A dude ranch is a ranch that offers an immersive vacation featuring activities like horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and much more. It’s a second home for many people where they can get to experience a cowboy lifestyle in a ranch setting and allows guests to experience the very best of Western hospitality.
Dude Ranch History
Unbeknown to many, dude ranches go way back to the 1800s. Unlike in modern culture, “dude” meant something much different back then than it does now. “Dude” back then was referred to people who came from the city. It’s what ranchers and others who lived in the West would refer to as people who came to visit the country from the cities in the East.
The concept of dude ranches started when people in the cities realized just how fun a vacation in a ranch setting was. So owners of these dude ranches would host the “dudes” and show them what life in the West was all about. They would take them horseback riding, cattle pushing, fishing, and hunting, as the game was plentiful in those days.
The very first dude ranch was created by the Eaton Brothers in 1879. It was called the Custer Trail Ranch and was located near the Dakota Badlands in what is now North Dakota. They got the idea after some of their friends wanted to stay with them and offered them money for their stay. Initially, guests could stay for as little as $25 a month.
Popularity of Dude Ranches
The concept of dude ranches really came into the spotlight when one of the United States’ most famous presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, got into the lifestyle. After seeing a newspaper article about the Custer Trail Ranch, Roosevelt decided to pay a visit to the ranch.
After a week of hunting and horseback riding, he became hooked on this idea of the Western lifestyle. He quickly bought a ranch for himself called the Maltese Cross Ranch. As word of Roosevelet’s new interest got around, this led to a huge rise in the popularity of dude ranches across the nation.
One thing that shocks a lot of people today is that back then, dude ranches actually used to be free. A free stay at a dude ranch was considered a big part of hospitality, and since there was no precedence for these types of vacations, people could stay for free. This was also a way to show people the wonders of the West and as a way to show the city-slickers that the ranch life was just as rewarding as the city life.
However, these free stays didn’t last for too long. As more and more tourists started to make their way to the West, ranchers began to realize how much they were spending for hosting them for free food and lodging.
Then came the 1920s Farm Crisis. In the aftermath of World War 1 ending, the extra demand for crops quickly dropped which left some farmers in a lot of debt. in order to supplement their income, they really focused on the idea of dude ranches to host travelers from different parts of the country and gain another essential source of income that was needed.
A mutual partnership with the Northern Pacific Railway and the dude ranch industry was quickly formed, which then led to the creation of the famous Dude Ranchers Association in 1926. The goal was to promote the dude ranch lifestyle to would-be travelers who could use the railroads to explore all the different ranches that were popping up around the United States.
The Dude Ranchers Association would help ranchers and farmers promote their hospitality services to increase their incomes to account for the reduction in farming prices. With railroads and even vehicles starting to appear, visiting these dude ranches became easier than ever.
In modern times, dude ranches have grown in quantity and are more popular than ever before as they’re more affordable. Typically back then, only the wealthy could afford to go on these vacations, but now you don’t need to be rich to do it.
Dude Ranches Today
Travelers can book everything from an all-inclusive luxury ranch stay to traditional dude ranches and even working ranch vacations. Read our state guides to find a dude ranch near you.