REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Moving across the country in the early 1900s wasn't as easy as it is now. That's when Tristan Stark's ancestors traveled to eastern Montana from Oklahoma to settle at the ranch the family still calls home.

The Stark Family owns S Bar K Cattle and Hay in Baker, Montana, and are participating in DTN's View From the Range series. In the series, DTN will follow a year at the ranch to give readers an inside look at how the ranch operates and cares for its animals.

This segment of the series focuses on the history of the ranch and how the Stark family landed in Baker, Montana.

FAMILY LEGACY FOR GENERATIONS

Tristan and Shaylyn are celebrating becoming a family of five with the birth of their third child, Kimber, earlier this month. She is joined at home by her siblings Wayne and Lainey.

The couple enjoy being able to raise their family on the ranch, just as several generations before have done.

Tristan and Shaylyn are the sixth generation to raise their children on this ranch settled by his great-great-great-grandfather in 1910. In 1916, a house was purchased from the Montgomery Ward catalog. It arrived via train on nine numbered railroad cars so they knew what was on each of them and could properly construct the house. This was the home for the growing family for many years. No one is living in the house any longer, yet it still stands on the ranch.

Through the years, the Starks have purchased surrounding ground to add to the original 320-acre ranch. The railroad originally owned a lot of the ground the family now has. In 1968, the family made a large purchase to expand the ranch, adding 6,600 acres for $26 per acre. That ground made it possible to expand the cattle and hay part of the ranch to what it is today.

Tristan got his start at the ranch after returning from college in July 2016 as his grandfather, Rick, was ready to retire. He took over one of his grandfather's land leases and purchased bred heifers from his parents. Tristan established S Bar K Cattle and Hay in 2017. He and Shaylyn were married in September 2021.

His parents, Mike and Cindy, still live on the ranch as well, running their operation, Spring Creek Ranch. The family all help each other daily. They share labor and equipment to get everything done more efficiently.

CATTLE RUN ON THE RANCH

"Cattle have always been part of this place. Back in 1910, they brought animals with them from Oklahoma," Cindy explained. "Besides the cattle, they had pigs, horses, a milk cow, heifers and chickens." She said the records also show four oxen were purchased, for $100 each, after the family arrived to use in the fields.

The Beaver Creek runs through much of the ranch and provides a water source for the cattle. Cindy said they have added water dams and pipelines to be able to divide pastures and still have a water source available.

"The creek provides most of the water we need, unless we have a drought," Shaylyn said. In 2021, they experienced an extreme drought like what was seen across the country in the 1930s. This left them hauling water to cows.

Winter can be brutal in eastern Montana as well. The worst in recent years was in 2022, hitting during calving season and they lost 20% of their calves that were born.

"It was two storms. We got 30 inches of snow and then 50 mile-per-hour winds. Then the wind switched and another storm moved in giving us 30 more inches of snow the same week," Shaylyn explained. "They say it takes a calf-killing storm to get out of drought and that's what we saw, sadly. It was really hard."

Changes have also been made in the type of cattle run on the ranch to fit their environment. The family originally had Herefords, but after a problem with sunburnt udders, they switched to more solid-colored cattle. Tristan and Shaylyn have mostly Red Angus and black Angus cows and are adding more Simmental and Gelbvieh influence.

"We are moderating the frame on our cows to keep them hearty and stocky for more longevity," Shaylyn added. They have made the changes needed to have cattle that thrive in the future.

Change has been seen through the years on the Starks' ranch, but their roots run deep and ranching is what keeps them going.

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Editor's Note: To see previous story in this series, go to: "Montana Family Shares View From the Range," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

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