Welcome to Historic Crail Ranch
Historic Crail Ranch is operated and administered by the Big Sky Community Corporation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization which exists to promote, acquire, preserve, and maintain land, parks, trails, and easements for the use of the people of the Big Sky Community and general public.
Member:
Big Sky, Montana
406-995-2160
As you enter the gates to the Historic Crail Ranch,
you see a small cabin on the right. On
December 7, 1901, Augustus Franklin Crail
purchased this cabin from Dan Inabnit, along with
160 acres of land for less than a dollar an acre.
The Historic Crail Ranch Conservators possess the
original deed that authenticates this purchase.
A. F. Crail, after serving as Clerk of the 9th District
Court in Bozeman from 1896 to 1900, moved from
Bozeman to the Gallatin Canyon Basin, along with his
wife, Sallie Creek Crail, and their children, who were
ages 14, 13, and 5 at the time. This small structure
was home to the family of five until the larger ranch
house was built.
The small cabin, originally situated where the outhouse is now located, was moved to its current spot by Jack and Elaine Hume, after they purchased the ranch from Emmett Crail in 1950. A feature of the cabin's sturdy construction is the 3-tier batten roof.
The small cabin also served as living quarters for Big Sky (Boyne) resort workers in the 1970s and 1980s. A fire nearly destroyed the cabin at that time. During restoration in 2003, newspaper insulation revealed dates from 1901 through the first two decades of the 20th century, further authenticating the history of the structure and its use as home requiring insulation from the elements.
you see a small cabin on the right. On
December 7, 1901, Augustus Franklin Crail
purchased this cabin from Dan Inabnit, along with
160 acres of land for less than a dollar an acre.
The Historic Crail Ranch Conservators possess the
original deed that authenticates this purchase.
A. F. Crail, after serving as Clerk of the 9th District
Court in Bozeman from 1896 to 1900, moved from
Bozeman to the Gallatin Canyon Basin, along with his
wife, Sallie Creek Crail, and their children, who were
ages 14, 13, and 5 at the time. This small structure
was home to the family of five until the larger ranch
house was built.
The small cabin, originally situated where the outhouse is now located, was moved to its current spot by Jack and Elaine Hume, after they purchased the ranch from Emmett Crail in 1950. A feature of the cabin's sturdy construction is the 3-tier batten roof.
The small cabin also served as living quarters for Big Sky (Boyne) resort workers in the 1970s and 1980s. A fire nearly destroyed the cabin at that time. During restoration in 2003, newspaper insulation revealed dates from 1901 through the first two decades of the 20th century, further authenticating the history of the structure and its use as home requiring insulation from the elements.
Historic Crail Ranch: the buildings
The two-story ranch house was built in the first decade of the 20th century. Note the unique dove-tailing of the timbers at the corners of the ranch house and the markings made by the carpenter's adz, which is on display in the house.
The ranch house has a main living room or parlor, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. There was no plumbing in the house until after the Humes bought the ranch and installed modern plumbing, including a bathroom.
The ranch house retains features from each of its period uses. For example, the living room and kitchen reflect the Crail family era, but the overhead beams have been notched for crude electric wiring. These may have been added in the latter years of the Crail occupancy or during the period that the Humes owned the ranch.
The bedrooms upstairs remain intact as the Humes had decorated them with hand-painted wallpaper and linoleum flooring. The floorboards in the upstairs hallway have warped due to settling of the east end of the ranch house. A loose section of wallboard in the upstairs hallway reveals a newspaper dating to the 1930s in use as insulation.
The ranch house has a main living room or parlor, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. There was no plumbing in the house until after the Humes bought the ranch and installed modern plumbing, including a bathroom.
The ranch house retains features from each of its period uses. For example, the living room and kitchen reflect the Crail family era, but the overhead beams have been notched for crude electric wiring. These may have been added in the latter years of the Crail occupancy or during the period that the Humes owned the ranch.
The bedrooms upstairs remain intact as the Humes had decorated them with hand-painted wallpaper and linoleum flooring. The floorboards in the upstairs hallway have warped due to settling of the east end of the ranch house. A loose section of wallboard in the upstairs hallway reveals a newspaper dating to the 1930s in use as insulation.
Over the years, Augustus Franklin Crail and his two sons acquired additional 160-acre parcels through a variety of methods until the ranch had grown to 960 acres. The small cabin that housed the family of five was the first of as many as ten ranch structures, including a hay barn, a spring house, a forge, a piggery, and calving sheds.
Crail Ranch house about 1930
Small cabin, about 1906
Today the two remaining Crail Ranch buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places and now serve as a museum. On display throughout the ranch house are artifacts donated by the Crail Family and other families in the Valley. The Crail Ranch buildings are protected through the efforts of the Historic Crail Ranch Conservators, a committee of the not-for-profit Big Sky Community Corporation. Financial support for the Crail Ranch comes from the Big Sky Resort Board and generous contributions from many donors and benefactors.
Work buildings to the west of ranch house
Large hay barn to the north of ranch house
Open to visitors
July - August
Saturdays & Sundays
12 noon - 3:00 PM
FREE TOURS
Saturdays & Sundays
12 noon - 3:00 PM
FREE TOURS
Contact us for more information
2010 Study of Crail buildings
InteResources Planning, Inc. of Bozeman has launched an historic preservation study of the Ranch house and small cabin.
Read more
Read more