Bio: Cabin Girl, 1970’s. Descriptor: After college graduation, Patricia Hobbs Tompkins and Liz met several White Grass Wrangler’s from Harvard, Yale and Princeton and began a life-long love affair with Wyoming and the Ranch.
Liz’s Story: My mother “Lizzie” (Elizabeth Mifflin Thayer) and her younger sister “Fricky” (Frances Dercum Mifflin) from the Main Line outside Philadelphia drove out west with Rachel Terhune in the early 1950s. As I understand it, Fricky had just been divorced. My mother, married with two small children, bought my father a lawnmower (to assuage her guilt) and set off for White Grass Ranch. Rachel needs to fill in the gaps in this adventure but I remember hearing that my mother wore a cowboy hat and always her “Cherries in the Snow ” lipstick. Mum said she wanted to be sure her sister was “safe” but reading between the lines I know that this was the adventure of a sheltered young woman’s lifetime. They were Philadelphia debutantes who had at best been to the shore, the Adirondacks and a grand tour of Europe. Fricky and Rachel stayed to work. My mother stayed for several weeks and returned home to her husband and kids in Bryn Mawr, PA. but she was forever enamored of the west and White Grass Ranch. Fricky married Frank Galey’s cousin “Chick” (Charles Galey) and moved to Sheridan, WY where she raised two children “Miff” (Elizabeth Mifflin Galey) and Frank Galey. The sisters always giggled and twinkled when they talked about White Grass. I remember hearing about “Cookie” (John Cook) and Frank Galey-two charming devils. It was contagious. When my roommate “Patsy” (Patricia Hobbs Tompkins) and I were about to graduate from college we wrote Frank to inquire about being cabin girls. The thought of going to Boston to be secretaries was dreadful at best. Waiting to hear was torture. He didn’t respond until right before the ranch needed to be opened. We didn’t even have time to drive out in Patsy’s new VW but we were thrilled and threw some clothes in a bag and flew out. We imagined a summer of life among some wild toothless cowboys but as we landed in Jackson and looked out the window I knew why my mother wanted her lipstick! We were being met by a group of the most attractive college “cowboys” from Harvard, Princeton and Yale. I think Frank delighted in putting a group of attractive young men and women together and watching the sparks fly! Frank fed us greasy Bear Stew while we opened the ranch but I don’t remember complaining. It was the beginning of a life long love affair with Wyoming and especially White Grass Ranch. Liz Thayer Verney