Grand Teton Historic Resource Study

Meanwhile, agents of John D. Rockefeller Jr. had created the Snake River Land Company in 1927, a Utah corporation formed to purchase lands in the valley. In 1929, the company proposed buying the Bar BC. This came as a complete surprise to Burt, who understood that his dude ranch would not be included in the purchase schedule. To Kenneth Chorley, he wrote, "out of a clear sky this whole thing was sprung on us a little over a month ago. After considerable negotiation over the price and the terms of a lifetime lease, plus the buyout of Horace Carncross' sole heir, Corse and Burt sold the ranch in 1930. [68]

After retiring from active management of the Bar BC, the Burts fell out with Irving Corse. In 1935, Burt wrote Harold Fabian requesting a copy of the Bar BC corporation's charter and by-laws. He confided to Fabian that "I want to get hold of a copy and, as I am not on the best of terms just at present with Irv [Corse]," was reluctant to ask Corse for the documents. In 1937, Corse bought out the Burts interest in the dude ranch. The Bar BC lease was modified in 1938: The Burts and Corse's first wife, Angela, were dropped as designated lessees and Corse's new bride, Margaretta Sharpless Corse, added to it. According to Nathaniel Burt, his parents feuded with the Corses and the Pavenstedts, who were two percent shareholders, over management matters and profit sharing. [69]

Under the management of Corse and Bill Howard, the fortunes of the Bar BC declined slowly but relentlessly. Corse believed "that a Real Western Ranch should be as rundown as possible." The buildings at the ranch deteriorated. Also, fires took a toll. In the summer of 1939, fire destroyed a portion of the main house, the kitchen, and a commissary. Corse replaced the burned section of the lodge with a new wing. In the 1940s, fire destroyed a laundry house, the ruins of which are visible today. Then, in late 1959, fire burned one of the main residences, a 42 x 18-foot log cabin. Meanwhile, buildings were added. In 1934, Corse bought the LePage residence from the Snake River Land Company, dismantling, moving, and reassembling the cabin at the ranch. In 1938, he leased it to a family named Crocker. Three years later, he allowed a family named Harrison to build a cabin on the property, issuing a sublease for the cabin sites. At the south end of the ranch, Corse cleared an airstrip and constructed a small frame hangar. All of these changes eroded the distinct character of the Bar BC. [70]

The Corses operated the Bar BC as a dude ranch until the Second World War. Because of severe labor shortages, they suspended the operation. Corse left the valley to work for the navy as a flight instructor at the University of Wyoming. In 1942, Bill Howard sold his interest in the ranch and left the valley. After the war, Corse, stricken with arthritis and emphysema, was too ill to manage the Bar BC. He died in 1953. [71]

In 1950, Margaretta Corse issued a sublease to T H. and Margaretta (Peggy) Frew Conderman to run a dude ranch operation through 1959. This was an unhappy arrangement. Mrs. Conderman later divorced her husband and married John Cook, who took over the lease. Mrs. Corse resumed management of the ranch, renting cabins and campsites through the summer of 1985. Poor health forced her to cease operations in 1986 and she died in 1988. [72]

The Bar BC was the second dude ranch in Jackson Hole. As such, it was one of the pioneer dude ranches in the cradle of dude ranching—Montana and Wyoming—and, under the guidance of Burt and Carncross, became the best known dude ranch in the valley during the 1920s golden age of dude ranching.

The White Grass was the third and last of the pioneer dude ranches in Jackson Hole. In September 1913, Harold Hammond took up 160 acres of meadow and forest land at the foot of Buck Mountain. Two years later, George Tucker Bispham took up residence on 160 acres adjacent to Hammond's homestead. Easterner and Westerner—dude and wrangler—formed a partnership, bringing together one element Struthers Burt believed necessary for a successful dude outfit. At first, Hammond and Bispham intended to start a cattle ranch; taking in dudes was a secondary pursuit if done at all. According to Hammond's stepson Frank Galey, they did not start taking in dudes until 1919, the first summer after the Great War. However, the Jackson's Hole Courier in 1916 reported that Francis Biddle was a guest of the ranch and that Alexander Cadwalader was expected later in the season. [73]

