Back in the day, a major part of the last century, say 1920-1960 or so, guest (or 'dude') ranches were a big deal here in the southwest. People came from all over the world to enjoy the southwestern sunshine, dabble in cowboy activities and sometimes have more active and even extreme adventures. Different facilities offered everything from lounging by the pool with a chuck wagon 'cowboy' dinner to going on actual hunting or photography expeditions. I used this setting for one of my Deirdre O'Dare explicit novellas, Dude Ranch Nights, which takes place in the 1950s. At that point, "dude" was a slightly derogatory descriptive term for an easterner or one not learned in the western ways that cowboys and other western folks used.
By the time I was old enough to be observing and
interested, this trend was losing steam but a good bit of
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| Leo and lion hounds |
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| After a hunt |
At that time my father was immersing himself in the western and outdoor scene, writing and photographing on trips with a range of characters he'd collected. Of course he started going on some treks with Leo. I began to hear the tales he came home with and soon was old enough to also start hearing some of the gossip about this notorious chap who was apparently quite the ladies' man and held in both awe and sometimes disdain by various sources around the area. As an impressionable 'tween, I was very much taken by all this. Here was a living person to fit into my imagined thrilling adult world built from novels and operetta lyrics! It was not quite a crush perhaps, since he was then over 60 to my 12-14 but I was certainly fascinated.
By odd chance, one of my best girlfriends at that time had an older sister who had been working at Spring Creek for several years. We speculated whether or not she was a girlfriend or mistress of the notorious and much older gentleman. I never really knew and now do not care but we were impressionable and curious. I am sure I was far from subtle in my interest and borderline stalking of the "Dude Rancher." I expect he was mildly amused. Anyway, I always had an ear out for any tattle that might be going around. By that time I was sure I should and would write a saga type novel setting forth my version of this very unusual character and his exploits, kind of a John Jakes and James Michner type of work! I still may; I have a big folder of partial chapters and vignettes and such, most going back a very long time.
I never actually visited the ranch until the early 1960s at which time Leo was no longer well. I think he had cancer surgery and passed away a couple of years later. At any rate, dad and then I had learned a lot about using mules for wilderness expeditions, actually hunting lions with hounds and other matters that we wove into our 1960s business of training and selling trail mules and some suitable horses, taking people out on trips etc. So, in a much more subtle but perhaps as influential way, Leo Greenough was a mentor as was Charley Bryant of whom I have written in the past. Although almost total opposites, they were basically contemporaries and both had actually lived the later part of the real Wild West times. May they both rest in peace and perhaps now share coffee and tales with a bunch of horses, mules and dogs clustered around them in "Fiddler's Green." Thanks to them for being who and what they were.
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| Stock truck and camp van |
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| Leo, Shirley and George Rice, a guest |
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