Texas Ranch House
Encyclopedia
Texas Ranch House is an PBS
American
reality television
series that premiered in May 2006. Produced by Thirteen/WNET New York
, Wall to Wall Media Limited, and PBS, the show placed fifteen modern day people in the context of 1867 Texas
. Show participants attempted to run a ranch for two and a-half months using 19th century tools and techniques.
The historian
Alwyn Barr
, professor emeritus at Texas Tech University
in Lubbock
, was the consultant on the program.
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series that premiered in May 2006. Produced by Thirteen/WNET New York
WNET
WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...
, Wall to Wall Media Limited, and PBS, the show placed fifteen modern day people in the context of 1867 Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Show participants attempted to run a ranch for two and a-half months using 19th century tools and techniques.
The historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Alwyn Barr
Alwyn Barr
Chester Alwyn Barr is an American historian who specializes in African American studies, the American South, the American Civil War, and Reconstruction. He is a professor emeritus and former history department chairman at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.-Works:Barr received his Ph.D...
, professor emeritus at Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
in Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
, was the consultant on the program.
Participants
- Robby Cabezuela
- Bill Cooke
- Hannah Cooke
- Lacey Cooke
- Lisa Cooke
- Vienna Cooke
- Johnny Ferguson
- Jared Ficklin
-
- Jared is a descendant of Ben Ficklin, general manager of the original Pony ExpressPony ExpressThe Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
and namesake of the ghost town of Ben Ficklin, TexasBen Ficklin, TexasBen Ficklin , Texas county seat of Tom Green County from 1875 to 1882, was located five miles south of Fort Concho on the east bank of the South Concho River.-History:...
.- Maura Finkelstein
- Anders Heintz
- Stan Johnston
- Ignacio (Nacho) Quiles
- Ian Roberts
- Shaun Terhune
- Rob Wright
- Jared is a descendant of Ben Ficklin, general manager of the original Pony Express
Episodes
- "A Home on the Range" - The series opens with the vaqueros, or cowboys, arriving at their new 1867 living quarters, the bunkhouse, and meeting the ranch family (the Cookes) for the first time. As the vaqueros get acclimated to the taxing manual labor of ranch life, digging postholes and hammering fencing, they meet their foreman, Stan, nicknamed "The Colonel," and begin to understand the difficult tasks ahead of them.
- "The Good, the Bad & the Colonel" - The cowboys travel farther out on the range and slowly begin to gather cows, while back at the ranch, Mrs. Cooke, her three daughters, and family servant Maura begin to understand the drudgery of domestic life. Rising tensions among the group at large lead to various confrontations, including the firing of foreman Stan, but relief comes with a Fourth of July celebration that brings friends and neighbors to the ranch and gives everyone a chance to blow off some steam.
- "The Cookie Crumbles" - The cowboys awake to discover that 10 horses were stolen from the ranch overnight. Although they manage to retrieve five, they're still short five horses—ones that they'll need for the cattle drive. Meals become a focal point of interaction between the vaqueros and the Cookes—first a mysterious stomach ailment brings the ranch to a grinding halt, ranch cook Nacho is fired, and finally, the food shortage reaches a critical point.
- "The Great Divide" - Having only claimed one quarter of the required cattle so far, the viablility of the Cooke Ranch is in question. The vaqueros' bunkhouse welcomes cowboy Shaun as the new cook, and a freighter finally arrives with food and mail. A visit from U.S. Army soldiers delivers promising news for Mr. Cooke—the U.S. Army will be buying cattle in the weeks ahead, providing him with a much-needed buyer. During this episode, Ian receives a letter stating that a close friend had died in a motorcycle accident, and leaves the show as a result.
- "Showdown at the Cooke Corral" - Mr. Cooke delivers a surprising midway assessment of the cowboys' performance, while a new cowhand arrives, throwing another personality into the mix. Mr. Cooke also sends "girl of all work" Maura off to cowboy training, but his revelation that she will be joining the upcoming cattle drive angers the vaqueros.
- "Lords of the Plains" - A run-in with a camp of Comanche Native Americans and the spotting of several stolen horses leads to one vaquero being held captive and negotiations between Mr. Cooke and the Comanche leader. The birth of five baby goats excites the Cooke girls, who find themselves nursing the runt rejected by its mother, while Maura and new foreman Robby come to an agreement about her role as a cowhand.
- "Blazing Trails" - After a final round-up, 131 head are culled from the herd for the big cattle drive, the rest held back to re-stock the ranch. After spending 12 solid hours in the saddle on their first day of the drive, the cowboys' spirits flag at the prospect of eight more days on the trail. Robby and his men have a confrontation with an ornery steer that teaches them just how dangerous cowboy work can be. Back at the ranch, the Cooke women are dealing with a massive fly infestation that is driving them nearly insane.
- "The Reckoning" - It's nearly the end of the drive and Ft. Santiago, the cowboys' destination, is in sight. After nine days on the trail the vaqueros count and deliver their herd to the army, but the buying agent's offer shocks Mr. Cooke. Overall the drive is a success, but tensions finally boil over upon the group's return to the ranch. The episode concludes with the assessment team reviewing the performance of all the participants and answering the ultimate question: would the ranch have survived another year?