Ten years ago when we first visited the Tetons we stayed in a cabin at Moulton Ranch, just a short walk to perhaps the most photographed barn in the world, that built by homesteader T.A. Moulton. In fact, not too long ago I posted the photo I took at that time. My wife and I remember that morning ten years ago when we walked down to the barn at sunrise to get a couple of photos. When we looked back to the cabin from where we'd walked we were shocked to see that our route was now blocked by a herd of bison. Eventually they did move along and we were able to return to our cabin without incident.
I have read that there were 27 homesteads in this area, established by mormons arriving from Idaho in the late 1800s to establish a new community which they called Mormon Row. These barns were built between 1912 and 1945.
Ranching and farming were difficult. I was told by one park ranger that the shortest recorded growing season here was 17 days. That means only 17 days between the last frost and the first frost. Ranchers needed hay for their horses and cattle during the winter. This was hard to acquire. One could at most get two cuts in, while not too far away, at lower elevation, three cuts were possible.
The images below were taken about 8am after an overnight rainstorm cleared off, creating some dramatic clouds and allowing for a few moments of light to shine through on the barns.
Barn #2. This one was owned by John Moulton.
Barn #3. I don't know the details of this barn.
No comments:
Post a Comment