Nolie and Lela Murray opened Murray's Dude Ranch in 1922 and ran the ranch as a home for troubled youths, including African Americans into the mid 1930s. In financial difficulties of the Great Depression, they converted the property into a vacation Dude Ranch for African Americans. A publicized visit by Joe Louis in 1937 brought them clients and the ranch was popular and busy into the 1950s. Pearly Bailey purchased the ranch in 1955 and lived there with her family, when she was not performing, for nine years. Lela was a member of the Victorville Chamber of Commerce, and she loaned the ranch out for charitable causes. Nolie and Lela Murray, owners of Murray's Dude Ranch, on a picture postcard advertising the ranch. They are standing below a wooden sign for the ranch. Caption: Murray's Dude Ranch. Victorville, Calif. The only Negro Dude Ranch in the World
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