History

The valley that the ranch sits in was first settled in the late 1880's. Our ancestors came in 1900 to homestead and put together the ranch that, over the generations has evolved into our present 3200 acre ranch. Generations of caring for and living with the land has preserved the wild life sanctuary that it is today.

As you ride the ridges and valleys surrounding the ranch, you can see how it once overlooked a shallow sea, long before the dinosaurs, and was shaped by the combination of rising mountains, glaciers, volcanic activities, weather and time to form the valleys, ridges and mountains encompassing the surrounding area. We do often find petrified bones, teeth and have beds of fossilized wood and vegetation on the property.

Different tribes of Indians ebbed and flowed across this part of Montana as their migration routes followed those of the buffalo and other game that was their staple food supply along with the plants and berries they gathered. In the late eighteenth century, the Blackfeet and Crow both felt they had the exclusive hunting rights to this area. But the Shashonee, Flathead, Nespierce and other tribes used the Indian roads through the valley for trade routes and going to and from the Buffalo hunting grounds to the east as well as in the travels of various raids, war parties and horse stealing expeditions.

The first white men to visit this area were mountain men fur trappers in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Next came the gold seekers traveling through the area on their way west to the gold fields just north and west of us. Then came the early settlers that were to settle the fertile valleys that made up the headwaters of the Missouri and tributaries of the Yellowstone River. When the lower more desirable land was all settled up in the broad river valleys, the homesteaders began to lay claim to the smaller valleys and the low rolling ridges in between. Here they raised horses, cattle, sheep and pigs, and grew wheat, barley and oats to be shipped east on the newly built Northern Pacific Railroad to feed the growing population of the eastern seaboard.

It was during this era, in the spring of 1900, when Charles Bridgman, great-great grandfather of the newest generation of Leffingwell, arrived in the valley to build the ranch of his dreams. After building a cabin and bringing in the first years harvest, he began courting the newly arrived school teacher, Miss Dorthey Critten. Three years later, on Easter Sunday, they were married. Mary, (1914 - 2006), was soon riding the range with her father and inherited his love for the land.

In its hay day the Bridgman Ranch encompassed most of the upper Brackett Creek valley, but with the death of Charles in 1932, and the low prices of the depression years taking it's toll, Mary was forced to sell the greater part of the ranch. She and her new husband, George Leffingwell, Senior, tentatively started taking in guests to supplement ranch income and moved their headquarters to the remaining 3,200 acres of the property where we live now. To this day, our family still enjoys taking in guests, only 10 to 15 at a time, so you can better experience the culture and western hospitality.

Who We Are | Seasonal Events | Local Attractions | HOME
Horseback Riding & Stock | History | Guest Comments
New Inquiries | More About Us | Rates | Directions