Calling to the Good

Kick Your Boots Off in Kansas - at the Lodge on the Delaware Tribe Ranch!

Kelly Hurd Season 5 Episode 24

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Taking you inside the Lodge on the Delaware Tribe Ranch, as well as a jumping into the history and vision of the tribe - this episode of Calling to the Good finds host, Kelly Hurd, visiting and enjoying some light-hearted conversation with the Board of Directors of the Delaware Tribe Ranch - Jim Perrier, Tanayia Hubler, Dale Goode and ranch manager Shaun Scott up near Sedan, Kansas - where spacious meets spectacular!

Thank you to our sponsors - the ⁠Delaware Tribe Ranch⁠, ⁠Yellow Brick Cafe⁠, ⁠T-Bar Mercantile⁠, ⁠Pawhuska Western Swing Festival⁠, and ⁠Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing Festival⁠

Thank you to Sierra Dunkle Media Co. for the video footage and photos.

Thank you to Wyatt Goode for ranch photos.

May faith guide your compass and fear kiss your back bumper!

Hope you'll join me next time on Calling to the Good.

CallingToTheGood.com

SPEAKER_05

The Lodge on the Delaware Tribe Ranch is where spacious meets spectacular out on the Kansas Prairie. Located on the Delaware Tribe Ranch between Sedan and Cedarville in Chautauqua County, Kansas, the Lodge provides the perfect setting for your next corporate retreat, church group, large family gathering, or just a comfortable weekend getaway. And if you have Pahuska, Oklahoma, and the Pioneer Woman on your bucket list of vacation destinations, the lodge is only a 40-minute drive to the Pioneer Woman Mercantile. So hey, come kick your boots off in Kansas and enjoy the view on the Delaware Tribe Ranch. Book your stay and find out more at Delaware Tribranch.com. That's Delaware Tribranch.com. And we'll see y'all in Kansas. T-Bar Mercantile is putting Chautauqua County, Kansas, on the map as a shopping destination with a little something for everyone from Judy Blue Jeans, Wrangler, Ariot, Mud Pie, Goldisco, and so much more. When you book your day at the lodge on the Delaware drivering, make sure to plan a visit to the T-Bar Mercantile. Located at 115 South Fool Street and downtown Sudan, Kansas.

SPEAKER_04

Check out the T-Bar Mercantile on Facebook. And when you start the end of the show, build in the calling of the code.

SPEAKER_05

This is Kelly Hurd with the Calling to the Good podcast, where we are absolutely unapologetically positive as we interview inspiring personalities and even a few celebrities who bring insight and good-hearted wit, meant to make you smile and encourage your heart. Let's get started. Well, hello everyone. This is Kelly Heard. Thank you for joining us today on this episode of Calling to the Good. I'm at a very special place. I am up here in Chautauqua County, Kansas at the Delaware Tribe Ranch, and I'm sitting in here in the lodge, which is one of the most luxurious lodgings that you'll find in the state of Kansas. It's just perfect for your next corporate retreat, church retreat, or maybe just a weekend getaway with friends. But I have the board of the Delaware Tribe Ranch as well as the foreman sitting here with me. I have Mr. Jim Perrier. Jim, you want to tell everybody hey?

SPEAKER_08

Hello.

SPEAKER_05

There you go. And I also have Tanea Hubler. Hello. And the ranch foreman Sean Scott.

SPEAKER_03

Hello.

SPEAKER_05

And I have Mr. Happy. Mr. Delgood.

SPEAKER_03

Hi.

SPEAKER_05

Glad you're here. Thanks for joining me, everyone. It's an honor to be here with y'all. I was astounded the first time I walked through the doors of the lodge at what you've accomplished up here, at uh the degree of excellence with which it was done. And I'm amazed uh at the view, at just the detail that you put. Somebody, one of y'all, uh maybe Tanea, kind of give me an idea of when this was built, kind of how this came about, and just a little background on what brought the lodge uh and the lodging idea to be on the Delaware Tribe Ranch.

SPEAKER_02

Well, the planning of the lodge was before the board. So when we got here, it was still in its finishing stages. Um the board was formed later. The plans for the ranch came from the tribal council. Um, they had a few goals in mind of things they wanted to do, and the funds came in um around COVID time.

