Where the dude is king

Wild West Wickenburg revels in its gritty past and glamorous present

* Up in the rawboned desert hills above Wickenburg, Arizona, a crisp breeze is rattling the Vulture Mine's "hanging tree," providing respite from a ghostly silence. The ironwood's branches are thick with growth. Legends say that beneath this green canopy, 18 men met their maker, day-laborers dispatched for pocketing gold from Henry Wickenburg's fabulous claim.

Scattered across the dirt are the Vulture Mine's remnants: rusted equipment, tumbledown shacks, bunkhouses, corked whiskey bottles, and cracked furniture. The glory hole pierces a nearby hillside, leading to early Arizona's greatest seam of gold.

Like so many Western enterprises, this one finally turned to dust. But history loves irony: Even as his dream floundered, Henry Wickenburg's settlement was brushing misfortune from its boots. In short order, the town learned that gold ore was not its only treasure: Desert scenery and Western history were also resources that easily lured affluent visitors.

There is nothing quite like Wickenburg anywhere else in the West. Prosperous and gritty in equal shares, the self-styled "guest ranch capital of the world" 60 miles northwest of Phoenix now boasts an opulent resort and weathered hideaways, charming local hangouts along with outposts of nouvelle cuisine, all hinging on the Vulture's enduring mystique.

Classic Conestogas and cowboy Cadillacs

At the Kay El Bar Guest Ranch, owners Nancy and John Loftis describe how the lodge was built of adobe from nearby hills. That was in 1926, near the start of the dude ranch boom in Arizona.

Today the Kay El Bar maintains traditions honed by nearly 75 years of hospitality Sheltered by cedars, the quiet ranch accedes to latter-day luxuries like a swimming pool and hot tub. But it also embraces simpler times in comfortable rooms with handmade cowboy-print curtains and 1930s Monterey furniture. Then there's the stable of fine horses, and the rustic lodge itself, where John presides over cocktail hour. "We even offer good, down-to-earth wines," he says. "We let other ranches serve the high-priced French models."

If Kay El Bar is the Conestoga wagon of guest ranches--an authentic classic--Rancho de los Caballeros is a cowboy's Cadillac: the Old West gussied up with considerable glamour. Stretching along a championship golf course, Rancho de los Caballeros exemplifies Wickenburg's high-end lodging with tastefully appointed casitas and a huge pool. But there's still enough horseflesh around to lend a frontier flavor.

In the 1940s and '50s, the ranch hosted such show business luminaries as Gary Grant and Hopalong Cassidy. Today young greenhorns circle an elegant billiards table in the lodge as sunlight pours in through enormous windows. An older guest plops down in a Spanish-style chair, reaching for a copy of The Wall Street Journal. From outside comes the steady thwacking of tennis balls.

Hollywood still makes its mark on Wickenburg, notably at Merv Griffin's Wickenburg Inn and Dude Ranch. Like Rancho de los Caballeros, this is a highly sybaritic getaway, a 4,700-acre spread that boasts dusty cattle drives and deluxe casitas.

Where the river flows upside down

The guest ranches are by no means Wickenburg's only attractions. Back in town, diners fill the Homestead Restaurant, which offers excellent American fare and early-20th-century surroundings. After lunch, visitors stroll through downtown, most paying particular attention to the old Jail Tree: Lacking a proper hoosegow, the town chained bandits to its enormous trunk. But perhaps the standout stop is the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, where charming dioramas chart the march of Wickenburg's history, alongside saddles and ranching artifacts in the Hays Spirit of the Cowboy Collection. The museum also boasts several works of art by Western masters Frederic Remington and Charles Russell.

Not too far away, you can pay homage to another force that shaped Wickenburg: the Hassayampa River. A wishing well on the banks of the dry riverbed recalls the legend that "those who drink its waters bright ... girls or women, boys or men, never tell the truth again."

Truth is, Apaches called Hassayampa "the river that runs upside down" since it flows primarily underground. But downstream at the Nature Conservancy's Hassayampa Preserve, the river waters emerge among hiking trails, providing a lush habitat for some 230 species of birds and other wildlife.

Finally, don't leave town without paying respects to the man who started Wickenburg-old Henry Wickenburg himself, who staked his claim here in 1863. His dusty old Vulture Mine, almost in the shadows of gleaming Rancho de los Caballeros, ranks among the best-preserved remnants of Arizona's mining heritage.

According to one of many legends, Wickenburg named the Vulture Mine after the buzzards circling over his head as he struck pay dirt. The story may or may not be true; what is certain is that the Vulture produced a phenomenal amount of wealth. By 1864, it was pumping out $700 in gold daily--a considerable sum then--and its riches helped fund the Union Army's fight in the Civil War. By 1869, it was responsible for nearly half the Arizona Territory's entire gold production, prompting Governor Richard McCormick to label it the "Comstock of Arizona." Henry Wickenburg subsequently rose to prominence as the territory's assemblyman.