Historically, winters in the Jackson Hole area were typically long, cold and with lots of snow. Dude ranch operations ceased at White Grass after Labor Day. Residents at the ranch most winters included the owners, paid caretakers and/or tenants.
Living was quite spartan, often with no running water, heat only from fireplaces burning wood with little to no cabin insulation. In the worst of weather conditions, the only way to get to the ranch was to ski in from Moose or later by snowmobile. Those who rented cabins included men and women often with seasonal area jobs, e.g., a nurse, teacher, postal worker, ski resort employees and bartenders. Others residents simply wanted a relatively cheap place to stay for the season.
Owner Harold Hammond typically stayed at the ranch during winter months. His partner, Tucker Bispham most often returned to Philadelphia. After Hammond died, new owner, Frank Galey, resided at the ranch most winters when his daughter was young and when he operated a fall hunting camp. After he sold the ranch to the national park in 1956, he spent extensive time at his resort, Golden Rock, on the island of Nevis in the West Indies though he still spent some winter months at the ranch.
Animals on the ranch needed daily attention, e.g., milk cows, chickens, dogs, cats and a team of draft horses. Other chores included replenishing supplies of firewood, removing snow from roofs to prevent heavy load damage and frequently shoveling snow to be able to come and go from cabins. When there were no winter caretakers, renters did chores.
Despite winter conditions, Frank was known to entertain guests for serious card games and held large and small evening parties with guests sometimes staying the night. Frank Galey, the resourceful innovator, built a small addition to his cabin where he had a hot tub and grew tomatoes indoors.
After Frank Galey died in 1985, the ranch closed. The remaining log structures were neither occupied nor maintained for 20+ years. Starting in 2006, the National Park Service, in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, worked 10 years rehabilitating the 13 remaining log structures to accommodate a training center that would teach historic preservation skills. Preservationists, park employees from the Western Center for Historic Preservation, worked year round at the ranch. A seasonal volunteer caretaker has stayed at the ranch each summer since 2011. Preservation trainees began summer residency at White Grass in 2014.
