Hospitality on Horse Creek
When I describe where I live, I say, “Drive down my lane, back to 1952.” That’s the year they built our ranch house alongside Horse Creek.
The “modern” ranch house replaced the original ranch house, built in 1872. Said to be the first real house in the area, it was famous for its welcome to travelers on the Texas Trail.
A stop on the Texas Trail
In the pioneer days in the late 1800s, newcomers traveling north from Pine Bluffs found food and shelter alongside Horse Creek, according to the LaGrange community history book.
“Many old timers tell of spending their first night in Wyoming in this house. It was the end of the road for teamsters, coaches and horseback riders. Some have told of spending several days here resting before going on to their destinations,” (Johnson, E. W. (1988). Jelmer A. Johnson. In Trails, Rails and Travails. Frontier Printing, Inc.).
My husband’s great grandparents bought the ranch in 1906, and continued to welcome people to the area when they dropped down through the bluffs into the valley where Horse Creek winds through the grasslands.
“The Johnson Ranch seemed to be a stopping place for many. There were often ‘extras’ at the table and even in the bunk house,” according to the story about Jelmer A. Johnson, my husband’s great grandfather.
The bunk house is still standing
The bunk house is still standing about 20 yards from the “modern” ranch house. It is about 12 feet wide by 20 feet long with a door facing south, a small square window in each end, and a roof that slopes at a 30-degree angle from the front to back.
When I married Matt in 2003, the stucco exterior was cracking, and it was full of windows that had been replaced in the “modern” ranch house and other cast-off items. I asked my father-in-law to either fix it up or tear it down. He hired a local contractor to install a metal roof and metal siding.
I recruited my sister, mom and aunt to help fix up the inside. We hauled out the junk, patched and painted the plaster walls inside, and painted the door and exterior window trim. The decor includes two twin beds that slept two generations of Johnson boys, an antique ice chest from my mom, a cedar chest I bought with my high school graduation money, and other treasures I found around in the barn, like two Navajo horse blankets and chaps with the Broken Box Brand stitched on the front.
Wyoming Centennial Ranch
In 2007, our ranch, known as the Broken Box Ranch, was recognized as a Wyoming Centennial Ranch, having been owned and operated by the Johnson family for 100 years. About 150 friends and neighbors gathered for a chuck wagon supper to celebrate.
One of the guests, the late Bill Ellis sat down in the bunk house, and said it looked a lot different than when he stayed there as a young man. His aunt Marjorie Johnson Marsh grew up on the Broken Box Ranch in the early 1900s.
Cowgirl Camp
While working cowboys once lived in the bunkhouse, more recent visitors are little cowgirls who spend summer days riding horses and floating Horse Creek.
Horses and hospitality
In some ways, not much has changed. My husband’s late great uncle Ernest Johnson wrote, “This has always been a cowboy ranch. Although we have modern hay equipment, we still work and handle our cattle with horses.” (Johnson, E. W. (1988). Trails, Rails and Travails. Frontier Printing, Inc.).
Another longstanding tradition I’m proud to carry on is hospitality.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality,” Romans 12:12–13.
Hospitality is my spiritual gift.
