Crail Ranch Buildings

Last updated
Crail Ranch Buildings
Crail Ranch 1910.jpg
Crail homestead, original one room cabin in 1910 (Historic Crail Ranch archives)
LocationBig Sky, Gallatin County, Montana
Coordinates 45°16′10″N111°17′45″W / 45.26954°N 111.29575°W / 45.26954; -111.29575
Built1902 - 1910
ArchitectFrank Crail and Family
NRHP reference No. 82003167
Added to NRHPApril 15, 1982

The Historic Crail Ranch Buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places are two rustic cabins, the remnants of a homestead dating to the late 1890s in Gallatin County, Montana in the area now known as Big Sky. The historic cabins are part of the Crail Ranch Homestead Museum, which depicts the homestead era in Big Sky from about 1896 to 1970 through displays of objects, photographs and documents on loan from a descendant of the original homesteaders.

Contents

Early Days

The Crail Ranch was established as a homestead beginning in 1902 by Augustus Franklin "Frank" Crai l (1842 - 1924) and his family.

Frank Crail was born in November 1842, the second son of a farming family in Tipton County, Indiana. In 1865, at the age of twenty-two, Crail traveled alone to the Missouri frontier and joined a wagon train heading to the Montana Territory. By 1868, he was working in a quartz mine near Helena, Montana. [1]

Finding mining not to his liking, and finding freight hauling through Indian country too dangerous, [2] Crail turned to homesteading based on the Homestead Act of 1862. In 1871, Crail partnered with two other ranchers and developed a homestead parcel in the Bridger Mountains, just north of the town of Bozeman in Gallatin County, Montana. Some of the original cabins and out buildings that Crail built on that land are still in existence. [3]

In 1886, at age 44, Frank Crail met and married Sallie Lorrie Creek, age 22, who had come to Montana with her family from Platte County, Missouri in about 1884. Frank and Sallie had three children - Eugene (1887-1985), Emmett (1888-1975) and Lilian (1896-1981). By 1896, Crail had left off farming and was serving as clerk of the Montana District Court for the Ninth District in Bozeman. [4]

In December 1901, following an election in which he lost his clerkship, Crail purchased for $150 rights to a 160-acre homestead parcel in the meadow area in the Gallatin Basin above Gallatin Canyon, and now the location of the Big Sky, Montana resort. In the spring of 1902, when nearly 60 years of age, Crail brought his family up the rough logging road along the Gallatin River and moved into a small cabin left by the previous developer of the parcel. [5]

Homestead and Ranch 1902 - 1968

Frank Crail on his ranch about 1920 (Historic Crail Ranch Archives) Crail Ranch 1920.jpg
Frank Crail on his ranch about 1920 (Historic Crail Ranch Archives)

Beginning in 1902, Frank Crail and his family proved up their original 160 acre homestead and acquired five additional parcels, expanding their holdings to 960 contiguous acres. By 1910, they had completed a two-story, four-room cabin and added numerous barns and outbuildings on the property. The family raised horses, cattle and sheep and had a large hay-cutting operation for animal feed. Crail also experimented with a strain of winter wheat designed to grow in the high country of the American West. He called his wheat "Crail Fife," perhaps in reference to his family's origins in Crail in the East Neuk of Fife in Scotland. Crail marketed his wheat to growers in Montana and Colorado. Samples of Crail's wheat were entered by the State of Montana in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis, and won prizes. [6]

Pack train leaving Crail Ranch in about 1955 (Historic Crail Ranch archives) CrailRanch about 1955.jpg
Pack train leaving Crail Ranch in about 1955 (Historic Crail Ranch archives)

In September 1914, Sallie Creek Crail died at age 50. In 1918, Frank's oldest son, Eugene went off to World War I. About this same time, Crail's daughter Lillian left Montana for nursing school in Chicago. She did not live on the ranch after that point. Augustus Franklin Crail died on his ranch in 1924. His son Emmett continued to operate the homestead as a working ranch through the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s . Finally, in 1950, after nearly 50 years on the ranch, Emmett Crail sold the property to a couple from California, Jack and Elaine Hume, who expanded the ranch to 1440 acres before selling the property to a cattleman named Sam Smeding in 1962. [7]

