blackfoot-valley

This is a story of the history and development of a distinct area in Montana just west of the Continental Divide; an enclosed valley through which flows a portion of the upper Blackfoot River and a ma- jor tributary, Nevada Creek. In the heart of this area, lies a unique ranch that in only eleven short years since it was established, has begun to make a distinctive and significant mark on the U.S. beef cattle industry. This is Meyer Company Ranch, whose headquarters lie a couple of miles due west of the small but historic community of Helmville, and whose northern boundary lies five miles due south of another historic town, Ovando. The Ranch’s deeded property of a bit over 21,000 acres (34.5 square miles) is contained in two sections separated by an elbow of land a mile or two wide belonging to two other ranches. The two parts are connected with each other via a gravel-surfaced county road. The usable area of the Meyer Ranch is augmented by more than 14,735 acres of leased land contiguous to it, mostly but not entirely in the southern section, bringing the total usable ranch acreage to some 35,988 acres, or 56.23 square miles. Although the story which follows is centered on the land of the present Meyer Company Ranch, a major portion of it deals with the milieu in which it is located, the geography and history of the larger area around it. This includes the region of North America of which it Introductions & Acknowledgements 3