Wyoming ranch from the ‘Marlboro Man’ ads asks $52.8M

Come to where the flavor is. 

A storied stretch of Wyoming land where the Marlboro Man — yes, the cigarette brand — once rode across America’s collective imagination in advertising campaigns has hit the market for $52.8 million, reports Mansion Global.

Pitchfork Ranch, a nearly 100,000-acre working cattle property outside Meeteetse, has defined the Western frontier for almost a century and a half.

The sellers, retired physicians Lenox and Fran Baker, purchased the ranch in 1999 for $13 million and lived there for more than a decade before relocating to Park City, Utah.

“We saw it as an investment and we wanted to see what that part of the country was like,” Lenox Baker, 83, told the outlet. “I thoroughly enjoyed learning to ride a horse. I learned about cattle and about rounding them up and about irrigation and rotating the cattle so the land wasn’t overgrazed. I also learned a lot about the history of Park County.”

The Bakers briefly listed the property last year for $67 million before returning it to the market for a reduced price. If it trades at its current ask, it would mark one of the most expensive ranch sales in Wyoming history, according to Latham Jenkins of Live Water Properties, who holds the listing.

“Properties of this caliber almost never come to market,” Jenkins told The Post in a statement. “The Pitchfork represents the rare chance to own a historic brand, extraordinary acreage and a cultural landmark all in one.”

“The ranch is as Western as it gets,” Jenkins added. “It’s a living symbol of the American West. It was created early in the state’s history — it’s synonymous with Wyoming.”

To grasp the magnitude of the offering, consider this: Pitchfork Ranch’s footprint is nearly 10 times the landmass of Manhattan, where roughly $28 billion worth of residential real estate is currently listed for sale, according to property appraiser Jonathan Miller.

Founded in 1878 by Prussian nobleman Otto Franc von Lichtenstein, Pitchfork Ranch predates Wyoming’s statehood. 

The site was chosen, according to local accounts, for its ideal grazing conditions — low snowfall and strong winter grass.

The property later passed to the Phelps family and their son-in-law, photographer Charles Belden, whose striking images of cowboys at work appeared in Life and National Geographic, cementing the ranch’s place in cultural lore.

That mythic quality resurfaced in the 1980s, when the ranch served as the backdrop for the Marlboro cigarette campaigns that celebrated the rugged cowboy lifestyle.

Today, Pitchfork remains a fully operational cattle ranch, home to about 1,300 cows and over 1,100 acres of irrigated hay meadows. Its eight residences, hand-hewn barns, sandstone “Stone House” and broad pastures stretch beneath the Absaroka Mountains. 

The property supports hunting, fishing, horseback riding and wildlife conservation efforts that include work to restore the endangered black-footed ferret.

“What makes Pitchfork special is how intact it feels, as if time hasn’t caught up with it,” Jenkins said. “It’s still very much a working cattle ranch, but at the same time, it’s a cultural landmark. Few places carry both identities so authentically.”

Roughly 45 minutes from Cody Regional Airport, the ranch is prized as much for its solitude as its accessibility. 

“Owning a place like this isn’t just about land,” Jenkins added. “It’s about carrying forward a legacy that has defined the West for nearly 150 years.”

Though the Bakers are parting with the property, they plan to hold onto a smaller 3,400-acre parcel nearby, where they rebuilt a lodge for friends and family.