“Last American Cowboy”
July 13, 2010
American public, meet the ranchers!
Bill Galt. Photo courtesy of Animal Planet/Audrey Hall
It’s pretty cool when legitimate ranchers and their western lifestyle are spotlighted on the Animal Planet channel, giving the American public an insight into what it takes to put that hamburger or steak on the table. And it’s even better when two AQHA life members are involved, so they can give us a look behind the scenes.
Here, Lisa Tanzer, a co-executive producer, and Bill Galt, one of the featured ranchers, talk about what it was like to make “Last American Cowboy,” which airs Monday nights (8 p.m. Eastern) on Animal Planet.
Lisa, who has ridden since she was 5 and has shown reining horses for the past several years, says she loved being able to visit the three Montana ranches, and she even got to do some camera work from horseback. She also spent time in the edit bay in Los Angeles, going through the 5,000 hours of film that were recorded from calving season in March through October, when the calves were sold.
“I thought it was an amazing glimpse into ranching,” she says. “I’ve had so many people say, ‘I can’t believe that even happens.’ ”
Ranchers tend to labor in the background, with many city folks completely unaware of their hard work and struggles. That’s one reason Bill and his wife, Jill, agreed to have a camera crew live on their ranch for eight months.
“I was hoping that the American public would see what it takes to produce the food they eat and how hard it is to make it work,” Bill says. “I think people are losing touch with food on the hoof. Kids today are raised believing it comes from the store.”
The filming was an education for the camera crews, as well. There were two crew members on each of the three ranches, and Lisa had to give them an introduction to the cowboy way.
“I had to teach them how to work around cattle, how to move around cattle and horses, to be aware of where the animals are,” she says. “When you’re looking through a camera, looking at an LCD screen, you focus on that and not on what’s around you. That can get you into trouble when you’re dealing with 800 thousand-pound animals.”
A few of the cameramen did mount up on horseback to shoot footage in places four-wheelers wouldn’t reach. And they won Bill’s respect.
One of his assigned crew members had been a cameraman for six seasons on “Deadliest Catch,” which shows the mettle of crab fishermen on the Bering Sea. (Fun sidenote: Andy Hillstrand, captain of the Time Bandit ship and a Quarter Horse owner, was featured in the July 2009 issue of America’s Horse magazine.)
That seafaring cameraman “was tough,” Bill says. “He said, ‘Don’t be afraid to shove us out of the way. We just want to shoot what’s here.’ They were very disciplined and very good.”
Part of “what’s here,” of course, was the ranch horses. For Bill, that means good, stout American Quarter Horses. He’s a third-generation Montana rancher and a third-generation Quarter Horse breeder.
Here’s an excerpt from his Web site: “Bill started his own Quarter Horse breeding program in the 1970s with the purchase of two stallions bred for the specific qualities that ranchers value. The rugged mountains of Montana require a horse to be tough, surefooted and have a good bone structure under him. A good ranch horse must also be cowy, intelligent and athletic to do his job well. Disposition is of the utmost importance, as the Galts believe that the most athletic horse in the world is of no use if he’s too tough to get along with.”
The Galt Ranch stallions are Barons Red Rock, a son of Mr Baron Red; Birch Creek Red Buck, by Two Eyed Red Buck; and GR Medicine Man, by Peptoboonsmal. The ranch breeds about 30 mares a year, and the horses that aren’t kept for ranch use are sold at auction. The Galts were named the Montana Quarter Horse Association’s ranch of the year in 2008.
“They raise really nice all-around good ranch horses,” Lisa says.
But because “Last American Cowboy” is a TV show that has to have a storyline, the Galt Ranch has been cast as the mechanized, modern ranch – even though horses still play a major role on the ranch.
