Sorenson / Ewing-Snell Ranch: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

Regions 6, 7, & 8 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: The 640-acre Ewing-Snell-Sorenson Ranch rests on a relatively level area that straddles Layout Creek in Carbon County, Montana just west of the Bad Pass Park Road near the east slope of the foothills of the Pryor Mountains. Ewing-Snell-Sorenson Ranch was established in 1896 by Erastus T. Ewing and operated as a ranch and homestead successively by the Ewings, Snells and Sorensons until 1969. The property was then purchased by the U.S. government for inclusion in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Ewing-Snell-Sorenson Ranch is more than just a collection of physical artifacts of a distant era, it embodies the cultural heritage of the American West during a period of rapid white settlement across Wyoming and the greater Western United States which followed the flow of trappers, traders and gold prospectors. Ewing-Snell-Sorenson Ranch characterizes the later era when cattle ranchers and grange farmers started populating the area. For the purposes of this Cultural Landscape Inventory, Ewing-Snell-Sorenson Ranch is a component landscape to the parent landscape of the Bighorn Canyon NRA. Ewing-Snell-Sorenson Ranch is significant for Criteria A in the areas of agriculture and exploration/settlement for the period of 1896-1969, for its association with subsistence ranching and farming in the Bighorn Basin between the late 19th and mid-20th century. The ranch was first established by Erastus T. Ewing following his entry to the region to explore gold mining opportunities. Ewing was one of thousands of people who flooded into Montana beginning in the 1860s when the gold rush and other mining opportunities in the area provided a strong draw for those seeking quick financial gains. Other industries, such as ranching and farming that provided food necessary for this influx of settlers, grew up alongside the mining industry. When mining turned unsuccessful for many, a few settlers including Erastus T. Ewing remained in the area to try their hand at ranching and farming, which held promise during the late 19th and early 20th century. However, this was also a difficult and risky venture which required hard work, ingenuity, perseverance, and later diversification to succeed. Determining how best to ranch and farm the land of the Bighorn Basin was particularly hard due to the harsh environmental conditions, how land and water rights were being used and secured in this expanding area of the United States, how innovations in ranching and farming were being developed, and how the market was fairing. The arc of settlement and development of a ranch into a homestead in this region is reflected in the history of Ewing-Snell-Sorenson Ranch by its stewards – the Ewing, Snell and Sorenson families.

Sorenson / Ewing-Snell Ranch: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

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