Draft:Feathered Pipe Ranch

The Feathered Pipe Ranch is a retreat center operating since 1975, located in the Rocky Mountains on the western outskirts of Helena, Montana. It is operated by the Feathered Pipe Foundation, an educational nonprofit organization, and functions as a venue for weeklong programs focused on yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and other mind-body modalities.

History
The property of the Feathered Pipe Ranch was previously a fox farm owned by Leo Zimmer adjacent to a national forest. Richard S. Rheem (of Rheem Manufacturing Company) purchased the property in 1946 and kept Zimmer on to oversee construction of the Rheem family's vacation home. Liam O’Gallagher, who later was involved in the establishment of the Feathered Pipe Ranch, noted that Zimmer built a log cabin, followed by a chalet and lodge with assistance from local Native Americans.

The property was purchased in the early 1970s by Jermaine “Jerry” Duncan (1933-1973). India Supera (1946-2019) subsequently inherited the property after nursing Duncan through the latter’s illness and death from cancer in 1973 at age 39. The property was named the Feathered Pipe Ranch, a reference to a Native American ceremonial pipe used to help guide people about their life’s direction.

Location and Facilities
The Ranch is located in Lewis and Clark County and is surrounded by land belonging to the Helena National Forest and Bureau of Land Management. It sits at 4,943-foot elevation in Montana’s Big Belt Mountains. The privately owned property is leased by the Feathered Pipe Foundation for its exclusive use as an educational retreat center. The Ranch has a spring fed lake and multiple structures for lodging including cabins, yurts, tipis, and tents. A former garage converted to a two-story chalet serves as additional guest housing. The Ranch’s main log cabin-style lodge (named Bear Creek Lodge when the Rheem family owned the property) includes dorm-style guest rooms, a kitchen, and a large room used for classes. The property also includes a dining hall, an open-air yoga practice deck, and a bathhouse with sauna and hot tub.

Programming and Presenters
The Feathered Pipe Foundation has hosted retreats at the Ranch as well as international travel programs covering subjects and alternative medicine modalities such as: yoga; astrology; analytical psychology; shamanism: meditation; mindfulness, nutrition, therapeutic massage; ayurveda; holistic health; and other approaches to mind-body wellness. Feathered Pipe Foundation retreat and travel program presenters since 1975 have included, but are not limited to:


 * Baron Baptiste
 * Beryl Bender Birch
 * Dr. Baxter Bell
 * Ruth Bender
 * Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen
 * J. Brown
 * Joseph Campbell
 * Seane Corne
 * Mukesh Dasai
 * Zipporah Dobyns
 * Mary Dunn
 * Donna Farhi
 * Angela Farmer
 * John Friend
 * Lilias Folan
 * Marti Glenn
 * Heidi Goldman
 * Chungliang “Al” Huang
 * Dr. Bernard Jensen
 * Don Jose Matsuwa
 * Dr. Daniel Libby
 * Dr. John C. Lilly
 * Dona Holleman
 * Joan Halifax
 * Judith Hanson Lasater
 * Brooke Medicine Eagle
 * Richard Miller
 * R. Carlos Nakai
 * Ramanand Patel
 * George Purvis
 * Erich Schiffmann
 * Brant Secunda
 * John Schumacher
 * Jack Schwarz
 * David Swenson
 * Viktor Van Kooten
 * Patricia Walden
 * Dr. Andrew Weil
 * Rodney Yee