What does Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Yves Saint Laurent, Richard Boone & Stanley Marcus all have in common? They all have a first hand experience with this famous Texas Ranch.
Josey Ranch is an area that was originally purchased in 1935 by “Colonel” C.W Josey, owner of Rancho Oil Co. He bought 70 acres at first that quickly grew to 1,000 as he bought out the land around him. Their house on the property was built in 1939. During the construction of their home, Josey stayed in the historical Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. In the 40’s and 50’s, The Josey’s hosted an annual free Fourth of July Festival. The festival included an infamous rodeo with 10,000 to 70,000 people in attendance. Visitors came from all over the world to see a real, working Dallas ranch. They awarded thousands of prizes and the event was featured in a 1949 issue of Life Magazine, among others. The lake in the park is the result of a quarry supplying clay to one of Carrollton’s two brick factories. Besides the festival every year, the land was used to raise Josey’s 150 longhorns and 40 buffalo that were eventually sold for use in the John Wayne movie “The Alamo”.
Josey Ranch was the inspiration and first choice as the set for a late 1950s Western show called, “Have Gun, Will Travel”.
Have Gun – Will Travel was a popular series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons.
Set in the period of the Old West, the series follows the adventures of “Paladin,” played by Richard Boone, a gentleman investigator/gunfighter who travels around the Old West working as a gunfighter for hire. Although Paladin charges steep fees to clients who can afford to hire him, typically $1,000 per job, he provides his services for free to poor people who need his help.
9/5/58-DALLAS Morning News: Yves-Mathieu Saint Laurent, 22-year-old master of the House of Dior, got a taste of Texas tradition on his first trip to the US. Saint Laurent, in Dallas to receive an award from Neiman-Marcus, stopped off at a cattle ranch near here before departing for France and was presented a Texas-style hat and introduced to a real “Texas Longhorn” steer.
Even if you had no idea who the man with the glasses was, this would be an attention-grabber of a photo. But if you do happen to recognize the man as international fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent, then it’s even more of an attention-grabber. Yes, that is 22-year-old Yves Saint Laurent, head of the legendary House of Dior.
…In a pasture with a longhorn steer.
…Wearing a Stetson (or something Stetson-like).
..In Carrollton, Texas! What could be more unexpectedly perfect?
Even if you had no idea who the man with the glasses was, this would be an attention-grabber of a photo. But if you do happen to recognize the man as international fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent, then it’s even more of an attention-grabber. Yes, that is 22-year-old Yves Saint Laurent, head of the legendary House of Dior.
…In a pasture with a longhorn steer.
…Wearing a Stetson (or something Stetson-like).
..In Carrollton, Texas! What could be more unexpectedly perfect?
The ranch grew, sprawling over 1,000 acres, as Josey sons Clinton W. (C.W.) and Don W. (D.W.) became co-owners.
Cowboys worked a herd of Texas Longhorns while about 40 buffalo roamed, adding a frontier-feel to Josey Rancho. As for W.C., C. W., D. W. and Kate, local on-lookers say they were having a ball.
Party Time!
Josey Rancho was the scene of a whole mess of Texas-style extravagant parties and events as family friends and clients were entertained. One Halloween party in the 40’s, for example, featured bear and antelope the Josey sons bagged on a hunting trip.
The barbeque pits were kept going for 11 hours, cooking 450 pounds of meat for 200 guests. An orchestra played for after-dinner dancing.
It spotlighted bareback bronc riding, calf roping, bulldogging, bull riding and a girls’ barrel race in an old-west spectacle that eventually drew cowboys from as far away as northern California and southern Mexico to compete for big, cash prizes. The Josey family picked up the whole tab, estimated to run around $10,000 for a one-day event. It drew an army of local enthusiasts, who clogged dusty roads to reach the gates of Josey Rancho on a blistering-hot July 4th in Texas. Others rodeo-goers flew in from as far away as California, New York, Washington D.C. and Florida, landing their planes right on the ranch.
