Names tell it all
The names from the men who sheered sheep more than a hundred years ago.
Celebration of the past
Montana has always possessed a mystery about itself. The places and people have a way of fascinating us. From the mountain good, silver and copper mines to the big desolate prairie, Montana holds secrets. When my kids were growing up on the family ranch, it was always a novelty to go to the barn to check out the name—of people that none of us have ever met. Say hello Hal and Mike and Clem.
In the open range days of grazing, Montana had huge herds of cattle and sheep. As “recent of the 1910s to 1920s, the famed N Bar Ranch of central Montana would shear sheep on our present-day family ranch before turning them out for the summer. Those were the days of few fences and even fewer roads. This nomadic grazing was a big part of the early Montana ranches.
The wooden stringers in the old barns tell the story—of the men that sheared and bundled up the pelts from the large flocks of sheep. A reminder of this past life is the painted names in the barn. Just a look up and down the stringers and you can see the names. There must have been a sense of pride to leave a name for all to see. That was more than 100 years ago that the men toiled and set bands of sheep out for the summer. Who were they? What happened to them?
A drive through Montana finds the landmarks changing. The old barns still stand. Sometimes there are memories left behind. Too often you see a dirt pad where some of these iconic structures once stood. Homesteads and the landscapes where dream were made are fading away. Somehow It’s hard to accept that a commercial storage unit complex — with chainlink fences asphalt and bright lighting —is somehow a better sight than a barn, old house and clothesline blowing in the wind. Things change. People need to find ways to make a living.
The barn at the ranch has seen much better days. It leans. The flapping sound of tin on the roof never seems to wane. It has its own character with all the blemishes. I would like to think those names on the stringers keep things constant in a world that seems anything but normal.
