Bar B C Dude Ranch | |
Location | Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole, Teton County, Wyoming, USA |
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Nearest city | Moose, Wyoming |
Coordinates | 43°41′42″N110°41′42″W / 43.69500°N 110.69500°W |
Architect | Struthers Burt, Horace Carncross |
MPS | Grand Teton National Park MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 90000624 [1] |
Added to NRHP | April 23, 1990 |
The Bar B C Dude Ranch was established near Moose, Wyoming in 1912 as a dude ranch by Struthers Burt and Dr. Horace Carncross, using their initials as the brand. Rather than converting a working ranch, Burt and Carncross built a tourist-oriented dude ranch from the ground up, using a style called "Dude Ranch Vernacular", which featured log construction and rustic detailing. As one of the first dude ranches in Jackson Hole, the Bar B C was a strong influence on other dude ranches in the area, and employed a number of people who went on to establish their own operations. [2] It was acquired by the National Park Service and incorporated into Grand Teton National Park upon the expiration of a life estate. The ranch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Struthers Burt had previously started the first true dude ranch in Jackson Hole, the JY, in 1908 with Louis Joy. The JY's patrons included Owen Wister, whose writings did much to popularize dude ranches. However, Joy and Burt fell out. Established in 1912 by Burt and Horace Carncross, the B C was given a boost by the outbreak of World War I, which restricted American travel to Europe. Many Easterners came west, and Jackson Hole was particularly popular among Philadelphians. [2] In 1917 Burt and Carncross borrowed $9200 to expand the ranch from the Philadelphia Trust Company. The standard of service and cuisine rose rapidly (Burt described early food as "bad"), moving from canned vegetables in the early years to fresh vegetables and dairy produced at the ranch by the early 1920s. By 1922 it was incorporated as Bar B C Ranches and was one of the largest operations in the valley, able to house fifty dudes in 45 buildings. Burt and Carncross also operated the White Grass for Harold Hammond and George Bispham during this time, briefly buying the White Grass operation before selling it back. New partners Irving Corse and Joe LePage joined the operation, having worked their way through the organization as cowboys, wranglers and foremen. [2]
The B C site was carefully selected by Burt and Carncross after considering views, water, soil, timber, and a relative lack of mosquitoes. Carncross, a 41-year-old physician from Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, hoped that the dude ranch business would lead to a cattle ranching operation. Rather than buying an existing operation, Burt and Carncross established the B C as a homestead claim on adjacent tracts of 154.03 acres (62.33 ha) for Burt and 158.03 acres (63.95 ha) for Carncross, claiming more land in subsequent years. By 1917 the B C amounted to more than 600 acres (240 ha). In 1924 Burt and Carncross bought a ranch near the Gros Ventre River to raise cattle and hay, naming it the Lower Bar BC. [2]
In 1924, Burt published Diary of a Dude Wrangler in the Saturday Evening Post . Burt was himself a Princeton-educated Easterner who wrote on a wide range of subjects, including the West. Burt's wife, Katharine Newlin Burt (1882–1977) and son Nathaniel Burt (1913–2003) were also published writers. [3] Consequently, the Bar B C tended to attract writers. Guests included Harry W. Frantz and Burt's friends from Princeton, including David Adler. [2]
During the 1920s Burt became an active advocate for conservation in Jackson Hole, opposing plans to build a dam at the outlet of Jenny Lake. In 1923 Burt participated in a meeting with Horace Albright, director of the National Park Service, at Maud Noble's cabin at Menor's Ferry, which established a plan for the protection of Jackson Hole. After 1927 the Snake River Land Company, operating on behalf of John D. Rockefeller Jr., began to buy Jackson Hole land for eventual transfer to the National Park Service. In 1929 Burt and his then-partner Irving Corse sold the Bar B C in return for a life estate that allowed the dude operation to continue. Carncross had died in 1928 at his home in Pennsylvania, soon followed by Joe LePage. [2] Grand Teton National Park was established in 1929, encompassing the Teton Range. It would not be until 1943, when Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument, assembled largely from Snake River Land Company holdings, that the ranch would exist within the protected lands. In 1929, Burt bought land along Pacific Creek where he established a dude ranch-like private retreat, naming it Three Rivers Ranch. [2]
During the 1930s Burt and Corse disagreed over management and profit sharing, and in 1937 Corse bought out Burt. Corse believed that authenticity demanded that the ranch look "run down", and neglected maintenance. A series of fires caused some necessary rebuilding, and in 1934 Corse moved Joe LePage's cabin to the ranch. Corse also built a small airstrip and hangar on the property. During World War II Corse suspended the ranch operation to be a flight instructor at the University of Wyoming. After the war, Corse's health declined, and he died in 1953. Margaretta Corse subleased the ranch to T.H. and Margaretta Frew Conderman (of the 4 Lazy F Dude Ranch Frews), who operated the ranch as short-term-stay tourist cabins [4] from 1950 to 1959. Afterwards, Mrs. Corse managed the ranch until 1985, when she could no longer continue. Mrs. Corse died in 1988. [2] The life estate was terminated, and the property reverted to the Park Service.