Here’s an excerpt from an Animal Planet press release: “The Galt Ranch is one of the largest cattle ranches in Montana with over 100,000 acres, 5,500 cattle and 100 horses. It is so vast that owner Bill Galt manages it from the sky in his own helicopter. Bill and the rest of the Galt family believe technology is the future of ranching and necessary to efficiently run a ranch of this size and caliber.”
The other two ranches are the Stucky ranch, which is a smaller operation that does all its work horseback, and the Hughes ranch, run solely by a husband-and-wife team, with their two young children.
For all of the ranches’ sake, Lisa tried very hard to keep everything accurate – and not let the storylines run rampant over the facts.
“It’s hard, because there has to be that element of drama that you need for television,” she says. “Certainly, there was drama out there. When the calf doesn’t make it or something terrible happens, that’s part of what television shows.”
But we’ve all seen TV shows or movies that feature random whinnies or moos – at times and places they’d never be appropriate. Lisa says you won’t hear that happening on this show, which she hopes is just as real and authentic as the ranches that are being portrayed.
Visit http://animal.discovery.com/tv/last-american-cowboy/ to learn more about the show.
Happy viewing!
P.S. Speaking of AQHA members on TV, cowboy mounted shooter Denny Chapman is still in the running to be History’s “Top Shot.” He’s in a reality-show competition on the History Channel and has escaped elimination thus far.
Holly Clanahan
Editor, America's Horse magazine
Comments
32 Comments on ““Last American Cowboy””
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August 2nd, 2010 at 12:07 pm
What a truely amazing reality show. I am amazed at the hard work that all of these people do for there and our lively hood. They deserve more credit then I am sure anyone knows. God Bless you and your families.
August 3rd, 2010 at 7:26 am
The final episode of the best-ever reality show, Last American Cowboy, aired last night. I laughed, and I cried (along with Earl Stuckey), and saw first-hand how closely knit ranching families and communities are “out West.” Thank you Animal Planet/Discovery for this amazing series, and thank you to the Stuckeys, Galts and Hughes for allowing cGod Bless you all, and I hope Cal continues to get stronger each and every passing day. I know I’m going to miss you all greatly.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:17 am
when i turned 65 and had retired i went on my first cattle drive i was brought in a small farming community in illinois and always wanted to be a cowgirl i married had 5 children and when everybody was out on there own i went on this cattle drive the west is beautiful as are there stories and poetry.my drive was at the nelson half moon ranch and was one of the greatest parts of my life thank god for these families
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:27 pm
My husband and I were completely captivated by this show. We both had lived on small farms with cows and the chores and milking …a 24×7 job. It was refreshing to see a reality show that is real, and I mean real life. Hard work…and hard knocks. It is a great show, I hope they continue producing the show. Today’s young people need to see this kind of good clean living.
We were glad to see Cal has gotten home, and hope he is improving daily. Thank God for these people…real people.
August 5th, 2010 at 11:31 am
I loved this show! And I would love to meet these families! What a beautiful but rugged landscape. What these families do is the definition of hard work. I feel guilty for setting behind a desk! And Earl Stuckey is the true definition of a man. What a wonderful rancher, husband and father. I hope he has a lot of riding left in him. And best wishes to Cal. I hope there is a way we can up with his progress. I felt kind of sorry for Scott throughout the series. Although he does a great job taking care of the ranch he could use a little help. Also, he needs to quit worrying about what his cold hearted father thinks of him. He has proved himself worthy of running the ranch. And the Galts, Bill had to grow on me but he did. What an operation he runs, although he couldn’t do it without his nephew! I would love for this series to continue.
August 9th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
I am going through withdrawal after finding out there are no more episodes. Please say you are going to produce more. It is amazing how my wife an I feel we know these families as if they were neighbors. The last episode was a tear jerker. I grew up with men like Earl Stuckey, hard as granite on the outside with only glimpses of emotion.
I inherited a small family farm and after early retirement, now run a small “hobby” herd of 40 Angus brood cows. I can understand the pressure and disappointment these fellows feel but I have additional income. I was particularly interested in their massive operations and how operations such as haying differs so much from the way we do it in the southeast.