SPEAKER_05

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

And so once they received those funds, they decided um to build two businesses, and the ranch was one of them, and Teton Cloth is the other one, and they just had ideas that we could have retreats, that they could have gatherings, um, maybe camps for the youth to learn on the ranch. I love that. But they really wanted um to have a ranch, to have somebody uh help plan that. There were some Delawares that were involved with the ranch planning that they knew worked in the industry. And so when we got here, the lodge was part of it. It was, I'm not sure who designed it or who thought of it, but it's a really beautiful place. We always thought maybe it would make a good venue or something of that nature for weddings and just in a beautiful spot. So right.

SPEAKER_05

So y'all just sort of stepped into it, sort of it was a turnkey operation already in the works, and y'all stepped in as the incoming board to manage it.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, so under the tribal council's guidance, we manage the ranch and we've added some things, changed some things since we've taken over as far as our role in it, and um gone from there. Okay.

SPEAKER_05

So I visited with y'all the first time I came up here just a little bit, and I was really interested in the the history. Um, for the Delaware tribe to decide to purchase a ranch. I think Jim was telling us just a little bit of the back side of that story, a little history that kind of led to that. Um, you want to fill everybody in? Tell me that story again, Jim.

SPEAKER_08

Well, I'll just tell you what I've heard that when they they got the money, council, you know, they I guess they all got together and decided what they were gonna do. Most tribes would probably want a casino. They wanted land. They uh for you know when they moved here, there wasn't any land, so they put them with the Cherokees. And I think they kind of got pushed over to one side, but anyway, they always wanted their own land. So when this money became available, that's the first thing they'd done was bought this ranch. So um they bought the ranch, they started it. There was a Delaware guy and his brother and wife worked here. Um they got it off the ground going, and uh then we stepped in and took over from there, and uh I think at the time there was about 70 cows with calves on the ranch, and uh cattle were high, and the not compared to the city. They were high at that time, and uh so we waited and uh we let the ranch recover. It had been a little bit abused, over you know, overstocked, and had a lot of cerise on it and stuff like that, had a lot of weeds. So anyway, we waited probably a year, year and a half, and uh we finally decided that cattle weren't gonna go down for a while, so we took a chance and we bought we bought I think two or three different bunches of cows, and we bought them, we bought them all out of the country. We didn't buy anything through a sale barn, and we got them all out of the country, and now we have about 350 pair here.

SPEAKER_05

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_08

So that's that's where we're at right now, and like Tanaya said, we're in charge of the lodge, and we're just trying to get it off the ground right now.

SPEAKER_05

Right. So just to put a little bit of context around this for our listeners out there, we're sitting up here in Kansas, but we're just one county in Kansas, one county north of Oklahoma. And so when you're talking about the Delaware tribe and not having the land they put them in with the Cherokee, you're talking about back a long time ago before statehood in Oklahoma, right?

SPEAKER_08

Probably so. Yeah. I don't know the the year or anything like that.

SPEAKER_05

Right. And so for the tribe, um, following COVID and when they came into some funding, they wanted to get land. I think that's an admirable choice for anybody. That there's some wisdom in that. They didn't want a casino, they wanted to invest it in land, and they decided ranch land was where they wanted to go with it, and they came up here and got it in Kansas, right?

SPEAKER_08

Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_05

Okay, okay. Like I know the Delaware tribe also are called the Lenopah. Lenape? Lenape? Lenape. Lenape. How does that correlate Delaware and and Lenape? And sort of is that about where they maybe came from up in that area?

SPEAKER_02

Or tell me the Yeah, so the we called ourselves, I am Delaware or Lenape. So we are that means the original people. And okay, when we were colonized, the name that we were given, they gave tribal names. Um, we were called the Delaware, and that part stuck. Um but really, you know, we we were relocated, we lost a lot of our land up in the northeast where we were originally as tribes. We were lived along the rivers and um had a a beautiful life there. But whenever we were colonized, we we had to move, and we were moved into other places, you know, uh up in Kansas and different spots that we were before this, and then we when we moved, we were moved down into um Oklahoma. Then, and then we were given certain land as part of the Cherokees. Um, my grandmother actually had what they called Indian allotment land, and at the time they received 80 acres. So I grew up on Indian allotment land, and our small ranch that was in my family is still in my family. My dad still lives there, um, was part of the land that was granted to them at that time.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. I think that's really interesting. So, Sean, you're the what do they call you? The foreman? Do they call you the boss?

