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WORLAND — Authentic 1800s style chuck wagon cooking isn't just a thing of the past, especially at the Western Heritage Days, Chuck Wagon Cook-off in Stevenson, Montana.

Worland residents Ray and Cindy Gullion, along with daughter Hiedi Hernandez, family friend Charlotte Brown, and granddaughter Iris Hernandez, took first place overall in the cook-off last weekend. The name of the team is "Quarter Circle H O."

"We had a really fun time in Stevenson this year. The people there are really fun to compete with, and everybody in the town is very welcoming. We look forward to competing there again next year," said Cindy Gullion.

The team edged out seven other competitors to claim first place for the second straight year and third time since 2011. Contestants started the competition around 4 a.m. Saturday, June 20, digging their fire pits and starting the fires that would cook the 1880s authentic food later in the day. Food was presented to the judges at 12:15 p.m. sharp, she said.

The teams were all given the same ingredients to work with, 20 pounds of round steak, 10 pounds of potatoes, dried and fresh apples, five pounds of beans, 10 pounds of flour, one pound of corn meal, one gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, and one pound of bacon. Teams could make whatever they desired with the ingredients, according to Gullion.

Gullion said contestants were judged on a blind judging point system with eight separate challenges, meat, beans, potatoes, bread, dessert, wagon and the youth challenge. Quarter Circle H O scored the best overall in the combined challenges and took home first place. The family team took first overall in the meat, bread, and wagon challenges, with Hiedi and Charlotte taking second place for their apple cobbler in the dessert challenge.

The team cooked sagebrush shrimp for the meat portion of the challenge, which is chicken fried steak cut into little strips. For the bread portion of the challenge all the teams were required to make a pan de campo (camp bread in Spanish), which is a Mexican flat bread. The team snatched up first place in that event, making bread they had no experience making before, Gullion said.

"Before the competition, I asked the advice of everybody on the best way to make it. Some people said the best way was to use milk instead of water, some said use butter instead of oil. In the end we made it the way that sounded the best and it turned out good. It's about an inch thick and has the consistency of pizza crust," said Gullion.

The wagon judging portion of the contest was based on the authenticity of the team members clothing, and the overall authentic appeal of the wagon itself. The judges deemed Quarter Circle H O had the most authentic getup and wagon, handing them the first place prize in that category.

COURTESY/Quarter Circle H O

Pictured above is the wagon Quarter Circle H O competes with at various events. The wagon is fully authenticated in the 1890s style. The wagon itself has been used for many different purposes since it was built in the late 1800s. It won them first place in Montana last weekend.

The wagon the Gullion's compete with is a vintage wagon, weighing nearly two tons with all the cast iron loaded up. The wagon was originally built in the 1890's, and has been completely restored. The wagon has been used in three movies, and has also been used as a grain freight wagon, according to Cindy.

Quarter Circle H O will next compete at the Cheyenne Frontier Days at the end of July. The cook-off in Cheyenne is a seven-day event.

They won the event in 2011.

They will also be competing in Big Horn for a one-day event Labor Day weekend.

The Guillions have been competing in chuck wagon cook-offs since 2007.