Montana

Enormous Montana ranch, once a hideout for Soviet defector, lists for $21.7M

Published

2 years ago

July 11, 2024

Enormous Montana ranch, once a hideout for Soviet defector, lists for .7M

A sprawling property with a movie-worthy USSR connection has hit the market for the first time in more than 70 years.

Known as Rocking Chair Ranch, the 7,200-plus-acre expanse is located across the road from the old mining town of Philipsburg, Montana, and has been in the Vietor family since 1952, Mansion Global first reported.

In addition to offering more than 11 square miles of terrain ranging from irrigated fields to conifer forest and riparian meadows, the estate — which is seeking $21.7 million — also has a unique connection to Soviet Russia, thanks to ex-Soviet fighter pilot Viktor Belenko.

In 1976, Belenko defected during a training exercise, flying his supersonic interceptor, the MiG-25 Foxbat, to Hokkaido, Japan, and seeking asylum in the US, Mansion Global reported. He quickly became a hero, and in addition to offering his plane to the US government, he also shared confidential information with them about the state of the Soviet military.

As thanks, “the CIA asked him where he wanted to live, and he said somewhere in the western part of the country on a ranch,” Willy Vietor, a rancher and the Vietor family patriarch, told Mansion Global. “The CIA agent who knew my parents came up with us.”

And so Belenko came to live at Rocking Chair under an alias — but the Vietors quickly saw through it.

“After he had been with us about a year, we connected the dots and realized he was one of the most valuable defectors the US had ever had,” said Vietor, who is 80 and selling the property because “we’ve hit a generational wall…There are no kids to take it over.”

He and his wife, Carolynn, will continue living on a 2,000-acre portion of the ranch that is not included in the current listing.

Belenko left the ranch in the early 1980s but would periodically visit. He passed away last year at the age of 76.

In addition to a “beautiful piece of earth,” as the listing puts it, Rocking Chair also comes with an array of buildings, all located near each other, that include a 3,800-plus-square-foot main house originally from 1932, various barns, a shop and a granary.

“One of the things that makes Rocking Chair Ranch unique is that a buyer does not have to make any sacrifices to their wish list. Usually, a buyer must choose between river, mountains and any number of other variables,” Bill McDavid of Hall and Hall, who shares the listing with Deke Tidwell, told The Post. “Rocking Chair Ranch covers it all … river to the mountains and everything in between.”

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

7 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

20 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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Montana

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

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Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.

The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.

MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.

MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74

MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.

Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.

Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.

But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.

As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.

Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana Western 65, Carroll 56

After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.

Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.

Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.

Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.

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