The Dixie Dude Ranch Gets Noticed

DIXIE DUDE RANCH RECOGNIZED AS A TEXAS TREASURE

On February 14, 2017, Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway) and Rep. Andrew S. Murr (R-Junction) recognized Dixie Dude Ranch with a Texas Treasure Business Award from the Texas Historical Commission. The Texas Treasure Business Award program pays tribute to businesses that have provided employment opportunities and support to the state’s economy for 50 years or more. Created in 2005 through legislation authored by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) and sponsored by Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson (R-Waco), the program recognizes well-established Texas businesses and their exceptional historical contributions to the state’s economic growth and prosperity.

A Texas Hill Country Roadtrip

By Paula Disbrowe

I was determined to be in the saddle before sunset. Having spent four years cooking on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country, I can only go so long without heading for the region’s rugged, rolling hills. As much as I love living in Austin, for me heaven is the land of caliche-dusted pickups, cactus blossoms, and Stetson hats. No place offers a fuller immersion in cowboy culture than the area around Bandera, Texas, known as the cowboy capital of the world. It’s the kind of town where honky-tonks outnumber stoplights.

So on a recent spring morning, I headed to Kerrville, a historic town founded in 1846 that’s known for its beauty—the Guadalupe River cuts through downtown—and beloved by generations of summer campers and game hunters. I was excited to check out Schreiner Goods, a surprisingly hip new clothing and home furnishings boutique. After some antiques shopping in nearby Ingram, I hit a couple of winding, two-lane highways through the familiar gold and green landscape (parched earth and wild mountain juniper trees) to Comfort. The quaint restaurants, wine bars, and antiques shops offered plenty of spots to linger, but I wanted to get on a horse, so I kept going.

I pulled into Bandera just as sunlight was starting to fade. A few miles out of town, I arrived at Dixie Dude Ranch, a 725-acre property founded in 1937. We dropped our bags, headed to the stables, and made it just in time for the day’s last trail ride. After our guide, Arnulfo, sized me up and chose a caramel-colored mare, I swung a leg over the saddle. We headed out to the familiar sounds of mourning doves and the clop-clopping of hooves on loose rock, plus the horses’ occasional heavy sighs.

Later that night, we enjoyed a hearty ranch supper in the lodge: slow-cooked salty pork, green beans with bacon, and warm rolls served family style. To our surprise, the evening offered one more ride under the stars, this time on a 2,400-pound longhorn steer named Casino (led by a seasoned cowboy), who took us to a campfire and shameless number of toasted marshmallows. It felt good to be back on the range.