In 1897 Andrew Prude purchased three sections of land located not far from Fort Davis establishing the A. G. Prude Ranch. Soon he and his wife Ora moved into a small log cabin on their new property. In 1900 Andrew completed a wooden frame house for his family and in 1902 added 1257 acres to the ranch. In 1911 Andrew built a two story ranch house made of adobe bricks cast in a nearby stock tank. They called it the "Big House". By 1920 Prude expanded his ranch to some forty sections of land which comprised a considerable amount of Jeff Davis County.

In 1921 the Prude Ranch started a guest ranch to share the beauty of the land and cool summer weather of the Davis Mountains with city dwellers from across Texas. Early guests arrived on the Southern Pacific Railroad at Alpine and made their way to the ranch by various means. When a terrible drought and the Great Depression of the 1930's forced Andrew Prude to sell his cattle and most of his land, the Prude family decided to operate the guest ranch full time. Soon a new highway near the ranch came into existence and more and more guests began to show up. New guest houses were built as well as a coaching school. The dude ranch program was expanded to include summer camps for boys and girls and various educational programs. The facilities have expanded over the years to accommodate a wide variety of activities. Prude ranch is well known across Texas as a popular tourist destination and continues into the second century of operation.

How the ranch came into existence and continues to operate today after all these years is a fascinating story of determination and survival. Historian Glenn Justice used many primary sources and oral interviews to tell the story of this now famous Texas ranch.

Cattle and Dudes: A Family History of the Prude Ranch 1897-1997 is now available on Amazon as an E-book. For more information or to order go to: http://www.amazon.com/Cattle-Dudes-Fami ... le%26dudes

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