What exactly does the word “dude” mean? As a term adopted by the California surfer culture, “dude” certainly took on a significant amount of baggage in the late 20th century. But historically, “dude” has actually always meant a city dweller unfamiliar with life on the range, the range meaning the vast, rolling prairies of rural cattle country. The Dixie Dude Ranch, located outside the Hill Country community of Bandera, has been operating as a guest ranch for “dudes” since 1937 and a working cattle ranch for over one hundred years. Today, “dudes” will find the ranch amenities far more comfortable than bedrolls on bare ground and ten cent baths (what real cowboys of the late 19th century were accustomed to). The Dixie offers fine dining, modern accommodations, and a swimming pool and spa alongside the more traditional dude ranch activities like horseback riding and chuck wagon meals. The ranch, a standard working stock ranch founded in 1901 by William Wallace Whitley, continues its traditions and although the accommodations and conveniences reflect the modern age, a horse is still a horse (of course).