A distinct recognition was handed out by the provincial government Monday honouring the Historic Reesor Ranch.

The 113-year-old W.D. & Alice Reesor Ranch located in the Cypress Hills was designated a Provincial Heritage Property. It is Saskatchewan's first ranch to achieve this feat in the province.

Scott and Theresa (Drapeau) Reesor are the current owners and operators of the Reesor Ranch and are the fourth generation of Reesors to ranch on the family homestead.

"We're really happy for the designation and humbled by it as well. It's a real honour to the family and the community," Theresa said. "It is actually the first Provincial Heritage Property in the Cypress Hills and Maple Creek area, so it's a real honour for the community as well."

In the release by the Saskatchewan Government, they acknowledged the ranch for "its historical integrity and association with the ranching experience in Saskatchewan."

That historical integrity and ranching experience are things the couple took pride in while spending countless hours filing their 30-page application to become a Provincial Heritage Property.

"It was quite an extensive nomination process," Theresa recalled. Scott called the process an "endeavour."

Included in the designations with the ranch are five buildings throughout the property that includes the ranch house, several barns and sheds, and natural landscape elements.

"They are very significant in helping to tell the story of the evolution of the family in ranching all through the generations," Theresa said. "Each building had to be very well documented with explanations including their character-defining elements."

The homestead was established when Scott's great-grandfather moved westward to the Cypress Hill area to manage a ranch, before purchasing it from the landowner who went broke due to a May storm that wiped out the majority of their herd.

"He bought up some of their remaining assets and carried on ranching (here)," Scott explained. "He was followed by my grandfather, my father, and now ourselves. We are carrying on making a living ranching and we also have a guest ranch aspect as well."

The fifth generation of the Reesors are currently waiting in the wings and are helping with day-to-day activities on the ranch including taking care of the approximate 200 head of cattle.