The historic district at the Bar B C includes 37 structures, including cabins, a lodge, a dining hall, a laundry/utility building, man-made ponds, barns, sheds and corrals. The site is at the western edge of the Snake River bottomlands, nestled against a river terrace to the west. A central road climbs from the ranch through a cutting in the hillside. The buildings are chiefly 1- or 1+1⁄2-story log structures, rectangular in shape. Roofing is red or green asphalt roll roofing. The property layout is apparently casual, but centers on the dining hall and lodge, with cabins on either side of the main path, flanked by corrals to the north and the barn to the south. While the exteriors are in good condition and are considered contributing features, the interiors have lost much of their character through alterations and loss of fixtures. [4]
The informally styled ranch was widely copied by later dude ranches, and is considered a prototype of the genre. [4]
As one of the first dude ranches in the area, the B C inspired former dudes and employees to establish their own operations. Bar B C alumni established the White Grass, Sun Star, and the STS Ranch. Others, such as Maud Noble, who bought Menor's Ferry, or Cissy Patterson, established personal retreats. [2]
The ranch operated until after World War II, when the cabins became summer rental cabins. [5]
The main ranch is included in Grand Teton National Park. The buildings have received limited maintenance since 1986. Many structures have deteriorated, and some have been partially demolished, but preservation work, coordinated from the National Trust for Historic Preservation Western Center at the White Grass Ranch, has stabilized the Carncross Cabin and the main lodge. [6] The Bar B C was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 1990. [1] The 2016 National Park Service historic properties management report for Grand Teton National Park recommended that 24 of the 34 buildings on the site be stabilized in-kind, three more extensively repaired, and seven salvaged for materials or allowed to deteriorate. The property would be managed as a day-use area where techniques of architectural preservation could be taught and practiced. [7]
A residential property development on the former Lower B C Ranch property, just south of the Three Rivers Ranch, is now called the Bar BC Ranch. [8]
The Murie Ranch Historic District, also known as the STS Dude Ranch and Stella Woodbury Summer Home is an inholding in Grand Teton National Park near Moose, Wyoming. The district is chiefly significant for its association with the conservationists Olaus Murie, his wife Margaret (Mardy) Murie and scientist Adolph Murie and his wife Louise. Olaus and Adolph Murie were influential in the establishment of an ecological approach to wildlife management, while Mardy Murie was influential because of her huge conservation victories such as passing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 and being awarded with the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for her lifetime works in conservation. Olaus Murie was a prominent early field biologist in the U.S. Biological Survey and subsequent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before retiring and becoming the president of the Wilderness Society, He was a prominent advocate for the preservation of wild lands in America.
Moran is an unincorporated village in south central Teton County, Wyoming, United States: as the community has had two different names, the Board on Geographic Names officially ruled in favor of "Moran" in 1970. It lies in Grand Teton National Park, 29 miles northeast of the city of Jackson, the county seat of Teton County, just northwest by side road of the intersection of U.S. Routes 26, 89, 191 and 287. Its elevation is 6,749 feet (2,057 m) and includes one of the principal entrance-fee collection stations for the Park. Moran also has the post office serving ZIP code of 83013, and a public elementary school; and no other services or businesses.
