Legacy INDUCTEE

RICHARD “DICK” & NANCY (MCLEAN) KLICK (1934 - 2014) (1936 -2021) 

DISTRICT 8 - YEAR 2025

Richard “Dick” Charles Klick was born in Great Falls, Montana, on February 7, 1934 and Nancy on May 19, 1936. They married in 1956. The couple were most well-known for owning and operating the K Bar L Ranch from the 1970s to 2014.  

The ranch was established in 1927 by Dick’s father, Emil, his wife Cecelia (Wolf) Klick, and Emil’s brother Leo “Sam” Klick. Later, Emil and Cecelia’s sons Ted and Dick also helped with the ranch. Dick received his high school diploma while serving in the U.S. Army. As soon as Emil relinquished the reins, Dick and Nancy took over management of the ranch. Sam passed away in 1972, Cecelia in 1979, and Emil, in 1999. 

The K Bar L Ranch, famously known for “Beyond All Roads”, is remotely nestled at the confluence of the South Fork and North Fork of the Sun Rivers at the head of Gibson Reservoir.  Located between the two rivers, the ranch was also a part of the Sun River Game Preserve, one of the largest  in the U.S.  The K Bar L was very proud of being part of the preserve, and Dick and Nancy worked very hard to protect it with many letters and trips to the Montana State Capital.  When testifying at a legislative hearing, Dick was quoted as saying, “I know we are famous for breaking treaties, but let’s keep the one we made in 1913 with the wildlife.” They also worked very hard for the outfitters to protect their way of life.

  The ranch could host 35 guests comfortably, as well as arranging pack trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The Charlie Russell Riders and Con Agra were a few of the larger groups that were hosted through the years. The access to the K Bar L is infamous, by boat, foot or horseback.  Dick became very adept at using hydro power from the Medicine Springs, and solar electricity to power all of the ranch.   Early planning and preparation for transport by boat was the key to Dick and Nancy’s success, knowing how many supplies were needed for the crew, summer guests, fall hunters and livestock. By mid-July most years, Gibson reservoir is drained for irrigation. When water levels were low, large strings of K Bar L mules and saddle horses traveled the Gibson reservoir trail daily. 

The ranch was a safety hub for the area. Many injured hikers and horsemen depended on the ranch’s phone service during emergencies.

Dick and Nancy have three biological children, Kathy  Robinson, Todd Klick and Kelly Hanson, but if you counted all the young people they helped to raise and those who worked at the ranch, it would be many more. There would be at least ten employees at any given time, family members mixed in with the crew. Many of the employees were from out of state and away from home for the first time. After learning a few of Dick and Nancy’s life lessons, employees would stay on for years. Some of them became lifelong friends.

Nancy published a cookbook, How To Make Your Cooking Klick. The dishes, “Swiss Onions and Cabbage For A King,” were a ranch favorite.

The life histories of Dick and Nancy include cowboy and cowgirl traditions. Nancy was the 1954 National High School Rodeo Cutting Horse champion. Dick won a bull riding buckle at a rodeo in California. He always had a stash of ropes for spinning, and being very good at trick roping, he entertained friends and family. Dick was an expert horseshoer and kept those crooked footed dude horses sound.  Dick always said, “shoe the front two first in case you need the horse to do a job and then you can come back and do the hinds.” He shared his knowledge with many shoers throughout the years. 

The Klicks bought many mule colts over the years.  Their good friend Dolly Hughes ran the Washington State University equine program at the time, and they would haul the mules out to her college program in Pullman to get them halter broke and gentle. A few of them needed a “Dick Klick Treatment,” but most did very well. There was never a mule Dick couldn’t pack, or a person he couldn’t train, although sometimes it took a little longer with the two-legged kind.

Dick also loved to hunt lions and trap. One of his lions scored with the Boone and Crockett Club. Many days and nights Nancy would wonder if he was coming home, and if he took a friend, the friend’s concerned wife was calling Nancy.  Those were the days when you hiked and followed the dogs on foot. None of this turning dogs loose with GPS trackers.  Dick was proud to say he never lost a dog during his lion hunting days. 

They loved going to the C.M. Russell art show every year in March, and acquired many treasured pieces of art purchased from their artist friends.

Dick and Nancy’s greatest pride was in the management of their livestock.  Their Black Angus cows had some of the best genetics around. Dick was noted as one of the first ranchers in the area to ear tag his cows. 

 They also loved a pen full of good looking colts. There weren’t too many horse sales where you didn’t see Dick and Nancy with a bidder number in hand. Their horses just might have been too well bred and too good looking for a dude string. Many of the horses were sold for their abilities in the performance arena. Retired dude horses were placed in families teaching little cowboys and cowgirls how to ride. 

The couple spent their later years at their beautiful Castle Reef Ranch west of Augusta, Montana. They raised a herd of elk, yak, buffalo, Highlander cattle, and mini donkeys. One of Dick’s proudest accomplishments at Castle Reef was developing sprinklers and water tanks, all run from gravity flow.

Dick passed away at the ranch on September 20, 2014. Nancy followed him on May 2, 2021.

Dick and Nancy represent everything Western, everything Montana and everything original.  Nancy was quoted as saying, “I hate to watch the cowboy channel without my boots on.”  That says it all.