

The legacy of our ranching lifestyle is now in its fifth generation with American Cowboy Beef.
Our family has provided exceptional quality beef to families, patrons, partners, and customers for more than 130 years.
The pioneering family of American Cowboy Beef was instrumental in taming the American West. They supplied the necessity of meat to communities in which they lived. It began in 1878 with Al Huston, who supplied wild game for the Overland Stage Company, a stagecoach that ran from Denver, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah. He later developed a successful ranching business in Saratoga, Wyoming, where he continued to raise quality beef for the high mountain community.
Al Huston married and had children who followed in his footsteps, including Otto Gramm Huston (Ott), who as a young man quit working on ranches to become a meat cutter in 1913 for Park Market in Walden, Colorado, a neighboring high mountain community. In a few short years, he bought Park Market for his own business and continued to provide high-quality beef for the community. In the 1930s, Otto purchased 1,500 acres south east of Walden, Colorado, where he started the Huston Ranch. He had one son Cloyd, who continued building the ranch business. He had four children, two of them sons, Buck and OC Huston, who worked alongside their dad, developing and growing the ranching business.
Buck and OC both raised their families on the ranch. Buck Huston also fulfilled his childhood dream by serving the community as a livestock brand inspector for 40 years. In 1985, Buck purchased his own 1,500 acre ranch, south of the home place, from long-time family friend, Tom Vils, whose family homesteaded in the area. The ranch was lovingly named, the Hoot Creek Ranch, referencing Owl Creek, which runs through the length of the property. It was here that Buck's grandsons - Jeremiah, Sy and Tanner - shared in the joy, blood, sweat, and tears of the ranching lifestyle.
Eventually, both ranches were sold. The Huston Ranch was sold in 2000, and the Hoot Creek Ranch in 2005. The grandsons continued their lives with the love of the ranching lifestyle in their hearts. They took on many opportunities to serve on some of the best ranches in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri, and Texas.
Currently, American Cowboy Beef continues the family legacy through two of the grandsons, Sy and Tanner Case. It offers more than 100 head of beef per year to satisfied customers. The journey has humble beginnings. In 2019, with only seven head of cattle, the venture began by providing beef for family and friends. As a result, the American Cowboy Beef product quickly expanded throughout the area by word of mouth. Their success continued by offering exceptional customer service and affordable prices for a superior product.
In the spring of 2022, heart-wrenching news was received. Beloved Papa Buck had been diagnosed with throat cancer. Upon hearing the news, Sy and Tanner decided to take their business to the next level. At the heart of American Cowboy Beef is the desire to continue holding on and sharing the cowboy lifestyle that our grandfather so lovingly shared with us. By raising quality beef, we are keeping the legacy alive. The vision of American Cowboy Beef is not just a choice, but a way of life. We have 130 years of ranching history, and we want to preserve it for future generations.
We insist on the highest standards when caring for our patrons, partners, and customers. Likewise, American Cowboy Beef believes in exceptional stewardship of livestock and land. Our vision and actions are at the center of everything we do. We are also guided by a protected code of conduct, passed down from our forefathers.
American Cowboy Beef Code Conduct
- Take care of your patrons, partners, and customers.
- Take pride in your work. Always do your best.
- Stay curious. Study hard, and learn all you can.
- Do what has to be done, and finish what you start.
- Insist on high standards. Be tough, but fair.
- Live each day with honesty and courage. When you make a promise, keep it.
- Be clean in thought, word, deed, and dress.
- Practice tolerance and understanding of others.
- Be willing to stand up for what's right.
- Be an excellent steward of the land and its animals.