SPEAKER_03

The ranch manager.

SPEAKER_05

The ranch manager up here. So Jim's talking about you got mama cows and everything like that. And it's what kind of cattle are you running up here?

SPEAKER_03

Well, our herd is split into two. We have a spring herd and we have a fall herd. So we've got roughly 160 fall and roughly 170 spring is the way we have it.

SPEAKER_05

So are they black Angus?

SPEAKER_03

We we run black Angus bulls. Okay. And our herd is black Angus cows with some charlais as well.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. So all right. So here's a question that somebody would probably have to ask from you know the city wanting to escape the city and come stay out here in the country or have a retreat. All these cows that are running around out here on the ranch, are they gonna hear them?

SPEAKER_03

You know, um, yes and no. Depends on where they go on the ranch, and it depends on the time of the season.

SPEAKER_06

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Uh, if we are weaning calves, yes, they will hear the calves, they will hear the cows. Um, if we just got through working a set and everything's trying to pair back up, they will hear them. Uh, but on a day-to-day basis, everything's just out grazing. Uh, they may hear one or two every now and then, but for the most part, no.

SPEAKER_05

Well, that's that's kind of neat though, if you think about it, that they can enjoy this beautiful back patio with your outdoor kitchen out there and all your wonderful furniture out there in the evening. And if they are used to city sounds, you're not gonna hear the traffic here. You're gonna hear the birds. You might hear the cows. That that's that's kind of a unique experience. Um, so these pins back here behind the house, the behind the lodge next to the bunkhouse, are those your main set of pins that you're gonna be? They are.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we're we're just about done uh building those, and they should be operational here, I would say, in a couple of weeks. Okay. So, and that would be our main set of pens for the ranch. Okay.

SPEAKER_05

All right. Well, I like it. So they could actually experience a little bit of ranch life. Uh the cowboy pants.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, if we're out here dragging calves or working cows or something, they can watch a bunch of cowboys do what they do. So I love it.

SPEAKER_05

So you can kind of get a little experience, a little rural experience. I like it. Well, Dale, I'm glad you're here today. Thank you for smiling at me. So you're from this area.

SPEAKER_06

I am.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Uh do you like to eat at Buck's barbecue up there in Sedan?

SPEAKER_03

I do. We ate there today. Did you really?

SPEAKER_05

Well, you know, um, that that's kind of a well-known steakhouse. When I was dating John Heard, that's one of the places he took me out on a date. We came up here to Sedan to have a steak at Buck's. And so I was on the phone with them the other day visiting with them, and uh they were telling me that anything that goes on out here, uh, they are able to cater it for any corporate event, things like that. So what are they? Nine, ten minutes from the lodge out here on the ranch, and you can have some of the world's finest barbecue or steaks catered right out here at the ranch with bucks up there in sedan.

SPEAKER_06

Correct.

SPEAKER_05

Um, I know you have a wife. Do you ever, you know, take her down to the yellow brick cafe and get some brownies and a coffee or anything like that?

SPEAKER_03

She's been there. I I have not.

SPEAKER_05

You haven't? Well, I took John Hurt in there today when we were coming here and got him a cup of coffee. That's a pretty nice place. I love that building that they're in. The yellow brick cafe has everything you might find in a big city coffee shop, but with small town we love. Step into their newly renovated 1890s building in downtown Sedan, Kansas, where they're offering comfort foods, such as biscuits and gravy, cinnamon toys, cookies, cakes, and more. The yellowbird cafe is partnered with a family-owned coffee render to bring you the perfect road and trigger the coffee later. And although many may find it can't have to be a bad word, there we can't make the coffee as a wastewater process. So it's completely free of normal day cafe chemicals that are open through Saturday, and occasionally on Sundays, hello the yellow brick cafe on Facebook for Sunday. And go see them when you go through today at the lodge on the Delaware trying to bring it up. That's the Yellow Brick Cafe in downtown Sedan, Kansas. You got any interesting sedan history you want to throw out on the table, Dale?

