2009-11-26

Dixie Dude Ranch sets standard of excellence

By Julie Whitmore

(Editor’s note: With this profile we begin an organized look at one of Bandera’s main attractions—its dude ranches. These varied guest accommodations offer visitors a chance to experience the cowboy life, whether it’s trail riding on horseback, exotic game hunting or tubing on our cypress-lined rivers.)

The Dixie Dude Ranch is the oldest Bandera guest ranch continuously operated and owned by the same family.
William Wallace Whitley – the great-grandfather of current owner Clay Conoly – purchased its 725 acres of prime Hill Country property in 1904.

Back story
Whitley opened his ranch to guests in 1937, with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, Billie and Dee Crowell. In 2005, the family received the Family Land Heritage Program award from the Texas Department of Agriculture, recognizing a century of continuous operation by the same family “Dude” ranches had originated in the early 1900s. Transcontinental train service was in place, eastern cities were growing and many Americans and Europeans were fascinated by rustic “cowboy” life. They wanted to vacation by experiencing real ranching life – and were willing to pay for the privilege of not having to do it themselves while still enjoying clean air and healthy exercise.

By the 1920s and ‘30s, these vacations were popular, but when Whitley opened in 1937, the Dixie Dude was one of only three in Bandera.

Whitley’s daughter Billie had moved to California to pursue an acting career, and married Dee Crowell, a stunt man. At the height of the Great Depression, they returned to Bandera with baby daughter Darlene. The name “Dixie Dude” symbolized to them their trek back to “Dixieland.”

Popular from the git go
The ranch started with space for 25 guests, and was almost immediately popular, with guests from near – San Antonio – and far. During World War II, many soldiers came to the ranch for rest and recuperation. By 1948 more accommodations were added to allow 70 guests, and a pool was added in 1952.

Today the ranch has 20 units, including individual cottages, duplex cabins and lodge rooms featuring early Texas architecture and rustic appointments. “Bunkhouse” accommodations are also available.

The Dixie Dude is also a “working” ranch, meaning that it really breeds and raises horses, longhorn cattle, Spanish goats and vegetable gardens. As owner and manager, Conoly also supervises trapping and raising feral hogs.

“Our guest programs are self-designed,” he said, noting that some visitors really do want to participate in ranch chores – or at least an opportunity to follow ranch hands on their daily rounds.
‘It’s our home’

“We try to maintain our own ‘ecosystem’,” Conoly said, which includes ravens, golden retrievers, cats and beautiful, clean streams.

Many guests come for family celebrations or reunions, or just to relax in the heated pool and spa with massage therapy and sleep.

For those preferring to be alone, 14 different nature trails provide opportunities for hiking, fossil and arrowhead hunting and bird watching. More than 170 species of native and migratory birds can be spotted on the ranch.

The normal daily plan includes two hour-long horseback rides, but if desired, guests can have private lessons, sunset rides or an overnight trail ride – accompanied by experienced cowboys and range cooks, of course. Three plentiful, home cooked meals a day are a Dixie Dude hallmark.

Another special offering is a Native American purification ceremony, performed by Puebloan Shaman Dawahongva “Standing Sun.” This traditional ceremony requires research and advance preparation and is not performed for profit.

Life in Bandera
I asked Conoly and his wife, Diane, if they had ever thought of abandoning the family tradition of hospitality in favor of an easier, or at least different, life. “Only briefly,” Clay responded with a smile. “No,” said Diane, who grew up in Dallas.

Son Alec, 17, plays varsity football at Bandera High School and Sharp, 7, attends Alkek Elementary School.

Much of Diane Conoly’s time is devoted to raising awareness about autism, and the ranch’s website shows itself to be “autism friendly.”

Reflecting his own growing up, Conoly sponsors an annual youth hunting program.

Taking on Tabasco
More recently, he has begun marketing his own brand of hot sauce, a recipe based solely on ranch-grown chilipitin peppers. Conoly acquired the recipe in Edna, but it originated in Monterey, Mexico. He and Diane altered the original, adding hotness and reducing acidity, using more fresh garlic and adding turmeric and roasted tomatoes.

Homemade Texican Chilipitin Sauce, with the motto “flavors crossing borders,” is available by mail order or at local and specialty stores.

“We believe our homemade Texican Chilipitin sauce and salsa will eventually be an alternative to Tabasco on restaurant tables and household tables because of its unique flavor and low acidity,” Conoly declared.

For more information on the ranch or Texican Chilipitin sauce, visit the website, www.dixieduderanch.com, or call 830-706-7771 or 800-375-YALL(9255) or email cccdixie@hctc.net.
And tell the Conolys the Courier sent you!