![]() In 1882, one guest, Bert Rumsey, insisted on paying Howard for his troubles. After the Northern Pacific railroad arrived the following year, they frequently had guests from back east. Howard established a ranch near Medora, Dakota Territory, in 1879, with his brothers soon following. Howard, Alden and Willis Eaton-brothers from a prominent Pittsburgh family-are widely credited with running the first dude ranch. In 1904, they moved their operation to Wolf, Wyo., west of Sheridan. ![]() The brothers began ranching there in 1879 and took in paying guests as early as 1882. The Eaton brothers of Pittsburgh, Pa., shown here in 1890 with their families at the Custer Trail Ranch near near Medora, Dakota Territory. After President Theodore Roosevelt took office in 1901, his earlier, much-touted experience on a North Dakota cattle ranch often led visitors’ interest in hunting and sightseeing to merge with interest in ranch lifestyles. As Euro-Americans explored the West, they often hired experts to help. In many ways, dude ranching emerged as an extension of guiding. The fact that many did so in Wyoming not only bolstered the regional economy and culture, but also shaped national ideas about Western identity. In its 1920s heyday, however, dude ranching was a common and respected way for elite Americans to experience the West. Dude ranches sometimes get short shrift in history because they’re seen as contrived, Hollywood-derived entertainment, distant from the real work of Wyoming’s agricultural and resource-based industries.
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