Big Sky in Gallatin County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
The Historic Crail Ranch - North View
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, July 26, 2021
1. The Historic Crail Ranch - North View Marker
Photograph caption across the bottom, left to right: Lilian and friends from Chicago prepare for a camping trip into Yellowstone National Park.; Cattle feed in the coral near the hay drying barn.; Emmett and a ranch hand pose outside the original homestead cabin. The cabin, relocated in the 1950s, still stands here on the Historic Crail Ranch Museum property.; This 1920s photo, taken before the barn complex was completely built, captures a few ranch buildings west of the main home, a spring house, the hay drying barn, corrals and fenced grazing areas.
The Beaverslide
Patented in 1910 in the Big Hole Valley, this device stacks hay for outside storage in a wind-proof loaf-shaped stack that could rise 30 feet high and contain up to 20 tons of hay. Horse-drawn buckrakes pushed cut hay to the beaver slide. A steel cable or heavy rope, tethered to horses, fed through a pulley to raise the hay basket on the stacker, dropping the hay onto a stack. This stacker decreased the time it took to build a haystack.
Erected by Montana History Foundation & Gallatin Canyon Women's Club.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Settlements & Settlers.
Location. 45° 16.162′ N, 111° 17.732′ W. Marker is in Big Sky, Montana, in Gallatin County. Marker is on Spotted Elk Road near Crail Ranch Drive. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2120 Spotted Elk Road, Big Sky MT 59716, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Historic Crail Ranch - East View (here, next to this marker); The Historic Crail Ranch - South View (a few steps from this marker); Crail Ranch Buildings (a few steps from this marker); The Historic Crail Ranch - West View
this page online
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, July 26, 2021
2. The Historic Crail Ranch - North View Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 23, 2022. It was originally submitted on February 23, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 75 times since then and 7 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 23, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
