Figure 1: Mormon Row Teton Barn (1)
**Image Courtesy of the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
“A ranch or farm (in Wyoming) needs to be viewed as a cultural landscape. Instead of separating components – the corrals from the outbuildings, the house from the use of the fields, the irrigation ditches from the barn – the land needs to be viewed as an architectural whole. It is the integration of the natural landscape with historic buildings that make some of Wyoming’s historic ranches truly unique.”(2)
Dude ranch structures add to the scenery and have become commonplace as being part of the beauty of the land and a big reason why people love to stay at dude ranches. Dude ranch architecture gives us a feeling of nostalgia and brings us back, in our minds, of the days of the “Wild West” and the roots of the culture at the ranch. To the people who originally built these structures they served a purpose or some functionality on the ranch but, to the visitors, they are the beauty and just as much part of the scenery as mountains, forests, or rivers of the area.
Agricultural architecture is the main architectural theme you will find on most dude ranches. Within the ‘agricultural theme’ you will find ‘folk architecture’ which explains the specific influences by settlers and ranch owners who constructed these buildings. Folk architecture also helps us understand the methods and materials by which these historic buildings were erected and also helps to explain why some are still standing today. Nothing would complete any dude ranch without the proper fencing to keep all the ranch critters in, usually constructed with folk architecture in mind and making use of surrounding lodge pole pine trees for construction.