Blocking the HPR
Over a period of 12 years we purchased and assembled, i.e. “blocked”, 6 ranches (actually 7 but we couldn’t hold on to one of them) in southwest Montana. The initial lynchpin ranch was the historic Horse Prairie Ranch, owned and developed by tough homesteaders, including three generations of the Hughes family (George, Emerson and Denton). We first saw the HPR on President’s weekend in 1995. It was a cool, beautiful day that didn’t seem to know whether it wanted to be one of the last days of winter or one of the first days of spring. The snow was spitting but there was purity in the air and the feeling of new life, with baby calves in several pastures and corrals. We purchased the HPR that summer and improved it substantially, especially the LakeSide guest area, so that we could supplement our income by hosting guests and so that we could “work our assets” and turn them into income.
One of the most satisfying and frustrating aspects of owning a working cattle ranch in southwest Montana is that you have this deep desire to only own that land that borders you! It’s fortunate that there is a patchwork of public and private lands in the West or the task of blocking one’s ranch would be very frustrating, i.e. more land than money to buy it. In other words, public lands function as barriers to unbridled expansion! Blocking a ranch has several benefits, including obtaining privacy, ease of management (e.g. pasture rotations, access to USFS pastures, etc.), gaining borders with public lands, and marshalling water rights.
Within a year of purchasing the HPR the Old Prohosky Place became available. Gaylon Zonner, who managed the small (714 acres) ranch, had tipped off our manager at the time, Eldon Ayers, of the owner’s interest in selling and Eldon immediately informed me. The neighbor, Donny Hilger, would have liked to acquire the ranch also. I moved quickly and through our very able attorney, Carl Davis, got in contact with Temple Sloan, owner of the Bar Double T (which owned the Old Prohosky Place), and purchased the ranch with a down payment and a note back to Sloan. The Old Prohosky Place was strategic to the HPR for its hay and lush meadows. It also bordered the HPR and had a BLM allotment with two pastures. At one time the ranch also had a nice Cow Camp, just north of the HPR, bordering USFS lands and with a 175 Cow/Calf USFS grazing permit. The late Ruby Prohosky once told me that she lost the Cow Camp to some slick real estate maneuvering by a couple of local real estate agents who somehow sold off the Cow Camp to some out-of-state hunters, who then constructed a hunting lodge (e.g. small bedrooms, inadequate restrooms, and small windows). Then somehow when Bill Wellborn was running the Prohosky Place the 175 Cow/Calf permit was lost. Due to the real estate maneuvering the Prohosky Place was bifurcated and it would take another 12 years before the old Prohosky Cow Camp and original deeded lands would once again be under common ownership. One of the keys to the Old Prohosky Place is the Prohosky-Mansfield Ditch or Canal, which diverts water from Horse Prairie Creek, in the canal, through the old Pierce place, and to the Old Prohosky Place and southeast areas of the Cross Ranch (e.g. Mansfields). The water is a late right but as Ruby Prohosky used to say, “Get that damn water on early before the neighbors need it and you will have one of the greenest, most productive ranches in the valley”. We named the Old Prohosky Place Lower Horse Prairie Ranch or LHPR. LHPR also has its own barn, shop and two homes. Although a big bite financially, following on the heels of the purchase of the HPR, the LHPR has proven to be very valuable to the overall operation of the HPR.
One of the next, very strategic purchases (actually a lease with an option to purchase) was the Old Pierce Place. A Dr. Robert Biddle from Kentucky had purchased the ranch and it was not to his liking so he put it up for sale. The ranch is one of the best hay ranches in Beaverhead County, and included more than 2,000 deeded acres plus very nice BLM and USFS allotments. I negotiated the lease and option right under the noses of two large and aggressive ranchers in the valley, Bill Staudenmeyer and Roger Peters. We signed the deal and stocked up. In three years, when we had to exercise our option, I could not come up with the required million dollars. I had been hit with too many legal bills and our fledgling technology company was still not on track. I approached both of the neighbors. Roger gave me a $20,000 non-refundable check (which I later returned to him) but then couldn’t get the million himself. Bill also couldn’t come up with the million but he had recently sold his Dillon place to Parmenter, who briefly owned the HPR at one time, and had plenty of trade dollars in the bank. I sold my lease with option to purchase to Bill. Biddle didn’t want to sell to Bill and I had been able, right up to the time of closing, to keep the information from Biddle (the option agreement did not require that I inform him of the name of an assignee). Biddle drove his motor home to the ranch the day before it was to close and saw at the ranch Will Staudenmeyer, Bill’s son. He became incensed and said that he would not pay the nearly $230,000 equipment credit. I was able to settle him down but I had to eat the $230,000………thanks a lot Will! The Pierce Ranch, which we called South Horse Prairie Ranch or SHPR, would have been invaluable to the HPR. But it was simply not to be so Staudenmeyers, who couldn’t negotiate a purchase themselves and who also didn’t have the cash but had trade dollars thanks to Bill’s dad, Les, assembling a tremendous amount of property in Beaverhead County, got the Biddle ranch.
