our story.
The OW Ranch is what some people might call a little slice of heaven, sitting in the shadow of the wolf mountains on one side and the powder river on the other; the ranch is a welcoming sight when you cross Hanging Woman Creek. Some of the worlds most prime horse and cattle country, it is an ideal place to make quality ranch horses and all natural beef.
The OW is owned by music industry legend Jim Guercio. Guercio is best known for founding the Caribou Ranch – a recording studio where Chicago, Elton John, Michael Jackson, and countless others cut some of their greatest albums in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies west of Boulder. More recently, Guercio has lovingly restored the OW to its original glory when it was owned by John Kendrick, Wyoming’s ninth governor.
Guercio brought in Montana architect Jonathan Foote to renovate the historic ranch structures to the standards of the Kendrick Cattle Company. From the restored bunkhouse with its fabulous raised wooden porch to the massive barn with its enormous cottonwood beams and wooden saddling floor, Guercio and Foote took great pains to keep the original feel and footprint of the headquarters intact. The ranch looks and feels like it came right out of your favorite western movie.
The historic OW bunkhouse porch is the perfect meeting spot for visiting ropers to gather after brandings for a fine cigar and a spot of single malt.
Guercio has also worked feverishly to maintain the tradition of the region’s horse and cow culture. “We have a true horseback outfit here. All gatherings and brandings are done on horseback. The OW can carry 1,500 animal units and includes 2,000 acres of dry land hay and creek bottom meadows,” Guercio tells me via satellite phone. “For me this place represents the West as it was – and as it should remain.”
During the 1990s, Guercio would host a group of “significant Westerners” who would come from all parts of the globe to brand during the late spring. “We had quite a branding crew – the late CAA artist Joe Beeler, Canadian singer/songwriter Ian Tyson, saddlemakers Chuck Stormes and Chas Weldon, along with all sorts of locals. It was a great time to catch up with old friends and see a bunch of range teepees in the front yard,” Guercio says.
Rangeland on the OW is mainly comprised of gentle foothills with scattered timber and meadows in the many valleys. It is precisely what a Montana ranch should look like, and Guercio is rightfully proud of what his passionate investment has created.
“This is a place where for me, time has stopped. It’s place where good cowmen and good horses can work stock in a traditional manner on land that simply was made to run cows. If there is a cowboy heaven on earth, this might just be it.”
Original Text by William C Reynolds
Follow this Link for more history on the OW Ranch Wyoming History