Massive Montana Ranch Where Soviet Defector Hid For Years Listed for $21.7 Million
By Nancy A. Ruhling
Viktor Belenko lived in the guest house of the 7,230-acre property, which has been owned by the same family since 1952
“My mom and dad were given the Rocking Chair brand on their wedding day,” said rancher Willy Vietor, the family patriarch. “They already had a smaller ranch—it’s still known as the Little Rocking Chair —when we moved to this one.” Bill McDavid of Hall and Hall, who co-listed the property last week with colleague Deke Tidwell, said in a statement that “Rocking Chair Ranch is one of a quickly diminishing number of multi-generational ranches in the West. With incredibly convenient year-round access, an extraordinary aesthetic, a first-class fishery and a diverse terrain from riparian to conifer forests and rangelands, the ranch has everything.”
Belenko, a fighter pilot, flew his supersonic interceptor, the top-secret MiG-25 Foxbat, into Hakodate Airport in Hokkaido, Japan, on Sept. 6, 1976 during a training exercise and sought asylum in the U.S., where he was hailed as a hero.
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