We Rode Into Montana on Horseback and Came Home With 23 Bison
In June of 2023, five of us loaded three trucks and trailers in Gallatin, Missouri and drove straight through to the Flathead Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana. We rounded up wild bison on horseback, crossed the Flathead River, and hauled 23 of them home. Here's the full story.
In June of 2023, five of us loaded three trucks and three trailers in Gallatin, Missouri and drove straight through the night to Northwest Montana. No stops, no hotels. We had a reservation to get to, a herd of wild bison to round up on horseback, and 23 animals to haul back across the country. This is how the McBee bison herd got started — and it's one of the greatest things this family has ever done together.
Why Montana. Why Bison.
We didn't go looking for bison. The idea found us the way the best ideas usually do — through a conversation that started with "what if" and ended with us loading trailers before sunrise.
The Flathead Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana is one of the most breathtaking places in this country. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have managed a bison herd on that land for generations. These weren't feedlot animals or commercially raised stock. These were wild bison, living the way bison have lived on this continent for thousands of years. When the opportunity came to acquire a group of them and bring them back to Missouri, we didn't think about it long.
The Crew That Made the Trip
This wasn't a solo mission. Five of us made the drive — Jesse, Cole, my dad Steve Sr., our uncle Jimmy McBee, and me. Three trucks, three trailers, one destination. We drove straight through both ways. No hotel, no layover. When you're hauling live bison across the country, you don't stop unless you have to.
The whole trip was filmed for Season 1 of The McBee Dynasty — now streaming on Peacock. But what the cameras captured and what it actually felt like to be out there are two different things. No amount of television does that landscape justice.
"There are trips you take and forget. And there are trips that change the way you see what's possible. Montana was the second kind."
Life on the Reservation — Teepees, Campfires, and No Shortcuts
We didn't stay in a hotel. We stayed on the reservation — in teepees, cooking over a campfire, living close to the land the way people lived out here long before any of us were born. That wasn't a gimmick or a TV moment. That was just the way it was done, and we were grateful for it.
Sitting around a fire at night in that country, with mountains on every horizon and a sky full of stars you can't see from Missouri — that's the kind of thing that puts life back in perspective. We weren't there to perform. We were there to work, to be present, and to bring something real back home with us.
About the Flathead Indian Reservation
The Flathead Indian Reservation is home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Northwest Montana — one of the most historically significant and naturally stunning landscapes in North America. The tribes have maintained a bison herd on this land as part of their cultural and conservation mission, keeping alive a connection to these animals that stretches back thousands of years.
We are grateful for the opportunity to acquire animals from this herd and carry that lineage forward on our Missouri farm.
The Roundup — On Horseback Across the Flathead River
This is the part that still doesn't feel real when I think about it.
We saddled up and rode out to gather the bison. Wild bison. On a reservation in Northwest Montana. And at one point during that gather, we crossed the Flathead River on horseback — cold water, current pushing hard, mountains on every side. It was one of those moments where you look around and think: nobody is going to believe this happened.
The Drive Out — Gallatin to Montana, Straight Through
Three trucks, three trailers, five McBees. We loaded up in Gallatin, Missouri and drove straight through — over 1,700 miles — to the Flathead Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana. No stops, no hotels. When you have a mission, you don't waste time.
Setting Up Camp on the Reservation
We stayed on the reservation in teepees and cooked over an open campfire the whole time. No shortcuts. Just the land, the fire, and the kind of conversations that only happen when there's nothing else competing for your attention.
Saddling Up — The Horseback Gather
We mounted up and rode out to gather the bison herd. Wild bison don't move like cattle. They move on their own terms, at their own pace, and you work around them — not the other way around. The gather took everything we had and then some.
Crossing the Flathead River on Horseback
At one point during the gather, we crossed the Flathead River on horseback. Cold water, real current, mountains on every side. It was one of the most incredible moments any of us have ever experienced — and none of us will ever forget it.
Loading 23 Bison and Heading Home
We selected and loaded 23 bison into the trailers and pointed the trucks back toward Missouri. Straight through again — no stops. Over 1,700 miles with 23 wild bison in tow. By the time we pulled back into Gallatin, we had something nobody else in this part of the country had — a genuine wild bison herd with Flathead Reservation lineage.
"Crossing the Flathead River on horseback with bison moving around us and mountains on every side — I've been on a lot of horses in a lot of places. Nothing has ever come close to that."
What Those 23 Bison Have Become
Those 23 animals are now a thriving herd on the McBee Farm in Gallatin, Missouri. Every spring they're having calves of their own. The herd is growing. The lineage that started on the Flathead Reservation is continuing on our Missouri pastures — and producing some of the most extraordinary animals we've ever raised.
These bison came from a wild, managed herd on the Flathead Reservation — not a commercial breeding operation. The genetics are as pure and natural as you'll find anywhere in the country.
From 23 animals in 2023, the herd grows every spring. Around 50 bison calves hit the ground on our Missouri pastures each season — rust-orange and running within hours of being born.
Bison is leaner than beef, higher in protein, and carries a flavor profile that's genuinely different from anything else. As this herd matures, McBee Farm bison products are on the horizon.
Most beef has no story. This herd has one that starts on a Montana reservation, crosses the Flathead River on horseback, and ends on a family farm in Missouri. That story matters.
Watch It on The McBee Dynasty — Season 1 on Peacock
The entire Montana trip was filmed for Season 1 of The McBee Dynasty — the McBee Family's nationally distributed reality series that first aired on USA Network, Bravo, and E! and is now streaming in full on Peacock. Season 2 is available on Bravo and Peacock, and Season 3 premieres in early June 2026.
If you want to see the Flathead River crossing, the horseback gather, the teepee camp, and the drive home — it's all there. Stream Season 1 on Peacock.
What This Trip Meant to This Family
We've done a lot of things together as a family on this farm. But there's something about loading up three trucks in the middle of the night, driving straight through to Montana, sleeping in teepees, riding horseback across a river in the shadow of the Rockies, and coming home with 23 wild bison — that's the kind of thing that bonds people for life.
Jesse, Cole, Dad, Uncle Jimmy, and I all came home different from how we left. More grateful. More certain about what this farm is supposed to be and what we're supposed to be building here.
Those 23 bison represent something bigger than a new product line. They represent what happens when a family is willing to go all in on a big idea, do it the hard way, and see it through. That's what this farm has always been about. That's what it'll always be about.
— Steven McBee, McBee Farm & Cattle Co.
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