Ewing-Snell Ranch

The Ewing/Snell Ranch is a fascinating glimpse into frontier life. The Ranch features an old wooden barn, a log shop, a converted one-room schoolhouse, and until recently, the main ranch house. A 2015 fire left little standing of the main house, which had been formerly been a ranger and research station.

The ranch was originally established by Erastus Ewing in 1896, who had come to prospect for gold in the nearby Bighorn Mountains. Finding little success, the site became a ranch by which the family made a modest living. The ranch was able to be sustained with thoughtful use of land and water from Layout Creek. The Hough, Snell, and Sorenson families for a time successively owned the ranch, until finally the U.S. Reclamation Service acquired the land in 1968 from the Sorenson family.