When Plains Indian tribes set up camp, they used stones to weigh down the edges of their big buffalo-hide tepees. A small circle of stones in the center of the lodge contained the campfire. The tribes left the stones behind when they moved on, leaving a "tepee ring."

You can still find the tepee ring that marks the spot of a Blackfeet lodge that once stood on what is now Chuck DeBoo’s 5,300-acre horse and cattle ranch on the Blackfeet Reservation in northern Montana. The country here is spectacular — wild and beautiful — and may not look much different than it did when the Indians camped in that tepee more than 100 years ago.

"How can you not get a sense of what it was like back then, when you're out here like this?" says DeBoo, 39, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe whose ancestors also include Frenchmen and Belgians. DeBoo and his wife have three children, and their ranch is home to more than 250 cow-calf pairs, a dozen bulls, and some 50 beautiful horses — mixtures of paints, Arabians, and quarter horses. For the last five years, the DeBoo family has been sharing this beautiful and historic ground with anyone who wants to spend time riding the ranch.

"I call it the last big foothills before the mountains," DeBoo says of his rolling, rugged, and grassy land. It's great country for riding, and we set off on a cool, breezy morning to go explore. This area is home to grizzly bears, which DeBoo has more than once had to scare off with a shotgun blast. But there’s not much to worry about today.

Read the complete story about Riding the Rez in the pages of Cowboys & Indians magazine at your local newstand or call (800) 982-5370.