Reservations 406 821 0894
The full history · Bitterroot Valley · Est. 1880
At a glance
Long before the cameras, this corner of Montana’s Bitterroot Valley was Salish land, crossed each year by the Nez Perce on their way to the bison hunting grounds. Lewis and Clark followed the native trail in 1805, and in 1877 Chief Joseph led his people across the ranch. Homesteaders, an apple orchard, a glass tycoon’s lodge and one of the first guest ranches in the West came after.
Nine chapters, told in order. The published sources behind this history are listed at the end of the page.
Chapter I
The ranch lies in the western part of lands the Salish people inhabited for hundreds of years.
Every year the Nez Perce traveled a trail south through this country to reach the bison hunting grounds of the Big Hole Valley. They often banded together with the Salish to counter threats from other tribes, notably the Blackfoot.
The native trail traversed the ranch just west of the Lodge and funneled down to where the barns are now located.
Chapter II
In September 1805, Lewis and Clark entered the northern Bitterroot Valley.
On this stretch of their expedition they followed the trail used by the native tribes, the same route the Nez Perce traveled each year toward the Big Hole.
Chapter III
In the summer of 1877, during the Nez Perce War, Chief Joseph led his people across this ground in their flight from the U.S. Army.
More than seventy years later, the ranch would take his name.
Chapter IV
Settlers homesteaded the property in 1880.
Its water rights were registered in 1884, and the land was known then as the Shelton Ranch.
Chapter V
In 1914 the 2,500 acre ranch was bought by the glass tycoon William S. Ford and federal judge Howard Clark Hollister, from Ohio.
At the time of the purchase the ranch was a thriving apple orchard. Using the log and stone native to the grounds, William Ford began a three year endeavor to build the Ford-Hollister Lodge.
The 6,000 square foot lodge was designed by the architectural firm of Bates & Gamble, and has been featured in publications such as Architectural Digest and American Log Homes. It stands in the company of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park and the lodges of Glacier National Park.
One of the great log structures of the American West.
Chapter VI
Along with the lodge, Ford built three massive barns as the centerpiece of his model dairy.
He later replaced the apple trees with the largest herd of Holsteins west of the Mississippi. In the early 1920s the dairy operation gave way to a Hereford herd.
The largest herd of Holsteins west of the Mississippi.
Chapter VII
After William Ford’s passing in 1935, his wife May Ford and her daughters, Phyllis and Billie Ann, opened and operated one of the first guest ranches in the West.
They had help in the work from their ranch manager, Ben Cook.
One of the ranch’s two guest cabins carries his name. See the Ben Cook Cabin
Chapter VIII
In the early 1950s the Ford-Hollister Ranch was sold and renamed the Chief Joseph Ranch.
In honor of the great Nez Perce Chief and his journey through the property.
Chapter IX
Today the ranch is home to the fictional Dutton Ranch on Paramount Network’s television series Yellowstone.
Watched by millions, the lodge has become an iconic western Montana home, now more than a century old. In between filming, this working Montana ranch doubles as a guest ranch and a family home.
The lodge has become a character in its own right.
Yellowstone is a Paramount Network series. Yellowstone Ranch and Chief Joseph Ranch are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Paramount.
Sources
This history draws on fifteen published references, from the Handbook of North American Indians to the national press.
Stay on the ranch
Two private cabins on the working ranch, each stay with a tour of the ranch and its sets. Reserve March 1 to November 1, 2027.
