The Pioneer Ranch in Livingston, Montana, has been in Natasha Silver Bell’s family continuously since 1862 when ancestor Dwight M. Allen emigrated west under the Homestead Act of 1862, which granted land patents to claimants willing to live on, cultivate, and make improvements to their plots.
Nearly four million homesteaders settled land across 30 states over 123 years.
After five years of continuous residence on the homestead (and the payment of an $18 filing fee), the claimant received an official land patent, entitling them to live free and clear on what was now their official property.
Allen chose to homestead land along the Yellowstone River, just north of Gardner and south of Livingston, Montana. He built a house on Trail Creek, between the town of Bozeman and the Paradise Valley (the valley where the upper and lower places are located), where folks could stop and stay while traveling to and from Bozeman. Allen called it ‘The Mountain House’ and raised and sold vegetables there. In 1939, when grandson Clarence Allen's son, Bernard, married, he moved into the house on The Lower Place, the fourth generation of Allens to operate the Pioneer Ranch.
Natasha’s three children are the seventh generation to own and maintain the still-working ranch.
Home on the Ranch
Silver Bell’s ancestors pioneered the valley. Her mother was raised there; her father arrived at 18, and, after their courtship and marriage, Natasha was born in Billings, Montana. The kind of kid who dreamt more about horses than being CEO, Natasha spent every summer and vacation on the Ranch - herding cattle with her family, riding horses, and spending precious time with her grandmother.
“It was a safe place where I ran barefoot and rode horses bareback. No training. No oversight, just me and the horses and feeling each other's energy, listening to and anticipating one another’s moves.”
~ Natasha
Arising from her belief that communing with nature and experiencing the sanctity of the earth in safe, compassionate, and non-judgmental environments allow hope and personal growth to flourish, Natasha recently opened the ranch as a healing destination for SilverBell Global clients and SBG retreats. Guests of The Pioneer Ranch experience a hand-to-heart connection through equine therapy, foraging, and gardening surrounded by the majestic mountains of Livingston, Montana.
“We all deserve to claim freedom and happiness for ourselves. I founded SBC Global to provide strategic approaches to help family systems find sustainable pathways of healing.”
~ Natasha
Though as a child Natasha longed for the simple and satisfying life on the Ranch, life had other plans in store for her. Like her ancestors, she, too, would travel deep into unknown territory. Yet when she found herself lost in the wilderness of addiction and abuse, it was their courage, grit, and determination that inspired and enabled her to find her way home. Through sharing land long sacred to her own family, the legacy of The Ranch lives on - a testament to all intrepid souls looking to come home to themselves.
Going to the mountains is going home.
~ John Muir
