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.

A view of the Montana landscape with dried grasses

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 steak with asparagus and potatoes

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.

A woman in a yellow tee shirt stands at the register of a burger shop

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.

Exterior of the Old Salt Outpost burger shop in Montana

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.

Silhouette of a man looking over a former mining pit

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.

Cows grazing in a landscape

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.

Pair of photos from Montana, one showing a hotel interior, and one showing a red-brick hotel exterior

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.

The interior of a busy steakhouse in Montana

Casagranda’s Steakhouse, in Butte.Janie Osborne

A modern rancher on his family’s land

Cole Mannix at his family’s ranch in the Blackfoot Valley.Janie Osborne

Pair of photos from Montana, one showing a building exterior, and one showing a family walking on a downtown street

From left: Historic downtown Butte; Helena’s main street, Last Chance Gulch.Janie Osborne

A plate of steak and potatoes

The 12-ounce filet mignon served at Casagranda’s Steakhouse, in Butte.Janie Osborne

A steak served on mash, with jus, and herbs

A bison steak at the Grand Union Hotel, in Fort Benton.Janie Osborne

A steakhouse at sunset

The Beef N Bone Steakhouse, in Ulm.Janie Osborne

A cowboy statue on the water in Fort Benton

A cowboy statue in Fort Benton.Janie Osborne