Positive Movement

It's been nearly eight years since Heritage Timber of Bonner disassembled the historic Matt King ranch house and moved it from its original location east of Sucker Creek Road.

Since then, efforts to rebuild the historic house on a new location in Lincoln has been fraught with delays and hurdles, but a recent bequest to the Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society and a bit of happenstance have breathed new life into the project.

"It is a relief that things are starting to move," said UBVHS President Erin Dey. "It's positive movement forward after being stuck for so long."

Last October, the UBVHS received a $100,000 bequest from Ron Lydiard, who passed away iApril 11, 2022. In late December, Eric Trowbridge, owner of Cambium Log Construction in Hamilton, stopped in to Dey's Rusty Relics antique shop , where there are a series of images of the King house on display.

"Eric was talking about what he did and was asking about the picture on the wall of the Matt King," Dey said. "We just got to talking and he said thats what he's been doing for a long time."

With the new infusion of funds, the UBVHS had planned to find a contractor to finish the rebuild, so Dey asked Trowbridge if he'd be interested in taking a look.

Trowbridge and Maurice Crain returned to Lincoln in early January and took a closer look at the King house and the work that still needed to be done.

"I did a lot of work out in Choteau last winter and if you do the log work and stuff like this, you look at it," said Crain. "I was like 'I wonder what that is.' Eric called me up and says 'hey, you want to go to Lincoln and look at this? I said I've seen it a bunch of times."

They agreed to take on the challenge and provided the UBVHS with a bid for the work, which got underway in mid January. Their work on the project came at a good time. With the start of winter the UBVHS board didn't expect to see any more progress until spring, but Trowbridge and Crain were used to working in winter weather.

"It's coming back together, a little at a time," Crain said. "I really like it. I like old structures," he said. "Together we've done quite a few of them. It seems like we do more of this kind of stuff now, and restoration, more than anything else. This is a unique one. I like it. Especially this size of wood."

One of the defining features of the Matt King house are the Ponderosa Pine logs used in it's construction, with several of the original base logs on the house exceeding 20 inches wide.

"Theres no rhyme or reason to the sizes," Crane said of logs used in the building's construction. He noted that the building is actually a mixture of different types of logs, from Ponderosa to fir to spruce.

He also mentioned the idiosyncrasies found in the construction of historic log buildings that were built by hand. "You can see with some of the notching and some of the weird stuff going on in there," he said of the kitchen, which was probably added around 1901, several years after original house was built.

"I like the job they're doing; they're doing a good job," said Quay, who has considerable experience in building and reassembling log buildings. He's been helping them get any material they may need.. "I don't know who could do it better than they're doing."

Cain said it's been a bit of a challenge to find all the pieces that need to be put back together, particularly given the fact they are buried under the snow.

Another issue is that the original pieces had been stacked for so long and many of the smaller boards, including the original flooring, have warped or rotted and need to be replaced. Fortunately, the Lincoln Ranger District and the late Lonnie Cox had donated several logs to the UBVHS and L&L Sawing will mill them to size for the project.

Believed to be the oldest house in the Lincoln Valley, the Matt King building came down in 2015 amid work by Heritage Timber to remove old and unused buildings on the Grosfield Ranch. The house had been a landmark in the valley for more that a century, and several older members of the community have memories of either living in the home or spending time there.

Working with Bill Frisbee, Julie Zarske, Sara Morris and Kathy Williamson, Dey formed the Lincoln Heritage Alliance to raise funds to purchase the building, with the intent to reconstruct it in town as foal point or local history. In 2019, to avoid confusion and streamline fundraising, the LHA merged with the UBVHS. That same year, efforts to find a site for the Matt King house in town culminated with UBVHS purchase of property on main street, just west of the Lincoln School. Work on rebuilding the house began in 2020. Bill Quay worked with volunteers Pat Runyon and Bill Knox , GordonBecker, Brett Hiatt, Josh Erickson and others to rebuild the main section of the house. However Knox, who had worked consistently with Quay, passed away from complications related to COVID-19. Work continued sporadically on the building throughout 2021 and 2022.

"The fact is we didn't have money to throw at it then," said long-time UBVHS board member Bill Quay, who had been leading the effort to rebuild the King house. He said they had faced challenges coordinating volunteers and equipment, as well as concerns about safety.

"Last summer we put the rest of the gable logs and purlins up," said Quay. "I can't believe how time flies"

Dey said all of the recent progress is really the result of Lydiard's bequest.

"That infusion was life-saving. We'd have gotten it done, but it would have been slower. A lot slower."

The bequest and money the UBVHS already had on the books, has also allowed the society to pay down the loan for the property, which will also serve as a new interpretive center for the history of the Upper Blackfoot.

Dey expects this summer will be a busy one for the Historical society as they put the finishing touches on the King House, begin the work to move more historic buildings to the site and coordinate a membership drive.

Dey said if anyone is interested in serving on the UBVHS board, they have one open seat.

To become a member of the Upper Blackfoot Valley historical Society or to support the effort to restore the. King house, contact Erin Dey at 406-431-7547.