Houck was born on January 28, 1905, on a ranch near Gettysburg, South Dakota. He graduated from Gettysburg High School[1] and began selling life insurance. In 1925, Houck, his father, and his older brother started the Triple U Hereford Ranch, where they raised Hereford cattle. He was president of the South Dakota State Livestock Council from 1943 through 1945 and president of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association from 1947 through 1949.[2]
In 1959, Houck sold the ranch near Gettysburg due to impact from the construction of the Oahe Dam[9] and bought a ranch in Stanley County, South Dakota.[10] A March 1966 blizzard killed Houck's cattle but spared his buffalo. He refocused his efforts on raising buffalo and renamed his ranch the Triple U Buffalo Ranch.[11][12] The ranch grew to 60,000 acres (24,000 ha)[13] and about 3,500 buffalo. The 1990 film Dances with Wolves used the ranch as a shooting location.[14]
In 1992, Dale Lewis wrote a biography about Houck titled Roy Houck Buffalo Man.[13]
Houck married Nellie (née Boehmer) on June 20, 1928. She died in 1988.[1] They had four children.[4] Houck died on November 2, 1992, in Rapid City, South Dakota.[11]