Wind River Ranch

I thought this might be a good time to talk about Wind River Ranch. Going to the dude ranch was the primary reason we took these trips in the first place and it became the Summer destination for my family for over 10 years.

Wind River was situated smack in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and for me it was about as "cowboy" as one could get, complete with log cabins, horses and wagons and plenty of forest, mountains and meadows to roam around in. The ranch was owned by an old couple, Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson. Both of them were extremely nice and always made a point to treat us well, Mr. Hutchinson was an old cowboy type who made all the speeches at dinner while Mrs Hutchinson was one of those old lady cowgirls who wore a lot of big silver and turquoise Indian jewelry. The Hutchinsons kept the ranch running smoothly and more like a resort than a ranch, and nobody ever complained to them to my knowledge. When we arrived for the first time I had no idea what to expect (being only 4 years old and all) but I came to believe this is how all genuine cowboys lived and decided from that point on that I was to become a cowboy (Freddy) when I grew up. So, Wind River became the perfect training ground for the next few years.

Mom, Dad and I got our own log cabin, I remember that the first year we got the cabin furthest away at the very end, so we had to make a hike through spooky woods at night to get to the it. My aunt and Uncle and the cousins got their own cabins which was split up between the adults and kids which meant the kids got to hang out in private cabins, however I don't really remember spending much time in the cabins since there was so many other more interesting things to do. My grandmother, Gammy, got a room in the fancier area of the ranch, in the library or den section with a fireplace and with all the other old ladies who expected special service and were allowed to bring their little dogs to the ranch. Our cabin was very rustic and made of real logs, I remember it being comfortable and not any different from any of the motels we stayed in, other than it being made of logs. We even had maid service every day which was bonus perk for cowboys I thought, all-in-all the cowboy lifestyle seemed pretty cushy.

Which then brings up the meal situation, which was conducted in a big dining room at regular times with all the other guests. Three times a day the meals were announced by someone ringing a big swinging bell on a rope outside, a fancy version of the chuck wagon triangle bell telling everyone to "come an' get it!" All the guests were expected to arrive in a timely manner and be served by young college guys in white waiter outfits. The first year, we were served by a young man named Eric, who I thought was really cool because he was funny and could wiggle his ears, I also thought he was cool because he was also a lifeguard at the swimming pool (another cowboy benefit at the ranch) and he attempted to teach me to swim, which took me a few more years to eventually pick up. Eric was our regular waiter at meal times the first year at the ranch and I was disappointed when we returned the following year and he wasn't there. He did however come to visit one day and we found out he became a fire fighter, which made him even cooler.

The whole family, aunts, uncles, cousins and all sat at a big table together, with all the other guests at their own family tables. Every day the menu changed and the food seemed to be gourmet, or at least it was presented that way. Being a young kid I didn't know or care about the difference and was happy just to get spaghetti and meat balls or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but we were obliged to eat whatever was served us with very little choice other than salad dressing or beverage, which of course was dictated by the grown ups. The only special orders that were allowed was if you caught a fish at "Trout Haven", the kitchen would custom cook the fish for you, usually for breakfast. At first, a whole trout for breakfast seemed odd and out of place, not the usual breakfast fare, but I was convinced by everybody that this was normal, and even a preferred cowboy breakfast. Being explained to me in this way I enthusiastically accepted fried trout for breakfast and it became one of the expected traditions of the ranch.

Every year that we stayed at the ranch happened to fall on my birthday, so every year from the time I was 4 to about 10 I had a "cowboy" birthday. Mrs. Hutchinson during lunch would come out with a birthday cake adorned with sparklers and personally present it to me to blow out the candles. For birthday presents I always got a spiffy new cowboy outfit complete with guns and holsters, and later when I outgrew the cowboy persona, most of the presents tended to be touristy novelty gifts from Estes Park and the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" magic store. I remember one year getting a magic trick finger guillotine that I amazed everyone with, or the "Magic Rocks" that when I brought home I decided to grow them in a drinking glass, which my 1 year old sister proceeded to drink, sending her to the hospital poison ward for a week. The other dangerous gift I got was something called "Itchy-Coo", a fierce itching powder when applied to the body gave a painful scratchy rendition of the sensation after you get your hair cut, only this stuff was mean and painful and couldn't be showered off or laundered out of the sheets and pillows. After my cousins and I played a trick or two on unsuspecting victims, getting the stuff all over ourselves in the process, the vicious Itchy-Coo was burned in the fireplace voluntarily.

Anyway, meal-time, especially dinner was a time for everyone at the ranch to meet and socialize, there was this den area before you got to the dining room with a fireplace couches and a grand piano, and lots of socializing went on there. One of the regular guests, Mrs. Bowie, could always be found on her favorite couch knitting a sweater by the fireplace. This den area was usually the first place to visit when we would arrive at the ranch and sign the guest book. There was usually a fire going, even in the middle of Summer since the climate high in the Rocky Mountains tended to be cooler. The den area always has a familiar smell and comfortable atmosphere. Every once in a while the ranch would hire a guitar player for the "young people" in the den area. The guitar player was a hippie looking guy and he didn't clip off the extra length of guitar strings, leaving a signature tangled mess at the end of his guitar. He played mostly the contemporary folksy favorites like "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "If you Could Read My Mind". (a girl favorite) and "Abraham, Martin and John". This was an attempt to relate and cater to the teenagers at the ranch who might've been bored with the cowboy activities. Also, for the benefit of young and old alike the ranch had BINGO twice a week in the dining room, where the guests could do some mild gambling. This was conducted by one of the more popular and outgoing waiters at the ranch, or by Mr. Hutchinson himself. I was allowed to participate at BINGO, but never won.