Coming of Big Sky Resort 1968 - 1980

After the Crail Ranch property was sold by the Humes to Sam Smeding in 1962, the Crail Ranch lands were used as range for grazing cattle and the buildings were used only for storage. Then in 1968, retired newsman and Montana native Chet Huntley, along with a consortium of investors, began the process of creating the Big Sky Ski Resort. [8] [9] One of the first parcels purchased by Huntley's consortium were the Smeding properties, including the old Crail Ranch. From 1970 to 1980, the resort consortium removed many of the ranch buildings, converted meadows and hay fields to the Big Sky golf course, and used the original small cabin and the larger four-room main cabin as bunkhouses for workers. [10]

Crail Ranch Buildings in 2016 Crail Ranch Buildings 2016.jpg
Crail Ranch Buildings in 2016

Crail Ranch Becomes Historic 1980 - Present

In about 1980, after the Big Sky Resort finished using the Crail cabins, interested local groups persuaded the resort to cede a one-acre parcel containing the two Crail cabins to the Big Sky Owner's Association. In 1982, through the efforts of the Gallatin Canyon Historical Society, the Crail Ranch buildings were listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Later in the 1980s and through the 1990s, the Gallatin Canyon Women's Club took an active role in cleaning the cabins and preparing the property for visitors, and the grounds and the main cabin were opened to the public in July 2001. [11] Shortly thereafter, the Big Sky Community Organization, a 501(c) non-profit group, took control of the buildings from the Big Sky Owner's Association and, in 2006, established a formal conservators group, the Historic Crail Ranch Conservators. In October 2012, in response to community interest in a museum, the Conservators registered the name Crail Ranch Homestead Museum. [12] The museum is located off Spotted Elk Road in Big Sky. The grounds are open year round; the buildings are open on weekends from late June until mid-September. The Museum also offers Codex digital galleries displaying and explaining many of the museum's holdings.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bozeman, Montana</span> City in Montana, United States

Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293 making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montana, Micropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of all of Gallatin County with a population of 118,960. It is the largest micropolitan statistical area in Montana, the fastest growing micropolitan statistical area in the United States in 2018, 2019 and 2020, as well as the second-largest of all Montana's statistical areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Sky, Montana</span> Census-designated place in Montana, United States

Big Sky is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Gallatin and Madison counties in southwestern Montana, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,308. It is 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Bozeman. This unincorporated community straddles both counties, is not considered a town, and does not have a town government. The primary industry of the area is tourism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallatin River</span> River in Wyoming and Montana, United States

The Gallatin River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 120 mi (193 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. It is one of three rivers, along with the Jefferson and Madison, that converge near Three Forks, Montana, to form the Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonlight Basin</span> Ski area in Montana, United States

Moonlight Basin is a private club in southwestern Montana, located in the Madison Range of the Rocky Mountains in the resort village of Big Sky. It became part of Big Sky Resort in October 2013 when it, along with ski terrain within the Club at Spanish Peaks, were bought and merged into Big Sky Resort, making it one of the largest single ski resorts in the United States, with 5,750 acres (2,330 ha) of terrain and over 30 ski lifts. Moonlight Basin features a variety of skiable area and a number of amenities, including two lodges and a golf course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drakesbad Guest Ranch</span> United States historic place

Drakesbad Guest Ranch, also known simply as Drakesbad, is a resort near Chester, California. It is located on Hot Springs Creek at the head of Warner Valley, inside Lassen Volcanic National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murie Ranch Historic District</span> Historic district in Wyoming, United States

The Murie Ranch Historic District, also known as the STS Dude Ranch and Stella Woodbury Summer Home is an inholding in Grand Teton National Park near Moose, Wyoming. The district is chiefly significant for its association with the conservationists Olaus Murie, his wife Margaret (Mardy) Murie and scientist Adolph Murie and his wife Louise. Olaus and Adolph Murie were influential in the establishment of an ecological approach to wildlife management, while Mardy Murie was influential because of her huge conservation victories such as passing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 and being awarded with the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for her lifetime works in conservation. Olaus Murie was a prominent early field biologist in the U.S. Biological Survey and subsequent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before retiring and becoming the president of the Wilderness Society, He was a prominent advocate for the preservation of wild lands in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double Diamond Dude Ranch Dining Hall</span> United States historic place

