The Blacksmith Shop is one of the oldest and most important buildings on the ranch. In the northwest corner a partial floor was built for a forge, where the blacksmith would stand for hours hammering out horseshoes and ranching implements. The large door faced south to protect from the northern winds and collect the sun’s warmth during winter, especially helpful during the bitter cold and snow of 1886 – 87.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Date created:
10/14/2020
Mason-Lovell Ranch 2 Bunkhouse
The bunkhouse was used as shelter, mess hall and living quarters for the ranch hands. The west cabin was Mr. Lovell’s office and sleeping quarters.
Edna Strong, who delivered mail to the ML Ranch, said that if Mr. Lovell was in good humor, he would call her into his office and say, “sit down there and tell me the news.”
Credit / Author:
NPS
Date created:
10/14/2020
Mason-Lovell Ranch 3 Henry Clay Lovell Home Site
This rather large home was the centerpiece of the Mason-Lovell Ranch and symbolized the success Henry Lovell attained with his ranching outfit. The house, which was at one time lit by carbide lamps, unfortunately was destroyed by fire in the 1930’s.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Date created:
10/14/2020
Mason-Lovell Ranch 4 The North Cabin
Open range is a forgotten concept today, but was a normal ranching practice in the 1880’s and 1890’s, when Mason-Lovell cattle roamed most of the Big Horn Basin.
The North Cabin was built before the main house and may have been a place for a tired cowboy or two to lay their head after a long spring roundup. In later years it was used for storage. Originally, the structure was painted and possibly had a sod roof.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Date created:
10/14/2020
Mason-Lovell 5 Outlines of the Past
A number of original ranch buildings, dating from various periods of the ranch’s history, no longer exist at the Mason-Lovell Ranch site. Missing from the site are the original ranch house, ice house, windmill, log barn and frame barn (built after 1909).
Corrals and barns were essential parts of the Mason-Lovell story. Today the corrals have been rebuilt and the footprint of the barn has been outlined to help visitors better understand where these missing structures were located.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Date created:
10/14/2020
Mason-Lovell 6 The South Cabin
Surrounded by apple trees, the South Cabin was also called the Orchard Cabin. Two apple tree stumps remain to remind visitors of the need to be self-sufficient in this secluded place.
Stepping inside the cabin, visitors will see the hewn, greenish-colored, whitewashed walls, all that remains from a time when the single-room cabin was home for married couples employed by Mr. Lovell.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Date created:
10/14/2020
Last updated: August 15, 2017
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Contact Info
Mailing Address:
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area South District Visitor Center
20 US Hwy 14A
Lovell,
WY
82431
Phone:
307 548-5406
(307) 548-5406 is the South District in Lovell, WY.
(406) 666-9961 is the North District in Fort Smith, MT.