Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02
dude" RANCH|NG
BECOMES INDUSTRY
OId-Time West Preserved for
Benefit of Visitors
From East.

Out in the cattle country of the great
West-land of vast distances. cowmen
and wranglerS. bucking broncoS and
rodeos-a new industry has come into
being. For more than a decade it has
been quietly growing from a tiny and
accidental beginning, until this year It
has emerged from the infant stage and
attained the dignity of having a bust
ness representative who is visiting
Washington and ether cites of the
"effete" East.
This is the organized business of
entertaining "tenderfeet" on dude
ranches.
There are now located in Wyoming
and Montana more than 100 of thCs"
dude" ranches. dedicated TO keeping
alive the traditions of the old West
and to furnishing thrilling vacation 10
many men and women who have per
haps believed the ranch of former days
is dead and that only the Hollywood
cowboys survive.
Expect 10000 Dudes.
Dudes from the East to the number
of at least 10000 will enjoy vacations on
these ranches this Summer, according
to a forecast by T. Joe Cahill Of Billings,
Mont, executive secretary of the Dude
RancherS' Association, who is spending
few days in this city.
These ranches are maintained by
old-time Westerners." said Mr.. Cahill
today. lin the same manner and in the
same spirit as the ranches of the olden
days. From the beginning of May I'M
til the end Of the big game season in
the Fall they keep open house, at a
reasonable cost, for the tenderfoot Al
ready thousands of men and women
from New England, New York and the
Middle Atlantic States have learned of
their existence and have enjoyed the
sports and amusements they furnish
during the vacation seasons.
In wyoming these ranches center
around Sheridan. Cody and Du Bots
while in Montana they cluster about
Bozeman, Red Lodge, Big Timber. Liv-
ingston and Billings. All of them are
located: within one days ride by auto
mobile or horse from the three re-
nowned national parks-Glacler. yell
lowstone and the newly created Grand
Teton, in the jackson Hole district OF
Wyoming, home OF former train rob-
bers and cattle thieves.
Near Battlefields.
NEARBY. too, are the scenes of great
Indian fighting of past days and pill
srimage to these battlefields, where the
pioneers carved their way through the
wilderness, is we'll worth while"
These dude" ranches, Mr.. Cahlll eX-
planned, are furnished with DUNK
houses" for the guests after the fashion
of the old Western ranches and strive
in every way to give the fastener
real taste of the cattle country In the
DAYS "of the wide open spaces. before
men became mere men and women be-
came governors"
Summer vacationists are taught TO
bygone days, with just enough modern
conveniences to take off the rougher
edges of riding the range. The
"dudes"-a name which is applied
equally to man and woman visitors-are
supplied with horses according to their
riding ability. Dude wranglers" are
assigned to teach them to ride.
AS the skill of the "tenderfoot" in
creases more fiery horses are provided.
The dudes" are supplied with food
from the "chuck wagon" but the menu
is much better than that which the
old-tim COW puncher approved. For
amusements there are swimming poloS,
small and big game hunting in season,
hikes over the plans and the noun
tains, fishing and pack train trips back
into the wilderness" where strangers
would never dare venture without ex-
pert guides.
Camps in the Open.
On the pack train trips the visitors
camp in the open at modernly equip
ped places. They eat beans from the
chuck wagon, mountain trout and even
venison.
It is the dude" ranches, according to
Mr. Cahill, which have kept alive the
rodeos. Many persons, he points out,
believe there are no longer cowboys i'll
the West, but they will soon find out
their error, for wherever there are cat
tie there must be cowboys. Their
numbers are greatly diminished. how
ever. and it is the men trained at these
dude" ranches to take care of and
amuSe the Summer vacationiSts who
furnish the competition at the modern
rodeoS.
Curiously enough the dude" ranch
industry was begun by three Fasteners
the Eton brothers. Willis. Alden and
Howard-who went out from Pittsburgh
and located on O cattle ranch at Wolff,
Wyo., In 1904. Their friends from
back East began to visit them in such
numbers that they were embarrassed,
and they conceived the idea of charg-
ing them nominal sums for grub"
horses and general expenses, in the
hope that fewer would come.
Visitors Increased.
But the number of their visitors con-
tinued to increase year by year, until
TO-DAY thew are entertaining about 250