A lack of capital and the First World War hindered their efforts to improve the ranch. For example, Hammond was absent from May 1 to October 1, 1914, "working four miles" from the White Grass, probably at the Bar BC. When the United States entered the war in 1917, Hammond enlisted in the army and was absent for nearly two years. Bispham seems to have been less active in managing the outfit, although he stayed at the ranch while Hammond served in the army. By 1919, the partners were determined to wrangle dudes, henceforth raising cattle became a secondary activity. Hammond reported the following improvements in his final entry papers, filed in July 1920: Buildings consisted of a 28 x 48-foot log house, a 30 x 50-foot log barn, a 16 x 48-foot storehouse, and a 14 x 28-foot bunkhouse. Harry Clissold, owner of the Trail Ranch, constructed the main lodge and some of the cabins. Other developments included three corrals, 120 panels of eight-pole fence, and 800 rods of buck-and-pole fence. Beginning in 1915, Hammond cultivated land, starting with 16 acres and expanding to 80 acres by 1920. He raised oats, barley alfalfa, and timothy harvesting it as hay. A one-mile ditch irrigated the fields. In 1922, Bispham fled his final proof papers. Improvements included three log houses, one being 26 x 36 feet, and 640 rods of buck and-four-pole fence. Bispham had a total of 25 acres plowed and cultivated. [74]

Hammond testified that "his claim is used some for summer tourists," but the combined improvements of Bispham and Hammond suggest a small-scale operation. Indeed, they may have experienced some financial difficulties, for in 1924 both men and their wives sold the White Grass to the Bar BC ranches. Both were partners in the corporation and Hammond continued to manage the White Grass. Further, in the same year, Hammond established a fox farm, raising silver fox for their pelts. In early 1925, Hammond joined Lars Anderson of Cincinnati to set up the operation. At the end of the year, six pairs of silver fox arrived at the White Grass. In 1927, Hammond, Anderson, and Irving Corse filed articles of incorporation for the White Grass Silver Black Fox Ranch, Inc. Four hundred shares were issued at $25 each. The White Grass also continued to run a few head of cattle. [75]

Associated with the Bar BC empire, the White Grass appeared to prosper. Operating the ranch as a boys' camp in 1927, they had 16 guests. The White Grass could accommodate about 25 dudes during this period. A concrete-lined swimming pool was an unusual amenity. The rates were $11 per day for stays less than one month, reduced to $10 per day for a month or longer. Like the Bar BC, the White Grass required personal references from prospective guests. [76]

In 1928, Hammond and Bispham bought back their homesteads from the Bar BC Corporation, severing their ties with that outfit. Bispham ended his partnership in December, when he sold his land and improvements to Hammond for $12,500. Bispham built a new cabin at the White Grass where he and his wife spent several summers. Later they moved up to Burt's Three Rivers, where they built a cabin and joined this association. After Helen Bispham was thrown and dragged by her horse at Three Rivers in 1935, the Bisphams returned to the White Grass according to one source. Tucker Bispham died in 1949, never returning to Jackson Hole after 1935 according to his obituary. [77]

Meanwhile, Hammond expanded the capacity and amenities at the White Grass despite the Great Depression. In 1930, the ranch had 18 cabins in addition to the main house, outbuildings, and swimming pool. By the 1930s, the ranch could accommodate 35 dudes. In 1935, Hammond constructed a large log shower house, which provided showers and indoor plumbing and served as a laundry. A year later, private baths were added to many of the cabins. According to Frank Galey, the ranch's last owner, several long-time dudes rebelled at these conveniences. They continued to use outdoor privies and insisted on bathing in tin tubs with hot water delivered by the roustabout. During these years several wings were added to the main house, more than doubling its size. The front porch was closed off and wooden steps added. In recent years, modern sliding glass doors were added to one wing, marring its rustic character. [78]

Born in 1891 in Blackfoot, Idaho, Harold Hammond had come to Jackson Hole in 1901 to live with a sister. In 1910, he worked for the Reclamation Service at the Jackson Lake Dam, supervising the stock and stable. He then worked at the Bar BC as a wrangler before homesteading at the White Grass in 1913. After the war and while struggling to establish a dude ranch, Hammond married Marie Ireland in 1922. Several years later, she died. In 1936, Hammond married a longtime dudene named Marion Galey. She first came to Jackson Hole in 1919. A friend of Burt and Bispham, she spent the summer at the Bar BC. A young widow, she was accompanied by her two-year-old son, Frank. Smitten with Jackson Hole, she moved to the White Grass and stayed on through Christmas. Mrs. Galey may have been the first paying dude at the White Grass. Frank Galey believed that his mother may have fallen for Hammond as early as this period. The Galeys continued to spend time at the White Grass and after Mrs. Hammond's death, she married Hammond. Up to that time, Frank Galey had acquired a working knowledge of the dude business as a guest; in 1936, he started working as a hand for $30 a month. The Hammonds were married only a short time, when health problems began to beleaguer Hammond. After wintering in Arizona, he died in the summer of 1939. Marion Hammond and Frank Galey took over the operation. [79]

The Second World War hamstrung operations, nearly forcing the White Grass to close because of serious labor and supply shortages. Frank Galey enlisted in the service, and the ranch was left to caretakers. Galey returned in 1946 to find the ranch in disrepair. Because materials were still in short supply, they could only patch up cabins with makeshift materials. Galey bought a portion of the ranch in partnership with Norman Mellor.

