An iconic piece of Wyoming history is changing hands, but that history isn’t necessarily going to be lost. Those close to the sale of Antlers Ranch say the new owners hope to continue the operation much as it’s always been the last 131 years.
Antlers Ranch was listed in 2024 for $85 million, a once-in-a-generation listing that has been in the same family for five generations. The new owner and the sales price are not being disclosed, but Toby Griffith, a land broker with Live Water Properties, which handled the listing, told Cowboy State Daily that its buyers have told him they want to keep operating the ranch much as it’s been run to date.
“Everything is status quo, doing what Sam (May) has been doing,” Griffith said. “Nothing’s going to change immediately. (They’re going to) continue to run bison, continue the ag operation, continue with everything as Sam has for years.”
Over time, once the new owners, whose names are not being disclosed, have “wrapped” their arms around everything, they might then build a facility or a lodge or a house, Griffith added.
“But for right now, they’re easing into this,” he said. “Nothing’s going to change dramatically overnight for sure.”
Along with a main house, there are a handful of other homes and residences on the Antlers Ranch. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
Along with a main house, there are a handful of other homes and residences on the Antlers Ranch. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
Along with a main house, there are a handful of other homes and residences on the Antlers Ranch. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
Stonewall Creek is one of the waterways on the Antlers Ranch property. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties)
A Landscape Straight Out Of ‘Yellowstone’
Antlers Ranch, founded in 1895, looks like something from a movie set. Specifically, the movie set of Taylor Sheridan’s hit television series, “Yellowstone.”
Part of the reason for that is the grand sweep of landscape, from the earthy river bottoms and valleys to the timbered alpine peaks that touch the blue-skied heavens.
Yes, this is where the antelope play. But also trophy moose and elk, not to mention trophy bears and fish and all manner of other creatures.
“It’s a phenomenal amount of wildlife habitat,” Live Water Associate Broker Latham Jenkins has told Cowboy State Daily. “And the reference to ‘Little Yellowstone’ is because it has more than 330 species of wildlife on it, and it’s connected to the Shoshone National Forest, which is part of the Greater Yellowstone.”
The fact that the ranch runs bison just helps complete the iconic landscape and further cement the idea of a Little Yellowstone. But it’s not just the dramatic landscape and iconic wildlife that roam the land. It’s also the deeply rooted Wyoming history.
Antlers Ranch was established in 1895 by a German immigrant who traveled up the Missouri River in a flatboat, disembarking at Fort Benton in Montana before making his way south to Wyoming to raise cattle that would feed miners seeking gold in nearby Kirwin.
Ernest May Sr. soon took over the ranch, trading his interest in the mining company for it. The May family has owned it ever since until now, five generations of cattle and bison ranchers in the Meeteetse area of Wyoming.
May could not be reached for comment but has previously told Cowboy State Daily selling the ranch is bittersweet.
He’s proud of the ranch, he’s proud of the family legacy. In a perfect world, he’d see the new owners carry that legacy on, but he’s also aware he cannot dictate that.
“It would be nice if that happens,” he said. “But you have to face the fact that when you’ve made a choice to sell something, the new owner is going to make a choice of how they would like to run it, and that’s the way it is.”
In the same family since 1895, the Antlers Ranch has huge swaths of pristine Wyoming woodland with trophy fishing streams and lots of room to roam. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
In the same family since 1895, the Antlers Ranch has huge swaths of pristine Wyoming woodland with trophy fishing streams and lots of room to roam. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
In the same family since 1895, the Antlers Ranch has huge swaths of pristine Wyoming woodland with trophy fishing streams and lots of room to roam. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
In the same family since 1895, the Antlers Ranch has huge swaths of pristine Wyoming woodland with trophy fishing streams and lots of room to roam. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties)
Bison Returned To Landscape
May returned to his family’s ranch back in 1987, answering an ultimatum from his father, who said if he didn’t come back, he was going to sell out.
Coming back was an easy decision, May said, because there’s nowhere else on earth he’d rather be than on his family’s ranch.
Because of that decision, May was there when his father decided to switch over to bison in the mid-90s, and Griffith remembers it as well.
May’s father and Griffith’s father were traveling to Thermopolis. A chance sighting of a bison had Griffith’s dad urging May’s dad not to sell the ranch and move to South America, but to give bison a try instead.
At first, May’s father was adamantly opposed. He came around after learning a little more about crafty bison, and how self-sufficient they can be.
