Where grit meets creativity

Portfolio

Where grit meets creativity

In the shadow of Montana’s big sky, a season on the Roam Free bison ranch, from cabin construction to bison harvests

Grit and skill: the workers who build the impossible

Lately, Jon has been recruiting his employees from two distinct worlds: the Amish community and certain branches of the military. His reasoning is simple:
– They know how to endure hardship.
– They bring the right skills.
– They don’t believe in impossible tasks.

Whether it’s raising a barn or constructing a cabin in record time, they get the job done.

Field Harvest: A Bison’s Final Journey

In the cold morning light, a single shot echoes across the valley. The bull collapses instantly—no chase. A broken leg had sealed his fate; survival was no longer an option. In the wild, he would have faced a slow death, vulnerable to predators. Here his life ends swiftly, his body repurposed with the same reverence that once defined the relationship between bison and the people who depended on them.

Brandon and Moses move quickly, working alongside Jon to process the animal. There is no waste. The hide will be tanned, the skull set aside for cleaning, the meat carefully harvested. A bison’s thick hide and dense muscle make field dressing a test of endurance—this is not work for the unskilled.

Unlike cattle, bison cannot be easily corralled, transported, or handled in a slaughterhouse. They are still, in many ways, wild. When one must be harvested, it is done this way—on the land, in the open, with a rifle rather than a captive bolt. It’s not the industry standard, but it’s more humane. The way it has always been.

The wheel of pain

Last year in Colorado, I stopped to read an informational sign about the geology of the valley before me. What struck me wasn’t the science but the way the text began: Imagine…

That single word transformed the experience. It didn’t just feed tourists dry facts about rock formations—it invited them to picture a world they had never seen.
It’s a small detail, but language often reveals who we are. And this choice of words, in my opinion, says a lot about this country and its people.

Jon imagined something that didn’t exist: he took the Wheel of Pain from Conan the Barbarian and merged it with a bison roast, blending fiction and reality, past and present, irony and ingenuity, car parts and wooden logs. On November 11, an unknown number of people will take turns pushing the wheel for 20 to 30 hours, braving the wind and cold in a desolate corner of the ranch, under a sky that could bring snow or rain at any moment.

It’s not the fastest or most efficient way to cook a bison—but it’s certainly the most fun. It’s not the best time of year, but perhaps the most evocative. There were more practical, pressing projects to tackle, but none quite so creative. There were safer ways to invest time and money, but few as bold.

Imagination takes you to faraway places, down uncertain roads, into futures unknown. It’s rarely the easiest path, but it rewards you with emotions so pure, so exhilarating, they feel almost childlike. Watching those gears lock into place and turn—it’s one of those moments. And it’s always worth coming back for.