The dude or guest ranch is interesting concept. Is there another type of vacation in America where guests trade life-styles? If so, I’d like to sell people in Florida on coming here to my home in the Midwest for an authentic “snow removal” experience during the winter. See how we dig our cars and houses out in Chicago. I’d even feed you. How would that fly? Something is missing.

Dude ranches have a special ingredient. They are a product of the romanticizing of the Wild West that came about in the late 19thc. Nostalgic Easterners, encouraged by the ad campaigns of the Union Pacific Railroad headed west–a safer west, to be sure—for the cowboy experience.

Read More: Dude for a Day: the Unique American Guest Ranch Experience