Historic Crail Ranch: Self Guided Tour
Explore the Historic Crail Ranch Homestead at your own pace and step into Big Sky’s early ranching history.
This self-guided tour invites visitors to walk the grounds, view preserved buildings, and discover the stories of the Crail family and Montana’s homestead era.
Start at the small cabin.
The ranch grounds are open during daylight hours year-round. Visitors are welcome to explore the historic property—read interpretive signs, look through the cabin windows, relax in the native species gardens, or snowshoe and cross-country ski across the landscape that once supported this working ranch. Scan the QR codes throughout the site to view interior videos of specific locations and learn more about the homestead.
Self-guided Tour
Spring 1902
The Crail family of 5 homesteads in Montana
In the spring of 1902, Crail brought his wife, Sallie, and their three children, Eugene, Emmett and Lilian, up the logging road from Bozeman and moved them into this small cabin, which was already on the property.
In the spring of 1902, Crail brought his wife, Sallie, and their three children, Eugene, Emmett and Lilian, up the logging road from Bozeman and moved them into this small cabin, which was already on the property.
We do not know what they did with the extra space, although photographs indicate that Sallie’s father, Abraham Creek, was living with them. The small cabin was originally located about 70 yards south of its present location. It was moved in the 1950s so that it would not block the view of Lone Peak from the main cabin. Much later in its history, the small cabin suffered a fire, evidence of which can be seen on some logs and the boards around the door.
1950
Emmett Crail sells the ranch.
The Crail Ranch Grounds now comprise just about an acre. The last Crail, son Emmett, sold the ranch in 1950 to a couple named Hume who added additional acreage and then sold to a man named Sam Smeding in 1962. Smeding sold 1440 acres and the existing buildings in 1970 to the consortium put together by retired newscaster Chet Huntley to build Big Sky Resort. In the early 1980s, the resort gave the two historic buildings and an acre of land to the community. It is now preserved as an historic property by the Big Sky Community Organization.
Explore
Informative view signs show scenes from the working life of the ranch from the 1910s to the 1950s. Each of the signs offers a perspective view of the ranch, highlighting buildings, fields, and other features from varying directions.
Take a walk around the main cabin.
The Crail family set about building the main cabin right away. See if you can pick out the lines of logs that show that they first built a one-story cabin similar to the small cabin, and then extended to the east and added a second story. We know that before coming to the Gallatin Basin area, Franklin Crail built a homestead ranch in the Springhill section of Bozeman. We believe that his son Eugene, who became a carpenter, built much of the main cabin that you see here.
The Crail brand from 1906 hangs on the shed and is the Lazy F R; the Hume brand from 1956 is on the south walk.
what's inside?
For many years, the historic small cabin was used for storage. It is now a primary display area of the Crail Ranch Homestead Museum.
Living Areas
The kitchen was the main work area in the home where the homestead wife and her helpers would be busy all day feeding the family and the ranch workers.
The upstairs bedrooms are viewable only on guided tours. On display are quilts dating to the late 1800s, sewn by Sallie Creek Crail.
