Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/893386
SignatureMT | 47 Found a few miles north of Absarokee, this weathered barn is owned by Bernard VanEvery. His grandfather paid to have the barn built in 1922. Located just north of Absarokee, this well-maintained barn was built before 1910. Located on the Frontage Road eight miles west of Columbus, this barn was built at the site of the former town of Merrill. became traditional. The only farmer who liked the look of purity in a white-painted barn was the dairyman. Many of the first barns in Montana have sat idle without maintenance, have been beaten by the weather, and have rotted away. It is simply too expensive to replace roofs, repair, and paint buildings that are large and no longer useful. That is why the mostly well-maintained barns in south central Montana draw so much attention. A number of gambrel—also called hipped- roofed—barns dot the countryside along Highway 78 and are clustered on either side of Absarokee, Montana. These barns were made of cottonwood and pine that was available nearby. The wood was cut, left to dry, and hand sawed before the frames were nailed together. Following this process, it was two years before Bernard VanEvery's grandfather had a barn on his property. It was built by a local builder, John Lee, in 1924. "That brown color doesn't come from paint. The barn has never been painted, and it has weathered that way," said VanEvery who still owns his grandfather's farm. Three of the barns were at one time owned by Osmond Herem, a Norwegian immigrant, and two of his sons. The white barn on Rick Young's place was built when Herem considered it his home place. This barn has a platform and benches along the sides of the hay loft for barn dances that were held years ago when lofts were the only large indoor space available to communities. Another son, Kenneth, bought a farm from Lewis Piper who built the largest barn in the area. It has three floors. The dairy cattle entered the barn on the lower level from the side of the barn each morning and evening. The main floor was likely used for threshing and stalls for livestock. Grain was elevated into granaries on the third floor through chutes containing metal cups fastened to a canvas belt. The canvas belt was powered via a leather belt and wooden pulleys attached to a shaft run by a hit-and- miss engine located just outside the barn.