Historic Swan Valley Dude Ranches

During the early to mid-twentieth century several upper Swan Valley dude ranches were at the height of operation, providing packing and guiding services to guests from around the world.

Holland Lake Lodge and 33 Bar Ranch

In 1924, Roria "Babe" Wilhelm, along with his sister, Ada, and her husband, Art White leased land from the Forest Service and built the Mountain View Hotel near Holland Lake. The hotel was built with lumber from Babe's steam-powered sawmill and sided with half-logs to give the log appearance. The hotel later became known as Holland Lake Lodge.

The Whites ran the lodge while Babe operated his pack outfit from the corrals at Holland Lake Lodge and his ranch near Barber Creek, known as the 33 Bar Ranch. He offered trail rides, fishing and hunting trips, and guiding services to dudes who were guests at the Lodge. He also provided guiding services to guests at the Gordon Ranch and Laird's Lodge. In 1927, he packed for Charles Lindbergh's entourage when they camped at Elbow Lake - present-day Lindbergh Lake.

Among Wilhelm's regular summer clients were the Keewaydin campers, sons and daughters of wealthy East Coast families who vacationed for several weeks each summer at Holland Lake Lodge.

In 1952, Babe and his wife, Eva sold the 33 Bar Ranch to their daughter, Eunice "Dune" and her husband, Buff Hultman. For the next 20 years, the Hultmans continued the guest ranch traditions of the family.

Laird's Lodge and Diamond L Bar

In 1927, Eli "Cap" and Clementyne "Tyne" Laird moved to Swan Valley from Coeur d'Alene where Cap piloted commercial river steamboats for 20 years. The Lairds set to work building a lodge and guest ranch on 1,000 acres they purchased near the outlet of Elbow Lake. Their clientele that first summer included Charles Lindbergh and his companions. The group stayed at the lake for two weeks and enjoyed horseback riding, fishing and Cap's storytelling around the campfires and tents that served as lodging while the lodge was being built.

From 1927 through 1934, the Lairds built the main lodge, several log guest cabins, a barn and a tack shed on the shores of Elbow Lake, renamed Lindbergh Lake after Charles's historic visit. Electricity was generated by a waterwheel located in the Swan River in 1930.

In a document titled Home Town Letter, Tyne Laird wrote, "While this development taxed our store of ideas, our imaginations, our ingenuities, and our finances, we were too content with this way of life to let worries and anxieties dampen our enthusiasm. We were doing what we had always wanted to do..."

In 1945 Laird's Lodge was sold to Dick and Margaret Hickey and Ross and Dot Greening and they renamed the enterprise the Diamond L Bar Ranch. The Hickeys operated the dude ranch for over 20 years until 1968.

Gordon Ranch

In 1904, homesteader Charles Holland deeded five acres of what was known as the Holland Ranch to Isabelle Gordon. The following year Charles and his father Benjamin Holland deeded Isabelle the remaining 315 acres.

Isabelle and her husband Dr. Robert P. R. Gordon hired a Swedish craftsman to build a lodge on the ranch property. Though the Gordons owned the ranch for only four years before Dr. Gordon's untimely death in 1908, the ranch still bears their name to this day.

After her husband's death, Isabelle never returned to the ranch and later deeded the ranch to a bank in Butte in 1915. In subsequent years, two physicians from Butte purchased not only the Gordon Ranch but also 560 acres from the Northern Pacific Railway increasing the size of the Gordon Ranch to 880 acres.

A prominent Chicago physician, Dr. Karl Koessler bought the Gordon Ranch for $16,000 in 1924 and it has remained in the Koessler family ever since. Karl Koessler and his wife, Jessie, hired local craftsmen to build log cabins and a caretaker's house at the ranch. An accomplished horseman, Karl enjoyed taking his family and friends on trail rides and pack trips.

After Karl and Jessie Koessler's untimely deaths, their 18-year-old son, Horace "Shorty" Koessler inherited the Gordon Ranch in 1928. Three years later when he turned 21, Shorty officially took possession of the ranch. At the time, the ranch was being run as a dude outfit by managers Martin and Bess Kittleson. In 1935, when Shorty graduated from medical school at McGill University in Montreal, he returned to the Gordon Ranch with his bride, Sheila Brierly. They decided to try their hand at running the dude ranch business.

In a written account about the dude ranch operation at the Gordon Ranch, Sheila wrote, "All summer long the ranch is sizzling with activity by eight in the morning, when we all meet in the main lounge for breakfast before a roaring fire. The early mornings are always cool so we help ourselves to whatever we fancy at the long breakfast table and then sit cross-legged near the fire, while plans are made for the day - fishing, riding and mountain hikes to the forest service stations and lookouts being the favorites."

Shorty and Sheila operated the dude ranch through the 1941 season until the attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 put a halt to their business. Shorty joined the Army Air Corps the next year and served as a World War II flight surgeon until 1945.

Swan River Guest Ranch

In 1938, Chip and Bessie Dunlap opened a dude ranch at the former Kittleson homestead at the end of present-day Guest Ranch Road. Originally called the Bar JD, the ranch later became known as the Swan River Guest Ranch. The Dunlaps and their son, Wayne, outfitted from the ranch through the 1950s. Following a few name changes and ownerships, Ron and Candy Hummel and partner Art Boat purchased the ranch in 1973. The ranch was renamed the Double Diamond Guest Ranch and the Hummel's operated the ranch until the late 1980s.