McEwen Family

Since we are first generation on our ranch, our story will be a little different than most you have read.   Our story begins south of Malta.  Dave had graduated from Colorado State University and was working for a rancher 60 miles south of Malta.  Lenora was raised on a family farm 35 miles south of Malta,.  The two met after Lenora had graduated college with a BS in Elementary Education degree.  They married on September 19, 1987 and moved to Fort Benton to manage two ranches for an investment group.  In 1992 they bought a new pickup from Northern Ford in Cut Bank.  On the way home from Cut Bank on Highway 2 they saw the Sweet Grass Hills.  They said they had not been in that area  and placed it on their bucket list.  To their surprise the next week in the Agri-News, they had a Sweet Grass Hills ranch for sale.  This was the perfect opportunity to go check out the hills up close.  We went up with the Realtor and fell in love.    We were very blessed to be given a contract for deed in 1992 from the owner,  Steve and Doreen Christian.  And as everyone knows you need a little help getting started in this business.  Lenora's parents donated a bin full of grain for the down payment.   The McEwen's are a family owned operation raising sheep, cows, and their two children, Forrest and Johna.   That Elementary degree came in handy for Lenora, she has been teaching at Sage Creek Colony School under the CJI district.  She has driven 30 miles on the north side of the hills for the past 18 years.   Christian's History   In 1883 the Barnes family homesteaded an area in the Sweet Grass Hills which was to become the home of Gordon and Lorene Christian in 1948.  Gordon and Lorene raised sheep, cattle, and their two children Helen and Steve on this ranch between West Butte and Middle Butte.