This began the modern era of the White Grass. In 1966, Galey closed the silver fox farm, which had operated since 1925. He and his bride, Inge Galey, expanded the outfit's capacity from 30 to 55 dudes, and the ranch was booked full until it closed after the 1985 season. Galey bought out his mother and Mellors in the 1950s. In 1956, he sold all but a few acres of the White Grass to the National Park Service for $165,000 and a life estate. Frank Galey died of a heart attack in the midst of the 1985 season, ending the run of the longest operating dude ranch in the valley from 1919 through 1985. [80]

After World War I, dude ranching exploded in Jackson Hole. The growth of tourism and depressed agricultural prices following the war persuaded ranchers and entrepreneurs to take up dude wrangling. In addition, the success of the JY and Bar BC in the early years encouraged rapid growth of the business in the 1920s.

The STS was one of the most prominent of the second wave of dude ranches in Teton County. A good example of a small family dude ranch, its atmosphere reflected the character of its owners, Buster and Frances Mears Estes. Their marriage was perhaps the most famous of the wrangler-dude romances in the valley. Frances Mears, a Bar BC dudene from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, first came to the valley in 1914, traveling over Teton Pass in a "white-top " wagon. At the Bar BC, she met Buster Estes, a wrangler at the ranch. Their romance blossomed and they married in spite of the objections of Mears's family. Her parents apparently disowned her, beginning an estrangement that lasted for several years. [81]

From Holiday Menor, Estes learned of a 76-acre tract along the Snake River that remained open to settlement and promptly filed preemption papers. The Estes built a cabin in November and December 1922 and moved in January 1923. Starting with $50 and a milk cow, they built up a small but prosperous dude ranch. In the spring of 1923, their cow gave birth to a calf, which they traded to one of the Woodwards, a local family in exchange for help in adding a roof and fireplace to their cabin. The Estes began a modest operation. Aside from their main house, they had only one cabin and one tent to house dudes. To earn cash, Estes worked at the sawmill located at Sawmill Ponds. Frances Estes sold food to tourist traffic, which increased steadily in the 1920s. They offered fresh eggs, milk, bread, tea, coffee, cake and cookies to walk-in traffic, advertising in the Jackson's Hole Courier. In 1924, they advertised ice cream, lemonade, and chicken dinners or suppers to order. Although this was not a typical dude ranch practice, the Estes did it to make ends meet and build up the ranch. Bill Woodward added the large fireplace to the lodge in 1925. When Buster Estes filed final proof papers in 1927, the ranch consisted of the following improvements: the five-room main house (14 x 46 feet with a 14 x 30-foot wing), a log garage (12 x 20 feet), a log cabin (12 x 14 feet), two frame cabins (12 x 10 feet), and a barn (14 x 30 feet). The entire tract was fenced with post, pole, and wire. Estes plowed and planted eight acres to oats and barley in 1923, but failed to harvest a crop. In succeeding years, they were content to raise a garden. [82]

In 1927, the STS was included in the Union Pacific brochure "Dude Ranches Out West." Riding, hiking, hunting, fishing, and camping were the listed activities. Able to accommodate ten guests, amenities included portable tubs and hot water each morning, along with ice, spring water, fresh vegetables, eggs, and milk. Around 1930, the Estes promoted their dude outfit as "the only small ranch left in this country." They charged $55 per week per person, cheaper than the $70 charged at the White Grass or the $70 to $105 charged at the Bar BC. Mardy Murie recollected that the Estes expanded their capacity to 24 dudes and were nearly always full. Indeed, the local paper periodically announced the arrival of dudes at the ranch, indicating success. By the 1930s, they had added up to ten cabins, two bunkhouses, a chicken house, and a laundry and bath. [83]

