Bitterroot Ranch

05/17/2025

One of the maintenance guys we hired had a family situation come up, so he backed out. If anyone is interested in a maintenance position at the ranch this summer (ASAP - October 8th), please email Hadley— [email protected]. We would love to have another team member for the season!

11/06/2024

A beautiful video taken in September of the night sky at the ranch, taken by Jean Donny with his drone.

Ce sont les plus beaux ciels étoilés que j'ai pu voir, ici au Bitterroot Ranch dans le Wyoming.Je travaille encore pour améliorer le rendu de ces vidéos qui ...

09/18/2024

Wild September rainstorm led to some beautiful and eerie light on the trail rides this afternoon.

06/14/2024

We have a few spaces available in our upcoming Mindfulness with Horses Retreat August 11-18, led by Jennifer Cohen Harper. It’s a beautiful experience of connecting with the horses, with ourselves, and with each other.

Learn more at https://www.mindfulnesswithhorses.com/healing-with-horses-summer-retreat-aug/

04/24/2024

For those of you who have been wanting to hear Bayard’s story in his own voice, the audio version of his book, with Bayard narrating, has been released. He focused for months to get it accomplished, and it’s a wonderful result!

Fisherman, Rancher, Horseman, Spy: True Stories of a Life Well-Lived

04/21/2024

Spring at the ranch!

04/13/2024

We still have a few spaces left in one of our popular clinics: Reiki for Horses taught by Anna Twinney. June 2-9, beautiful spring at the ranch!

In the Reach Out To Horses Clinic with Anna Twinney students learn how all contact with horses is a form of communication and how to use it successfully.

03/30/2024

After a wait, the New FlyFisher show, featuring the ranch and Wind River fishing, is live. Check it out!

In this very special one-hour documentary video, Mark Melnyk explores the small streams and rivers of Wind River WY, and learns much about why this region is...

03/16/2024

From Bayard’s desk:

From Ghost Town to School Bus

Interestingly, a hundred years ago there was a "town" just three miles down the road from our ranch. It was called Duncan and when I bought the ranch it was still marked on the old gas station road maps. In the early 1900s there were about 40 people living in the upper part of our valley justifying a little one room school and a post office, but sadly neither bar nor bo****lo. When Duncan School began in the early 1900s few people had cars and the 50 mile trip to Dubois on horseback took a long day, made longer by having to open and close about 20 gates across the road. Now we just glide effortlessly over the cattle guards without thinking about it.

When the 1930s depression hit, many of the Scots had to leave. Marginal agricultural lands were no longer viable on a small scale with the advent of tractors and commercial fertilizers, but the school and post office had enough business to keep going until the mid 1950s. At that time mail deliveries began on what was then called the Duncan Route which stops where our mailbox is now three miles below the ranch. For a few years there was a school bus which came up that far, but by the 1960s there were no more children going to school above the Thunderhead Ranch.

We hired a wonderful couple, Bill and Billy Finley, about the time Richard was old enough for kindergarten. They had two daughters about his age so that suddenly we had three children who needed to get to school. At the same time a couple came to work at the Thunderhead Ranch, six miles down the road, and they had two more children. There was an Indian child living farther down the road who also needed to get to school. This made enough children to get the attention of the school district so they found a small school bus and made Billy the official driver. For years she drove the school bus from our ranch 17 miles down to the highway to meet the big school bus and then went back to pick them up in the afternoon. While the bus was running, we had some pretty fierce winters with lots of snow, but the county did a fantastic job of keeping the road open during all that time. They kept it pretty smooth too.

03/10/2024

From Bayard’s desk:

The Racc**n

It was the mid '80s and our finances were on a more solid basis so that Mel no longer had to cook and wrangle in our hunting camp while looking after an infant Richard. We had said farewell to our last group of hunters after a successful season, packed out the camp equipment and closed it down for the year. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself and felt I had earned a good rest. Mel was very glad to see me and hugged me warmly. BUT she said there was one more thing that had to be done.

The two great buildings we had at the ranch when I first bought it were the main lodge and the great old barn built in the '30s. The barn had a big chicken house attached which had several rooms and a wire enclosure all around and over it. Mel loves all animals and the house was now filled with chickens, peacocks, ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea fowl. The bad thing was that a large and voracious racc**n had found a way to get through the wire and massacre the poultry which he had done for several nights and had done again the night before. Mel told me I had to get my gun and a sleeping bag and lie in wait after dinner for the c**n to come so that I could shoot it and end its disastrous marauding.

After dinner I dutifully, if not enthusiastically, got my gun and a flashlight and tucking a sleeping bag under my arm I headed down toward the barn with my wonderful yellow Lab, Chrissy. We didn't have to wait because Chrissy started barking wildly and ran ahead to tackle a 30 lb. racc**n just getting ready for his dinner. They were locked in close combat and the fur was flying. I got my flashlight on them, but they were moving fast in close combat and going round and round in circles so that I was afraid to shoot for fear of hitting Chrissy. Finally I got an opportunity and whammed the racc**n with a killing shot. I rather hated to kill it, but couldn't see that I had much choice. It had given Chrissy a few wicked bites, but she was not seriously hurt and was very proud about her part in the combat.