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Welcome to the OTO Ranch
“Where The East Learns The Ways Of The West.”
In 1884, a young Iowan named James “Dick” Randall arrived in Miles City, Montana and hired on as a cowhand near the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. He pushed on after the Hard Winter of 1886-87 to the Yellowstone headwaters in the early years of Yellowstone National Park. Working as a night herder and stagecoach driver in and around Mammoth, Dick Randall came to know the Yellowstone country and befriended many travelers who were captivated by this unvarnished cowboy and his story telling. Together with his wife Dora, they raised a family and built their lives around inviting guests to experience the wild country and ways of the West. Their lives at the OTO became the storybook setting for the origins of dude ranching in Montana.
The Cedar Creek homestead with its large gardens in 1931
The Randalls (at center), surrounded by family and friends on the front steps of the OTO Lodge, 1931. USDA Forest Service photo. View full-sized photo on Flickr
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The Origins of the OTO
The Cedar Creek homestead came with what was barely a home for a growing family – a one-room log cabin with dirt floor and sod roof.
USDA Forest Service photo.
View full-sized photo on Flickr -
The OTO Guest Ranch
The famed OTO Guest Ranch began to take shape when the Randalls built the first small sleeping cabins in a meadow up the creek from their homestead. This was soon followed by an expansive log lodge.
USDA Forest Service photo.
View full-sized photo on Flickr -
Dude Ranch, Montana
The OTO ranch was one of 26 in Montana and Wyoming at the formation of the "Dude Ranch Association” in 1926.
USDA Forest Service photo.
View full-sized photo on Flickr -
OTO Beyond the Randalls
Ownership of the ranch passed on in 1934 to the Randall’s son Gay and Chan Libby, who had been coming through his teenage years to the ranch.
USDA Forest Service photo.
View full-sized photo on Flickr -
The OTO Today
In 2022 True West Collection installed a PopUp Ranch at the OTO, welcoming guests as the Randalls had done a hundred years ago. With horseback riding, cowboy cookouts and guided trips into nearby Yellowstone Park, many of the traditions of the ranch came back to life.
Courtesy photo by True Ranch Collection.
View full-sized photo on Flickr -
Thanks to our Partners
In 2012, the Montana Preservation Alliance partnered with the CGNF Gardiner Ranger district to support preservation efforts at the OTO Ranch.
Courtesy photo by Preserve Montana.
View full-sized photo on Flickr
Alerts & Warnings
- West Boulder Campground water outage
- Hyalite Target Shooting Closure
- Beartooth Ranger District Road and Trail Closures 01-11-82-23-05
- East Rosebud Road 2177 and East Rosebud Trail 15_Restrictions 01-11-82-23-03
- 01-11-04-23-03 Yellowstone Ranger District Camping Area Closure
- Woody Creek Road Closure
- Road #3089, Closure, Sioux Ranger District
- McConnell Fishing Access and Beattie Gulch Area Shooting Closures
- Hyalite Drainage Proposed Permanent Recreational Target Shooting Restriction