SPEAKER_03

Uh I went to school there. Lived here since I was four.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. Gotcha. One thing I like about sedan too, when you're pulling in there, because this whole area is beautiful. The ranch for clarity is located between Cedarvale and Sedan, Kansas. And Cedarvale's gorgeous with the hills and the hillside, and you know, it's kind of an old west looking sort of a town. And when you pull into sedan, I feel right at home there because when you pull in, it says like hang hang your hat in cattle country or hang your hat in cow country or something like that. So I I love that ranching aspect that kind of surrounds this general area. This is kind of cowboy country. Well, Tanaya, why don't you walk everybody through sort of what the lodge has to offer? And and after you get done with that, we're gonna talk about the bone cats a little bit.

SPEAKER_02

All right, so the lodge is just beautiful from the outset. Um, it's the first thing you see when you come through the gates. Uh, we have a gravel drive, a gravel road out there, and we are out in the county, so just a little ways off the main highway there. When you come in, you're just gonna come in on that little gravel road. As you turn, you'll be traveling past some of our Delaware tribe branch pastures, and you'll see some signs, some arrows and things that help us to know that that's part of the Delaware ranch. As you come in the main overhang gate, you'll see some other things that indicate this is a Delaware tribe branch and um some things that mean something to us as far as symbols and things. And once you get up to the drive, there's this big lodge and um has a big front porch. It has a lot of sunshine here, a lot of windows. It's a very open main space. I think that's one of my favorite things. Um, the rock, the wood, and just the neutral colors in here are very relaxing. Um, it's a very the wood tones, it's beautiful. It's very warm in here and just having that big fireplace as you come in. And I love the leather couches and just the throws and things of that nature that give it that homey feel when you come in. So every time I come here, I feel like I can relax. I'm a little away, uh little aways from the noise and bustle of town, and you get to focus a little more on nature even as you walk up to the place. It's a big grassy lawn before you get to the pastures. Um, and there are the things that come along with ranching. There's some barns and some things out here that would indicate cattle are being worked here that they live here too. Um, this is their place. And I think, you know, on the back porch of it, we have, you know, an outdoor kitchen space and a little fireplace and really nice patio furniture. And so if you're getting too much sun on the front, you can go out the back doors and you can be in the shade, and you can still get a lot of the pretty views. And when you walk out, you can just see, you know, land and flowers and the things that you would see out in the country for miles, and that's really nice. And you do have good neighbors. Once you get to a neighbor, which would be the goods, and his dad, you know, has a home next to the ranch and things. They're just you're you know the people around you are good too while you're here. So that's really nice. Um, it has a game room upstairs, there's all the luxuries you'd want if you're gonna, you know, relax and stay away. You've got your TV, your fireplace, your large kitchen, um, everything you would need to cook and fix meals for a large crowd, especially I have a large family, so when I go somewhere, I want to know I can do a few dishes if I need to and bring the things with me that make me comfortable on a vacation. There's a washer and dryer set up here. You have your iron, you have plenty of space. I know that's the thing if you're you know, have a larger family, finding the space even for your bags and unloading that, and everybody has a place they can go to in here. With the six bedrooms and all the bathrooms that go with it, you just feel like you have room to spread out, and I really enjoy that.

SPEAKER_05

So the lodge can accommodate up to 12 with the six bedrooms, and then there's a bunkhouse out back as well. Did you want to add something else about the lodge?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I and part of when we were talking about the the people who might really enjoy being out here, um people who live out in the country are probably used to seeing a lot of things that maybe those from town are not able to see as often, and just the stars, you know, the open sky and the stargazing. And on that note, we even made sure that the lodge had a telescope, a nicer telescope to use. So if there's things going on out in nature, you can see a little further than you would with just your eyes.