Another function of meal time was for the wrangler guy to come around and sign you up for the various horse rides during the week. There were different type horse rides you could take and this was one of the few a-la-carte features of the Ranch, which meant we needed to ask Gammy permission to take horse rides since she paid for them. This never seemed to be a problem though and everyone was encouraged to take at least one ride. There was the "breakfast ride", this was the most family friendly of rides and it included a hour ride to a regular location where the cowboys had a campfire going where they would cook eggs and sausage for the guests. The older, weather-beaten cowboy would drive ahead in a pickup truck and have everything ready for us city-folk, where we would sit on rocks and eat breakfast off paper plates under the majestic Rocky Mountains. Then there was the "lunch ride", which was similar to the breakfast ride except it was later in the day and we went to a different location, actually close to the ranch where other non-horse riding guests could join us for burgers after the ride. Then there was the "dinner ride" which I was never able to go on because I think it involved steak and beer, which probably made it not kid friendly and expensive. But there were other rides you could take that didn't involve food, but just horse riding and these were offered at numerous times during the stay. These included anything from just a ride around the corral, for the little kids or those terrified of horses, to all day rides into the national park for the heartier folk.

The wranglers in charge of the horses and rides tended to be young, studly and popular guys, although one year the wrangler was a girl, and I remember she kept giving me a horse I didn't get along with. This particular horse was very uncooperative and I was frustrated trying to control her. I would request another horse but this wrangler insisted I take this horse every ride, which tended to discourage me from horses. But on one of these rides the wrangler girl was determined I get used to this particular horse and tame it, I had eventually had enough of the damn horse and I got angry, wielding a riding crop I threatened the horse (without hitting it) and suddenly the horse respected me and cooperated. The wrangler girl was pleased and I was no longer reluctant to ride that horse anymore.

But usually the wranglers were macho guys and played up the alpha-male role, even my cousin, Gail, fell under their spell and dated one of them, even beyond the 10 day stay at the ranch. The wranglers were defiantly cool to hang around and it was cool for us to befriend the wranglers when we were not riding horses. Much of the time David and I hung out in the rec room, a large open space with a pool table, shuffleboard, a piano and soda pop machine. This is where all the cool guys would spend quality time doing guy stuff (even though girls were often involved) and the rec room was place to be a real cowboy. The rec room was also a very convenient place to send the kids right before dinner, which also happened to be "Happy Hour" for the grown ups. Happy hour took place in a mysterious building at the ranch where kids seldom went, and I recall it was the only building that had a TV. I also recall the wranglers cabin had a TV where David and I caught one of the wranglers watching "Adam-12" which to me seemed very un-cowboy-like. But the rec room was often used as a safe refuge for the kids while the adults disappeared for an hour or so before the dinner bell rang. Outside the rec room there were cowboy activities, like a Horse Shoe playing area, and this fake practice horse, which was a metal barrel welded on a big spring embedded in the ground. One could practice rodeo "bucking bronco" without getting on a real horse, kind of like a low-tech mechanical bull, and many hours were spent rocking back and forth on this horse. The wranglers seldom paid much attention to us kids hanging out in the rec room, often they were busy working and we were encouraged to not pester them too much, but all of the wranglers during the years had a positive impact in my cowboy upbringing.

One of the last functions the ranch offered, but was always be expected, and everyone was obliged to participate in, was square dancing. This took place on a Saturday evening, and to my knowledge the only official function in the rec room. This was defiantly my least favorite activity but I was forced to dance with all the different folk. This was also the one activity that involved the other neighboring ranches and people living in the area were invited to Wind River for the evening. The whole Ranch was there to square dance, even the wranglers, who dressed up in their finest "duds" and there was a lot of "cowboy" goings on. Every year there also seemed to be one little red haired girl in a light blue dress who attended, she was about my age and I always got paired with her. I was naturally shy and uncomfortable being with her and I now sense she was the same about me, and David made it a point to tease me about it. But I awkwardly endured this temporary date for the evening, and the beauty about square dancing is that you eventually get to dance with other partners and the relationship with the red haired girl quickly dissolved. Kids were also not expected participate too much and I was compelled to dance only a few dances, which always ended in the "Hokey Pokey" where everyone, young and old, got in a big circle and "shook it all about".

The last day at the ranch was always a sad day, which started with breakfast, and the dining room always seemed a little empty that day. It was somewhat stressful packing and Dad seemed to be at his worst behavior, being an unpleasant transition. Before we left the entire family would pose for a picture on the old fashioned wagon outside the dining room and Gammy would then be driven to the airport by one of the ranch-hands. Uncle Bob was always more efficient than Dad making the departure but stayed to see us off. We all said goodbye to each other, knowing, and hoping that we would return next year.