COW COUNTRY CAMPUS

BY ALLEN C. REED PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR Just imagine going to school on a real cow ranch in the wide open spaces of Arizona's range country. Think of a 40,000 acre campus with picturesque mesas, rolling grasslands, wooded canyons and cool streams, and your favorite horse as an almost constant companion. Picture a kid's paradise where the thought of playing cowboy need never occur, for in everyday life it is a pleasant reality. Take all this along with real ranch cookin', a wholesome family atmosphere plus well-appointed bunk houses and dormitories and all the modern facilities of an up-to-date big city school, and you have the Quarter Circle V Bar, one of the West's finest ranch schools. Located in the Augua Fria River Valley of central Arizona, it is 12 miles from Mayer and 80 miles north of Phoenix by State Highway 69. The desert and foothill country in central and southern Arizona and neighboring states, with its mild winter climate, provides the ideal settings for ranch-type preparatory schools. A wide variety of them in operation are plannedto fit the individual needs of boys and girls from all over the United States and foreign countries as well. Though many of these popular western institutions are of the ranch type, it is unique to find one woven as closely into the genuine fabric of a full-scale producing cattle spread such as the Quarter Circle V Bar. This most unusual ranch school accepts 35 boys and girls from the first through the twelfth grade who get a first class college preparatory education, reap benefits far above and beyond those that come from books alone and learn to become top hands on the side. Children from east-

THREE COW COUNTRY COLOR STUDIES BY ALLEN C. REED

"RANCH SCHOOL RECESS" Between classes in the modern ranchtype school buildings the students relax in the Arizona sunshine. "ON THE OLD TOP RAIL" Radiant pictures of health, happiness and refreshing charm are these young ranch school cow gals. "GOIN' HOME" Evening shadows stretch silently over the mesa and canyon country of Charles Orme's rangeland paradise as astride his favorite cow pony he rides the range he loves.

Eastern cities who have scarcely ever seen a horse or cow soon become adept at riding, caring for livestock and in carrying out many responsible chores and duties to be found on a big cattle spread. Along with western sports such as riding and calf-roping, stress is placed on other outdoor activities like tennis, volleyball, basketball and swimming. However, in the midst of all the well-rounded, invigorating and interesting ranch life, the prime emphasis is on education. In modern, well-equipped rambling ranch-type buildings, a highly qualified staff of instructors teach an intense curriculum of carefully planned academic subjects as well as woodworking, shop, agriculture, dramatics, homemaking, art and many others. Though this is a private school, the high standards of education are the same as in the Phoenix Public School System and final examinations are given to the ranch students at Phoenix Union High School.

Unless there is some special event or activity, a typical “PEACEFUL PASTURE” BY ALLEN C. REED. How could dairy cows be anything but contented in such a serene setting. The Quarter Circle V Bar Ranch grows and produces in their scientifically controlled fields, gardens and orchards 80% of their own food.

Class time is shorter and bedtime earlier for younger students. Because the ranch is located some distance from a town where there are churches of various denominations, the school holds its own service in the form of a non-sectarian Bible study class for an hour each Sunday evening.

Western sports, athletics, responsibilities, good companionship, excellent food,

The children get a break each spring and fall when the school is closed three days adjacent to a week-end for the five day roundups. During roundup time books are shelved and the students lend a hand from the time the first calf is spooked out of the brush until the last one is branded, inoculated, dehorned, weighed and loaded into the stock trucks for shipment. As are all student activities, the roundup participation is carried out under the watchful observation of seasoned cowhands, instructors and supervisors.

Roundup, undoubtedly, is the most exciting phase of the ranch school life. Enthusiasm runs high. Though on school mornings some students might fail to hear vigorous and loud hammering on the large suspended circular saw blade which serves as the dinner bell as well as for other signal purposes, it takes considerable persuasion to make these exuberant young hands wait until the 4:30 reveille gong is sounded during roundup. They saddle up in the darkness and then have a whopping big ranch-style breakfast to fortify themselves against a hard morning's ride. By sun-up the riders are out scouring the range for white-faced Herefords. Little bands of cattle are pushed out of the hills and draws to form a main herd. With 35 or more riders on the job, the day's territory is usually covered in short order and by noon the main herd is secured in the home corral. The afternoon is devoted to branding, marking and separating the stock to be shipped from those to be retained.

In taking active part in this and other ranch activities, the children learn by doing and gain much valuable insight in all important phases of the cattle business. The only catch in the roundup time off from school is that the school time has to be made up on future Saturdays.

Each Saturday night a dance is held in the main ranch house and the rafters ring with fiddle music and square-dance and social activities along with formal education are all fine youth builders.

dance calls. However, versatility of dancing is encouraged. The varsovienne, schottisches and ball room dancing receive as much attention. Everyone, including the youngest, attends. Poise, good manners and social graces are emphasized although the atmosphere is one of informality.

Because trips to town are a rarity, selected full-length feature films are shown once weekly on the school's sound motion picture projector. Other social gatherings through-out the school year are picnics, steak-fries, school plays, treasure hunts, and short camping trips. The student and instructors living, working and playing in such close and constant association share a warm and personal relationship which helps to make the youngsters' lives happier and fuller. So many of the students have expressed a desire to stay on during the summer vacation that a carefully planned eight weeks summer camp program with the usual Quarter Circle V Bar high ideals has been put into effect, accommodating a group of 25 boys and 25 girls.

This unique, modern school grew unexpectedly from an ordinary cow ranch and the credit for its development from very simple beginnings belongs to its owners, the Orme family. It all started when Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Orme, both Stanford graduates who were operating a small farm in the Salt River Valley near Phoenix, bought the Quarter Circle V Bar spread in 1929 to fulfill a longing for a ranch as an ideal place to raise their three small children, Charlie, Jr., Mort and Kathryn. When they moved to the ranch they were faced with an educational problem. School facilities for their children and their foreman's children were twelve miles away in Mayer. There were little more than cow trails in the wild rangeland between the ranch and Mayer so another system had to be devised. The only answer was to employ their own teacher, which they did. Stanford classmates of the Ormes, hearing of their school, asked to be allowed to send their children also, so the Quarter Circle V Bar became a school as well as a ranch. A combination ideal

for the educational, physical and social development of growing children.

The Ormes feel that their experience with their own children proves the value of this type of training program for others. Their sons, Charlie and Mort and their daughter Kathryn attended the ranch school, continued studies at Phoenix, where without exception, they graduated with the highest honors in their class and then went on to have outstanding careers at Stanford. Charlie and Mort, with their wives, are now closely identified with the Quarter Circle V Bar as school and ranch executives and teachers.

It is the profound belief of the directors of the school that the most desirable and rational way of rearing children is under the co-educational system. On the Quarter Circle V Bar, this system, from the beginning, has continued with marked success. The underlying philosophy of the Quarter Circle V Bar ranch school is an emphasis on the dignity of work and the acceptance of responsibility. Each and every one shares in conducting this large growing concern and must fulfill his particular part well, willingly and graciously. Firm believers in democratic principles, the school staff makes certain that the students have a voice in their school lives and each Friday afternoon the student council meets with the teachers and supervisors to discuss school matters and work out problems.

This representation, this sense of belonging to one large harmonious family, the full life in the out-of-doors and the feeling that each is making real contribution to the group as a whole, is a strong influence on stability and brings much happiness, good health, and rich experience into the lives of these fortunate children who, on an Arizona cow country campus, are equipped to be top hands 'most anywhere.