Buffalo Bill, Dee Woolley, and the North Rim Ranches

 by Ed Grumbine, Lands Director

In 1892, Buffalo Bill and an entourage of English noblemen spent a memorable night at Kane Ranch headquarters, hosted by ranch owner Edwin Dilworth “Dee” Woolley. Gazing today at the photograph that captured this visit, you can see clearly that Buffalo Bill and company, leaning casually against the front yard hitching post, had tons of insouciant attitude to spare, while Dee Woolley stands stiffly upright off to the side in the presence of this international crew. After the trip, Buffalo Bill opted out of future plans to bring visitors to this remote region. But Dee Woolley became famous for his unsurpassed entrepreneurial vision to boost the lands of the north rim of the Grand Canyon into national prominence through the development of a new tourism economy.

Fast-forward 123 years

As manager of the North Rim Ranches for the Grand Canyon Trust, I am standing by that same fence in front of the restored Kane Ranch house, shaking hands with Dave Holmstrom, great-grandson of Dee Woolley and organizer of a family reunion and celebration of the life of their colorful ancestor.

The Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park had hosted the family the previous day, when the park dedicated a memorial plaque to Dee Woolley. After all, Woolley almost singlehandedly put the North Rim on visitors’ maps—he built the first trail for tourists down from the North Rim to the Colorado River. He constructed the first cable car crossing of the river that connected the wild North Rim to Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. And in 1909, five years before the existence of an engineered route, Woolley rode in the first automobile that reached the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

But I believe the most noteworthy event in the life of Dee Woolley was unrelated to his penchant for singing the praises of the Kaibab Plateau country. What makes Woolley’s life unique also links his life to my job today—Dee Woolley ran cattle on the Kane Ranch, and so does the Trust. The outstanding difference is that Woolley came to the North Rim country before cows were grazed commercially. He participated in the great upsurge in livestock numbers that, in many places, reduced the rangelands to stubble. And, he passed away on the cusp of the first federal efforts to manage the land so that overgrazing at this scale would never happen again.

Dee Woolley was witness to the beginning and end of an era. Now, in a new era of climate change, the Trust is learning from the land about the limits on grazing.

All these thoughts passed through my mind as I welcomed the Woolley clan to Kane just a few weeks ago. What reception would I receive from folks with cattle ranching in their bones and blood? I have hardly ever ridden a horse, let alone buckarooed cattle. This family owned Kane for just shy of a 100 years; the Trust has held grazing permits here for only a decade. But the pull of this land is strong. And ties that bind are not strictly dependent on how long one family or environmental group has been responsible for taking care of this special place.

I welcomed the Woolleys to Kane by sharing with them how much I appreciated the future–forward vision of Dee Woolley, a vision that compelled him to share the beauty of the land with others, even though he never benefitted much from these efforts. I also told stories about my work at Kane and wondered aloud about how its beauty captures people, whether they are members of an extended Mormon family or participants in a Trust-sponsored grasslands restoration team.

And I was moved by the warm response I received. Family members shared reminiscences of hunting rattlesnakes, searching for stray cattle and sleeping under the stars, and they inquired about how they can help the Trust carry its work into this uncertain century of change. I even have a mailing list full of Woolleys who want to keep abreast of the Trust’s work on the North Rim. 

Legacy on the landscape

Buffalo Bill toured the North Rim region, saw no financial prospects and left, leaving little trace other than a grainy black-and-white photo. Dee Woolley lived in this dry country for about 40 years; following the customs of the times, he sometimes ran too many cattle for the land to handle. He also searched for innovative ways to bring new business to the region. Yet, within his lifetime, Woolley’s vision of getting more people to visit this country never bore fruit.

Dee Woolley’s descendants operated Kane under the game-changing rules of new federal grazing policy, and when they sold out in the 1970s, family members moved into other lines of work. The Trust manages Kane today bearing the burden of history; Buffalo Bill is gone, but the Woolley family lives on and continues to support our work and goal to do better by the land into the future.

Learn more about our research projects on the North Rim Ranches ›