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History of Dude Ranching and Spear-O-Wigwam Ranch

Spear-O-Wigwam Ranch was founded in 1923 by Wyoming Senator Willis Spear as a private retreat for friends and family. The most noted guest at Spear-O-Wigwam was Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway became a frequent visitor and completed his novel A Farwell To Arms at the Ranch and the cabin is still there today. Many years later the ranch was sold to a group of businessmen from Sheridan, who sold it to the current owners who have had Spear-O since the early 1970's.

Dude ranches got their start in the West in the 1880s not long after the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Many wealthy foreigners made hunting trips and sight seeing excursions to the American West which was home to abundant wild game and provided magnificent unspoiled scenery. After World War I the popularity of dude ranches increased enormously and during the 20s and 30s they were the main tourist attraction in the Rocky Mountain area. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was an unprecedented success in Europe and the East. Galloping horses, wild Indians, hard riding cowboys, magnificent scenery and, above all, the intoxicating freedom of the frontier captured the imagination of the Western World. In the West a man was judged for his courage, ability and performance; not for his family background.

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