Most family businesses have to wait for ages for just a single big anniversary. At White Stallion Ranch, 2025 brought three milestones: 125 years since the land was tamed for cattle, 80 years since it morphed into a rustic guest house and six decades since the True family took the reins of this iconic Arizona resort and turned it into a real dude ranch.
It was a wonderful time for TV and movie westerns, and dude ranches were popping up all over. In 1965, Jane Fonda’s Cat Ballou graced the big screen, and across America families gathered in their living rooms on Sunday nights to watch “Bonanza,” which centered on the Cartwright family’s life in the 1860s on their ranch, the Ponderosa. Meanwhile, out in the Sonoran desert, not far from Tucson, and close by Saguaro National Park, the Trues were upgrading their own 200-acre piece of paradise for city slickers and wannabe cowpokes. Allen and Cynthia True — and their boys Russell, then five years old, and Michael, still in the crib — had meandered down south from Colorado to build a real family business.
“Currently there is only the second generation of our family working on the ranch,” says Russell True. “That is my brother Michael and me, along with our wives. Recently, my older son Steven left the ranch and moved to England, which is where his wife is from, and now works in an artisan bakery in Stroud.”
Russell isn’t worried about family continuity, however. “We do have succession planning in place in all the typical forms with wills and trusts. Though I am the older brother, my wife Laura is much younger and very able to run the ranch. We have a daughter who is six years old. With the absence of my son and daughter-in-law, we have restructured with more layered management, allowing the four of us to step back if that becomes the best option. Though I have no plans to retire, we are set to operate without me and Michael and his wife.”
In addition to 43 spacious private casitas, a larger house accommodating up to 130 overnight guests and a large hacienda with common spaces, White Stallion Ranch also includes meeting rooms both indoors and out that can be set up for small conferences and gatherings. The Longhorn Meeting Room can hold up to 100 guests, and the Desert Pavilion can be configured for small groups or events of more than 75 people. The Trues offer refreshment break options, as well as breakfast, brunch, lunch, a cookout buffet and full dinner menus.
“We have hosted all types of meetings and retreats, including family retreats,” Russell notes. “Last year, we hosted the principals of a family foundation whose grandparents owned the ranch from 1939 to ‘45 and called it Bar CB.” At White Stallion, guests can enjoy horseback riding, fat tire e-bike expeditions, instruction in firearm safety and shooting, rock climbing, hiking, archery, the spa, pool and hot tubs, and evening entertainment, including moonlight bonfires, stargazing with telescopes, a cowboy singalong and other activities. There’s plenty of room for everything as the Trues have slowly built WSR’s holdings to 3,000 acres.
Russell has ambitions beyond the anchor Twin Peaks property, having launched a second business dubbed True Ranch Collection with a non-family partner, Jaye Wells, a few years ago. “We own and operate five dude ranches in addition to White Stallion. My brother had absolutely no interest in owning and operating other properties. As he said, he works too hard now. Jaye and I put together an investor group and are growing a small, difficult business.”
True Ranch Collection, Russell says, has properties in Arizona, Montana and Wyoming. Another effort extends the True approach across the dude ranch industry: “Our historic preservation company Ranch Preservation Holdings, LLC, is committed to maintaining the hospitality and heritage of the western dude ranches in the True Ranch Collection,” he explains. “We aim to preserve the historic tradition of dude ranching, from its celebration of western heritage to its history as an early destination vacation in the United States.” Plans for the two corporate entities include the acquisition of more properties and an expansion into management company services.
Russell’s commitment to excellence, customer experience and value generation has been recognized by his peers and the marketplace alike. “Everything we do is a part of our family business and the legacy we inherited and continue to build,” he notes. He’s an inductee in the Arizona State Tourism and Dude Ranchers’ Association halls of fame. Reflecting an even broader audience, the Family Travel Association honored Russell as its 2019 Person of the Year. His citation highlights his “dedication to creating unique family vacation experiences and his leadership in the family travel industry.”
Back to the big shindig, which marks six decades of operation under the True family name, the WSR team is plotting a 60th Anniversary Celebration Day in mid-November, including, Russell says, “hay wagon rides to breakfast at the cookout where attendees can learn about the evolution of the ranch and the True family.” Also on tap are guided tours of the ranch property, a special lunch with martinis and Jello molds to pay homage to the ranch’s roots, and a dinner celebration under the stars with a surprise film screening including interviews with the family and long-term guests. There are also plans for a 60th Anniversary Nostalgia Package in December which, Russell says, “will invite guests to experience some of the older traditions of the ranch and learn even more about its background.”
For White Stallion Ranch, it’s sure to be a historic season.