Postcard of the Kay El Bar dude ranch, Wickenburg, Arizona, 1950s.

I wrote a blog post this past summer about my first visit to Wickenburg, Arizona in July of 2003, when I was the Levi Strauss & Co. Historian. I was looking for the grave of miner Homer Campbell, whose jeans were in the company archives. Here’s a link: https://tumblereadsblog.com/2026/07/09/homer-campbell-the-levis-celebration-jean-and-a-desert-adventure/

Today, I want to tell you about what happened after that visit, because I got my first look at a dude ranch, thanks to famed journalist and producer Bill Kurtis.

Levi Strauss & Co. turned 150 years old in March of 2003. We created a set of traveling exhibits and a press tour, and I did events all over the U.S. and Asia. Managers also wanted to make a documentary about the company’s history and reached out to Bill Kurtis to see if he was interested in producing and narrating a film. He was intrigued, and flew to San Francisco at the end of July to meet with management.

Homer’s jeans, 1917. Courtesy Levi Strauss & Co. archives.

He also came to the archives, and I pulled out all the best vintage pieces to dazzle him with. He was friendly and charming, and truly interested in what I had on display. I included Homer’s jeans in the collection of goodies on the tables, and told Kurtis about my trip to Wickenburg to track Homer down. He loved the story, and when he sent in a proposal to the company about the documentary, it included recreating my Wickenburg adventure.

The plan was to film me doing research at the Sigler Western Museum (then called the Desert Caballeros Western Museum), taking the torturous drive to find the Walnut Grove cemetery, and having someone re-enact Homer’s life as a miner. So in mid-August (also mid-monsoon season, though we got lucky and stayed dry), I flew back to Arizona to find Homer all over again.

Kurtis’s production team had done their research on the area, and part of the filming took place at the Vulture Mine, about 15 miles outside of town, where visitors could take tours of the old buildings. They visited the museum first, and after meeting Building Engineer Paul Hughes, asked him to play the part of Homer Campbell in the shoot they planned out at the Vulture. The Levi’s designers had created a reproduction of Homer’s pants called The Celebration Jean, and I had a pair with me just for this purpose.

Paul always says he was chosen for the role because he could fit in the pants, and because he looked scruffy enough to be a miner.

Photo by Mary Cooper Hamill. Courtesy Paul Hughes.

Photo by Mary Cooper Hamill. Courtesy Paul Hughes.

Before I did the research on Homer and discovered that he’d been a hard rock miner, a few of us at the company thought that he might have been a farrier, based on how the pants were damaged. So, to re-enact that part of the story, the producer got in touch with the owners of Wickenburg’s oldest dude ranch, the Kay El Bar.

Courtesy Kay El Bar Guest Ranch.

The ranch has been taking guests since 1918, and it was founded by a man who was as famous in his time as Bill Kurtis is in ours. His name was Romaine Lowdermilk, which is just about the best western moniker I’ve ever heard. He was a singer, journalist, and expert trick roper, as well as a generous host.

Courtesy Kay El Bar Guest Ranch.

Courtesy Kay El Bar Guest Ranch. Check out the Levi’s on the guy at the far right!

August was the off-season for the ranch, but the owners opened up the main lodge and a couple of the rooms for us to use, and brought in their farrier for the filming.

I didn’t have a lot to do for this part of the shoot, but stayed on hand to add any historical expertise as needed. So, I had plenty of time to wander around, and I was enchanted by the simple adobe buildings, which seemed as much a part of the landscape as their setting among native mesquite trees.

Courtesy Kay El Bar Guest Ranch.

Then I walked into the lodge and just grinned. I thought I was in a western movie and Gene Autry would come walking around a corner any minute, carrying a guitar.

Photo by Scott Baxter. Courtesy Kay El Bar Guest Ranch.

Well, I didn’t want to leave. Each step around the grounds was just mesmerizing. Everything I loved about the West surrounded me, and that hot August day at the Kay El Bar was the start of my fascination with dude ranching and ranch history.

Bill Kurtis’s documentary, “Levi’s As America,” premiered in 2004, though it unfortunately didn’t have wide distribution. But the experience changed my life. Thanks, Bill.

The Kay El Bar became part of the True Ranch Collection in 2019. This company owns a collection of historic dude ranches in Arizona, Montana, and Wyoming, which just rings my chimes. They actively preserve the ranch buildings and do research on their history to share with guests. Those of you who read my blog may remember the story I posted in 2023 about my stay at Montana’s O.T.O. Ranch, which was one of the “Pop Up” vacations created by True Ranch Collection. Here’s a link: https://tumblereadsblog.com/2023/07/23/im-so-happy-theres-a-place-like-this-in-the-world/

You can find “Levi’s As America” on YouTube (it’s in multiple parts): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ9hvYUbN8o

Check out the True Ranch Collection: https://trueranchcollection.com/

And here’s the Kay El Bar’s website: https://www.kayelbar.com/. I love this historic photo from their archives, showing a few dudines wearing their Levi’s.

Courtesy Kay El Bar Guest Ranch.