The Old Faithful Historic District in Yellowstone National Park comprises the built-up portion of the Upper Geyser Basin surrounding the Old Faithful Inn and Old Faithful Geyser. It includes the Old Faithful Inn, designed by Robert Reamer and is itself a National Historic Landmark, the upper and lower Hamilton's Stores, the Old Faithful Lodge, designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, and a variety of supporting buildings. The Old Faithful Historic District itself lies on the 140-mile Grand Loop Road Historic District.
Hamilton's Stores were concessioners in Yellowstone National Park from 1915 to 2002. The stores were founded by Winnipeg native Charles Hamilton, who arrived in Yellowstone in 1905, aged 21, to work for the Yellowstone Park Association. The stores provided tourists with food, souvenirs, and sundries at the major attractions along Yellowstone's Grand Loop Road. Several buildings constructed for Hamilton are significant examples of the National Park Service Rustic style of architecture and have assumed prominence as attractions in their own right. Most are included as contributing structures in National Register of Historic Places historic districts.
Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park is located opposite the more famous Old Faithful Inn, facing Old Faithful geyser. The Lodge was built as a series of detached buildings through 1923 and was consolidated into one complex by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood in 1926-27. The Lodge is included in the Old Faithful Historic District.
The Roosevelt Lodge Historic District comprises the area around the Roosevelt Lodge in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park, near Tower Junction. The district includes 143 buildings ranging in size from cabins to the Lodge, built beginning in 1919. The Lodge was first conceived as a field laboratory for students and educators conducting research in the park. It later became a camp for tourists, specifically designed to accommodate automobile-borne tourists. The Lodge is a simplified version of the National Park Service Rustic style.
The Cunningham Cabin is a double-pen log cabin in Grand Teton National Park in the US state of Wyoming. It was built as a homestead in Jackson Hole and represents an adaptation of an Appalachian building form to the West. The cabin was built just south of Spread Creek by John Pierce Cunningham, who arrived in Jackson Hole in 1885 and subsisted as a trapper until he established the Bar Flying U Ranch in 1888. The Cunninghams left the valley for Idaho in 1928, when land was being acquired for the future Grand Teton National Park.
Mormon Row is a historic district in Teton County, Wyoming, United States that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Menor's Ferry was a river ferry that crossed the Snake River near the present-day Moose, Wyoming, United States. The site was homesteaded by Bill Menor in 1892-94, choosing a location where the river flowed in a single channel, rather than the braided stream that characterizes its course in most of Jackson Hole. During the 1890s it was the only homestead west of the river. Menor's homestead included a five-room cabin, a barn, a store, sheds and an icehouse on 148 acres (60 ha), irrigated by a ditch from Cottonwood Creek and at times supplemented by water raised from the Snake River by a waterwheel. Menor operated the ferry until 1918, selling to Maude Noble, who continued operations until 1927, when a bridge was built at Moose.
The 4 Lazy F Ranch, also known as the Sun Star Ranch, is a dude ranch and summer residence in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, built by the William Frew family of Pittsburgh in 1927. The existing property was built as a family retreat, not as a cattle ranch, in a rustic style of construction using logs and board-and-batten techniques. The historic district includes seven cabins, a lodge, barn corral and smaller buildings on the west bank of the Snake River north of Moose, Wyoming. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Andy Chambers Ranch is a historic district in Teton County, Wyoming, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The AMK Ranch is a former personal retreat on the eastern shore of Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Also known as the Merymare, Lonetree and Mae-Lou Ranch, it was a former homestead, expanded beginning in the 1920s by William Louis Johnson, then further developed in the 1930s by Alfred Berol (Berolzheimer). Johnson built a lodge, barn and boathouse in 1927, while Berol added a larger lodge, new boathouse, and cabins, all in the rustic style.