The depression hit the Estes hard. During the 1930s, they lowered their rates drastically to $20 per week. This included room and board but, in a break from traditional dude ranching practices, did not include saddlehorses. Horses cost $3 per day or $15 per week. In 1935, the Estes leased a 200-square-foot lot to Stella Woodbury, a dude from Kansas City, Missouri, for use as a cabin site. Two years later, the Nelson brothers built a large log house that is the current Murie residence. They may have granted the lease to bring in extra revenue. Around 1940, the Estes constructed a new log residence. They had been in the new home only a short time when the United States entered World War II. Closing the dude operation, they moved to Salt Lake City and worked in war industries to support the war effort. After the war, the Estes determined to quit the dude business. At this time, the Murie family—Olaus and Mardy Murie, and Adolph and Louise Murie—approached the Estes about purchasing a portion of or the whole ranch. The parties signed an agreement for a warranty deed in 1945; the Muries made a down payment with the balance due in 1950. The Murie family has owned and lived at the ranch since 1945. They never operated it as a dude ranch, making a handshake agreement to that effect with the Estes. [84]

The Double Diamond was another prominent dude ranch in the 1920s. Like the owners of the STS and White Grass, the partners of the Double Diamond were Easterner and Westerner, Frank Williams and Joseph Clark. Born in Colorado in 1883, Frank Williams moved to Jackson Hole in 1900 with his parents Otho and Josephine Williams and five siblings. As a young man he worked as a cowboy, wrangling cows in the Timbered Island area in 1908 and 1909. Later, Williams gained experience wrangling dudes at the Bar BC.

Joseph Clark was a dude from Philadelphia, who stayed first at the Bar BC and later at Dr. Woodward's Bar None on Leigh Lake. Years later, Clark passed his bar exam and became a prominent Philadelphia attorney. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1957 to 1969. Clark met Williams while staying at the Bar None, and the two men agreed to start a dude ranch together. [85]

While working as a cowboy in the Timbered Island area, Williams had camped at the base of the bench east of Taggart and Bradley Lakes. The site left a strong impression on him as a prime location for a dude ranch. Much of the suitable land in the area belonged to Jimmy Manges, so Clark and Williams offered to buy a portion of his homestead. Manges sold 40 acres in 1926. Emma Williams, the wife of Frank, filed a desert entry on a minute tract consisting of 12.97 acres in 1924. She irrigated eight acres with a ditch and four laterals, drawing water from Bradley Creek. They raised timothy and clover for hay and a small garden. [86]

Clark and the Williams wasted no time in constructing buildings for the 1924 season. For unknown reasons, they decided to operate a boys' ranch. Perhaps they believed there would be less competition if they specialized in a different clientele. On May 1, 1924, the Courier announced the new partnership of Clark and Williams, calling their venture a "tourist resort." The two entrepreneurs assembled building materials and recruited 15 to 20 boys for the first season. One year later, they hosted 27 boys. The Double Diamond succeeded immediately. [87]

In July 1927, the Double Diamond expected 20 dudes. The boys were housed in tents on frames over flooring, centered around two wide log buildings that served as a kitchen and dining room. The ranch accommodated 25 boys of high school and college age. The main house was described as an extra large recreation hall and dining lodge. Forty-two saddle horses were kept at the ranch. The season ran from June 15 to September 15. The Union Pacific brochures of 1927 described the Double Diamond as follows:

This ranch draws its patronage almost entirely from Philadelphia territory, and charges $800 for the season, including transportation from Philadelphia in the custody of counselors who remain with the boys throughout the entire trip; a side trip to Yellowstone is also offered at $50 additional, with refund if the trip is not made. The ranch has its own fresh vegetables, milk and cream. References are required and given. [88]

By the early 1930s, Clark and Williams had expanded the capacity of the Double Diamond to 35 boys. Possibly because of the depression, they reduced the price from $800 to $700 for the season. Nonetheless, increasing the capacity from 25 to 35 dudes increased their potential gross revenue by $4,500. [89]

During the depression, several changes occurred at the ranch. First, Joe Clark dropped out of active management as his law practice and political ambitions took more of his time. By the late 1930s, Clark was no longer listed as a contact for reservations. In 1946, Harry and Nola Brown bought his interest in the ranch. Clark, in turn, purchased one acre for a summer cabin. Second, the Double Diamond ceased operating as a boys' ranch and began catering to dudes of all ages. Since tents were inadequate for adults, who expected modern conveniences, they housed them in log cabins. However, this reduced the Double Diamond's capacity to 20 guests. Finally, to provide more flexibility for guests, they charged weekly rates ranging from $25 to $35 rather than a rate for the full season. Dudes also reduced the time of their stay in this era; most Double Diamond guests stayed from three to six weeks. [90]

