Finding a bit of the Wild West on LI as 'Dutton Ranch' debuts

There's a place on Long Island where the buffalo roam, and the skies are quite cloudy all day — or at least they have been so far this spring. You can find this little piece of Montana down a long, lonely stretch of road on the North Fork, typically the domain of grapes and golf, but here home to the largest bison herd on the East Coast.

Ed Tuccio, who has run North Quarter Farm in Riverhead for decades, has heard all the questions, which typically begin with "but why buffalo here."

Because there's a bit of the wild West in the soul of Long Island, and there always has been, he patiently explains. Also — and not incidentally — this herd supplies meat directly to Riverhead's Tweeds Restaurant & Buffalo Bar, which he also owns, a few miles to the south.

"Whenever I'm out at a bison convention, someone will always ask 'what's so special about raising bison out east as opposed to out west?' " he says. "Well, how many people can experience being in your pasture and smell seaweed and see clamshells? The smell of seaweed from the sound? It's just incredible."

Yes, indeed, he's seen the Paramount+ hit, "Yellowstone" — most episodes "twice" — -and has every intention of watching the next sequel, "Dutton Ranch," too. (The first two episodes arrive Friday.) Buffalo were big in "Yellowstone," both as a symbol of the Old West, and a threat to spread brucellosis to cattle. "Yellowstone" got all that stuff right, Tuccio says.

The ties that bind Long Islanders like Tuccio to buffalos and to TV shows like "Yellowstone" might seem inconsequential except that they are not. Country --- to use the umbrella term — has been ascendant here for years. With the obvious exception of Tuccio — a true-blue rancher, after all — that's not just about leaning into a lifestyle, but a reflection of a much broader cultural movement, expressed in politics (Trump), TV ("Yellowstone") and especially music.

The live country music scene, for example, is booming on Long Island, which now has two country music stations. WBZO/103.1 FM (the old "MAX," remember?) flipped to country in 2024 when it was renamed WWWF/103.1 FM, or "The Wolf" — the howling kind, which John Dutton (Kevin Costner) didn't much care for.

Then there's Ronkonkoma-based WJVC "My Country" 96.1/FM, which will co-sponsor a free country music concert, Freedom Fest, with Brett Young on July 3 at Catholic Health Amphitheater at Bald Hill in Farmingville.

John Caracciolo, president of JVC which owns the station, says country music resonates on Long Island for the same reason shows like "Yellowstone" and the sequels "Marshals" and "Dutton Ranch" do. "They connect emotionally to the idea of protecting family, land, tradition and legacy," he says. "Long Islanders are incredibly family-oriented, and proud of where they came from," but he adds, "Long Island is [also] crowded, expensive and stressful. These shows offer wide-open spaces, freedom and a sense of control over your own destiny."

If you still can't wrap your head around the idea that the old ranching spirit is still alive and well on Long Island, then you need to talk to Cate Keogh, who has run Montauk's Deep Hollow Ranch with her husband, Pat, for the past 17 years. An East End landmark that claims to be "birthplace of the American cowboy and oldest working ranch in the U.S.A.," the Duttons themselves would almost be envious.

Keogh hasn't really watched "Yellowstone" — no time, taking care of 40 horses — but almost by osmosis seems to understand how these shows work. Deep Hollow "has not been easy, and the winters are very rough, and you don't get rich doing what we do, but we love it so much, and love the horses, and love the land ... That's what ranchers are about. They enjoy the hard work, and being with the animals, and the good feeling of a job well done, and they want to pass that on to their children. It makes you feel fulfilled."

I tell her that pretty much sums up the "Yellowstone" universe and "Dutton Ranch" too — Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) head from Montana to Texas to start anew — except that these shows also have a lot of violence.

Oh, she laughs, "we don't have that at the ranch."