Product Description

In 1931, in the teeth of the Great Depression, the Nevada legislature made a daring move and created two legalized industries: gambling and the six week divorce. By the 1940s, I m going to Reno! was synonymous with divorce and divorce seekers came running by the thousands. If you had the money and the need for privacy, you came to one of the dude ranches where the clientele was upscale.

Former dude wrangler Bill McGee may have written the ultimate kiss-and-tell in THE DIVORCE SEEKERS: A PHOTO MEMOIR OF A NEVADA DUDE WRANGLER. This is a firsthand account by someone who saw the epic era of the six week Reno divorce. McGee had a front row seat during his years in the 1940s working on the Flying M E, an exclusive dude ranch twenty miles south of Reno that catered to wealthy Easterners with names like Astor, du Pont and Roosevelt, and Hollywood celebrities like Gable, Gardner and Hayworth.

Part I, Cowboyin Memoirs. Follows the author from his post-war days at Montana State on the G. I. Bill, to cowboyin in Wyoming s Yellowstone National Park, to the chance conversation in Reno s Round Up Bar which landed him the coveted job as head dude wrangler on the Flying M E.

Part II, The Famous Flying M E Ranch and the Changing Cast of Characters. Stories about the ranch guests, how they passed their six weeks, their favorite watering holes and sightseeing places, and why some of them never returned to the East to live.

Part III, Getting Untied. An overview of Nevada s migratory divorce business, how the legislated businesses of divorce and gambling helped Nevada through the Great Depression, and how Nevada s lenient divorce law led the way for uncontested divorces in other states.

Part IV, Other Leading Nevada Dude-Divorce Ranches, Circa 1930-1960. Profiles the TH Ranch (Nevada s first dude ranch), the other leading Nevada dude-divorce ranches of the era, plus a brief history of the origins of dude ranching in the West.

More than 500 black-and-white photographs (most from private collections and never before published), give the reader an up-close glimpse into life on an exclusive dude ranch.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1292282 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 444 pages

Review
"One of the most remarkable cultural times in the American West." --Andria Daley, Nevada Historic Preservation

Nevada Magazine, March/April 2004
"McGee spins funny and fact-filled tales...The excellent photos, like the words, capture the rustic glamor of that bygone era."

The Nevada Travel Network Trip Reports, March 2004
Bill's recall is phenomenal. The people he brings to life with his warm, detailed prose are icons of another age.

Customer Reviews

View a clip from WELCOME TO RENO: AMERICA'S DIVORCE RESORT
New from 20th Century Fox - View a clip from the special feature WELCOME TO RENO: AMERICA'S DIVORCE RESORT. Visit www.bmcpublications.com and click on CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO.

Then check out THE CHARLIE CHAN COLLECTION, VOL. 4 Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 4 (Charlie Chan in Honolulu / Charlie Chan in Reno / Charlie Chan at Treasure Island / City in Darkness) (4DVD)

I'm honored to appear in two special features, WELCOME TO RENO: AMERICA'S DIVORCE RESORT and RENO MEMORIES, the latter about my years in the 1940s as a dude wrangler on the Flying M E, an exclusive dude ranch outside of Reno catering to wealthy divorce seekers.

The producers wanted someone who could give a firsthand account of life in Reno during the 1930s and `40s, the heyday of the Reno six week divorce when Reno was known as the Divorce Capital of the World. They found me through my book, THE DIVORCE SEEKERS, a chronicle of my years on the Flying M E.

CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO is set at a swank Reno hotel catering to divorce seekers (inspired by Reno's famous Riverside Hotel). However, the similarity in character types rings true. As the movie opens, the woman, on her way to Reno (the Mary Whitman character), could have been any number of divorce seekers who came to the ranch. She looks the part, believe me. The dialogue for the Cab Driver is pretty authentic, too.

CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO may be the perfect Reno divorce movie!

The Romantic Old West- a True Story
Bill and Sandra McGee have authored a fascinating account of an almost forgotten era of the Old West. The old days of the romantic Nevada dude ranch unfold in a format reminiscent of "The Love Boat". Told through the eyes of real life cowboy, Bill McGee, we see east coast patrons come and go through the gates of the famous Flying M E Guest ranch. The dude guests are mostly women arrived to establish a six (6) week residency before securing a quickie divorce. And while lounging at the Flying M E, who could blame a girl for romancing a handsome cowboy? The wonderful photographs alone make this coffee table book well worth its purchase. Fans of the old west should seriously consider adding this fine book to their collection.

A Colorful Romantic Look at a Bygone Nevada Era
The McGees have pulled together a remarkable historic and pictoral event in Nevada history. Nevada's easy divorce laws attracted the rich and famous to well known Divorce Ranches, complete with horses and swimming pools. Bill McGee was a wrangler at one of the better known "ranches". McGee introduced divorcees to horses and the spectacular Sierra Nevada Mountains. As the daughter of a former owner of one of the nearby smaller divorce sites (we didn't offer horses or a pool), I was impressed with the results of the McGee's research. Many of the photos have not been produced before; they interviewed many of the ranch's former "guests" and provided information not available earlier. This book is truly a collector's item. The Divorce Ranch years brought many new residents from the East who subsequently enriched northern Nevada's cultural community. Before the McGee's this Nevada saga was largely overlooked.