In the rolling hills just north of Missoula, on the other side of Interstate 90, lies a unique historical landmark known as the Moon-Randolph homestead. It's a fascinating swath of land covered with multiple decaying structures and enough relics to fill a museum.
Ray F. Moon staked a claim on the land under the Homestead Act in 1889. In 1907, after "proving up" his claim, Moon sold the property to William Randolph, whose son, Bill, held it until his death in 1995.
Now open to the public every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until the end of October, visitors to the Moon-Randolph homestead have a rare opportunity to view and handle authentic pieces of history outside of a stiff museum context.
While many of the structures are undergoing some form of rehabilitation, the interiors are still brimming with the things that accrued there over the course of the 20th century. One room holds an assortment of shoes, another an organized collection of National Geographics from the 1920s, another an old cider press, another the entire contents of a decaying kitchen. Moving from building to building - including outhouses, a milk house, a root cellar, a hay barn, a goat and hog shed, a chicken coop, and other dwellings that fell in and out of use over time - one runs across literally thousands of eye-catching objects.
Bill Randolph, the son of William and Emma, was an aspiring inventor; interspersed between the antique wood stoves, water heaters, bath tubs, plows, and sewing machine parts, are unrecognizable contraptions that may or may not be prototype models based on ideas conceived by Bill himself.
These strewn-about artifacts might bring to mind a junk yard, but the pristine environment in the distance coupled with a consistency of decay conjures up a sense of stepping into a fairy tale of sorts. None of the structures was built on poured foundations, hence the planked floors take on the curves of the grassy knolls beneath them. Moss-covered rocks line the entrance to the underground root cellar that could easily have been a set for "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
An old tree in the apple orchard wraps itself around a piece of farm machinery, a romantic image showing nature in the process of subduing and engulfing that which for so long worked to tame it.
Hay from the 1950s still packs a barn whose doors were made from salvaged boxcars.
Visiting groups of children and adults have been free to leave their mark on the homestead. Some have fashioned beautiful gates from the readily available artifacts on the site. Fan propellers are woven into fences and mounted on the back of footed bathtubs. Additionally, guests can sift through dirt to find artifacts, which they may display in small boxes, set out for exactly that purpose inside the milk shed, which also serves as a sort of visitor center.
Presently the Hill and Homestead Preservation Coalition is facilitating reconstruction of the youngest dwelling on the site - built by Bill Randolph for his wife on one of their wedding anniversaries. When ready, this house will be occupied by the property's current caretakers, Lanette Diaz and David Kratochvil.
This Montana treasure may be explored on any Saturday. However, Lanette and David invite the public to celebrate the continued revival of the homestead during the annual Fall Gathering on Sept. 25. Clearly this is an event not to be missed, as it allows us all a chance to support this worthwhile project with the purchase of a $10 ticket that will entitle its holder to partake in a smorgasbord that includes a variety of foods for meat eaters and vegetarians alike, beer, and apple cider made from apples grown on century-old trees and pressed in the same machine William Randolph used in his day.
Tickets may be purchased by calling the North Missoula Community Development Corp. at 829-0873. They may also be purchased at the site on Sept. 25, when a shuttle will be running regularly between the corporation's headquarters at 819 Stoddard to the festivities at the homestead.
Missoula free-lancer and artist Ben Bloch's column appears regularly in the Entertainer.
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