SPEAKER_05

So I love it. So, since the last time I was here, y'all were gonna stop the bunkhouse with furniture and things like that. How is that where's that at?

SPEAKER_02

It's in progress. We have ordered things, we're just waiting for them to get here, but we're hopeful uh by the time we have a first booking that we'll have a few more pictures and everything all ready to go, you know, just all the little amenities you would need to.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. And the bunkhouse is out in the barn, but it's nice on there. It's got a kitchen, an upstairs loft that will sleep up to eight, a downstairs living room area. So for your retreat, you could have your meetings up here at at the lodge, but for additional accommodations, uh, you can have a few of your people stay out at the bunkhouse, or if you've got your family out here, you got extra beds out at the bunkhouse. So the lodge can be booked individually, and or the property can be booked at the bunkhouse and the lodge. And you have a website and it's the Delaware Tribranch.com, plus here on Airbnb. Jim Perrier. You want to give your best invite for anybody to come stay at the lodge and see what the Delaware Tribe Branch has to offer?

SPEAKER_08

It's it's just a nice place, you know. Uh it's kind of like Tanaya said, come up here, uh, a good time to come from the working cattle. Book it and sit here, and Sean he can he can give you a tour and tell you what all they're doing, you know, and uh it's kind of the real deal, you know. They still work them like they used to hundred years ago. Uh there's a few modern modern deals put in. We do have propane instead of wood, you know. Some people some people even use electric branding irons. So, you know, there's there's a lot of things. Um it's like Tanea said, um, you don't see many night lights up here at night. And if you want to see the outdoors at night, this is the place to come come look at it. So it's just big open skies up here.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, definitely. I I call it where spacious meets spectacular.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know, you know, as far as the tribe and things, and when we were talking about the purpose of this ranch, um, the tribe wants us to be successful. We want to share nature with everyone. Um, we want them to have this opportunity to enjoy that. But the other purpose for the ranch is food sovereignty. Um they want to make sure that we have beef that we can feed our families and um especially you know our elderly and those who might not have that same opportunity and able to purchase those, that they'll have availability. So a portion of the beef raised on this ranch. um goes to a food pantry and helps to feed families. And so there's just a lot of good things that this ranch has behind it and just a lot of hopes and dreams we have as a board to not only have people enjoy it but to help sustain it for the future generations. Right. And so I made a plug earlier for our um kind of one of our sister companies is Teton, which was another Delaware tribe company that was set up. And they were very gracious when we decorated the lodge and started furnishing it that they donated quite a few blankets and things that they have created and those are also on display. We're also going to add some artwork too and so we have a few things that different artists have made and stuff that will be displayed in the lodge and others in other spaces. So there's just a lot here to see as far as you know things that would relate to the tribe but it's also a little luxury and things that can be purchased. There's a Teton uh store in Bartlesville now where you can see a lot of things and I think you can also order things online.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. That's good to know. All right well I just want to tell everybody out there if you want to get away from it all in a place where you can have it all you want to stay at the Delaware Dry Branch at the lodge. And you can find out more information about the Delaware Dry Branch and the lodge on their website at Delaware DryBranch dot com. They have a Facebook and an Instagram page just type in Delaware Dry Branch and it'll pull it right up you can have luxury you can experience nature. You can also uh step into the culture that the Delaware tribe has decorated and surrounded this place with you can explore sedan be sure and go to T Bar Mercantile and the Ella Breck Cafe up there and be sure to stop in Bucks and have a steak while you're here as well. If you have any questions you can reach out to them at Delaware TribeRanch at gmail dot com. And I am Kelly Heard and I just want to tell you too they're also located just a short drive north of Bahusk, Oklahoma where the Pioneer Woman is and so if you're looking for a good place to get away for a vacation whether it's spring break summer or you want to have Thanksgiving someplace where you can bring in the whole family and have room for everybody to enjoy it you might want to check this place out. It is multi-level there is not an elevator so the doors are wide it is handicapped accessible on the first floor. Upstairs on the second floor that's where you'll want to send all the younger people if you do book it because there's a pool table up there and a flat screen TV up there as well. There's room for them to explore you can enjoy the evenings or the mornings with a nice cup of coffee out on the back porch patio or in the front porch rocking chairs and the view either way is killer. So I want to invite y'all up Chautauqua County Kansas just outside of Sedan between Sedan and Cedarvale to the Delaware Tribe Ranch. Like I said look them up online DelawareTribeRanch dot com and I want to thank y'all for sitting with me today on the Calling to the Good podcast. Especially you Dale I'm so glad you were here today and I just wish y'all the success up here and it is my honor to be up here with y'all and this is calling to the good because you know there's a whole lot of other things in the world you can call to but you might as well call to something good. This is Kelly Hard. We'll catch you next time. And just when it's getting good we run out of time. Well if you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe to our Calling to the Good podcast for regular doses of some good old-fashioned encouragement that can be found in heap and helpings across rural America. Until next time may all your pastures be belly deep and grass your cattle tick fat. May all the smiles around your dinner table be abundant and may the good lord take a liking to you. I'm Kelly Hurt. See you next time. The Yellow Brick Cafe has everything you might find in a big city coffee shop, but with small town love. Step into their newly renovated 1890s building in downtown Sedan, Kansas, where they're offering comfort foods such as biscuits and gravy, cinnamon twists, cookies, cakes and more plus their baristas can make just about any coffee drink you can imagine. A caramel cookie butter moccascino hey no problem. The Yellowbreak Cafe has partnered with a family owned coffee roaster to bring you the perfect espresso roast and two signature drip coffee blends. And although many may find decaf to be a bad word their decaffeinated coffee is Swiss water processed. So it's completely free of normal decaf chemicals. They're open day through Saturday and occasionally on Sundays follow the Yellowbrick Cafe on Facebook for a sneak peek and go see them when you book your stay at the lodge on the Delaware Tribe Ranch. That's the Yellow Brick Cafe in downtown Sedan, Kansas T-Bar Mercantile is putting Chautauqua County Kansas on the map as a shopping destination with a little something for everyone from Judy Blue Jeans, Wrangler, Ariot, Mud Pie, Gold of Cups, and so much more. When you book your stay at the lodge on the Delaware drive ranch, make sure to plan a visit to the T-Bar Mercantile located at 115 South School Street in downtown Sedan, Kansas.