One of the next ranches that became available was Dick Robert’s Brown Canyon Ranch, just northeast of the Old Prohosky Cow Camp, which is now called Elk Haven (we now refer to it as Forest Lodge). Dick’s place was small but had several miles of USFS boundary, a head gate on Brown’s Canyon Creek that predates the organization of the USFS (so they cannot dictate what we do with it), and good spring range. I found out about the Robert’s place from Gary Love at State Bank & Trust in Dillon. State Bank & Trust financed the acquisition of the Robert’s place and it has worked very well with the rest of our ranch.
Within a year we learned of the death of Ruby Prohosky, our old friend who lived on 9 acres and a home and several nicely kept outbuildings within the LHPR. We worked with Ruby’s daughter to consummate the acquisition of Ruby’s Place. Ruby’s home is a lovely home and it was an inholding that needed to be back with the LHPR. Ruby you rascal, you left a lot of work for me to do but I am happy to put your original ranch back together!
The other third of the Robert’s place (the Bill and Virginia Wellborn Place) that Dick Roberts never purchased from Ned Wellborn, remained in Bill and his daughter Virginia’s hands. Virginia was fond of diverting the water from Brown’s Canyon Creek to her property, just below UHPR. I had worked with Bill and finally got him to persuade Virginia to sell me their place. It is a nice place that borders the UHPR and our North Seeding BLM pasture.
The most difficult purchase was the last one………isn’t that just the way it goes! The Old Prohosky Cow Camp, known as “Elk Haven” (now known as “Forest Lodge”) ever since the real estate agents and developers built the hunting lodge and split it away from the LHPR, was owned by two businessmen from Arizona and Washington (Leon Gale and Phil Boshaw). I made an overture in 1995 to purchase Elk Haven for several hundred thousand dollars. In early 2000 I made an additional overture for approximately three quarters of a million dollars. My offers were turned down but then in about 2003 the owners started contacting me. They had had the property listed for years for $1.5MM. Elk Haven was on the market until late 2006, when I was informed that a U.S. Government firearms contractor wanted to purchase the property because of its remoteness, to test firearms for the government! The owners contacted me and said that I should have first crack at the purchase and that they would sell it to me for $100K less than they would sell to the other buyer. I had to refinance our entire two MetLife loans to acquire this property. It is, however, nice to know that we got the old Prohosky Place back together again. Ruby should be smiling on the other side!
I love activities that kind of turn back the history clock, to make things more like they used to be. Blocking a ranch in the Horse Prairie Valley has been such an activity. Usually, one gets only one opportunity in a life time to acquire a neighbor’s ranch. Our family has been blessed to experience this many times.
One of the most satisfying and frustrating aspects of owning a working cattle ranch in southwest Montana is that you have this deep desire to only own that land that borders you! It’s fortunate that there is a patchwork of public and private lands in the West or the task of blocking one’s ranch would be very frustrating, i.e. more land than money to buy it. In other words, public lands function as barriers to unbridled expansion! Blocking a ranch has several benefits, including obtaining privacy, ease of management (e.g. pasture rotations, access to USFS pastures, etc.), gaining borders with public lands, and marshalling water rights.
Within a year of purchasing the HPR the Old Prohosky Place became available. Gaylon Zonner, who managed the small (714 acres) ranch, had tipped off our manager at the time, Eldon Ayers, of the owner’s interest in selling and Eldon immediately informed me. The neighbor, Donny Hilger, would have liked to acquire the ranch also. I moved quickly and through our very able attorney, Carl Davis, got in contact with Temple Sloan, owner of the Bar Double T (which owned the Old Prohosky Place), and purchased the ranch with a down payment and a note back to Sloan. The Old Prohosky Place was strategic to the HPR for its hay and lush meadows. It also bordered the HPR and had a BLM allotment with two pastures. At one time the ranch also had a nice Cow Camp, just north of the HPR, bordering USFS lands and with a 175 Cow/Calf USFS grazing permit. The late Ruby Prohosky once told me that she lost the Cow Camp to some slick real estate maneuvering by a couple of local real estate agents who somehow sold off the Cow Camp to some out-of-state hunters, who then constructed a hunting lodge (e.g. small bedrooms, inadequate restrooms, and small windows). Then somehow when Bill Wellborn was running the Prohosky Place the 175 Cow/Calf permit was lost. Due to the real estate maneuvering the Prohosky Place was bifurcated and it would take another 12 years before the old Prohosky Cow Camp and original deeded lands would once again be under common ownership. One of the keys to the Old Prohosky Place is the Prohosky-Mansfield Ditch or Canal, which diverts water from Horse Prairie Creek, in the canal, through the old Pierce place, and to the Old Prohosky Place and southeast areas of the Cross Ranch (e.g. Mansfields). The water is a late right but as Ruby Prohosky used to say, “Get that damn water on early before the neighbors need it and you will have one of the greenest, most productive ranches in the valley”. We named the Old Prohosky Place Lower Horse Prairie Ranch or LHPR. LHPR also has its own barn, shop and two homes. Although a big bite financially, following on the heels of the purchase of the HPR, the LHPR has proven to be very valuable to the overall operation of the HPR.
