SEELEY LAKE - Almost 100 years ago a brand new barn was born on the Corlett Ranch along Trail Creek on Morrell Flats, raised by a French aristocrat dreaming of riches by raising special horses to fill the barn while running a dude ranch. The ranch was renamed Double Arrow Ranch, inspired when the Dutchman saw a U.S. calvary horse in France during WWI with a Spears Brothers Ranch brand. ——>. They were off to a good start with frequent high highfalutin visitors and became a popular stopover by the Salish people providing a taste of their culture on their way to their traditional hunting and gathering grounds.
Then the barn became lonely as operations soon got knocked off the trail by the Great Depression in the 1930s. During the depression days, the County rented the facilities to house and feed unemployed lumberjacks. By the late ‘30s the owners gave up to new ownership and it reverted to a working cattle ranch for several years and several owners as the building deteriorated.
The ranch was pretty idle and the barn was reborn in the fall of 1958 when C.B. Rich bought the ranch as a base for his outfitting business, mainly hunting in the South Fork Flathead (later to become the Bob Marshall Wilderness.) He soon learned the ranching part to be unprofitable and sold the property in 1966, then running it as a leaseholder with his outfitting business. During the 1950s and ‘60s, in addition to the many outfitter guests, the rafters shook as a social gathering spot for the public gathering spot deprived locals.
Horses lived in the barn through the late 1980s when the Riches moved their outfitting operation to the Kozy Korner area, abandoning the forlorn horse barn to the elements. It survived until the 100-year snow of 1997-1998 weight heaved the roof down into the stalls. Coincidentally the community had recently completed one of those evaluations that changing places do periodically and had identified a need for a home for the Chamber of Commerce and a museum to preserve our culture.
Once again the destitute barn was reborn. Rather than toss a match into the rubble, a few ambitious people envisioned those logs becoming the “Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitor Center.” A handful of people coordinated non-profit grants (no tax money) and thousands of hours of volunteer craftsmen and worker bees to salvage the logs, reassemble the ground floor Lincoln-log style and rebuild a modern structure for the upstairs to the original style. They gave it a new home on the northwest corner of the Double Arrow Golf Course.
The barn is managed by “Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitor Center” nonprofit organization serving the community as to provide current business directories, lists of public service utilities, and natural resource and recreational opportunities. The combined availability of the museum and visitor center will enhance residents and visitors understanding and appreciation of the area to encourage visitors to prolog their stay in Seeley Lake Country. The Seeley Lake Historical Society calls the barn their office home and operates a very nice museum as they continue “Fostering knowledge and understanding of the history in the Seeley Lake area.” A conference room capable of handling about 40 people is available for meetings, receptions and other events for a nominal fee.
Although used regularly by other groups, the Historical Society is the prominent presence on site. The public is invited to one of their events Aug. 14, from 1 - 4 p.m. for an open-house type presentation of museum tours, talks and movie clips about the area’s history. For more information check the Community Calendar at SeeleySwanEvents.net
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