The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana celebrates the long tradition of ranching in Montana, highlighting the stories of 142 ranch families that have been living and working on the same land for over 100 years. Commissioned by the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) to commemorate its 125th Anniversary in 2009, the book honors the perseverance, courage and forward thinking of those who were able to pass their family ranch down the generations and help shape Montana as it is today. While the heart of the book is the 142 ranch stories and accompanying historical photographs, there are also other treasures to be found within its pages, including 37 pen-and-ink drawings by Aubry Smith, photographs of MSGA’s presidents and executive vice presidents, a timeline of important events in MSGA’s history, historical sidebars, and timelines to help tell the story of ranching in Montana over the last century. This book demonstrates the importance of the relationship between some of Montana’s oldest and most enduring ranches and the Montana Stockgrowers Association.

The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana tells the heart-wrenching and inspiring stories of the ranch families who have endured with great fortitude through the ups and downs of life on the sometimes unforgiving lands of Montana over the past 100 years. The book has all of the ingredients of a great story, with tales of love and death, success and failure, family and community. This collection of family histories tells the history of Montana, from a territory to a state, and demonstrates the sustainability of not only an industry, but a way of life. MSGA hopes that this commemorative masterpiece will be cherished by ranchers and non-ranchers alike for years to come.