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Big Sky Dudes

Betty W. Stark

Talk to Dee Gibbs, the gregarious operations manager at the Laughing Water Dude Ranch in tiny Fortine, Montana and she'll probably tell you that back in 2003 she packed her worldly belongings and her ailing mother into a pickup truck and headed north out of Texas to Big Sky country, fulfilling her longtime dream of living in Montana.

"I left Houston to get away from the "frog-chokin' rains," she says with a hearty laugh and a long Texas drawl.

"I saw a PBS special on Montana and I thought it was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. In 2003, on the spur of the moment, I said to my mom, "Let's go," and we packed up the truck, headed north, and never looked back."

"I'm a descendant of Pocahontas," she confided, "and a sixteenth generation "Southern Belle." Hospitality is in my blood, I love horses, and I had faith in myself, so I knew I'd find something good in Montana."

Dee got lucky the day she pulled through the gates of the Laughing Water Ranch, a picturesque 220 acre spread located 60 miles south of the Canadian border in northwest Montana. It's owned by Ted Mikita and his wife Lacretia, and how they met is a special story too, but more about that later.

The working ranch, with Dee and her staff of wranglers and hands, welcomes guests from all over the country from May to October, putting them up in four two-room suites at the main lodge, and several handsome log cabins named after famous western artists.

Though it's a working ranch (cattle drives in the spring and fall are part of the programs offered), the kids' program distinguishes it from other guest ranches, according to Dee.

During a week-long stay, young guests at the ranch's Kamp Kootenai (ages 4-8), learn to ride a horse---they are assigned their own for the entire week---communicate using Indian sign language, make beaded crafts, and enjoy a supervised night of camping out in teepees. A spirited Pow-Wow with the Cavalry concludes each week.

Fort Laramie (ages 9-12 with optional activities for ages 13-16), a cavalry-style frontier post, offers activities that include scouting on horseback, tack and horse care and feeding, socializing at the campfire and an overnight campout with a Fort counselor.

Thanks to a couple of talented staff seamstresses, all kids are outfitted with either Indian or cavalry garb so they can "stay in character." The ranch special activities manager, Bob Davies ("Sergeant Bob"), oversees the kids' programs and special events. Though he hails from Newark, NJ, ranch staff agrees he has quickly adapted to life in the mountains and knows more about the wilderness and surviving in it than most Montana natives.

Laughing Water Ranch is especially popular with family reunion groups, and this is where Ted and Lacretia's love story begins. Back in the summer of 1999, Lacretia, her parents and siblings from Waverly, Iowa had settled in for a week-long stay when Ted Mikita, the owner, stopped by the main lodge to chat with them, as he often did with new arrivals.

After a brief visit, Ted announced he had to leave for three days to tend to his "other job." He was, he explained, a pilot for Northwest Airlines, flying jumbo jets on international routes out of his home base of Minneapolis.

No one was more surprised to learn this than Lacretia, who also worked for Northwest Airlines as a flight attendant, based out of Detroit. The two had never met before the family's arrival at Laughing Water, but it did not take long for the entire family---including Lacretia---to admit that there was something very special about the tall handsome "wrangler."

Ted and Lacretia dated in an exciting whirlwind fashion for a year and a half, and married in April 2001, settling at the ranch that had been home to Ted since his parents bought the land in 1972 after years of vacationing at western dude ranches.

Today, Ted splits his time between the airline and the ranch. Lacretia has retired from flying and now looks after the couple's little daughter, Tallulah, helps Dee oversee ranch operations, and lends a hand when it's time to stitch together Indian and cavalry costumes.

One of the things that's unique about the ranch, according to Dee, is the organized schedule of children's activities each day. Until 3:00 PM the young ones are engaged in a wealth of activities, including horsemanship competitions, nature hikes, fishing, square dance lessons and cookouts.

"This means that the grown-ups can enjoy trail rides, white water rafting on the nearby Flathead River, sightseeing, or even spa treatments (the ranch offers by-appointment-only day spa treatments) while the kids are involved in their activities.

For lunch and at day's end, families gather for hearty cowboy-size meals of prime rib, barbecued chicken, steaks, pork chops, huckleberry pancakes, burgers, salads and plenty more, served family style in the Chuckwagon Room or at cookouts on the banks of the Laughing Water River.

Evening campfires with sing-alongs and story telling, a rousing square dance at the old barn and a Friday night family trail ride round out a fun-packed week.

"This place is perfect for family gatherings," said Dee.

"The kids are never bored, and the adults have something special too---their own free time."

Betty W. Stark

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