Through five generations, Park County ranch one of few still in the original family

Wendell Lovely, 85, has ranching in his bones. His grandfather homesteaded here in the Shields Valley in the 1800s, building a ranch nine miles east of Wilsall, which he eventually passed on to his son, who in turn passed it on to Wendell. The 2,000-acre Lovely ranch climbs up into the foothills of the Crazy Mountains. The original, big red barn Wendell's grandfather built on the property still stands. It's one of few ranches in Park County that still belongs to the same family. Over five generations, the Lovelys have raised cattle, dairy cows and chickens on the ground. They've grown wheat, hunted the land and even built a groomed cross-country ski trail. "There's a certain satisfaction in seeing a calf drop and then seeing him grow," Wendell says, his bushy gray eyebrows bouncing above his thick, dark-framed glasses. The ranch is 121 years old, and Wendell has the original deed to prove it, with Theodore Roosevelt's neat cursive signature is at the bottom. It was Wendell's grandfather, Charles "Moab" Lovely, who came to Montana from Kansas in the late 1800s. Moab's parents had come to the United States from Norway. He settled on 320 acres on Cottonwood Bench. At that time, land cost about 50 cents an acre. Moab filed a "desert claim" on the land, which gave twice the land as a traditional homestead, but the owner had to irrigate it or plant trees on it within a certain time. Moab and his neighbors dug a 7-mile-long ditch with horse teams towing scrapers. The same ditch is still in use today...more