1924 PHOTO ALBUM FROM WYOMING’S PRIMER DUDE RANCH - THE VALLEY RANCH - LOCATED IN CODY, WYOMING
1924 PHOTO ALBUM FROM WYOMING’S PRIMER DUDE RANCH - THE VALLEY RANCH - LOCATED IN CODY, WYOMING
Seventy-five sepia photographs ( 5 x 8 inches) of a trip made in September 1924 to Valley Ranch which is about 45 miles from Cody, Wyoming.
Stapled to the album is information pertaining to the albu’s creator. It states “They were married in 1904. In 1924, dad was 46 years old, Mother was 42 years old. Very handsome couple. Pretty prosperous for such a young sprout. Written by Margaret Grace.”
The Valley Ranch, was the primer dude ranche in Wyoming in 1924. Having visited the ranch in 1910 Larry Larom along with Winthrop H. Brooks, of the Brooks Brothers family, purchased the ranch from Jim McLaughlin and his wife “Buckskin Jenny” in 1915, as a “business venture to cater to the recreational needs of their social circle back East.” McLaughlin had had prior limited experience in accepting guest since 1890. The 1890 census stated “wealthy Europeans were hanging out there.” Pack trips were started for boys in 1920 and for girls in 1922.
The ranch hired an agent in the East to vet and recruit prep school boys, checking their families’ bank and social references and conducting interviews. He promoted the ranch experience as a “great opportunity to get rid of your kid for the entire summer.” The cost was $400.00. The dude ranch successfully ran for the next 50 years.
The Valley Ranch School (1922-1934) had a much shorter life span. In 1922, ranch owners Irving H. "Larry" Larom and Winthrop H. Brooks realized that the same cabins, dining halls, and common rooms used by summer guests could easily accommodate a winter boarding school. Eager to gain year-round income from their property, they upgraded the facilities for winter, hired faculty, and opened the Valley Ranch School for Boys which in essence was a boys college preparatory school.
Larom used his extensive Social Register connections, ads in upscale magazines, and carefully targeted mailings to promote the school's unusual mix of traditional prep-school academics with vigorous outdoor activity on a real working ranch. He found a ready audience among well-to-do Eastern families, who began sending their sons to his school in large enough numbers to make it a profitable venture. By 1932, the Valley Ranch School was a well-established member of the select group of "Western ranch schools" included in Porter Sargent's annual directory of American private schools.
Not all the photos are identified, but amongest those that are, are two of the couple together, the Deaver, Wyoming train station which is apparently where they debarked for Valley Ranch on Sunday Sept. 28, 1924; the town of Deaver; “Good bye Civilization”; Cody, Wyoming with a center of the street pillar mounted with a hand pointing to Yellowstone Park; The Irma in Cody; Buffalo Bill – The Scout monument in Cody, Wyoming; Shoshone Dam; Valley Ranch entrance; the couples cabin at Valley Ranch; Head master Mr. Snyder; numerous views of the ranch cabins and surrounding scenery; several images taken around Yellowstone by photographer Ned Frost plus more.
Tied suede-leather cover photo album titled Photographs – WESTERN PICTURES – 1924. . 1 photo per page. All with great contrast
Sources: Cody Enterprise: Buzzy Hasrick, March 20. 2023
Philip H. Cummings : A WORK IN PROGRESS.
