b'THE OLD STORYTELLER.Meanwhile, Back at the RanchBy Hank Sheffer,The Old Storyteller M eanwhile, back at thein the service for the ranch. Now, theres one youmissing two years). dont hear much anymore.The show\'s entire run It was a statement you were morewas broadcast over apt to hear back during the erathe CBS radio network when radio was king! That was a time not so all thatand sponsored by long ago when there was no television, let alone colorDoublemint gum. Ittelevision with high def TV screens the size of cardwas during Genes shows tables and stereo sound that is so realistic you duck whenthat we would hear that a car backfires. There were radio programs of everycatchphrase, meanwhile description. My favorites were the Westerns, of course.back at the ranch,Each show had its own hero and I loved them all. quite often.Back in the 1940s, the Cowboy radio programs andWell, while I was growing "B" Westerns popularized the statement meanwhileup there were three thingsAbove: The Old back at the ranch. The scene then would drift out of thethat boys my age aspired toStoryteller with country to the Old Homestead Ranch where somethingbe. They could be a fireman, aJoy Bishop.was always happening. Cowboys and Indians, cattle andpoliceman, or you could even beRight: Bob and Joyhorses filled the scripts with actionlife was simple. . .president if you wanted to. Me, IBishop at their ranchthe good guys always won! wanted to be a Cowboy. It wasntin Apache Junction.until I came to Arizona to live There was the Lone Ranger, athat many of those dreams fell into place. I was able to be masked former Texas Rangera marshal any number of times, sheriff, too, ride horseslife. They come to our area to experience the natural who fought outlaws in theout on the range, and I even rode off into the sunset as sobeauty of the Sonoran Desert, to study the Superstition American Old West with hismany of my Cowboy heroes had done but then it finallyMountains history, and to travel the historic Apache Indian friend, Tonto. He washappened. I was out one day just cruising around theTrail. If you have a yearning to escape from the city, first heard on the radio inSuperstition Mountains area and I came across the placetake a step back in time to a peaceful world, where the 1933 on WXYZ, Detroit. His. . . there really is a Meanwhile Back at the Ranch andquiet bothers the quiet we warmly invite you to come, character has been called anits right here in Apache Junction. Joy Bishop explainedkick off your boots and settle into the romantic west, as enduring icon of Americanthe place best in her guest ranch literature:it once was and as it still is today. The colorful greens of culture. I didnt have any ideathe desert will calm you, the rabbits will charm you, the what an enduring icon was,The Meanwhile Back at the Ranch owes its heritage tobirds, quail, hawks, and coyotes will sing to you, and the but I did know that a manthat by-gone era and phrase. It is a 1950s homestead,Superstition Mountains will tug at your heart with the who fought against the bad guys with a double brace ofa guest ranch site. It was originally purchased onsunset, moonrise, and sunrise heavenly colors.shiny Army Colts and rode a big white horse along withFebruary 4, 1970, by the Robert J. Bishop family and a faithful companion was something I wanted to do. was completely restored by Bob, wife Joy, son Kevin,They also come to enjoy the many attractions and daughter Rene, throughout the ensuing years. It ishumming about the city of Apache Junction during The Cisco Kid and Pancholocated at the end of the trail with no through traffic byour mild winter weatherfeatured events are the Lost was a weekly series too, withour door, on six secluded acres on the natural SonoranDutchmans Days, the Day of the Cowboy, and the more than 600 episodes fromDesert.It is four miles north of the Hwy 60 freeway andRenaissance Festival. Close by are the Superstition 1947 to 1956. For all of usseven miles east of Apache Junction. The ranch bordersMountain Museum, Goldfield Ghost Town,Lost kids, the Cisco Kid was athe fence line of the Tonto National Forest and views theDutchman State Park, Tortilla Flats, Canyon, Apache kind of a Robin Hood of themountains Flatiron formation. The Flatiron towers 4,861& Roosevelt Lakes, and, of course, there is always the Old West, and they alwaysfeet behind ranch buildings ambling along the foresthorseback riding stables.managed to get the black hatsfence line at 2,100 feet, at the foot of the famous western right where they belonged . . .front face of the spiritual Superstition Mountains ofInterestingly enough, Bob and Joy Bishop brought in the hoosegow.Arizona. This area is the home of the historic Apachea whole lot more to the table than just the one Trail and the legendary Lost Dutchman Gold Mine.guest ranch. They were both heavily involved in the And then, of course,community doings of Apache Junction. The ranch was theres Hopalong Cassidy. For a while there he wasThe main headquarters building was built as a feeda gathering place for art showings and cattleman get-everywhere; he was in the movies, on the radio, andbarn in 1950. Its exterior is 3 foot thick walls withtogethers but you just never knew for sure how or what later on TV. He dressed inoriginal native rock base trim. Interior wood wallswas going to happen.black (or it looked blackare western board-and-batten, original in the old anyway) but make nobarn. Restoration by the Bishop Family has strived toOne evening after supper we were settling in for a round mistake, you always knewmaintain the early western spirit of its original Cowboyof storytelling for 100 or so people from the Arizona Hoppy was on the side ofbuilder. Two guest cabins (The Pioneer and Tee PeeCattle Grower\'s Association. I was set to tell some of my justiceI still watch his Cabin) were later built to accommodate the manybest stories with the grandest hope of not making a fool films today. visitors who ventured to the MeanwhileRanch to of myself. I generally started with some silly tales about get away from it all. spurs. Bob would normally throw a spur to me and Id The Gene Autry programstrap it on. Id then ask for the second spur and follow ran from 1940 to 1943, andFolks visit the Ranch from as far away as Europe andthe same procedure. This time Bob said no. I asked then 1945 to 1956 (he wasfrom all over these United States and from all walks ofwhat I was supposed to do with just one spur. He just 8 January 2021'