Double Arrow Property

SEELEY LAKE - Part I of this two-part article posited a time between 1935 – 1940 when Burt and Dagmar Sperry may have lived in the Homestead Cabin now belonging to the Double Arrow Ranch Landowners Association (DARLOA). But it is almost certain the cabin was built earlier than that time period. Exactly when is hard to establish, though DARLOA resident George Frasca estimates the age at 110 years based on word-of-mouth information he was given by Seeley Lake residents who have since passed away.

According to the literature placing the Double Arrow Lodge on the National Register of Historic Places, the land on which the Homestead Cabin sits was once part of the Northern Pacific Railway Company's 1864 Congressional land grant. It was bought by Charles Morrell in 1894, by Cyrus Corlett in 1905, by Harry Hunter sometime after 1915, and in 1929 by Jan Boissevain and George Weisel.

Boissevain and Weisel built the Double Arrow Lodge. They also took three log cabins known as the "Scully Cabins" and moved them to the lodge area from what was then called Easy Acres (the meadow area between the curve of Dolly Varden Drive and Trail Creek). A fourth cabin was built in the lodge area next to the others. The relocated cabins probably received their name because they were built by Frank Scully, ranch manager under Corlett and possibly Hunter also.

Though it too was located at Easy Acres, the Homestead Cabin was not moved with the other three. Possibly Scully built it at the same time he built the others. However Jack Rich, whose parents bought the Double Arrow Ranch in 1958, said the building now called the Homestead Cabin was then known as the Sperry Cabin. Perhaps it was so named because Burt and Dagmar Sperry lived in it, even if only for a few years. Another possibility is the cabin was built by Irvine Sperry, Burt's older brother who is on record as one of the laborers employed in the building of Double Arrow Lodge.

Ed Townsend, who grew up in the Seeley Lake area, remembers hearing that his aunt, June Sperry Stacy, and her husband Jack Stacy lived in the cabin sometime in the '40s. June was Irvine Sperry's daughter.

Townsend said, "The only thing that was there when I was a kid was the remains of an old barn, and then there was an outhouse over near the creek and then the cabin. And at one time Stacy plumbed the water from the creek there near the cabin and put a pipe in so they had running water."

Townsend added, "The last ones that I know lived in that place in the '50s was Bob and Johnny Christiansen. They were stepsons of Walt McCarty. Johnny was quite a character; Bob was fairly calm. When they first got mechanical log loaders, Johnny was an operator."

From 1958 to 1970, C.B. and Helen Rich owned, leased, or managed the Double Arrow Ranch. Their son Jack was able to fill in the next portion of the Homestead Cabin's history.

Rich said, "The Sperry Cabin was unoccupied when my parents bought the ranch in '58. Most of the old buildings were unoccupied at that time. The old lodge and cabins were all shut down."

Rich's older sister Sharon Rich Pohlman also remembers the Sperry cabin. She said she and her sisters used to ride down to play in the cabin with their dolls. They played "homesteader."

According to Rich, the Sperry cabin was one of several decrepit buildings on the ranch grounds. There were also some across the highway and some where the Double Arrow Golf Pro Shop is now. One or another of those buildings is sometimes cited as the original location of the Homestead Cabin. Rich dispels those stories. He affirms the Sperry cabin was moved but only from one end of the meadow to the other.

Rich explained, "Instead of being on the east where it is now, it was on the west end of the meadow where the little spring comes out of the hill. It was just a big one room cabin with a dirt floor and log walls and a shake roof and it kind of sat up on blocks."

The spring's water was accessible from the back door via a wooden walkway. Rich said his parents held rodeos and O-Mok-Sees at Easy Acres, as well as barbecues, sleigh rides and snowmobile races. The Sperry Cabin was used for food services for those events. Usage of the cabin was not reserved solely for lodge customers; it was shared with the community also.

Rich recalled, "[Easy Acres] was – for two years I believe – used as a football field for the high school football team. And at that time the concessions were served out of the Sperry cabin."

In 1970 the ranch was sold to Herb Richards who began repairing and updating the main buildings and subdividing the property. As part of that effort, the Homestead Cabin was moved to the east side of the meadow to the area of Trail Creek.

Rich explained, "The reason it didn't get torn down or burned is because the development company wanted to save it. They thought it had some intrinsic value. So they're the ones that moved it and put it up on a more secure foundation. They laid the floor and wired it up with electricity. Before that it didn't have electricity and such. They used it as a place to conduct events for landowners and for potential buyers when they were doing their sales programs."

By 1983, the Homestead Cabin was part of the common property of the Double Arrow Landowners Association (DARLOA) and the minutes from that year's December DARLOA meeting acknowledge the landowners' obligation to maintain it. An official assessment of the cabin concluded the original structure – primarily the log walls and roof beams – were still in very good shape.

The DARLOA volunteer Parks and Recreation Committee carried out a number of repairs and improvements on the Homestead over the years. A pavilion providing a covered area for tables and benches was built adjacent to the cabin. On the cabin itself the volunteers have replaced the windows and made curtains for them; laid a new floor; added a porch; stained the outside logs and removed the old barrel stove that had become a fire hazard. George Frasca, a long-serving member of the committee, said this summer they replaced the roofing with treated cedar shakes that are fire retardant yet retain the look of the original roof. He also said the committee has received a number of donated hunting trophies and antique tools that will be mounted on the walls.

The old Homestead Cabin continues its role as food service area for potlucks and other DARLOA gatherings. Regarded as a rustic and scenic spot, the cabin and pavilion are often rented for weddings, large family gatherings and similar activities. Rental must be requested through a DARLOA member.

Frasca sums up DARLOA's attitude toward the old cabin, "We cherish it. It's such a historical building. It's something very special for the landowners. It gives you a good feeling just to be in it."

If anyone has any other information or documents pertaining to the Homestead Cabin, please contact the Pathfinder via email pathfinder@seeleylake.com or call 406-677-2022.