Lanning-Terry Ranch

Lanning-Terry Ranch
South of Big Sandy, on the Missouri River
Owners/Managers: Alma & Glenn Terry

Accessible only from the river, the Undaunted Stewardship® historical exhibit here is sited where floaters through the Missouri River Breaks National Monument get their first glimpse of the famous White Cliffs area several miles downstream. The Lewis and Clark expedition passed these lands on June 1, 1805. Pilot Rock, a landmark used by captains throughout the steamboat era to measure their progress on the river, stands in the ranch house’s front yard.

Alma Terry, who owns and manages the ranch with her husband Glenn, is the great-granddaughter of Auguste and Henry Jappe, who “squatted” on these dry rangeland landscapes in 1898. The Jappes’ five sons grew up to settle on other area ranches, but their daughter, Alma Lanning, remained here and worked as a midwife serving ranch families throughout the region. Her husband died young, and one of their sons and his wife carried on the family ranching tradition until their daughter, the second, present-day Alma, took the reins.

The Terrys and their three children still graze cattle just as the Jappes did on the rangelands above the river, and grow hay on several miles of irrigated riverfront lands. In addition, the family has diversified its operations by creating a trail-ride business that offers rides into the White Cliffs area, and that includes a joint-venture offering with a nearby river-float company (see www.pilotrocktrailrides.com and www.paddlestosaddles.com).

Beavers, along with near-annual ice jams, take a steady toll on the stately cottonwoods downstream from the Terry-Lanning ranch’s headquarters.

It takes regular flooding for cottonwoods to be able to regenerate naturally along the Missouri. Water flows, controlled by upstream dams in Great Falls, are the most influential factor affecting how many new cottonwoods succeed. When timed properly, cattle grazing early in the growing season has little effect on these trees, as cows prefer eating grasses.

Directions to this ranch:
This ranch is accessible only to floaters through the Missouri River Breaks National Monument. The pull-out is on the north side of the river, at Mile 51.

Undaunted Stewardship® is a cooperative and multi-faceted program led by federal, state and private sector agencies, seeking to ensure the long-term maintenance of the environmental quality and economic productivity of privately-owned agricultural landscapes, especially in areas rich in history along the Lewis & Clark Trail in Montana.