SPEAKER_04

Check out T Bar Mercantile on Facebook and when you stop in to shop, tell them the Calling to the Good podcast atcha.

SPEAKER_00

I'm on a be there when that swing band comes to town I'm gonna be there when they play that Bob Wheel sound I'm gonna grab my gal and get a ball I'm gonna dance at every Bob Wheel song. I'm gonna be there when that swing band comes to town down at the birthplace of Western swing. Well it's the first place old Bob was crowned the king and it's the best place for you to swing your thing down at the birthplace of Western swing. Hey friends this is Dave Alexander inviting you to join us at the sixth annual birthplace of Western Swing Music Festival November 12th through the 14th at Historic National Hall in Fort Worth, Texas. We've got Jody Nix, Jake Hooker, Billy Mana, and the Texas Playboy. And on Sunday, November 15th, it's our big festival finale at Will Rogers Auditorium with yours truly and my 65 piece symphonic orchestra playing all your Texas country and Western swing favorites get your tickets now at firstplaceofwestern swing.com now at the birthplace of Western swing it's the first place old Bob was crammed the key it's the best place for you to swing your thing down at that birthplace of Western Swing. Let's go boys yeah boys Fort Worth Texas I'll see you there well hey I'm Jay Cooker and this Tommy Hooker.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah it is my son sure hey we're gonna be at National Hall on November the 13th that's in Fort Worth that is in Fort Worth Cowtown some folks like to call it and we like to call it that yeah that's what it is because they they it's a birthplace western swing so they're having a festival the birthplace western swing music festival come out if you don't know anything about it check out the link below but November the 13th we're gonna be there I don't know is it Friday Saturday Friday probably it's a Friday November the 13th so come out see us yeah make plans let's dance yeah there me and Jake will be there and then the boys will be there too yeah all the hooker clan's gonna be there Mac and Marshall Papa Tommy and me all right y'all come on let's go swing y'all join me in the change

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