About Us

Ranch History

Read about the SITZ Legacy and how the program grew.

1923 - The SITZ Legacy Begins

Will and Frieda Sitz of Nebraska began the SITZ legacy with the purchase of a handful of registered Angus heifers in 1923. The herd slowly began to grow in numbers. At that time, there were other breeds already established and few Angus. But with perseverance, the SITZ registered Angus cow herd grew.

Their son Bob became involved with the cattle by raising and showing cattle in 4-H. Later, Bob and his parents moved to Longmont, CO, where Bob farmed and raised registered Angus cattle. There, he met and married Donna.

1959 - Purchase of Harrison Ranch

In the fall of 1959, Bob and Donna decided to look for a ranch in Montana. Their search finally culminated with the purchase of the Harrison Ranch in 1959. This began the real growth and notoriety of the SITZ Angus herd in Montana, beginning in 1960. It was difficult in those early years for the young couple; raising a family, new to the area, establishing themselves and taking over a place that needed a lot of improvement, but in the SITZ tradition, they persevered. Bob had an eye for cattle, consistently breeding for the best and selecting the type of cattle that would perform for the commercial cow man.

1963 -"Model" and "Sun Up" Performance Sires

"Model" was just the start of a long list of performance sires to traverse the pastures at SITZ Angus. Elation 10 of Model, as described in the 1963 SITZ sale catalog says: "Model, as we call this grand old sire, is going on 10 years old and still weighs close to a ton. He has done a terrific job for us along with siring the top selling Angus sire group and individual bull at Production Indexing Center at Stanford, Montana in 1964."

Another of those early sires was Sun Up Bloage D29, purchased by Bob in Missouri from Dave Miller. "Sun Up" was the top gaining bull in that sale and went on to be one of the great sires for the Sitz's.

1966 - Hosted First Bull Sale

SITZ Angus hosted their first bull sale, offering 50 Angus bulls. They were the first ranch to offer free delivery after their bull sale.

1970's

Bob Sitz Sr. began his six-year term on the AAA board of directors.
SITZ Angus were early adopters of performance testing in Montana Beef Performance and AAA Angus Herd Improvement Records.
Artificial insemination was prominently used in the SITZ herd.

1980's

SITZ Angus was among the first to harvest cattle through the Certified Angus Beef® program.
SITZ Angus started using embryo transfer, but widespread use began in the 1990s.
The ranch offered 250 bulls through its production sale.
A tragic tractor accident took the life of Bob Sr. The decision was made to downsize the mature cow herd. Cows were sold to every corner of the United States.

1982 - Traveler 124 GDAR Purchased

In 1982, Bob purchased a son of "Traveler" by the name of Traveler 124 GDAR. Although "124" was in service for only one breeding season, there was a good bank of semen in storage. It didn't take long for Bob to realize that "124" was an exceptional producer of females and he continued using this great sire in the herd. After l7 years, "124" semen and progeny are some of the most sought after genetics in the Angus breed.

GDAR Traveler 71, owned by SITZ Angus, burst on the Angus scene with low birth weights, high milk and growth and tied up in a maternal pedigree that reads like royalty. "71" had a very positive impact on the SITZ Cow Herd. Another SITZ owned sire was GDAR Rainmaker 340, quite possibly the greatest sire not only of productive females but beautiful females. "Rainmaker" progeny continues in popularity with commercial and registered breeders yet today.

1984 - CSU Rito 4114 Purchased

Another sire that had a lot to do with the success of the SITZ herd in earlier times was CSU Rito 4114. Purchased at the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver in 1984, "4114" became a success story for SITZ Angus and eventually gained national recognition as one of the breed's most prolific sires of excellent females. At one time, 400 "4114" daughters grazed the Sitz pastures. His son, Rito 054 GDAR, and a grandson - Rito 2100 GDAR, also had a positive impact on the Angus breed. Daughters and granddaughters of these great sires are still sought.

The next chapter in the SITZ legacy revolves around a young bull that won the Montana Treasure Test's top gain award in 1979 (a record he held for a number of years) and sold for $60,000 to four of Montana's top breeders, SITZ Angus being one of them. QAS Traveler 23-4 needs no introduction to Angus breeders even today. The progeny from this sire are still in demand. "Traveler" will go down in history as one of the most prolific and consistent sires with a world reputation for selling millions of dollars of semen in his lifetime. Needless to say, "Traveler" was used extensively and successfully at SITZ Angus for many years and even today, his progeny are very much in demand.