Did I mention we would like to see the series continued?
August 24th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
This show was really great! A real reality show! Is there any way to get updates to see how Cal is doing? Please, please, do a follow up season and continue the series. I have had the privilege of being able to help gather and move cattle and help at branding. We live in an area where there are cattle ranches and where hay is grown, cut, and baled.
I have shared these episodes with my 14 year old daughter who also rides a quarter horse and has done some roping and she is hooked on the show, too.
Thank you for a wonderful show and please bring us more.
September 1st, 2010 at 11:45 pm
I watch very little TV. Nothing interested me, until I was flipping through the channel’s and saw The Last American Cowboy! I was hooked in 5 minutes. I love it! I think about them every day and how they are doing. I watch the weather channel and pray for them to have good weather, I’m always praying for all of them because I feel close to them, intimately. I can’t explain these feelings. Please do not stop the series!!! It’s a clean cut series that our children need to see more of. They need to learn that honest hard work is rewarding and that it builds good character. Again, please continue the series!!!
September 11th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
I really enjoyed your TV program on 9-11-10 on your ranch and the Stuckey’s. It was very interesting I almost thought, I’d like to try that once. Also as for Mr. E. Stuckey’s back aches, he should try wearing a magnetic waist or back support. I was shocked that after wearing the wrap around for 2.5 weeks for 16 hours a day, the pain and clicking sounds are gone. Avoid surgery an long sessions of Physical Therapy. It worth a try for under 30.00. God Bless
September 18th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
I agree, PLEASE continue this series! It is a wonderful look into the cowboy way, the way everyone pitches in to help one another, the hard work ethic, the good character of the people, what a wonderful window into that way of life…..really hoping there is another season in the works!
October 27th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
All i have to say is keep the series going and the cattle moving. All so would it be possible for a update on Cal? Thank you.
October 27th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
I turned on this show tonight and had to turn it off after 2 minutes because I couldn’t believe the cruel manner in which these people were treating their cattle — tying up calves, dragging them around on their horses and then BRANDING them with a red hot poker. It was all so nasty. I have never been an animal rights activist but this show really disturbed me. I can’t believe there isn’t a more humane way to identify cattle and can’t believe what those people are doing is legal in the 21st century. I hope this show is canceled. And if this is what the last American cowboys are doing, hope they disappear, for the sake of the animals.
November 13th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
A y’all my cattle is bieing and im on my own I got 18000 head of cattle and if you help me out I’ll give you free hate and feed
November 18th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Loved the series, would love to see a re-cap or another season. This is the only “reality” series I have ever taken the time to watch. Hope all the families winter well and “Cal” makes a full recovery. The best part of the series in my opinion was the photography of the area. The production crew did a fine job.
November 30th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Great show does anyone know if its coming back on next year? jimsonier@yahoo.com thank you for your help
December 13th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Allison must be a vegan.Farmers have done the things she is complaining about to cows for hundreds of years.We have to eat dear.My Mother’s Father was a dairy farmer.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:06 am
I loved the show and am having withdrawls too! Hope the show comes
back on for another season, true it is a repetitive lifestyle but you can’t tell me we have seen all the struggles, etc that goes in to running a successful ranch in Montana.
Bill, for me watching the show made me realize and appreciate every
bite I take of my steaks and hamburgers. You are right too many kids think it comes from the grocery store. I plan to buy the DVDs
and show them to my grandsons, I am a big fan of cowboys and would love for one of my 3 grandsons to be a rancher! Earl, I feel like I
have known you all my life. May God bless and keep you and your beautiful family. I keep Cal in my prayers and uh say hello to Nick
for me what a cowboy!!!!!!!!!!. Finally to the ladies, I am proud of all of you ladies, your guys better appreciate each one of you. Just remind them every so often ” Behind every successful man is a women…………” without you it would be hard to run a ranch with all men. God bless and pray for another season of The Last American Cowboy. Shelby- Illinois
December 29th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Those high school boys made about 2.50 an hour to work. One boy said “I’ll work for more money”, no more money he quit. I would not advise my boy to work for 1/3rd of minimum wage.