Frank Williams continued to operate the ranch through World War II. In 1950, the ranch had eight guest cabins capable of housing 28 people. A tract appraisal, prepared in 1961, listed 18 buildings on the property. Most were log structures with wood sheathing and rolled asphalt roofing. All but two had indoor plumbing. The buildings were constructed around 1943; the barn and shed were all that remained of the original buildings. [91]

After Frank Williams died in 1964, his heirs sold the Double Diamond to the National Park Service for $315,000. Harry and Nola Brown acquired a lease to operate the property from 1964 through 1969. In 1970, the ranch was turned over once again to the National Park Service. The American Alpine Club has leased the property since 1970 using it as a hostel for mountaineers. In 1985, a wildfire swept through the ranch and burned eight buildings, more than half of the structures on the site. [92]

Not far from the Double Diamond was the Half Moon. The July-August issue of Midwest Review described it as a "new venture" for girls located near the Moose Post Office on Cottonwood Creek. "It is directly under the famed Tetons and brand new rustic log buildings have been erected and the rugged beauty of the surroundings make it an ideal resort for girls." Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kaippi took up residence on the 160-acre tract in the summer of 1923. Over the next five years, they built a four-room log building (30 x 22 feet), 12 cabins (14 x 15 feet), a log barn (18 x 20 feet), an icehouse, a well, and corrals and buck-and-pole fence. Kaippi plowed and planted 20 acres of alfalfa, timothy, barley, and wheat. The crop was harvested, but used for grazing. In response to the question about using the property for business, Karppi wrote that "we handle summer boarders." [93]

Anita Tarbell became a partner in the operation by 1928, when the owners formed a corporation and issued stock. Tarbell worked at the ranch from 1928 until 1944. The ranch was an active dude operation from 1927 to 1962. Betty Anderson, an employee and later a co-director of the ranch, recalled that the teenage girls were usually from wealthy families who lived in urban areas in the East and Midwest. The Half Moon charged a flat rate of $500 to $600 for a two-month season, which included room, board, and a saddle horse. Pack trips were offered to backcountry areas. [94]

By the early 1960s, 27 buildings comprised the ranch: a dining hall, the owners residence, a lodge, an ice house, a rest room and shower house, a wash house, a saddle house, a loafing shed, and 15 cabins. Anita Tarbell had acquired controlling interest in the ranch in 1930. Tarbell died in July 1960 and left the ranch to Charles Guss. He sold it to the National Park Service in 1967 in exchange for a lease that he surrendered in 1972. The park removed the buildings soon after acquisition. [95]

One of the most short-lived dude ranches was the Danny Ranch, owned by Tony S. Grace. He established residence on a 160-acre homestead east of String Lake in October 1922. Grace built up a small dude ranch that consisted of a three-room log house (30 x 30 feet), two large guest cabins, store room, ice house, and barn. He cleared and cultivated 20 acres with little success. By 1927, he was content to seed the ground and allow his stock to graze on the crop. Grace wrote in his final proof papers that he rented the two cabins during the summer. About the same year Grace added two more cabins, raising the total capacity to 15 guests. The rates were $8 per day which included room, meals, and use of a saddle horse. Grace also used the ranch as a headquarters for conducting hunting trips in the fall. The Danny Ranch was one of the smallest Jackson Hole dude ranches.

In 1930, Grace and his wife, Viola, sold the Danny Ranch to the Snake River Land Company for $24,000. After leasing the property for residential use, the Teton Lodge Company renovated it as a dude ranch. In 1934, the buildings were in poor condition, and the main house burned in 1935. In the late 1930s, however, the Jenny Lake Ranch was advertised in the Union Pacific brochure "Dude Ranches Out West." It consisted of the central lodge and dining room surrounded by one and two-room cabins capable of housing 65 dudes. Grace's gutted residence formed the nucleus of a much larger main lodge, which remains in use. Jenny Lake Lodge is operated by the Grand Teton Lodge Company today. [96]

On the eastern side of Jackson Hole where Ditch Creek enters the valley from the Mount Leidy Highlands was the old Flying V Dude Ranch. In 1928, Jack and Dollye Woodman bought the 160-acre homestead of Ransom Adams. They may have leased the property from him prior to that year as there are several references to the Flying V in the Jackson's Hole Courier prior to 1928. Jack Woodman described himself as a "university man, a bonded guide of wide experience, and a former U.S. Forest Ranger." Dollye Woodman was a daughter of the pioneer Budges and a registered nurse.

