Dude Ranches
There may be no more authentic cowboy experience available to the average city slicker than what can be found at a dude ranch. There are at least a half-dozen dude ranches in Tucson and several more near the city, so visitors can happily don cowboy boots and hats here and ride on into the sunset.
“We have several guest ranches in town as well as working ranches where groups can go and participate in things like hayrides and a cattle drive, or see roping demonstrations, hear a cowboy band and learn Western dancing,” said Hamlett. “It can range from just doing a one-evening event like a trail ride followed by a cowboy cookout and then spending the night and heading on their way to doing a full three- to four-night stay.”
Melissa Meridew is head wrangler for the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, an adobe ranch that sits in a beautiful desert spot with a grove of cottonwood trees, cacti, corrals and a little man-made lake stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill.
“Most any city slickers who come in can handle our horseback rides,” said Meridew. “A lot of guests love being able to ride up a steeper, rockier path on horseback that they couldn’t manage on foot.”
Rodeo
No self-respecting city claiming cowboy bona fides is without a rodeo. Tucson is no exception, and the city also has a museum dedicated to its rodeo and to historic Western culture in Tucson.
In addition to some 150 horse-drawn vehicles at the Tucson Rodeo Parade Museum, there is also a re-created Tucson Main Street, circa 1900, with storefronts for a saloon, a jail, a barbershop, a blacksmith shop and more, each filled with historic artifacts. All are housed in a large metal building that once served as an airport hangar.
Tour operators should note that the museum is closed for renovations until January 2016, although before then, it can be readied for visitation for groups of 10 or more with a week’s notice.
Every February, the Tucson Rodeo brings hundreds of competitors to show off their skill and more than 1,000 horses for the nine-day, late-February extravaganza.
“Our rodeo and the events associated with it, called La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros, turned 90 this year,” Hamlett said. “It’s the last week in February, and the Tucson Rodeo Parade associated with it is the world’s longest nonmotorized parade. Everything in the parade is either horse-drawn or horseback.”
Tucson in Film
Old Tucson has been the site of more than 300 film and television projects over more than 75 years. It all started in 1939 with the film “Arizona,” starring William Holden and Jean Arthur. Here is a sampling of the iconic Westerns shot in Old Tucson and their respective stars.
1947 “The Last Roundup” Gene Autry
1950 “Winchester ’73” Jimmy Stewart
1956 “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas
1959 “Rio Bravo” John Wayne
1966 “Hombre” Paul Newman
1970 “Dirty Dingus Magee” Frank Sinatra
1976 “Outlaw Josey Wales” Clint Eastwood
1993 “Tombstone” Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer
1994 “The Quick and the Dead” Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio
Numerous made-for-television movies have also been filmed at Old Tucson and many television series have shot scenes here as well, including, from the early days, “Bonanza,” “High Chaparral” and “Death Valley Days,” and later, “Gunsmoke,” “The Mark of Zorro” and “Little House on the Prairie.”
For more information go to www.visittucson.org