December 30th, 2010 at 2:29 am
Those high school boys were not worth 25 cents an hour. Fact of the matter is, I would bet at least one of them ends up working for room and board at the county jail someday.
Those fools weren’t smart enough to realize what an opportunity they were given. They were lazy and disrespectful right from the start and if they had any character at all they would have been ashamed of how they presented themselves in front of thousands of people.
And to Allison, I’m sure you mean well, but the fact of the matter is, you are naieve. No one loves these animals more than the people who literally risk life and limb to ensure they live. And before you say it’s only for the money that they care for the animals, consider that while this may be partially true, these animals would never have been born at all if not for the farms and ranches where they are raised. As far as branding goes, yes there are other ways to mark them. Unfortunately none are permanent or would prevent a thief from remarking them and selling them as their own. I have found most people who think like this really are very well meaning but just have no exposure to what it takes to put food on the table for the rest of us who just take it for granted there will always be food on the shelves at the store. The only way to eliminate some of these practices would be for all of us to be completely self sufficient in regards to feeding ourselves. Then you could raise your own food as you feel most comfortable doing. Unfortunately, that would mean every family would need at least a few acres of land and the knowledge to utilize it. How likely of a scenario is that?
January 4th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Just a quick coment on the young boys, I am certain there pay included room and board. Pretty fair in my estimation. Could of worked into more if they were worth there weight. Its a great life lesson. Hard work is a valuable comodity. Loved the show, praying for the entire lot of ranchers. Coming from a very small community in Idaho I feel a sort of distant kinship. Hope the show continues.
January 13th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Would like to know if you can give me some cow savvy lessons. I really likes “The Last American Cowboy” I even watch the reruns,and I think your internship program is wonderful. But I’m much older than the kids that apply,is there anyway you could do a “online internship” for someone wanting to gain more knowledge on the cattle business? My husband and I live in Laramie, Wy. he is retired military, funds are limited but would love to gain more knowledge about ranching. we have small spread(36) acres,now that you are done laughing we are interested in production just for us. A lot of our friends are ranchers and sometimes the talk is over our head,so that is why we want to learn more. Also we want to pass on the love of the cowboy ways to our grandchildren. If there is anything you can do for us we would be grateful. Thank You Regins Snow
January 29th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
This is by far the best show on T.V. I come from a ranching family and appreciate everything these ranchers and there families go through.Please keep the series going.We can’t wait each week to watch another episode.
January 30th, 2011 at 9:16 am
Saw the Tv show The Last American Cowboy and loved it. I havent watched more than 15 minutes of TV at anyone time in many a year but couldnt stop watching this. I grew up on a Tobbaco Farm in Southern Maryland and we used to have that kind of spirt here years ago. This area is mostly the suburbs now. These are the true Americians and the people who made this country great. I sure hope they do a follow-up series. I know I will be watching.
February 28th, 2011 at 11:14 am
This is amazing that my son and I were just talking about the Gult family yesterday. My grandmother was a Gult(sister to Errol Gult) and we often had members of the Gult family come to visit us in Fargo,ND where my grandmother (Mable Eckert(Gult)lived for many years. We often talked of elk hunting and Uncle Errol’s Bank in Mile City,MT. The story went that when the bank was sold the collection of Charlie Russel’s he had collected over the years, where worth more than the bank.
We sure would like to get in contact with Bill and the family.
