Rowley Homestead Original Barn

Fred Rowley and his family arrived at their homestead location in the summer of 1919. Fred constructed this barn first. During its construction, Fred, his wife Martha, and their three children, Fred Jr., Clara, and baby Opal, slept in a tent. Eventually, Fred constructed more and larger barns for his livestock and turned this building into a workshop. Today, the original barn is set up as a workshop and features a small forge, a kerosene engine, and a corn sheller— all common farm implements for early twentieth century homesteaders.

There is a two-seater outhouse attached to the back of this building. It is no longer in use. The outhouse is far enough from the cabin that Fred may have ran a rope from his back door to the door of the outhouse to avoid getting lost in the dark and in the snow during the winter.

Fred built this structure first to protect his animals from predators like wolves, bears, and mountain lions. Both wolves and grizzly bears are no longer found in this area, but they were a threat to homesteaders in 1919. The Rowley family traveled from Denver, probably over Berthoud Pass, and into Middle Park in the spring or early summer of 1919. At that time the road over the pass was a steep, curvy, rutted dirt road. The family likely traveled in a wagon pulled by two horses. The journey probably took them around 10-12 days. Fred came with his wife Martha Rowley and their three children: Fred Jr., Clara, and Opal who were 6, 4, and 2 years old respectively.

When Fred arrived at the Homestead site, there were no buildings. He worked on the barn for 4-6 months while the family lived in a tent. During the first summer he also built the far side of the cabin. At the end of the summer they traveled back to Denver. Both Fred and Martha worked in the city, as a teamster driving horses, and a seamstress respectively. For the first three years of homesteading, the family only came to the homestead during the summer months. In 1922, Fred finished the cabin and decided to stay at the homestead full time. Martha was not on board with that plan. She returned to Denver and got a job as a draper (curtain-maker). Martha and Fred divorced in December 1931. The children spent most of the year with Martha, but visited Fred during the summer months, where they helped around the homestead.

Fred’s animals were important to protect because they were his main source of income at the homestead; he sold animal byproducts like butter, milk, ham, eggs, and more in Tabernash, Fraser, or Granby. His horses also served a purpose: they pulled the farming implements and machines that Fred needed to grow hay to feed his animals.

After Fred built the larger barn, he used this building as a workshop. Inside, he may have processed logs into planks, performed minor repairs to his tools and machinery, or shoed his horses. The machinery that is currently on display in the barn did not belong to Fred. The kerosene engine was purchased by Della Just, who lived further down the creek, in 1929 as a power plant to run a sawmill. He may have invested in a forge in order to perform small repairs on his metal farming machinery and to shoe his horses. The corn sheller was used to remove corn for the animals to eat. Storing corn in kernel form takes up less storage space and is easier for animals to eat. The cobs were likely used to light fires or were burned in the smokehouse.

Archives of YMCA of the Rockies, Snow Mountain Ranch Collection, Rowley Homestead folders.