Accommodations at the ranch included a large 11-room main lodge, heated cabins, and floored tents for sleeping quarters. Because it had functioned originally as a working cattle ranch, Woodman promoted the Flying V as a "producing horse and cattle ranch, providing daily supplies of milk, cream, eggs and vegetables." The main lodge was one of the more impressive among dude ranches in the valley. It was a two-story cross-shaped building with a gambrel roof covered with wood shingles. The front facade had two gable-roofed dormers on each side of the main wing. [97]

In December 1932, fire, possibly started by a banked woodstove, destroyed the lodge. The fire severely burned Florence Jones McPherson, who died several days later. She was the daughter of pioneer Joe Jones. In addition to the loss of life, this incident dealt a severe setback to the Flying V, happening in the worst period of the depression.

The rates at the Flying V were comparable to the more well known dude ranches, such as the JY and Bar BC. In the late 1920s and 1930s, the Woodmans charged both a flat rate of $550 for a two month season, and a regular rate of $70 per week. Because of the depressed economy and the loss of the main lodge, Woodman decided to sell the dude ranch. In 1935, he signed an agreement for a deed with Gustav Koven and Paul Petzoldt to sell the ranch for $5,000. Koven made a down payment of $2,500 and agreed to pay the balance by April 2, 1936, at eight-percent interest. They conveyed the deed to Koven in 1935. [98]

Koven and Petzoldt were mountaineers, who hoped to set up a profitable dude ranch, hunting camp, and climbing headquarters at the Flying V. Few buildings existed on the property in 1935, suggesting that Woodman's operation had not been particularly successful. Paul Petzoldt recalled only a two-room guest cabin and a few outbuildings on the site. Over the next two seasons, Petzoldt helped construct three cabins, burned a dilapidated barn, and gathered logs and excavated a cellar for a new main lodge. [99]

Meanwhile, Koven formed a corporation, following the example of other dude ranchers. In 1936, he surrendered his ownership to the Flying V Ranch, Inc., a New Jersey corporation. About this time, the partners changed the name of the property to the Ramshorn. Petzoldt recalled that he suggested the name because he felt it would be more attractive to prospective dudes. A more cogent reason may have been to avoid confusion over brands, for Jack Woodman had sold his cattle, along with the Flying V brand, to the Chambers family. Thus, Koven and Petzoldt could not use the Flying V brand to identify their livestock, and continued use of the name would have been confusing. Petzholdt and Koven broke off their partnership by 1937.

Koven continued to improve the ranch. The Woodward brothers constructed the new main lodge in 1937. Most of the present buildings were added in this period. Available information indicates that Koven was not active in operating the dude ranch. The Ramshorn is not listed in either the Union Pacific's "Dude Ranches Out West" published in the 1930s or the dude ranch index in the 1938 edition of Burt's The Diary of a Dude Wrangler. Koven leased the property for several years. Local guides Tom and Bill Jump rented the ranch, and used it as a headquarters for their hunting outfit. In 1946, Koven sold the Ramshorn to a partnership that included Greer Sugden, David Alleman, and Robert Irwin. None were local residents. Over the next five years, a succession of partners bailed out of the association, until only Sugden remained. He sold the ranch to Alvin Adams in 1951. The Sugden partnership and Adams intended to operate the Ramshorn as a dude ranch during the summer, a hunting camp in the fall, and a ski resort in the winter, hoping to squeeze revenue out of the ranch for most of the year. The only significant event occurred when the Prime Minister of Pakistan stayed at the Ramshorn as Adams's guest. [100]

However, Adams had no sooner acquired the ranch than he expressed an interest in selling it. Several reasons may have prompted this decision. As a vice-president of Pan American Airlines, Adams found himself too busy to devote time to the Ramshorn; further, the cost of maintaining the ranch proved expensive, more than Adams expected or wished to pay. After several attempts to sell the property and prolonged negotiations with the National Park Service, Adams sold the Ramshorn to the federal government in 1956 for $68,000. In 1958, the park issued a concession permit for the Ramshorn to Katie Starratt, who had managed the Old Elbo as a dude ranch since the 1940s. She took the name and brand to the Ramshorn, rechristening it the Elbo. Starratt operated the new Elbo as a modest but successful dude ranch. After Katie Starratt died in 1974, the National Park Service issued a special use permit to the Grand Teton Environmental Education Center to operate the Teton Science School at the ranch. [101]