Real Ranchers

The Big Piney 4^th Grade class visited the Sommers Ranch Homestead Museum and Living History Center in September. It was a great experience for the students with them learning Wyoming history this year.

The Big Piney 4th Graders pet Nibbles the horse

Clint Gilchrist talked about Indian archaeology on the place. Angie Boroff taught roping and let the kids pet Nibbles, the horse.

Dawn Ballou orchestrated making dolls from clothes pins, washing clothes with wash tubs and scrub boards, and hand pumping the water. Dawn also explained how the root cellar was used.

Learning how homesteaders washed clothes before the advent of washing machines.

Learning how to pump and haul water, before there was running water in homes.

Jonita Sommers and MaryAnne Almquist supervised the students gathering eggs and cleaning them.

Learning how to gather eggs from the hen house…

…and bring them back to the Homestead to be cleaned.

Student placing eggs in an ice box for storage.

Jonita showed them how to iron clothes by heating the iron on the cook stove. She also showed them how the cook stove worked.

Jamie Brewer taught them how to churn butter after Jonita explained how the milk separator worked. Jamie brought bread so when the butter was churned everyone could have a piece of bread with the churned butter and gooseberry jelly Jonita had made.

Learning about separating milk and churning butter.

The teachers were able to supervise the students playing with the toys in the children’s room upstairs and playing on the ranch-built playground equipment outside. They also toured the shop and outhouse that are renovated.

Playing on the homestead’s playground

The tour was particularly special for two of the students, Cassidy Espenscheid and Heidi Sharp. The ranch was homesteaded by their great, great grandparents.

Cassidy Espenscheid rings the dinner bell

Heidi Sharp cleans freshly gathered eggs

From RealRancher Jonita Sommers – Pinedale, Wyo.