Brad Ansley
March 21st, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Just would like to know when this show is on the history channel
March 21st, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I would like to know how these rancher’s feel about the way the blm is handling the in-humane round-ups of our wild american horses
chasing them with helicopters, atv’s and trucks. It seems that alot of ranchers -cowboys, aren’t standing up for our wild horses and burors. They are chased for miles at fast speeds that alot of them including new born foals break legs die of exhaustion. Under the land mangement of the blm…..I thought cowboys love horses and take good care of them….These wid horses have a right to roam the land and live free for ever. Not be run down and killed and the ones that do show up alive at the holding pens are very upset from being seperated from their families…..mares kept away from their foals and stallions.then sent to slaughter.The bottom line is the greed of the cattleman who want all the land for their cattle to increase their profits!!!!! It is a crying shame to destory our AMERICAN HERITIAGE IN THE NAME OF PROFITS. So I ask again what kind of cowboys are these. Repare the land grow new grass keep the pastures alive and leave the horses and bison alone. Stop killing them off for you gain!!!!There are better ways to manage that land…Keep the domestic cattle closer to home…..HORSE LOVER……. FLICKA WHAT DO YOUR KIDS REALLY THINK OF YOU!
March 24th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
I should have done this a long time ago, so I’ll do it now.
I have watched the story on the TV series “Last American Cowboy” and I just want to say “Thank You” for what you do.
When I watch your lives on the ranch I’m just thankful that there are people like the ranchers depicted, left in America.
I would love to see more of this series.
March 24th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
In response to Matt Taylor:
You have obviously never been on ranches, livestock auctions, or stockyards. The bottom line is, it IS for profit, and it IS unecessary to brand to animals in the MANNER that they do on the show. Dragging them, picking them up and SLAMMING them to the ground on their bacs is no better than how animals are treated in a rodeo. It in is these instances on the show where it becomes obvious there is a disparate between money and compassionate creatures, in relation to how the ranchers view their cows.
I also found it ironic that you spelt “naive” incorrectly.
The sad thing is, you are comparing what is legal to what is humane and moral, and saying that they are one in the same. Have you ever been to factory farms? Seen gestation crates, battery cages, veal crates? THOSE ARE LEGAL TOO. And they “put food on the table”, but the way in which creatures are treated and disrespected is NOT necessary as you claim. These ranchers make up a small percentage of the farming market, and it’s their choice to be in the minority, and therefore it is their choice to be “branded” so to say, as infringing upon animal welfare.
You said previously: “[a]nd before you say it’s only for the money that they care for the animals, consider that while this may be partially true, these animals would never have been born at all if not for the farms and ranches where they are raised”.
Really? Would these animals have never been born at all? Because without this ranch, not only would they have been born, but they would have been able to roam freely as well. Without getting fucking dragged and burnt as children, and forced where to go.
Animals roamed freely in the pre-English Americas because we came to cultivate and control animal populations and freedoms.
And guess what? Hunting cows or deer in the wild is way more humane than the shit that is in this show, and the even more horrifying truths in our factory farms. It’s a shame that we are an ignorant culture that follows our media and our personal comforts, rather than our morals.
But then you argue “well animals can’t roam freely, there’s not enough space”. True. Though why is this? Because we NEED our roads, our cars, our stores and all the material shit that is ruining our species, rainforests, and environment. Funny, we allow ourselves to overpopulate, but whatever else gets in our way, or is an inconvenience, we just plow it down, put up feilds, trap and control populations of animals so that they don’t inconveniently roam in our trash, dent out cars, make us late to work.
It is a shame that we don’t see the environment and these creatures for what they are, or for the sacrifice that they offer to us when we consume or we use them or control them. Native americans had the right idea, and their moral spirituality can span across all religions and all nationalities.
We don’t need 3 meals of meat per day…there are other protein sources as well. We don’t NEED to put food on the table THIS WAY! But I guess we want it…we want that money, want that car and that tv, and that child, even if we might struggle to give it a good life.
You can life without this shit. People need to get over themselves.
