Spear-O-Wigwam

Discover true solitude at this historic lodge in the Bighorn Mountains with all-inclusive cabin stays, pack trips, cabin rentals and activities.

The ranch is located just one half mile inside the Johnson County line near where Cross Creek joins the east fork of Big Goose Creek at the head of Park Reservoir. The 17-acre ranch is at an elevation of 8,300 feet, not far from the summit of the Bighorn range. The Cloud Peak Wilderness boundary is two miles south of the ranch.

As a guest ranch Spear-O-Wigwam had a strong recreational focus centered on outfitting, lodging, and meals. The enduring appeal of the ranch lay in the chance to find renewal in nature.

That appeal was what attracted Ernest Hemingway to the ranch for a few weeks in 1928. In a cabin at Spear-O-Wigwam, Hemingway found the combination of cool mountain air and the quiet he needed to put his thoughts to paper. Many of his writings feature fishing and the outdoors as central joys in his life. At Spear-O-Wigwam, he could wake up in the morning, walk over to the council lodge and have a big breakfast of steak and four eggs. Those who shared the table with him said he reached for what he wanted without asking, and that he swore unapologetically. He then retreated to his cabin to concentrate on his writing until afternoon. After lunch he would venture out with his wife Pauline to fish for trout in the many mountain lakes, a pastime that afforded plenty of time for inspiration to surface. Hemingway was able to complete the first draft of A Farewell to Arms in a few weeks at Spear-O-Wigwam. The semi-autobiographical novel was serialized in Scribner’s the following summer from May to October 1929, bringing Hemingway international acclaim as the Great Depression began.

Spear-O-Wigwam is open seasonally from June 15 to September 19.