The Double Diamond Dude Ranch Dining Hall was built in 1945 as the centerpiece of a dude ranch operated by Frank Williams and Joseph S. Clark, Jr. in Grand Teton National Park. The ranch was opened in 1924 with a dozen tent cabins and log buildings for a kitchen and dining hall, lounge and commissary. In 1943 Williams built log tourist cabins, followed by the larger dining hall in 1945. The 1985 Taggart Lake Fire destroyed much of the ranch, sparing only the dining hall and five cabins. The dining hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an example of rustic architecture. Since 1970 the Double Diamond property has been a hostel for mountain climbers in the Teton Range, and is known as the Climbers' Ranch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnie Hill Palmer House</span> Historic house in California, United States

The Minnie Hill Palmer House, also known as The Homestead Acre, is the only remaining homestead cottage in the San Fernando Valley. The cottage is a redwood Stick-Eastlake style American Craftsman-Bungalow located on a 1.3-acre (0.53 ha) site in Chatsworth Park South in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manges Cabin</span> Historic house in Wyoming, United States

The Manges Cabin in Grand Teton National Park, also known as the Old Elbo Ranch Homestead Cabin, Mangus Cabin and the Taggart Creek Barn, was built in 1911 by James Manges. Manges was the second settler on the west side of the Snake River after Bill Menor, setting up a homestead near Taggart Creek. James Manges arrived in Jackson Hole in 1910, where he cut wood for Charles or William Wort. Manges' cabin is stated to have been the first two-story structure in the northern part of the valley. A root cellar was excavated beneath. The log and frame structure features wide eaves to keep the winter snow away from the walls. It was heated in winter by a single stove, with one room on each level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckner Homestead Historic District</span> Historic district in Washington, United States

The Buckner Homestead Historic District, near Stehekin, Washington in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area incorporates a group of structures relating to the theme of early settlement in the Lake Chelan area. Representing a time period of over six decades, from 1889 to the 1950s, the district comprises 15 buildings, landscape structures and ruins, and over 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land planted in orchard and criss-crossed by hand-dug irrigation ditches. The oldest building on the farm is a cabin built in 1889. The Buckner family bought the farm in 1910 and remained there until 1970, when the property was sold to the National Park Service. The Buckner Cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The rest of the Buckner farm became a historic district in 1989. Today, the National Park Service maintains the Buckner homestead and farm as an interpretive center to give visitors a glimpse at pioneer farm life in the Stehekin Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OTO Homestead and Dude Ranch</span> United States historic place

The OTO Homestead and Dude Ranch was the first dude ranch in the US state of Montana. It was started by James Norris (Dick) Randall and his wife Dora after they purchased squatters rights on a small cabin along Cedar Creek in the Absaroka Mountains. The original cabin had a dirt floor cabin with a sod roof. Randall courted wealthy eastern clients and by 1912 they came to the OTO to experience a "genuine" western ranch lifestyle. The property grew to meet the needs of guests and by the 1920s included an impressive lodge (1921), cabins, barns, post office, and outbuildings. Notable guests included Theodore Roosevelt and Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cant Ranch Historic District</span> Historic district in Oregon, United States

The James Cant Ranch is a pioneer ranch complex in Grant County in eastern Oregon, United States. The ranch is located on both sides of the John Day River in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The ranch was originally homesteaded by Floyd Officer in 1890. Officer sold the property to James Cant in 1910. Cant increased the size of the property and built a modern ranch complex on the west bank of the river. The National Park Service bought the ranch from the Cant family in 1975, and incorporated the property into the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The National Park Service used the main house as a visitor center until 2003. Today, the Cant Ranch complex is preserved as an interpretive site showing visitors an early 20th-century livestock ranch. The James Cant Ranch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry W. Child</span>

Harry W. Child (1857–1931) was an entrepreneur who managed development and ranching companies in southern Montana. He was most notable as a founder and longtime president of the Yellowstone Park Company, which provided accommodation and transportation to visitors to Yellowstone National Park from 1892 to 1980. Child was, with park superintendent and National Park Service administrator Horace Albright, singularly responsible for the development of the park as a tourist destination and for the construction of much of the park's visitor infrastructure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical buildings and structures of Grand Teton National Park</span> United States historic place

