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On the grassland mountains of Montana, immersed deep in the Western landscape, lies the keys to a life. The Old West history and tradition suffusing the handsome expanses in Lewistown, Montana – a certain kind of living keeps people closer to the land.
True freedom requires that – a closeness to something bigger, to an idea that stretches your soul and makes you feel part of a way of life. It transcends everyday complexities, tapping into the touchstones of culture and mystique.
Mort and Donna Fleischer found just that kind of freedom. When on his home ranch in Montana, Mort likes to say he “borrows freedom.” The truth is, he built it. He earned his space in the intense pressure cooker of Wall Street, assembling financial empires for almost four decades. But that world comes at a cost; by the time you realize you’re burning out, it might be too late to rehabilitate your life.
Mort and Donna built their freedom by embracing a way of life defined by authenticity and loyalty, forthrightness and honest work. He found a way to extend his life and amplify his enjoyment of it.
Now he’s offering that to you. It’s not the chance of a lifetime.
It’s the chance for a lifetime.
A winding lane flanked by miles of lush, green grass. This is the West the way it was, the West of cowboys and cattle drives, beautiful wildflowers and abundant wildlife. Here, people are still riding for the brand and the mountains still hold untamed promises. On this landscape, with its epic sweep and rich history, human impact still feels scant and natural rhythms set the pace. This is vastness as a way of life, the land as a means of defining your place on earth.
15 minutes down the road is Lewistown, a town that might have stepped out of a 1950’s Western set, a place where cowboys still wear chaps and spurs in the saloon. It has an airport for private aviation, and all the groceries and dry goods you need so you can be self-sufficient and surrounded by the grandeur that remains only in pockets of this country – pockets like Horsethief Basin Ranch.
Horsethief Basin is a working cattle ranch. This are, with it’s fertile soil and rolling tablelands and forested benches, is as productive a piece of land as you’ll find in the West. No prickly pear cactus, no shrubby sage to crowd out, nothing but hills and swales covered in nutritious grass. They hay base in Horsethief Basin is rich and lush. The forests supply timber.
Horsethief Basin Ranch is 7,000± contiguous acres of grasslands and timberlands, easily capable of supporting 500 cow-calf pairs, with a tried and trusted manager in place to handle the entire operation. The ranch could also work as summer pasture for yearlings, which require less manpower and time. The ranch has 23 miles of fence, and a spring has been developed to create reliable water sources without damaging the riparian zones.
No ranch is complete without a home. Built in the vernacular of the region, the main house at Horsethief Basin is 1880’s on the outside, but fully fitted with 2020 comfort and luxury on the inside. At 8,000 square-feet, the custom log house is a marvelous example of how to live in the Old West today.
An expansive kitchen provides room for expert flair in meal creation. Its upscale appliances, design efficiency and sense of space make food preparation a pleasure.
The great room, with its vaulted ceilings and stone fireplace, brings a sense of space indoors, adding an aura of history and tradition.
Two plush guest houses accommodate visitors in splendid comfort. Sculptures and art place human touch-points amid the natural majesty of Horsethief Basin Ranch.
Around the ranch, you’ll find all the outbuildings, equipment, and farm machinery it takes to operate a successful cattle ranch-and the operations manager to do it for you.
In Montana, the main attraction is the world around you. The mountain ranges surrounding the ranch—the Judiths and Snowies and Moccasins—provide shelter for wildlife.
Active wildlife management on the ranch ensures that healthy populations of elk, deer, antelope and wild turkey thrive here.
Warblers and other songbirds orchestrate a dawn chorus behind the house every morning.
Nearby, Big Spring Creek, one of Montana’s premier trout streams, flows toward Lewistown.
- Pristine ranch land 10± miles east of Lewistown, Montana
- Equally balanced hay meadows, rolling grasslands and high country timberlands
- Abundant water supports healthy elk, deer, antelope, turkey, grouse and pheasant populations
- Luxury 8,000 sq ft owner’s residence with two matching guest cabins, each with two suites and full kitchen
- Manager’s home and outbuildings
- 6-stall horse barn with outdoor riding arena and steel working corrals
- Can support 400± animal units plus replacements
- All water & mineral rights owned by seller convey
- Big Spring Creek nearby; One of Montana’s premier trout streams
- Manager’s Residence: 4,500± SF, 5 beds, 3 baths, and a large kitchen
*Horsethief Basin Ranch is also offered as part of a pair with MorDo Ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona.
