Bart grew up on the ranch, and brings ample experience and an inherent understanding of cattle and horses. He is a talented woodworker and metalworker, and he even dabbles in mechanics, especially when it concerns our 1964 International pickup truck. He can fix or build almost anything we need on the ranch!
Heather grew up in the city of Rochester, New York, surrounded by rolling hills of farmland and apple orchards. She was fascinated by the local living history museum, and by the tales in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books about life on the prairie. After earning her bachelor’s degree in biology, she landed in Montana and was immediately hooked on the wide open spaces and relaxed atmosphere.
We met in Billings in 2008, and together dreamed of living a simpler, sustainable existence up on the prairie. In 2014, we moved north and started Coulee Creek Ranch on land that the Bilden family has called home since Bart’s great-grandfather Enoch Bilden began ranching here in the early 1900s. We now raise Red Angus cattle, along with some chickens, occasionally a few pigs and Icelandic sheep.
Our Crew
Thanks so much to the Red Ants Pants Foundation for believing in our dream and supporting our work. They awarded us a generous grant to purchase gates for our new corrals in 2014. We are grateful we can provide a low-stress handling experience to our cattle with these modern, efficient corrals
Coulee Creek Ranch 