03/07/2026
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Paul L “Spike” Van Cleve III
Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame 2026
District 7 Legacy Inductee
Paul L. Van CIeve III, or “Spike” as he was known, was born November 7, 1912, on the family ranch established in 1880 by his grandfather. Spike lived all his life in “the prettiest country God ever made,” under the Crazy Mountains at the western edge of the high plains of south-central Montana. After attending Harvard University for almost two years, he returned to Montana to continue his career in ranching. It was here that he, like his dad and granddad before him, ran the Lazy K Bar Ranch. Spike courted Barbara Knudson, whom he heard was being courted by another. In 1934, Spike married Barbara and they were to rear four children: Barbara, Paul IV, Shelly, and Carol.
Raising horses was his particular joy. His father utilized the U.S. Army program of leasing their stallions to citizens who wanted to improve their horse herds. Spike fell in love with the Quarter Horse breed, so he bought several bred mares, bringing them back to Montana from Texas to start his personal Quarter Horse herd he later crossed with his father’s thoroughbreds. Those horses and their “get” were the foundation for operating the Lazy K Bar Guest Ranch which opened 1932. At the Lazy K Bar Ranch, guests rode as if they were working the ranch, helping move, brand and work cattle on horseback. Spike was a people person, engaging guests with stories of old timers and the ranching life of those days.
Spike served as president of the Northern Quarter Horse Breeders Association, was a lifetime member of the American Quarter Horse Association, served as president of the Dude Ranchers Association for two terms, and held offices in the Montana Rodeo Association. He was a member of the President’s Council for Carroll College in Helena, Montana. He served as board of trustees chairman and a director of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
On the Lazy K Bar Ranch, Spike honed his extraordinary talents as a storyteller and author, first in the much honored 40 Years Gatherin’s and later in A Day Late and a Dollar Short. He recorded his cherished memories of rugged honest living in the mountainous range land near Big Timber, Montana, “where,” as Spike wrote, “a man can sit in his saddle and see a long way and have something to see.”
While according to his daughter Barbara, “The horse age lingers there, and the ranchers still hold with the idea that a man works for what he gets, helps his neighbors and takes care of his own, and that a handshake and a man’s word are as good as his bond. Maybe even better.”
In A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Spike introduces you to his family and his friends in chapter after chapter of uproaring tales. He writes with humor and pride, and expresses his love of his dad in “The Pure Quill.” In another story, Spike writes with bemusement and later with tears for his horse, Ivan, that he must destroy. More stories illustrate his exuberance and admiration for the Montanans he knew during his lifetime.
A renowned author and speaker, his best-selling book, 40 Years’ Gatherin’s was selected by readers of Montana: The Magazine of Western History as one of the twenty best books about Montana. Spike was a member of Western Writers of America, and from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Spike was awarded Wrangler Awards for his story, “Cody and Terry,” appearing in 40 Years’ Gatherin’s and for the movie, “Spike-Montana Horseman,” shown on Montana Public Broadcasting System as well as in college and high school classrooms. He served as chairman of the board of trustees at the Western Heritage Center in Billings, Montana.
A.B. Gutherie, Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Way of the West and screen writer for “Shane,” writes in the introduction to A Day Late and a Dollar Short: “Your whole book adds to our lore and our entertainment for longer than you can believe will be consulted by students who want to know how we lived, how we spoke and what our attitudes were.” Mr. Gutherie continues, “Your words are like a warm and engaging letter addressed to me alone. I am sure a great many Montanans and westerners will feel the same way.”
Spike was very active on the Lazy K Bar Ranch until his passing in April of 1982. He influenced his children, grandchildren, extended family and friends with his extreme love of ranching and nature, sense of humor and his ability to describe them with words. Spike truly believed, “If God had wanted humans to walk, he’d of given them four feet. But instead he gave them two, one for each side of a good horse.”
Photo credit - Barbara Van Cleve
Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center
Treasure State Lifestyles Montana
