Elkhorn Ranch opened in the summer of 1922 with cabin space for two couples and a tent under the trees for the owners, Ernest and Grace Miller.
Ernest, just released from the army at the end of WWI, had a job hauling freight by team and wagon between the railroad and West Yellowstone. During one of his trips he met Grace, a minister's daughter from Massachusetts, who had moved west as the assistant to a professor at Montana State College in Bozeman.
Newly wed, they were able to acquire a homestead on Sage Creek in the Gallatin Canyon for back taxes. With Ernest's and Grace's love of the out doors and of people a dude ranch was a perfect dream. From that first summer on, they explored the country and thrived on sharing their love of it with people from other places. Pack trips and day trips by car into Yellowstone Park were high points of a summer experience.
By the end of the 40's, Elkhorn had expanded to include the two adjoining homesteads, known as Cow Camp and 7-11. On the main ranch a variety of individual cabins were built from the surrounding timber, the corrals were moved across Sage Creek and todays barn was built. Summer is beautiful at the ranch but in the winter roads were closed for months at a time and it was necessary to find the means to provide for key crew members and to winter the horses at a lower elevation. For many years the Madison Valley was the answer; then, in 1946, Grace and Ernest opened a winter Elkhorn Ranch in Arizona.
Drawn back to the incredible Montana country and the western way of life, guests returned year after year to Elkhorn often coming at the same time so as to join up with ranch friends. Among those returning were Minxie and Dwight Minton, both second generation Elkhorn guests. After coming every summer since 1959 and having two of their three children work on the ranch, the Mintons purchased the Montana Elkhorn from the Miller-Hymas family in 1987. The Minton's love of the ranch and their appreciation of its importance to generations of families is apparent in their dedication to preserving its style and traditions.
Today the Elkhorn is managed by Grace and Ernest's granddaughter, Linda Miller. Linda started riding as a Peanut at the ranch and is happiest when on the trail sharing the country. Her parents, Jan and Bob Miller, moved seasonally between the two Elkhorns until 1961 when they settled full time on the southwest ranch and Barb (Bob's sister) and Ron Hymas came to the northern ranch. Linda has been back at Elkhorn since 1989.
Jim McGuiness, the Elkhorn foreman, also has long roots at the ranch. Jim's dad, Randy, was the Elkhorn barn boss in the 60's and his mother was a Peanut Butter Mother before they moved their family to a ranch in the nearby Madison Valley. Jim has an amazing understanding of the country and an innate ability with horses. Jim has been back at the Elkhorn since 1988.
The newest member of the team is Greg Fields who first worked at Elkhorn in 2001. Drawn by the country and the life-style, Greg became permanent in 2005. Greg's appreciation of the country and of the dude ranch way of life is infectious.
In ninety years there have been incredible changes in this world, Montana and the Gallatin Canyon. Although many of the Elkhorn faces have changed, many of the names have not. Nor has the setting, the values or the lifestyle.