Back in 1879, three brothers, Howard, Willis, and Alden Eaton established their horse and cattle ranch near Medora, North Dakota. Their friends from the East began to visit them almost immediately.

Some of these early guests stayed for months at a time. Finally, one of the guests recognized the expense these extended visits entailed and prevailed upon the Eatons to charge for room and board, so "folks can stay as long as they like." Thus, the dude ranch business was born and an industry started.

In 1904, to provide a more suitable and varied riding terrain for their ever-growing number of guests, the Eatons "pulled up stakes" in North Dakota and moved to the present ranch location on Wolf Creek near Sheridan, Wyoming.

Eatons' Ranch has always been in the hands of the Eaton family and is now operated by the third, fourth and fifth generations of Eatons.

In the late 1890's Mr. Norman Meldrum drove a herd of cattle from Colorado up to Buffalo,Wyoming where he had acquired some land. The cattle were wintered near the present Soldier's Home and summered in the upper meadow range of the Big Horns,which was to become Paradise Ranch.  Meldrum liked the mountain meadow so well that he proved up on the land and acquired title. Once he had acquired title to the land, he built the original log cabin which still stands; it has been restored recently by Apache Oil Company.

Before his arrival in Wyoming, Meldrum had served with a New York cavalry regiment and had gone to Colorado to seek his fortune. Instead he became engaged in politics and served a term as the Lieutenant Governor. Norman Meldrum's son, Dr. Gordon Meldrum, returned from the war in the Philippines and decided to settle in Buffalo and establish a practice. Gordon Meldrum was enchanted with the cabin in the mountains and encouraged friends to visit him there. It was these visitors who eventually called the meadow "paradise." The name stuck and eventually became the name of the ranch.

Shortly after Dr. Meldrum married Mabel Lee in 1903, they added a few more cabins to accommodate their friends. Soon they began hosting paying guests and the infant dude ranch was on its way. The official date for the beginning is about 1907. 

The ranch is presently owned by Clay & Leah Miller, their two sons, Cade and Travis, and their partners, Kevin & Rebecca McMahon from Colorado. With Clay & Leah as the onsite managers, they are committed to operating the ranch in fine western tradition by offering guests warm attentive hospitality, rustic elegance and exciting outdoor adventure.

The Hunewill Ranch was founded in 1861 by Napoleon Bonaparte Hunewill and his wife Esther. N.B. was born in Maine and came to California to mine gold and later became a logger and finally a rancher. In the 1930's LeNore and Stanley Hunewill started the Hunewill Guest Ranch. Today Hunewill Ranch is still a working cattle ranch with 1200 cows and 120 horses, as well as 60 sheep, 35 llamas and 4 pigs. The ranch includes 4500 acres of meadow and timber lands in Bridgeport, 1250 acres at the winter ranch in Smith Valley Nevada, a 160 acre placer gold claim and grazing rights to other lands. The current generation of Hunewills is the 6th to be raised on the Ranch. You'll find that all of the Hunewill Family are working on the ranch and are deeply committed to the ranch and to the welfare of their guests.