About Us

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

Jack (right) and Jill (left), enjoying a cool bath after a hot day’s work. They are a hard-working team of half-draft Percherons that help us feed the cows in the winter and mow hay, spread manure and harrow in the summer.
Doc (left) an English setter living a fine life in retirement on the ranch, and Maverick (right) a super smart and perennially happy border collie who loves to help move cattle and sheep.
Whiskey – a talented and high-spirited horse that instinctively knows how to move cattle.
Ruby is a calm, yet quick mare that is always excited to help move cows
Nyla, a spunky but surprisingly mellow filly that joined our team in the fall of 2020
One of our friendly bulls tests the new corral gates

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

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