The Double Diamond Dude Ranch Dining Hall was built in 1945 as the centerpiece of a dude ranch operated by Frank Williams and Joseph S. Clark, Jr. in Grand Teton National Park. The ranch was opened in 1924 with a dozen tent cabins and log buildings for a kitchen and dining hall, lounge and commissary. In 1943 Williams built log tourist cabins, followed by the larger dining hall in 1945. The 1985 Taggart Lake Fire destroyed much of the ranch, sparing only the dining hall and five cabins. The dining hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an example of rustic architecture. Since 1970 the Double Diamond property has been a hostel for mountain climbers in the Teton Range, and is known as the Climbers' Ranch.
The Manges Cabin in Grand Teton National Park, also known as the Old Elbo Ranch Homestead Cabin, Mangus Cabin and the Taggart Creek Barn, was built in 1911 by James Manges. Manges was the second settler on the west side of the Snake River after Bill Menor, setting up a homestead near Taggart Creek. James Manges arrived in Jackson Hole in 1910, where he cut wood for Charles or William Wort. Manges' cabin is stated to have been the first two-story structure in the northern part of the valley. A root cellar was excavated beneath. The log and frame structure features wide eaves to keep the winter snow away from the walls. It was heated in winter by a single stove, with one room on each level.
The White Grass Dude Ranch is located in the White Grass Valley of Grand Teton National Park. The rustic log lodge, dining hall service building and ten cabins were built when a working ranch was converted to a dude ranch, and represented one of the first dude ranch operations in Jackson Hole. The White Grass was established in 1913 by Harold Hammond and George Tucker Bispham, who combined two adjacent ranches or 160 acres (65 ha) each, and was converted to a dude ranch in 1919. Bispham had worked at the Bar B C before moving out on his own. The dude ranch operation continued to 1985, when the ranch was acquired by the National Park Service.
The Jenny Lake Ranger Station Historic District comprises an area that was the main point of visitor contact in Grand Teton National Park from the 1930s to 1960. Located near Jenny Lake, the buildings are a mixture of purpose-built structures and existing buildings that were adapted for use by the National Park Service. The ranger station was built as a cabin by Lee Mangus north of Moose, Wyoming about 1925 and was moved and rebuilt around 1930 for Park Service use. A store was built by a concessioner, and comfort stations were built to Park Service standard plans. All buildings were planned to the prevailing National Park Service Rustic style, although the ranger station and the photo shop were built from parts of buildings located elsewhere in the park.
The Hunter Hereford Ranch was first homesteaded in 1909 by James Williams in the eastern portion of Jackson Hole, in what would become Grand Teton National Park. By the 1940s it was developed as a hobby ranch by William and Eileen Hunter and their foreman John Anderson. With its rustic log buildings it was used as the shooting location for the movie The Wild Country, while one structure with a stone fireplace was used in the 1963 movie Spencer's Mountain. The ranch is located on the extreme eastern edge of Jackson Hole under Shadow Mountain. It is unusual in having some areas of sagebrush-free pasture.
The Geraldine Lucas–Fabian Place Historic District in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is significant as the 1913 home of Geraldine Lucas, a single woman pioneer in a harsh environment. It later became the home of Harold Fabian, vice president of the Snake River Land Company, which assembled much of the land that became Jackson Hole National Monument for John D. Rockefeller Jr.
The historical buildings and structures of Grand Teton National Park include a variety of buildings and built remains that pre-date the establishment of Grand Teton National Park, together with facilities built by the National Park Service to serve park visitors. Many of these places and structures have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The pre-Park Service structures include homestead cabins from the earliest settlement of Jackson Hole, working ranches that once covered the valley floor, and dude ranches or guest ranches that catered to the tourist trade that grew up in the 1920s and 1930s, before the park was expanded to encompass nearly all of Jackson Hole. Many of these were incorporated into the park to serve as Park Service personnel housing, or were razed to restore the landscape to a natural appearance. Others continued to function as inholdings under a life estate in which their former owners could continue to use and occupy the property until their death. Other buildings, built in the mountains after the initial establishment of the park in 1929, or in the valley after the park was expanded in 1950, were built by the Park Service to serve park visitors, frequently employing the National Park Service Rustic style of design.