C.W.’s surviving son, Clinton Wiley Josey, Jr. remembers those exciting times, now around 60-years in the rearview mirror. He said there was talk in rodeo circles back then of trying to get the Josey family to start charging admission to get more money on the table.
“It outgrew itself,” said Josey. “The Rodeo Cowboys Association wanted to add more money to really turn it into a professional rodeo.
“But, Dad and Don were really doing it as a service to the community,” he said. “They didn’t want to add more money into the rodeo. So they quit it.”
Josey says he spent summers on the ranch as a small boy and, as he grew into a young man, learned to rope calves and steers rodeo-style. He says he has fond memories of the events at Josey Rancho and expresses respect for the man who started it and those who carried it on.
“He was quite a guy; an ideal Texan,” said Josey about his grandfather. “He was honest, tall and everything I associated with Texas.”
Josey says his father was also quite a guy who was both businessman and cowboy. He took over the reins of the oil company but still found time to rope calves on the ranch until he was 78-years old. He passed away at 79.
“He was smart,” said Josey. “He went to Wharton school of finance, but you’d never know it if you saw him out there in his levi’s and boots. He was well educated and ran a pretty good oil company.”
Local reports portrayed Don W. Josey as a jet-setting party boy who sported custom-made cowboy shirts and slacks tucked into flashy boots. Friends were quoted as saying he was a big-spender and big-tipper who wasn’t stupid, but just had a lot of fun with his money. C.W. Josey, Jr. confirms some of that portrayal.
“He was sort of a party boy,” said Josey. “Don was alright. But, he didn’t run the business or anything like that.”
Don Josey was in his late 90’s when he passed away in 1997.
Kate, Mrs. W. C. Josey, mother of C. W. and D. W., passed away at the ranch after a brief illness in 1953. A local report stated she was the daughter of a prominent early Texas judge in Huntsville. Mrs. Josey was a member of the Dallas Woman’s Club, the article said.
C. W. Josey, Jr. says his whole family cared greatly for the community.
“They all felt very strongly about Carrollton,” said Josey. “W.C. particularly. He lived there on the ranch totally and he considered Carrollton home.”
The Josey family were larger than life, so much so, that the 1976 western movie staring the GREAT Clint Eastwood, was partially inspired by Don Josey himself. The main character in the Clint Eastwood movie, “Josey Wales,” is said to have been named after Don Josey. Its’ author, Forrest Carter, as an American Indian orphan, was befriended by the Josey family and lived for a while at the Rancho.
Regarding this letter: Both the Texas State Historical Association and the Encyclopedia of Alabama, along with a few other sources found, list this as Asa Carter’s full pseudonym, which he took on after moving to Abilene, Texas, though he published simply under the name Forest Carter. Further research showed the ranch referenced in the letter to be the Josey Ranch in Carrollton, Texas, and that Carter had befriended the Joseys and had indeed stayed at their ranch for a time.
Clint Eastwood’s film version is not only one of the last great westerns, but also served as an important insight into the evolution of the portrayal of the Old West. Clint Eastwood directs himself in this portrayal of an ex-Confederate soldier who returns home after the war to find his family murdered by a group of Unionists. Refusing to surrender, he sets off on a path of lethal revenge against his former commander.
To purchase items that are Carrollton, Texas related, please visit the CarrolltonYall store in Etsy.
Carrollton officials, including then, Mayor Steenson, met in December of 1977 with Col. Josey to purchase a portion of Josey Rancho to be used as a sports complex and expand on the Thomas Park area. The park officially opened on April 22, 1989 and now consists of 100 acres. 50 of those acres make up the Josey Ranch Sports Complex. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Grant supported this project with $700,000 of the $3,800,000 project total.
Today, the original ranch house and foreman quarters were purchased by the city of Carrollton. Local developer, Joel Roebuck bought part of the land in 1984 and began development in 1987. The Savoy of Josey Ranch is a community of over 500 single-family homes that beautifully overlook the original site of Texas estate.
The tradition of the 4th of July on the beautiful ranch continues today. The City Carrollton continues to make beautiful memories on this spot.
