blackfoot-valley

Several homesteads were taken up. Tom built a log cabin on the timber claim and lived there until Earl Wales was married. Using logs from the origi- nal home of Andrew Wales, Earl enlarged it for his new family. Now unused except for casual temporary storage, the snug low-roofed cabin still stands at the edge of the forest at the junction of the road leading up to the Wales Creek reservoir, remaining as a fine example of one of the early log homes in the valley. Another Wales who made an early mark in the area was Hugh Joseph, who arrived in 1882 and assumed meadow rights. He cared for Grandma Wales until her death, then moved to Helmville with his wife. During this time, he became postmaster and also managed a grocery store and the Marcun Ho- tel, as well as having a contract to haul supplies between Helmville and Drum- mond. One of those jobs was bringing materials to build the Catholic church. “Sporting clay barn and winter corral” Later, returning to the Ranch, Hugh and his wife lived out their lives on the land and had a hand in building what is now the main house (The Wales House), as it’s now informally called. It was built from 1916 through 1917 and during the mid-1990s was beautifully restored and refurnished by the owner of the Ranch, Bob Meyer. The early Ranch had electricity in the house and shop, produced by its own generator well before commercial electric ser- vice had reached the valley. It also maintained its own lumber mill from the early 1920s to the 1940s. The Wales Ranch raised Shorthorn cattle for many years until they were replaced by Herefords. They also raised purebred Purcheron and American 129