If snow covers the grass, bison are smart enough to paw down past it.
“There are so many things we don’t have to do with bison, like calving, like intensive feeding through the winter and things like that,” May said. “In an area like this where you get a fairly heavy snow load, it offers you a little bit cheaper way of raising animals.”
May’s 37 years as a steward of the ranch are something he treasures.
“All I could say is … it’s been an honor to be able to live here, be in agriculture, and hopefully we’ve improved some things on this ranch,” he said. “It’s a beautiful, productive ranch and … we’ve done our very best.”
Finding The Right Buyer
That kind of history and legacy puts a lot more pressure on the outcome of a sale, Jenkins said.
“This is a ranch that’s been synonymous with Wyoming,” he said. “It’s five generations having started in the late 1800s just after statehood. Representing the Antlers Ranch was never simply about just completing a sale. It was really about honoring a piece of Wyoming that’s been cared for by one family for generations and helping guide its transition responsibly. That was really key in the work that we did.”
The assignment was personal for Griffith as well. His family spent decades on the Wood River and leased Antlers Ranch for guiding, outfitting, hunting and fishing.
“I’ve known the May family myself for probably 32 years,” he said. “It’s a pretty iconic ranch, and that entire area is a pretty special place.”
May and Griffith also had many conversations about the sale.
“I know it was a very difficult decision for him,” he said. “And as a broker, it’s impossible to dictate to the buyers. So that was the fear for Sam is, who is going to take on this next generation and carry on the legacy of the property. At the end of the day, we were very fortunate and grateful to find a buyer who had the same vision that Sam had … carrying on the legacy, wanting to continue with the preservation, conservation, the privacy, the wildlife, the bison. I think we were very fortunate.”
In the same family since 1895, the Antlers Ranch has huge swaths of pristine Wyoming woodland with trophy fishing streams and lots of room to roam. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
Along with magnificent wildlife, a thriving herd of bison also call the Antlers Ranch home. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
There's a legacy of more than 125 years of agriculture on the Antlers Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties) 
There's a legacy of more than 125 years of agriculture on the Antlers Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming. (Courtesy Latham Jenkins and Live Water Properties)
A Changing Era For Legacy Ranches
Antlers Ranch isn’t the only historical ranch hitting the market right now. A number of iconic ranches are up for grabs in Wyoming right now.
Pitchfork Ranch, also near Meeteetse, has been listed for $67 million, while the Cato or PK Ranch near Sheridan has listed for $64 million. Midland Ranch in Southwest Wyoming has been listed for $22 million and the Pathfinder Ranch in Central Wyoming, listed for $80 million, recently sold for an undisclosed price.
That’s just a handful of the trophy-sized legacy ranches that have been listed across Wyoming many of them in the same family for generations, with deep cowboy roots that go back to statehood and beyond.
It’s a once-in-a-generation shift of land and legacy, Jenkins has told Cowboy State Daily. It’s a direct result of aging Baby Boomers retiring. They’re ready to pass on the torch, but, the next generation is not always able to or interested in taking over their family’s farm.
As one rancher told Cowboy State Daily in central Wyoming, she’s working sunup to sundown for less than minimum wage while sleeping on a fortune.
The next generation can’t always see the value in that, when there are other, more lucrative things to do.
It’s a conundrum that also poses a problem when it comes to finding the right buyer for these kinds of historic, legacy properties.
“There are no fancy houses on there,” he said. “These were real working (ranches) with owners that, sure, today, might be land rich, but as the old saying goes, land rich and cash poor. They’re not building mega mansions on their ranches. These are working houses that suited the ranchers’ needs, not a showcase piece.”
The wealthy buyers who can afford these legacy properties, meanwhile, have all kinds of luxury assets, and are disconnected from that history and that legacy.
“If you educate a buyer correctly about the importance of refurbishing these structures, they will view it differently,” Jenkins said. “But if you don’t, they just as well take them down and start over.”
Jenkins makes a point of illustrating that history and legacy for those interested in buying properties like Antlers Ranch or the Pitchfork Ranch.
“You just have to look at these historical structures as cultural assets on the ranch,” he said. “They come from a time and an era ... in certain cases when it was built and established. And no, they’re not fancy as compared to what you see on ranches in Aspen and elsewhere, but these need to be viewed in a different light as to the importance that they play on the landscape of honoring the human history here.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
