Cowboy Hall of Fame features three local cowboys and a ranch

Three Big Sandy residents and a historic Chinook ranch are among this year's inductees into Montana's Cowboy Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed on those who have made "notable contributions to the history and culture of Montana."

Names of the 43 members of the 2015 Hall of Fame inductees were unveiled last Wednesday and include Robert "Bud" Boyce along with Legacy inductees Harry Stuart Green, Larry Kane and Miller's Brother's Land and Livestock.

"The board of trustees, our volunteer network from around the state has reviewed this year's nominations and completed the voting process," said Bill Galt, president of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, which has added names to its ranks since 2008.

Boyce is a rancher, former member of four school boards and former director of the Federal Land Bank. He was born in 1932 in Tampico near Glasgow, and relocated with his family to a ranch outside Havre when he was 5.

Boyce went to Eagle Country School and after high school briefly attended college before joining the Marines. Hospitalized for a year after getting injured in a landmine explosion during the Korean War, he went on to enjoy a brief stint on the rodeo circuit, eventually winning first in saddle bronc riding in Havre.

In 1963, Boyce purchased part of his father's ranch, and later bought a second ranch in Warrick in 1970 where he has raised cattle and horses.

Boyce has served on the Bear Paw, Big Sandy, Chinook and Warrick school boards.

He has been married to his wife, Carol, since 1955, and the couple has six children.

Boyce splits his time between his house in Big Sandy and ranch in Warrick, which he runs with his children.

Boyce said he was "a little surprised" but is happy about the induction.

Those receiving the legacy awards include:

• Harry Stuart Green was a rancher, cowboy and Chouteau County deputy sheriff.

Green had an undying enthusiasm for riding, training, buying and selling horses.

He had a knack for taking a horse lacking in ability and through training in a matter of weeks transform it into a talented horse.

Green was born in 1884, and rode his first horse at age 16, then spent much of his time as a young man as a bronco rider

In 1903, he arrived in Big Sandy, where he worked on the MacNamara and Marlowe Cattle Ranch and later became manager of Tingley Brothers Ranch before eventually buying his own ranch in the Bear Paw Mountains.

Despite having served as a deputy sheriff of Chouteau County from 1908 to 1920, Green had helped rodeo organizer and legendary convicted horse thief Long George Francis hide out on land on his ranch.

Green was married twice, and his only daughter died of spinal meningitis. He died in 1964.

• Larry Kane was a rodeo rider and pick-up man whose skill in the saddle made him an icon of the sport and in Montana in particular.

Among his honors he was the Rodeo Cowboy Association's Rookie of the Year in 1960 and qualified for the National Rodeo Finals every year from 1960 to 1963. In 1963, his performance in the ring made him fourth in world standings.

Over the course of 14 years as a saddle bronc rider, Kane rode Descent, the six-time horse of the year on four occasions. He was chosen to be a pick-up man in the National Rodeo Finals in 1969, 1972 and 1975.

In 1972, he retired from riding and worked as a pickup man until 1980.

Kane was born in 1938 in Havre. He spent his childhood on the family's ranch in the Bear Paw Mountains.

After graduating from Big Sandy High School, Kane enlisted in the Army before being honorably discharged in 1958.

Kane died in 2008 at age 70 and is survived by his wife, Gwen, and son Mike. In 2010, he was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

• Millers Brothers Land and Livestock played a central role in the economic and agricultural development of Blaine and Chouteau counties.

The ranch that served as the foundation of Miller Brothers Land and Livestock was purchased by Peter Miller in 1892. As teenagers, Peter's sons Henry and Chris took over operation of the ranch.

What became known as Miller Brothers Land and Livestock had by the 1930s grown from a small ranch in the Bear Paw Mountains to 346,000 acres that ran for 70 miles from just south of the Canadian border to Cleveland in the Bear Paws

Over the decades, the ranch was used to raise cattle, horses and lambs.

Beyond their own ranch, the Millers were influential on the economic and agricultural scene in northern Montana. Peter had been a member of the Chinook Commercial Club where he helped "promote several community projects and to establish Chinook's supremacy in Northern Montana," the nomination said.

Henry and Chris were active in local, state and national organizations that aimed at boosting livestock and agriculture. The brothers were also central to the creation of grazing districts and assisted in the development of the First National Bank of Chinook in 1909.

In 1958, the brothers retired and sold the ranch. Henry Miller died in 1961, seven years before his brother Chris.

Boyce, 83, was the sole living inductee chosen from District 4, which consists of Blaine, Chouteau, Hill and Liberty counties.

Despite the Hall of Fame's name, inductees can be women, ranches, community organizations and institutions that embody the character and helped shape the culture of Montana.

Each inductee is presented with a plaque in the shape of Montana with their name engraved on it at the annual Circle of the Wagons gathering held the first weekend of February.

This year's event will be held at the Best Western Inn in Great Falls. For more information visit their website http://montanacowboyfame.org/.