About Us

come relax in western style !

This 477 acre ranch, is
primarily dedicated to
horse enthusiasts and
livestock, was founded
in 2001 by Jim and Flo
Pitcher.

The husband and wife
team has more than 80
years experience with
horses. We enjoy the
fine sport of riding and
keeping horses!

the main barn sports
approximately 22,000
square feet of
insulated, interior
space.

There are numerous
lakes on the ranch to
enjoy.
We have dedicated
approximately 100
acres to becoming
luxurious horse
pasture.

The Ranch's private
lands border the
"point Mackenzie game
ranch" where exotic
elk and buffalo herds
can be seen roaming.
The ranch also
boarders the State
Game Refuge. There is
much wild life to be
seen and enjoyed.

Pitcher Ranch is an
ongoing project and
each year that we work
on it with our friends,
the better it becomes.

We like to relax in
western style. We work
hard, and we play hard.
We like live music, "b"
rated western movies,
and good look'in horses!

FLO PITCHER 2005

JIM PITCHER 2005

For a map to the
477just click on the
contact button
below

About Pitcher Ranch

Inquiring minds want to know........
How did the Pitchers become "Pitcher Ranch"?
(click on any photo to enlarge it)

Well sit right back and I'll tell you a little story!

Jim was a real life - third generation western cowboy and farrier. Always Handy at
ranch repairs, he found himself graduating a heavy diesel school and following his
heart to the great State of Alaska.

What about Flo? How'd she get here?

Living in Northern Michigan, and involved with Agriculture- Flo moved here after hearing
the "call for working farmers to Alaska" in 1983. She departed her native state to
escape to a place where drunken Detroit deer hunters could not be found in as large of
numbers. As a farm employee she helped to clear the land and build the Point
Mackenzie Agricultural District. Later she cared for the cattle.

Alaska had indeed delivered on it's promise to both of them that it could provide
beautiful scenery, more space and opportunities.

OK so now Jim and Flo are in Alaska and working, what next?

Jim and Flo met each other in 1994. By this time Jim was a well established Heavy
Mechanic and jack of many trades! Flo had stopped farming with the downfall of the Ag
district and started an art business in 1986 that had flourished. As an Artist she served
many galleries and museums including the Anchorage Museum Shop, Pratt Museum
Homer, and University of Washington Museum, 40 galleries in all.

NOW what do you get when you put a mechanically inclined cowboy type with an
artistic Farm gal who lives horses? (LOL!)

SPARKS! They combined their lives and talents into a dynamic high tech manufacturing
facility that served Alaskan artists, inventors and manufacturers via the University of
Alaska. The operating base was a log cabin office overlooking the Knik Arm and
Chugach Mountain Range.
Yup, they started a Corporation together. It was the first high tech CNC machine shop in
Alaska. Eventually the neighborhood grew, the business also outgrew the location. On
their lunch break they would head out and ride horses for the hour....and then return to
their desks! But Jim and Flo really needed a bigger place.

High tech businesses should be located in a big city right?

Not Always. Jim and Flo searched in earnest for an appropriate facility for their high
tech fine art business. Yet they just could not bring themselves to buy Real Estate in
the City.
I mean....just because a person has had U of A Executive Privilege dose not mean they
want to live in a City after all the work of finally making it to Beautiful Alaska!

These two horse loving people just could not bring themselves to plop down all their
hard earned money on a city spread. SO AT THE TIME...They did a wild and Crazy thing!
They put in a bid on a former Dairy Farm in Point Mackenzie that had been defunct for a
decade! On New Years Eve 2000 they were told they "won" themselves the right to try
to qualify to buy the farm. They celebrated their butts off!

Jim and Flo addressed the State Board of Agriculture (BAC) to let them know that even
though they both had extensive Agricultural backgrounds, they were NOT going to
rejuvenate the old dairy into a new dairy.
In a booklet called "Pitcher Ranch" They announced their future plans to raise fine
quarter horses, repair tractors, make hay and eventually create art work too, to the
Alaska State BAC. The Board voted. Jim and Flo were approved! The Chairman advised
them to "grab their seats with both hands and hang on for the ride", and they did.

It was exciting! With so much work to be done, and so much planning to do they
packed up their High tech equipment and put it into storage until the ranch buildings
were better suited for their high tech operations.

The large buildings on this farm all needed money and work. Jim went back to work on
the North Slope to create a steady income, while Flo put her successful career on hold.
She stayed on the ranch to take care of the horses, making repairs and improvements
to the ranch. On his time off Jim also works hard on improvements for Pitcher Ranch.
Today this process is ongoing. It has been a long road of work and sacrifices.

Proud people?
Jim and Flo are both very proud of the simple fact that
in the history of the making of Pitcher Quarter Horse Ranch they did it together. No
person died and left them any money, no one was robbed, shot, or even sued! No
settlement money, not even one big easy break! We are equally proud that many folks
in our community have been happy with what we have to offer them. Jim and Flo are
also very grateful people.

What? Jim and / or Flo were not given a "free ride"?

The answer is no.
Making the Pitcher Quarter Horse Ranch "happen" in Alaska was accomplished by
doing all the unglamorous hard work that comes with country life in Point Mackenzie,
done by the sweat off our own backs. As you can see by this little story, we're not
finished growing yet.

What happened to the artwork?
I suppose in a way, it found it's way into the Pitcher Ranch quarter horse herd.
All of Jim and Flo's equipment is still safely stored away for the day when they decide
they are ready to re-open their art business. For now beauty can still be found in the
Pitcher Ranch Quarter Horse herd. Which is indeed a labor of love.