Paradise Ranch

Paradise Guest Ranch History

In the late 1890s, Mr. Norman Meldrum drove a herd of cattle from Colorado up to Buffalo, Wyoming, where he had acquired some land. The cattle were wintered near the present Soldier's Home and summered in the upper meadow range of the Big Horns, which was to become Paradise Ranch. Meldrum liked the mountain meadow so well that he proved up on the land and acquired title. He built the original log cabin, which still stands today.

Norman Meldrum’s son, Dr. Gordon Meldrum, returned from the war in the Philippines and decided to settle in Buffalo and establish a practice. Gordon Meldrum was enchanted with the cabin in the mountains and encouraged friends to visit him there. It was these visitors who eventually called the meadow "paradise." The name stuck and eventually became the name of the ranch. Shortly after Dr. Meldrum married Mabel Lee in 1903, they added a few more cabins to accommodate their friends. Soon, they began hosting paying guests and the infant dude ranch was on its way.

Paradise Ranch has hosted many folks from around the globe, including Owen Wister, who wrote a portion of "The Virginian" while a guest; and Aldo Leopold, a writer and guest, wrote this about Paradise Ranch in A Sand County Almanac: "Finally, there was Paradise Ranch, an obvious platitude when read from a map, but something quite different when you arrived there at the end of a hard ride. It lay tucked away on the far side of a high peak,as any proper Paradise should. Through it's verdant meadows meandered a singing trout stream. A horse left for a month on this meadow, waxed so fat that rain-water gathered in a pool on his back. After my first visit to Paradise Ranch I remarked to myself, what else could you call it."

The official date for the beginning is about 1907.

Paradise Guest Ranch is presently owned by Clay and Leah Miller and their partners, Kevin and Rebecca McMahon from Colorado. With Clay and Leah as the on-site managers, they are committed to operating the ranch in fine western tradition by offering guests warm attentive hospitality, rustic elegance and exciting outdoor adventure.

A little about the individuals:

Leah Miller: This will be her 25th year with Paradise! Leah handles most of the behind-the- scenes work that keeps the ranch running so smoothly. She is in charge of the kitchen, waitstaff, kid's program, housekeeping, and general, (along with being a wife and mother in her spare time!). The ranch dogs / mascots Deana and Jake belong to Leah and Clay.

Clay Miller: This will be Clay's 15th year at Paradise. He has been in tourism since college days and loves being a part of the original form of Wyoming hospitality....Dude Ranching! In the winter he spends his time marketing Paradise and is the current president of the Dude Rancher's Association as well as past Chairman of The Wyoming Tourism Board. Summer's are pretty well spoken for as he is involved with the Barn, the Fishing Program, the French Creek Saloon as well as nightly entertainment.

Kevin and Rebecca McMahon: These fine western folks hail from Boulder Colorado and are Clay and Leah's Partners. The ranch is their sanctuary and they they know alot about it's history not to mention some great stories!

Cade Anderson: After a year working and playing in Australia, Cade, our oldest son is now back at Paradise as our bartender and resident custom bootmaker. Cade was riding literally before he could walk and grew up around ranch guests. Now he has a chance to use what he learned in Australia with our brand of Paradise FUN!

Travis Anderson: Wrangler. Clay and Leah's younger son, Travis grew up on and around the ranch and knows this area well. Travis works at the barn most recently as Corral Boss and trains horses in Colorado during the Winter. Travis enjoys various outdoor activities, literature, and music. He plays a mean saxophone!

This will be her 34th year with Paradise! Leah handles most of the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the ranch running so smoothly. She is in charge of the kitchen, waitstaff, kid's program, housekeeping, and general, (along with being a wife and mother in her spare time!).

This will be Clay's 20th year at Paradise. Summers are pretty well spoken for as he is involved with the Barn, the Fishing Program, the French Creek Saloon as well as nightly entertainment. In the winter he spends his time doing marketing work for the ranch and is a past President of the Dude Rancher's Association as well as a past Chairman of The Wyoming Tourism Board

Recycling - The ranch recycles all plastic, cardboard and glass.

Independent Water System - Our water is collected from the Big Horn Mountains by a sophisitcated filtration system