To wager ANY being’s well-being for such a ridiculous reason is so saddening. It is saddening to know that recurring themes throughout history constant use such reasonings to justify human rights abuses against even our own kind.
When you strip this show to its core, it’s nothing more than unecessary. And I am in no way personally criticizing the family in this show, it’s not their fault. They have been raised as such, and they have been raised in a society that approves of the lifestyle. It is everyone’s issue; mine and yours.
October 25th, 2011 at 8:36 am
They are cows. not people. Cow hides are different than human skin.
brandng hurts for a moment then is gone it does not hurt like a burn on your skin.don’t pass laws or pass judgement on something you don’t understand. The cows on this show are well cared for that is why they work so hard to take care of them. they don’t sit around and play video games all day and let them starve or dye of some disease.
They care for them every day.And yes that is hard work! so go back to your video games and leave reality to people that know.
October 28th, 2011 at 6:12 am
I was apprehensive along with alot of others in the ranching industry about this show being misconstrued by the animal rights unrealistic liberal pompous thinking individuals that are determined to destroy all that is about the animal industry.
Our family homesteaded in Montana in 1896, we were honored by the Stockgrowers Association to be included in a published book titled “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started”. The criteria was a ranch owned by the same family for a 100 years or more, in the same location and still in the industry. It would benefit you pompous individuals with blinders on to try researching the history of the where the backbone of honest immigrants that built this country came from. The filming crew was there at the ceremonies following the Hughes family, so in this population wise minute yet massive corner of this great country…we knew about this series before it was completed.
Since you are worried about spelling details, the ISI is our brand that is a historical one our forefather filed for. You cannot find new brands in this manner as they are limited to being numbers only these days. You see tags don’t work as they hang up on bushes and break off, we must keep track of each individual animal as a way of preventing spreading of disease along with theft prevention.
This brand represents years of suffering through tough times, scraping for a living and still managing to hang on in a valley where “earth loving people” are raining on us with their fancy cabins now surrounding us on the mountain sides, their sewers running downhill towards the rivers and wildlife being even more imposed on.
Wildlife thrives on our place due to the alfalfa we grow, we constantly pick up garbage from the influx of “nature loving” slobs that infiltrate during the summer as truly we are the best environmentalist you will find not sitting behind a desk. The only good thing about our tough winters is that they blow these types out of here, so it’s a brief respite that we struggle through.
See there are only 4 “real ranches” left here, there are a few wealthy hobby ranchers that only do it to say they are ranchers in Montana. The point is that it will end up being your way at the rate things are going as agriculture in the USA is a dying industry. The day is coming your food sources will be running out, your choices will be vegetables fertilized by some foreigners feces, your beef will be unsafe because it’s not being monitered accurately what it’s being fed overseas leading to some unheard of disease someday. This is an impending reality.
Normally I don’t spend time I don’t have on trying to open narrow minded people to open their eyes, minds and hearts to things they don’t want to hear, nor explore and yet pass judement. Please take a minute to stick a freshly blown or even lit match to your leather shoe side and tell me if it hurts for days. It was well explained on the documentary that a cows hide is 10 times thicker than a humans…that’s why you’re wearing it! If you’re so worried about spelling…it’s time to worry about your own comprehension level.
Just trying to hang on in Montana.
December 10th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Does anybody know? Will there be a season 2?
February 7th, 2012 at 10:37 pm
We just watched the show on a Christmas gift DVD . We were in the ranching business ( small time compared to Bill Gault ) for over fifty years and still get to be a part of it with our daughter and son in law . We loved every minute of the show and think that Bill Gault is amazing . His kindness to those three teenagers when they quit was remarkable . We wish Cal Stuckey a complete recovery and also wish Mr. Hughes a better relationship with his children that he must have had with his father.
Our only criticism might be that the narrator referred to the calves that were being sold as “cows”. They were heifers or
steers . Cows are kept to continue to reproduce more calves—unless they are barren or old .
Please give us another look at these incredible families .