One of the next, very strategic purchases (actually a lease with an option to purchase) was the Old Pierce Place. A Dr. Robert Biddle from Kentucky had purchased the ranch and it was not to his liking so he put it up for sale. The ranch is one of the best hay ranches in Beaverhead County, and included more than 2,000 deeded acres plus very nice BLM and USFS allotments. I negotiated the lease and option right under the noses of two large and aggressive ranchers in the valley, Bill Staudenmeyer and Roger Peters. We signed the deal and stocked up. In three years, when we had to exercise our option, I could not come up with the required million dollars. I had been hit with too many legal bills and our fledgling technology company was still not on track. I approached both of the neighbors. Roger gave me a $20,000 non-refundable check (which I later returned to him) but then couldn’t get the million himself. Bill also couldn’t come up with the million but he had recently sold his Dillon place to Parmenter, who briefly owned the HPR at one time, and had plenty of trade dollars in the bank. I sold my lease with option to purchase to Bill. Biddle didn’t want to sell to Bill and I had been able, right up to the time of closing, to keep the information from Biddle (the option agreement did not require that I inform him of the name of an assignee). Biddle drove his motor home to the ranch the day before it was to close and saw at the ranch Will Staudenmeyer, Bill’s son. He became incensed and said that he would not pay the nearly $230,000 equipment credit. I was able to settle him down but I had to eat the $230,000………thanks a lot Will! The Pierce Ranch, which we called South Horse Prairie Ranch or SHPR, would have been invaluable to the HPR. But it was simply not to be so Staudenmeyers, who couldn’t negotiate a purchase themselves and who also didn’t have the cash but had trade dollars thanks to Bill’s dad, Les, assembling a tremendous amount of property in Beaverhead County, got the Biddle ranch.
One of the next ranches that became available was Dick Robert’s Brown Canyon Ranch, just northeast of the Old Prohosky Cow Camp, which is now called Elk Haven (we now refer to it as Forest Lodge). Dick’s place was small but had several miles of USFS boundary, a head gate on Brown’s Canyon Creek that predates the organization of the USFS (so they cannot dictate what we do with it), and good spring range. I found out about the Robert’s place from Gary Love at State Bank & Trust in Dillon. State Bank & Trust financed the acquisition of the Robert’s place and it has worked very well with the rest of our ranch.
Within a year we learned of the death of Ruby Prohosky, our old friend who lived on 9 acres and a home and several nicely kept outbuildings within the LHPR. We worked with Ruby’s daughter to consummate the acquisition of Ruby’s Place. Ruby’s home is a lovely home and it was an inholding that needed to be back with the LHPR. Ruby you rascal, you left a lot of work for me to do but I am happy to put your original ranch back together!
The other third of the Robert’s place (the Bill and Virginia Wellborn Place) that Dick Roberts never purchased from Ned Wellborn, remained in Bill and his daughter Virginia’s hands. Virginia was fond of diverting the water from Brown’s Canyon Creek to her property, just below UHPR. I had worked with Bill and finally got him to persuade Virginia to sell me their place. It is a nice place that borders the UHPR and our North Seeding BLM pasture.
The most difficult purchase was the last one………isn’t that just the way it goes! The Old Prohosky Cow Camp, known as “Elk Haven” (now known as “Forest Lodge”) ever since the real estate agents and developers built the hunting lodge and split it away from the LHPR, was owned by two businessmen from Arizona and Washington (Leon Gale and Phil Boshaw). I made an overture in 1995 to purchase Elk Haven for several hundred thousand dollars. In early 2000 I made an additional overture for approximately three quarters of a million dollars. My offers were turned down but then in about 2003 the owners started contacting me. They had had the property listed for years for $1.5MM. Elk Haven was on the market until late 2006, when I was informed that a U.S. Government firearms contractor wanted to purchase the property because of its remoteness, to test firearms for the government! The owners contacted me and said that I should have first crack at the purchase and that they would sell it to me for $100K less than they would sell to the other buyer. I had to refinance our entire two MetLife loans to acquire this property. It is, however, nice to know that we got the old Prohosky Place back together again. Ruby should be smiling on the other side!
I love activities that kind of turn back the history clock, to make things more like they used to be. Blocking a ranch in the Horse Prairie Valley has been such an activity. Usually, one gets only one opportunity in a life time to acquire a neighbor’s ranch. Our family has been blessed to experience this many times.
posted by Kenneth W. Duncan | 9:44 AM
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