By Marcus Huff
Staff Writer 

When the walls come tumbling down

Historic barn in Ten Sleep finally collapses

 

June 4, 2016

Marcus Huff

After 99 years of service as a cattle and sheep barn, the historic Washakie County structure on Anderson Ranch finally collapsed in May.

TEN SLEEP – Arguably, it's been the most photographed building in Washakie County. On any given summer day, it was not unusual to see out-of-state cars pulled over by the side of U.S. Highway 16, with travelers snapping photos of the iconic structure. A simple Google search for "Ten Sleep barn" renders dozens of resulting photographs, sketches and paintings of the building, from around the world.

The barn, located on Anderson Ranch just east of Ten Sleep, has weathered 99 harsh Wyoming winters since originally being built by William Houston Small on a patent claim purchased from the state on June 23, 1917. Located on survey maps at T-47, R-88, Section 16, of what was previously Johnson County, Small constructed the 24x40x24 barn in 1917 in a traditional Dutch style, known as a Gambrel (from the Latin for "horse's leg" due to the distinct, pitched roofline).

During its lifetime, the barn witnessed the development of the adjacent highway, and soon became a landmark for travelers. Before the United States began numbering highways in 1926, roads in Wyoming were identified with names. In 1912, the Black and Yellow Trail (named after the Black Hills and Yellowstone Park) was developed to provide a route from Chicago to Yellowstone National Park, which opened in 1915. In 1926, Highway 16 was commissioned over the existing Black and Yellow Trail. In 1926, Highway 16 began at Highway 20 in Worland and followed the current route through Ten Sleep, past Small's barn, and over Powder River Pass to Buffalo.

From his barn, working with his herd of cattle, William Small also witnessed the development of the Big Horn Basin and a changing America. According to "Collingsworth County, 1890-1984" (University of Texas), Small was born in Alabama in 1874, and worked as a cowboy in Texas and Missouri before marrying Lula Hampton Johnson in 1911. After a trip to Yellowstone in 1915, Small fell in love with the Big Horn Basin, and relocated his wife and newborn daughter Margaret to Ten Sleep, originally purchasing the Broken Back Ranch before acquiring more land along Ten Sleep Creek and building his soon-to-be famous barn. After the birth of son William Jr., and daughter Veulah, Small ran a riding school in Ten Sleep and started the first polo club in the area. After the economic depression following World War I, Small sold his Wyoming holdings and relocated his family to Arkansas, where he died in 1944.

Spending his entire life on Anderson Ranch, Ten Sleep rancher and county commissioner Aaron Anderson literally grew up in the corrals and stalls of Small's barn. "There used to be big, old corrals all around the place," remembered Anderson. "We ran everything through there and the stalls inside [the barn]...dairy cows, beef cattle, even used it to winter our horses."

Slowly, over the years, the water-logged and abandoned barn become home to only the wind, and the occasional, curious sheep. The roof began to creep toward the ground, straining the supporting walls until finally, the structure collapsed over the last weekend in May.

"We salvaged most of the good barn wood," said Anderson. "I suppose we will salvage some more. One of these days I guess we will probably just burn the rest.

 
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