Owners & Ranch History

The Puckett Family

In 2011, Kurt and Melissa returned to the Covered Wagon Ranch as a partner, and in the spring of 2013, they purchased the ranch. They welcomed two busy boys into the ranching world, Braxton (13) and Sawyer (10) who truly make the Covered Wagon Ranch that much more special.

Melissa is a native Montana girl whose roots run deep in agriculture and the Western way of life, with her family farming and ranching in central Montana since the early 1900s. As she puts it, “Montana and the country are all I’ve ever known.” After attending college in Montana and earning her degree in Elementary Education, she knew there was nowhere else she would rather build a life, raise a family, and pursue her passion for horses. Alongside her husband, Kurt, Melissa has owned and operated Covered Wagon Ranch since 2013, where she plays an active role in nearly every aspect of ranch life and takes particular pride in the care, development, and management of the ranch’s horses, many of which their family has raised and trained themselves. Horses have always been one of Melissa’s greatest passions, but over the years that passion has grown into a deep interest in equine movement, biomechanics, soundness, body function, and overall wellness. She is a Certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist and PEMF Practitioner and especially enjoys studying how a horse uses its body, recognizing subtle changes in movement or performance, and helping horses feel and perform at their best. Melissa also raises and trains performance horses of her own and enjoys barrel racing and roping whenever time allows. Her love for horses extends beyond competition and ranch work as the founder and president of Forever After All, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing deserving ranch and performance horses with safe, dignified retirement and lifelong care after their working years are over. When she isn’t managing ranch life or working with horses, Melissa is busy homeschooling her two boys and raising them with the same appreciation for faith, hard work, animals, agriculture, and the outdoors that shaped her own childhood. Her family also shares a love for travel, especially Costa Rica, which has become one of their favorite places to slow down, explore, and spend time together. In the rare moments she finds spare time, Melissa can usually be found barrel racing, roping, snowboarding, planning the next family adventure, or more realistically, still doing something involving a horse. For Melissa, Covered Wagon Ranch is much more than a business; it is an extension of the life she loves: faith, Montana, horses, family, hard work, and sharing an authentic piece of the West with the people who come to experience it.

Kurt grew up on a farm in Georgia, where his love for horses, cattle, and the outdoors began at an early age. As Atlanta continued to grow north, Kurt decided city life was getting a little too close for comfort, so in the spring of 1998 he loaded up two horses and headed west to Montana. Not long after arriving, he found Covered Wagon Ranch and began working alongside longtime owner Will, spending the next seven years learning every corner of the ranch and doing just about every job there was to do. Kurt remained at Covered Wagon Ranch for another four years after the ranch changed ownership, giving him more than a decade of firsthand experience with the land, horses, trails, and traditions that make the ranch what it is today. In 2005, Kurt had the opportunity to purchase Covered Wagon Outfitters, the outfitting business originally started by the same gentleman who founded Covered Wagon Ranch. The outfitting operation had separated from the ranch in the 1980s and is known today as Sage Peak Outfitters. Kurt owned and operated the business from 2005 through 2018, spending years guiding elk hunters through the Montana backcountry, packing mule strings, managing horses and stock, and navigating some of the most rugged country in the region. In 2008, he also began working on a cattle ranch near Harrison, Montana, where he continued building his experience working cattle, starting colts, roping, and living the ranching lifestyle he had come West to pursue. Eventually, life brought him full circle when he and Melissa purchased Covered Wagon Ranch in 2013. In 2018, Kurt and Melissa sold the outfitting business and traded much of the backcountry guiding lifestyle for school schedules and raising their boys, but the mountains have never stopped being a major part of who he is. After nearly three decades in Montana, Kurt knows the surrounding mountains, trails, and country exceptionally well and genuinely enjoys sharing that knowledge with guests. Whether he is packing horses into the backcountry, starting a young horse, working cattle, swinging a rope, fixing something around the ranch, or leading guests through the mountains, Kurt is most at home outside and horseback. His years of experience, practical horsemanship, and deep respect for the land are a big part of the authentic Western experience at Covered Wagon Ranch. When he manages to get away from ranch work, you can usually find him snowboarding, exploring the mountains, traveling with his family, or like most ranchers, finding another project that probably could have waited until tomorrow.

Braxton (13) is known around the ranch as the resident “animal whisperer,” and if there’s an animal nearby, chances are you’ll find him curled up beside it, talking to it, loving on it, or somehow convincing it that he is its new best friend. He has an incredibly kind heart, a natural connection with animals. Growing up at Covered Wagon Ranch has given Braxton a childhood filled with horses, ranch life, mountain adventures, and plenty of opportunities to get dirty, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Most days, you’re likely to find him with a rope in his hand, spending time with one of his favorite horses, Whiz or Guinness, or practicing anything that involves a horse and a little competition. Then again, he is just as happy trading his boots for basketball shoes, or a skateboard, which makes for a pretty entertaining mix of cowboy and kid. Braxton also loves skiing and snowboarding and has developed just enough of a fearless, daredevil streak on the mountain to keep his mom slightly more nervous than she would prefer. Full of life, kindness, humor, and a genuine love for people and animals, Braxton brings a special energy to Covered Wagon Ranch and has grown up knowing that some of the very best days are spent outside, surrounded by horses, mountains, family, and new friends.

Sawyer (10) has a personality and facial expressions as big as the state of Montana. Incredibly creative, endlessly curious, and always up for an adventure, he is usually building, drawing, creating something, or coming up with his next big idea. Sawyer is the resident entrepreneur of Covered Wagon Ranch, and at any given moment he may be selling something, offering a service no one knew they needed, or working on his latest business venture. He has never met a stranger, will happily talk your ear off, and is famous around the ranch for his stories, outgoing personality, and ability to make himself part of just about any conversation. Spend enough time around him and he will most likely talk you into playing a game of soccer, insist on “guiding” you on a hike—yes, Sawyer as your guide or convince you to come pull the dummy so he can rope from his horse, June Bug. When he isn’t busy running his latest enterprise, Sawyer loves soccer, horses, camping, fishing, skiing, and just about anything that involves being outside and in the middle of the action. He has grown up surrounded by horses, guests, ranch life, and the Montana outdoors, and he embraces every bit of it with enthusiasm. Creative, funny, adventurous, and unmistakably Sawyer, he keeps everyone around the ranch entertained and judging by the way he already conducts business, organizes activities, and inserts himself into ranch operations, we’re fairly certain he’ll be running Covered Wagon Ranch before too long.