Making Connections in Wyoming
It takes but one trip West to reap a tradition—and what better states in which to start than Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado?
By Cathy Orr
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I first saw Eaton’s Guest Ranch two summers ago, but this is my first chance to stay the night. I’m hurrying to get there before dark. Small herds of deer—shadowy images with eyes—graze in the grassy fields along the road.
From Sheridan, the Bighorn Mountain foothills could be my backyard, but mountains always look closer than they really are. Just when I think I’m close, I hit a turn in the road, asphalt
turns to gravel, and the only landmarks for miles are deer and a gathering of coal-black specks in the far distance—cattle set off by a pink-tinged sky and barbed wire tacked onto fence posts resembling driftwood.
’Wish I’d been here a century ago when the Eaton brothers—Howard, Alden, and Willis—broke ground. Having come from North Dakota, where they operated the progenitor of the modern dude ranch near Medora, they built their second here on Wolf Creek.
In the early days—until the 1930s—the ranch attracted mostly wealthy Easterners pressed on one side by the noise of city life and pulled on the other side by romantic images of the Western frontier promoted heavily by the railroad. Despite fences and irrigation ditches, a deafening sense of solitude and the Bighorns—their backbone now defined by the setting sun—remain a calling card of the Old West, still beckoning guests from around the world. After tonight, I might know why.
The ranch entrance is hard to miss. I recognize the two stone pillars of the main gate, but I’m not “there,” yet. Between the entrance and a cluster of buildings—office, main house, barn, and cabins—where the ranch hums, lies a narrow gravel lane that repeatedly twists and turns over Hobbit-like wooden bridges and open grassy glades through a wonderland of towering cottonwoods and pines where, two years ago, I spotted two moose browsing the underbrush.
The Eatons have hosted the likes of Westerners Charlie Russell and Will Rogers, as well as countless wannabes yearning to taste cowboy life, Western hospitality, or simply the outdoors. And while visitors may think they know why they came, they may leave with quite a different notion about it.
Says General Manager Jeff Way, “People leave, and they feel like they have some strong tie they develop, some sort of bond… we get kids, when they leave… they want to say goodbye to their horse, and they have tears in their eyes…”
Under a sliver of a moon, I can barely make out the treetops, and it’s disarmingly quiet. I hear only the crunch of my feet on the red pea gravel, and Wolf Creek crooning nature’s ancient lullaby.
It had been my choice to come tonight even though Way had plans to be in Sheridan for a Christmas play at the Wyo Theatre. “You’re in Pike’s Row,” he said earlier that day. Not the nicest, he says, but the first ones built.
“I’ll leave the lights on for you, and turn on the heat,” said Jennie Diggins, the office manager, earlier that day. Sure enough, about halfway down Pike’s Row, the glow of lamplight marks the place: cabin #10. My cabin.
The frail, screen door creaks, and I walk in onto wooden floors covered by Navajo-style rugs. A single bed with iron head and footboards, two wooden dressers, and rustic chairs made of thick branches comprise the sparse furnishings. Framed by pine paneling, beams, and logs, all is warmed by heat and the glow of bulbs hidden under the rawhide-braided lampshades of a floor and table lamp. Faded black and white photos and Western prints hang in plain wooden frames on the log walls, and two small front windows peek at me from behind white shades and red and green plaid curtains. T.V., radio, and phone are noticeably absent, a sharp contrast to the high-tech amenities that mark most modern hotels.
“Feel free to go on over to the main house and look at pictures,” Jennie had told me. Looking around, I head for the only building with windows aglow and walk in through the front door of what still is the Eaton family’s “main house.” Lamplight and an air of nostalgia pervade this place, as if I was coming back to a cherished refuge after a long absence.
Voices in the living room turn out to be those of employees Marie Vaccaro and Rebecca Lynch. Lynch is caregiver to Way’s 83-year-old grandmother, Bill Eaton’s daughter, born and raised on the ranch. A driver in the summer, Vaccaro remarks on her official title, “When I fill out my tax form in April, it’s “ranch worker,” she said. She and Lynch act every bit at home, and why not? They both live upstairs, both part of the 10 employees who live on the ranch year-round, compared to 70 or so during the ranch’s peak season.
Wall-hung photos and mementos line the walls of a spacious living room, dominated by a large stone fireplace and beam posts, all of this housed in Eaton hospitality. Dated Jan. 21, 1908, the handwritten note on a photo of former President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt reads: “To Howard Eaton with the regards of his old friend Theodore Roosevelt.”
I find C.M Russell’s image, a Frederic Remington work, and more than one large black and white photo of the Eaton horse herd and the Eaton brothers astride what I assume to be their personal mounts.
Horses continue to be a crucial part of the ranch’s legacy. Eaton wranglers still drive the herd 100 miles twice each year—on the weekend before Memorial Day and again in late September—on a trek that also takes them through the streets of downtown Sheridan. Even after 10 years in this city, I still thrill to see these horses trot across Main Street, hooves clattering on the concrete, past city police sitting in their cars, lights flashing, blocking off side streets to give the anxious equines a wide berth and safe passage.
According to Way, of all there’s to do here, guests like horseback riding best, and after a day or two with a guide or wrangler, they’re free to explore alone on horseback. But he’s quick to add that many come back—65 to 75 percent of them are returns—“because they’ve made a strong enough connection or memories…” As recorded in letters and newspaper accounts for decades, guests are grateful for their experiences of ranch life with the Eaton family, and maybe that’s because so little here changes, at least on the outside.
While Way acknowledged the need to keep up with the times in running the business, it’s important for people to come back to what they remember. “The people that we have come in here, certainly the ones that have been coming since they were kids, now bring their kids and grandkids… They know that next July or August, we’re going to take a week’s vacation, and we know exactly what we’re going to get, we know exactly what to expect…”
I got what I expected, and everyone who comes here “gets it.” In a world that changes daily and without warning, Eatons’ offers a sturdy hitching rail to which folks can tie up to and take note of who they are and what’s important to them… to stop and smell the pines. In coming, some folks are really “finding their way home”—to where they want to be or should’ve been all along.
For information on Eatons’, call (800) 210-1049, or log onto www.eatonsranch.com , and read more on Eatons’ centennial in this issue on pp. 86-88.
Wyoming Short Trips
For more information on nearby attractions, call the Sheridan Travel and Tourism at (888) 596-6787, or log onto www.sheridanwyoming.org
Historic Sheridan Inn
William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody frequented this National Historic Landmark during the heyday of his Wild West Shows. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Days relives some of that excitement, this year, June 18 to 19.
Kings Saddlery and Museum
No horse lover will want to miss this local landmark for its museum, clothing, gifts, or tack, especially the famous King brothers’ leatherwork.
Guided Walking Tour of Historical Downtown Sheridan
Walk the streets for real Western flavor and history. The tour brochure tells it all.
Sheridan WYO (PRCA) Rodeo
Genuine rodeo fun—Rodeo Week July 13 to 18, 2004.
Trail End State Historic Site
Once home to former Wyoming Gov. and U.S. Sen. John B. Kendrick, his wife, and children, Trail End preserves the memories and elegance of an era of ranching and settlement in northeastern Wyoming and southeast Montana. (307) 674-4589 or www.trailend.org
To read more great travel articles subscribe to American Cowboy magazine to obtain this article call 1-800-369-0196 and ask for issue AC-MJ04.
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