The historical buildings and structures of Grand Teton National Park include a variety of buildings and built remains that pre-date the establishment of Grand Teton National Park, together with facilities built by the National Park Service to serve park visitors. Many of these places and structures have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The pre-Park Service structures include homestead cabins from the earliest settlement of Jackson Hole, working ranches that once covered the valley floor, and dude ranches or guest ranches that catered to the tourist trade that grew up in the 1920s and 1930s, before the park was expanded to encompass nearly all of Jackson Hole. Many of these were incorporated into the park to serve as Park Service personnel housing, or were razed to restore the landscape to a natural appearance. Others continued to function as inholdings under a life estate in which their former owners could continue to use and occupy the property until their death. Other buildings, built in the mountains after the initial establishment of the park in 1929, or in the valley after the park was expanded in 1950, were built by the Park Service to serve park visitors, frequently employing the National Park Service Rustic style of design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Lockhart Ranch</span> United States historic place

The Caroline Lockhart Ranch was established in 1926 by Caroline Lockhart, who purchased a 160-acre (65 ha) homestead near Davis Creek at the foot of the Pryor Mountains in Carbon County, Montana, while in her fifties. Lockhart expanded the ranch, adding buildings, land and grazing rights until the ranch comprised about 7,000 acres (2,800 ha). The region, known as Dryhead Country, is one of the most isolated places in Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly's Camp Historic District</span> Historic district in Montana, United States

Kelly's Camp is a small district of vacation cabins on the west shore of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Kelly's Camp consists of twelve log buildings along the western shore of the lake. The structures were notable for being one of the most extensive summer cabin enclaves remaining in the park. Early reports following the advance of the Howe Ridge Fire on August 12, 2018 are that nine or ten structures have been destroyed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Living History Museum</span> Living museum in Phoenix, Arizona

The Pioneer Living History Museum is located at 3901 W. Pioneer Road in Phoenix, Arizona. The museum, also known as Pioneer Village, has 30 historic original and reconstructed buildings from the 1880s and early 1900s on its 90-acre property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torrey Lake Historic District</span> Historic district in Wyoming, United States

The Torrey Lake Club or Torrey Lake Ranch, also known as the Boardman Ranch or Murdock Ranch was built as a resort in the 1920s about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Dubois, Wyoming. at an elevation of about 7,400 feet (2,300 m).The club is on about 603 acres (244 ha), centered on a complex of nine cabins, a bunkhouse for ranch hands and staff, and supporting structures. The log cabins were built by club members from local materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiwan Homestead Museum</span> United States historic place

The Hiwan Homestead Museum is a historic house museum in Evergreen, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus Franklin Crail</span> American/Montana pioneer (1842–1924)

Augustus Franklin "Frank" Crail, was a Montana pioneer and homesteader, cattle rancher, developer of a unique strain of wheat, politician, and a 2013 Legacy Inductee into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame.

References

  1. Strickler, Jeff and Mistretta, Anne Marie (2012). Images of America: Big Sky. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 109. ISBN   978-0-7385-9514-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Cronin, Janet and Vick, Dorothy (1992). Montana's Gallatin Canyon: A Gem in the Treasure State. Missoula, Montana: Montana Press Publishing Company. p. 72. ISBN   0-87842-277-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Mistretta, Anne Marie (2017). "Crail Ranch North". BSCO Crail Ranch Media Gallery. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  4. Strickler and Mistretta. Images of America: Big Sky. p. 108.
  5. "2013 District 9 inductees". Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  6. Lockwood, Al (2021). "Grains and Grog: The Story of Crail Fife Wheat". Homestead Chronicles II - Articles on Big Sky History. Big Sky Montana: Historic Crail Ranch Conservators. pp. 61–65. ISBN   978-0-578-25900-0.
  7. "A Timeline History of Crail Ranch". Big Sky Community Organization Media Gallery. March 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  8. Brown, Donna (17 Feb 1970). "Lone Mountain Looms Over Site of Proposed Big Sky Complex". The Gallatin County Tribune and Belgrade Journal.
  9. Kahn, Sharon Huntley (2017). "Homesteads to Huntley: A Short Feature Film". Homesteads to Huntley. Retrieved 16 Feb 2020.
  10. "Coming of the Big Sky Resort". BSCO Crail Ranch Homestead Museum History - Preservation. 2017. Retrieved 16 Feb 2020.
  11. Harting, Aaron (July 2001). "Historic ranch restored". Lone Peak Lookout.
  12. "A Timeline History of Crail Ranch". Big Sky Community Organization Media Gallery. March 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2020.