Historic Western Ranch Adventure Truly, it was the trip of a lifetime!

By L.A. Sokolowski

“Our experience was be�er than we could have imagined. The team and guests felt like family off the bat, the views and landscapes redefined breathtaking, and the horses were incredible and so well cared for!”

Their greatest goal with their audiences, the sisters say, is to always promote a unifying love for horses and riding, regardless of experience, discipline or financial means. A goal that meshed perfectly with the love and passion for saving great western dude ranches behind the True Ranch Collec�on’s O.T.O. Pop-Up Ranch, produced by Ranch Preserva�on, in coopera�on with the Custer Galla�n Na�onal Forest, and provided through Ac�ve Riding Trips.

Instagram and TikTok influencers and horse lovers Madison and Reagan Ibach announced to more than one million @IbachMedia fans about their “phenomenal” three-day stay over the summer at Montana’s oldest and most legendary dude ranch, the O.T.O. Ranch at the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Last August

marked the first �me since the O.T.O. closed its doors 84 years ago that it has hosted guests, including the sisters, and with proceeds from the pop-up experience going towards preserving and restoring the original facili�es. Historically, the O.T.O. lodge and its outbuildings set the standard for what a western dude ranch was supposed to look like. It also influenced the Arts and Cra�s Movement found in Yellowstone Na�onal Park. The O.T.O. was among western cra�sman Thomas Molesworth’s first commissions and some of his original works can s�ll be seen there today.

The O.T.O. operated as a dude ranch from the 1910s to 1930s and is listed on the Na�onal Register of Historic Places. In 1887, its founder, Dick Randall, was driving stagecoaches in Yellowstone Na�onal Park and earning the nickname Pre�y Dick because his passengers tended to be its wealthiest and most prominent visitors.

Later establishing himself as a reliable ou�itter for hun�ng and pack trips, the �reless entrepreneur began cour�ng “city dudes” as steady business.

In 1898, Dick and his wife Dora purchased land in a mountain valley along Cedar Creek where they began ranching and growing hun�ng and pack trips clientele. In 1912, the O.T.O. Ranch officially opened to “dudes,” and the construc�on of a main lodge, shower house, and more cabins soon followed.

According to Dick, whose colorful stories have been captured in a wri�en history of the ranch, Music, Saddles and Flapjacks, the origin of the ranch’s name was simple: “We had a brand at the ranch; it was OTO and didn’t mean anything in par�cular. Each ranch has a brand on all livestock and the simpler the brand, the be�er.

“This one didn’t blotch and I could make it with an iron ring and a straight bar. If I was out on the range and saw one of my cri�ers wasn’t branded, I could make one with an iron ring, a pair of pliers, my case knife and a li�le brush first.”

Dick and his wife Dora made promo�onal trips back East promising a western-style experience full of horseback riding, fishing and an escape from urban life, while helping with ranch chores like round-ups, milking and gardening. Guests enjoyed food produced on the ranch, entertainment ranging from music to dancing to storytelling, and even riding in the Livingston Rodeo parade with the Randall family.

While the heyday of the O.T.O. dude ranch only lasted un�l 1939, its pop-up revival for a new genera�on of riders and horse lovers promises to keep the Old West feeling like a brand new experience.

“We were amazed by and deeply apprecia�ve of the planning, organizing and kindness leading up to and during our stay at the O.T.O.,” the sisters agree. “Ac�ve Riding Trips made sure it was an unforge�able trip.

“All we had to do was get excited and enjoy.”

Somewhere, Dick and Dora are smiling. WE