Tracing Montanas cattle culture, from wild buffalo to grass-fed steak.
More precisely, it was space: the all-encompassing nothingness for which the West is famous.
The bone bed is 18 to 22 feet deep.
The First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, in Montana.Credit:Janie Osborne
A lot of bison went over that cliff.
I hiked back to my car.
The sun was low in the sky, and I was getting hungry.
A 35-ounce porterhouse at the Beef N Bone Steakhouse, in Ulm.Janie Osborne
Fortunately, I didnt need to send any shaggy beasts over a cliff to procure my dinner.
The history of Montana, where I live, is in many ways the history of cattle ranching.
Among the first ranchers was Conrad Kohrs, a fortune seeker from Holstein, in what is now Germany.
The butcher-block counter at the Old Salt Outpost in Helena.Janie Osborne
At its height some 100,000 people called it home; the population now hovers around 36,000.
A giant open pit sits in the center of town, a lasting scar from the ravages of mining.
I checked in toHotel Finlen, a French-inspired building from 1924.
Old Salt Outpost, a burger shop in Helena.Janie Osborne
It might have been one of the best steaks I have ever eaten.
This area is a sea of grass, a volunteer told me.
Beef is about all you could grow.
A platform overlooking a former mining pit in Butte.Janie Osborne
Staffers and volunteers role-play as cowboys and camp cooks.
While cattle barons may seem like a throwback, their spirits still rule inBig Sky Country.
Ranch ownership has changed, as well.
Cole Mannix’s family ranch in the Blackfoot Valley.Janie Osborne
Though they face their share of challenges, smaller family ranches survive and are looking for ways to thrive.
Rising land prices and competition from cheaper foreign beef had already been challenges.
Today, much of what they raise is sold in Montana.
From left: The historic Hotel Finlen, in Butte; The Grand Union Hotel.Janie Osborne
It serves different steak cuts nightly.
It was, in a word, delicious.
And knowing it was part of a centuries-long tradition on the prairies of Montana made it taste even better.
Casagranda’s Steakhouse, in Butte.Janie Osborne
Cole Mannix at his family’s ranch in the Blackfoot Valley.Janie Osborne
From left: Historic downtown Butte; Helena’s main street, Last Chance Gulch.Janie Osborne
The 12-ounce filet mignon served at Casagranda’s Steakhouse, in Butte.Janie Osborne
A bison steak at the Grand Union Hotel, in Fort Benton.Janie Osborne
The Beef N Bone Steakhouse, in Ulm.Janie Osborne
A cowboy statue in Fort Benton.Janie Osborne
