RANCH HISTORY
OVER A CENTURY OF HISTORY AT BLACKWATER CREEK LODGE & GUEST RANCH
In 1899, the Blackwater Ranger Cabin was constructed within what is now known as the Shoshone National Forest. It was the first National Forest, created in 1891 as a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve. The U.S. Forest Service then constructed a wagon bridge at Blackwater in the summer of 1900. Sadly, both were destroyed by fire in 1905.
Ten years later, in the summer of 1915, Bronson C. “Bob” Rumsey and George T. Beck were issued a permit at Blackwater for a tourist resort. It was first known as “Blackwater Camp” and outfitted hunting, camping and fishing parties with “every man given a horse for his sole use during his stay,” according to a Blackwater Camp advertisement in a 1916 edition of the Yale Daily News. Bob Rumsey was a Yale University graduate and was later elected to the Wyoming State Senate in 1935. Bob’s father, Bronson Rumsey, was associated with “Buffalo Bill” Cody in the founding of the historic town of Cody, Wyoming. George T. Beck was another one of the founders of Cody.
In the ranch’s early years, Bob Rumsey kept some of his Guernsey and Jersey cows for fresh milk, from when he ran a dairy south of Cody. Dudes enjoyed trout fishing and hunting and pack trips, and camping parties outfitted by the ranch.
Rumsey divorced his wife, Anna, in 1927 and she continued to run Blackwater Camp as a dude operation with her daughter, Betty Perkins; with accommodations for up to 40 guests. In 1930 poor health caused Anna to sell the ranch to Tex Wisdom, who came to the area as an enlisted soldier in Yellowstone Park.
In August 1937, the Blackwater Fire broke out in Shoshone National Forest, started by a lightning strike. Fifteen firefighters lost their lives in the forest fire, which quickly spread into the dense forest with changing winds. The fire consumed 1700 acres and injured another 38 firefighters. Most of the firefighters were Civilian Conservation Corps employees led by U.S. Forest Service fire managers.
Nearby the ranch, along the Cody-Yellowstone Highway at the mouth of Blackwater Creek is a large stone-cut monument constructed by the Forest Service and Civilian Conservation Corps to memorialize the men who died in the Blackwater Fire. There are also CCC-constructed memorials at the two sites where firefighters lost their lives within the National Forest, that are accessible by horseback or hiking from the ranch.
The ranch’s historic cabins were constructed between 1915 and into the 1950s. In the 1930s through the 1950s, the ranch was operated as Blackwater Lodge offering lodging and dining, guided hunting and fishing, pack trips, and a horse for the duration of the guest’s visit, much like the early days.
Today, the dude ranching tradition continues as Blackwater Creek Lodge & Guest Ranch hosts guests from all over the world to experience its corner of Yellowstone Country and the Shoshone National Forest. After its purchase by Ranch Preservation in 2024, the ranch is a part of the True Ranch Collection, a selection of historic dude ranches across the West.
Blackwater Lodge was the ranch's name in the mid-century.
The original lodge at Blackwater Camp, which was unfortunately destroyed in a fire.
A "pet" bear at Blackwater Camp.
Ranch lodging as pictured in a 1930s-era brochure.
Blackwater Lodge covered in snow in the 1930s.
The Wrangler cabin at Blackwater Creek, one of the only cabins with a fireplace.
The interior dining room in the original lodge, circa 1930s.
Some of the guest cabins at Blackwater Creek, circa 1930s.
A postcard of the ranch from the 1950s.
The Blackwater Fire Memorial in Shoshone National Forest.