Canada and the United States, and in Europe. A robust image emerged that ranchers drew on and modified in order to create the dude ranch experience. Easterners used the cowboy archetype as an avatar. Many slipped into the role only for a weeks on vacation, but others took it on as a career or lifestyle. The following pages examine the creation of the cowboy and western images, and explore the ways in which individual ranchers interacted with and took on those images. iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO: COWBOY AND WESTERN IMAGERY IN POPULAR LITERATURE ... 26 CHAPTER THREE: COWBOY AND RANCHING IMAGERY IN THE DUDE RANCHER MAGAZINE .............................................................................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER FOUR: THE STAMPEDE RANCH AND THE BUFFALO HEAD RANCH .......... 84 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 111 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 119 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION In 1936, Mrs. Harry Hart of the Dot S Dot guest ranch in Montana wrote about the attraction of dude ranches. She told readers of the The Dude Rancher magazine that “for a far less outlay in carfare or gas our guests could find most of things we offer them, riding, hunting, fishing, camping amongst evergreens, outdoor life of every kind, in their own or adjacent states or in eastern Canada; so what IS it that brings them out to us at so much greater expense but that traditional ‘Lure of the West’?”1 Though the lifestyle and activities of the cowboy are appealing to easterners, it is the “warm and vital reality,” the “REAL ranch and REAL host ideal,” that pull people west.2 In a book published two decades earlier called Four Dude Hunters, two young men chat after a golf game about their upcoming vacations. One plans to head to Michigan for a break from urban work and bustle, but his friend suggests the Rocky Mountains in the more distant west: “If you love nature and can enjoy a real wilderness, come with me. I leave Friday … for the Rocky Mountains. In the course of a few days’ travel and week’s pack on horses and mules over the mountains, we shall come to the greatest of all wild places. There, perhaps, a hundred miles from civilization and the railroads, we shall hunt and fish… We shall camp in the snowy peaks.”3 This thesis will attempt to explore the sentiments these writers express – why did tourists head to ranches in remote parts of the American 1 Mrs. Harry Hart, “Entertainment Problem on Dude Ranches,” The Dude Rancher, April, 1935, 10. 2 Hart, “Entertainment Problem,”10. 3 Percy Coleman Field, Four Dude Hunters, (S.I: s.n., 1918), 4. 2 and Canadian Wests between 1920 and 1940? Why did the cowboy hold such strong appeal? What made the environment and scenery of the West seem more alluring than that of the East? Dude ranching, used interchangeably with the term guest ranching, is a leisure practice that has existed in the North American West since the end of the nineteenth century, appearing first in the United States and later in Canada. Though the boom years of dude ranching were in the 1920s,4 guest ranches still exist in the western states and provinces. These ranches vary in character, but in general they are a place for tourists to experience western activities, specifically ranching and cowboy activities, in an authentically western location. At remote and picturesque places, guests spend time in wilderness as well as ranch settings. Activities include trail rides, overnight pack trips, cattle drives, hiking, swimming, fishing, and hunting. A guest ranch is also a place that takes guests for multiday stretches, and provides food, accommodation and horseback riding for one price. Finally, guests are made to feel as though they are part of the working ranch and not at a resort. Western hospitality, home cooking, fresh air and informality are an integral part of the dude ranch experience.5 The first formal guest ranches appeared in Montana and Wyoming in the 1870s, but it was common before that for a ranch to take in paying guests to make 4 Lawrence R. Borne, Dude Ranching: a Complete History, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1983), 8. 5 Borne, Dude Ranching, 4. 3 ends meet almost as soon as it appeared in the West.6 Though most dude ranches were located in the American West, and the community was more cohesive and better organized there, by the twentieth century, tourists had outfits on both sides of the border to choose from. Dude ranches are still an enduring part of western tourism, and though their offerings have somewhat evolved over time, the underpinnings of the experiences they aim to provide have remained largely unchanged.7 These facilities allow tourists, mostly from the eastern states or provinces,8 and sometimes Europe to experience, for a few days or weeks, the cowboy and western lifestyle. This thesis will argue, however, that the western lifestyle offered and the cowboy that was displayed at the ranches were constructed, and that the strong appeal of these ranches is and was based on mythic images of the cowboy and the western wilderness landscape. The appeal of this image was not restricted to easterners; dude ranchers themselves engaged and identified with it. 6 Borne, Dude Ranching, 19. 7 See, for example www.duderanch.org. The website of the Dude Ranchers Association exists to promote its 97 member ranches in 12 states and one province. The front page states that ‘Horses, Hats, History and Hospitality’ are the bedrock of dude ranches. The traditional offerings of horseback riding, hunting, hiking and rodeos remain, though some ranches now offer spa services and cooking and art classes. 8 Throughout this thesis, I reference ‘the East’ and ‘easterners,’ often placed in opposition to ‘the West’ and ‘westerners.’ The East refers to the settled states and provinces with large populations, large urban areas and a more substantial history of settlement. In terms of Canada, this east refers to Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. In the United States, this refers to the Eastern Seaboard and the older states of the union. The West refers to the newer and less populated provinces and states that were understood to possess more wilderness and unsettled spaces. In terms of guest ranches and what people were attracted to, this area generally refers to the Rocky Mountains, and includes the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and the states of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. I take these terms from both vernacular portrayals in literature and advertising, as well as academic understandings. 4 To provide a basis for this argument, this study will focus on the years 1920-1940, and examine western and cowboy themed literature; The Dude Rancher, a magazine produced by The Dude Ranchers’ Association, a primarily American professional organization; and two Canadian dude ranches as case studies: the Buffalo Head Ranch, owned and operated by George Pocaterra from 1924 to 1931, and the Stampede Ranch, owned and operated by the married couple Guy Weadick and Florence LaDue from 1920 to approximately 1940. Because this study argues that dude ranches in the American and Canadian Wests were selling the physical embodiment of a manufactured symbol and understanding, it exists at the crossroads of historical works. It rests on the foundations