Byron Bayers stands in the front entrance on the ground level of the historic Round Barn north of Twin Bridges. Bayers and his family ran a successful hereford ranch here before selling the property where the barn is located in 1985. Photo by Ben Coulter

TWIN BRIDGES – It’s hard to miss the big red round barn east of Highway 41 just north of Twin Bridges. Most people just look at the magnificent structure as they drive through, admiring its place on the landscape – nestled at the foot of the Tobacco Root Mountains and overlooking the Jefferson River.

Passersby may look at the barn and imagine the old western figures glamorized by Hollywood movies. But what may not be obvious now is the round barn’s working history. The glorious old structure has seen its share of livestock and hard work. It’s history is lengthy and hidden inside its great swinging doors is a rich tradition of western heritage and the cowboy way.

The barn was originally built in 1882 by Noah Armstrong, who made his fortune mining silver in Montana’s Highland Mountains.

Armstrong had a passion for horse racing was determined to breed racehorses, theorizing the high altitude and fertile farmland along the Jefferson River would provide a perfect location to raise superior competition animals. After buying the land Armstrong changed the name from the Jefferson River Ranch to Doncaster Ranch in honor of a favorite horse, and would go on to raise several championship quality racehorses out of the Round Barn. The most famous of these horses was Spokane, a chestnut horse who was born in the Round Barn’s stables in 1886 and went on to become the 1889 Kentucky Derby winner.

The red Round Barn and surrounding acreage was recently donated as the site for Madison Countie's bid to host the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. Photo by Ben Coulter

The ranch was sold in 1933 to Arthur and Elizabeth Bayers, who moved their family from the Big Hole Basin to expand their Hereford cattle ranching business.
For Byron Bayers the barn was a great place to play as a child growing up in Twin Bridges. Many local children would come and climb around inside, exploring the nooks and crannies of the barn that were long forgotten by grown ups and only a smaller body could fit into. He fondly remembers the times when kids would gather around and listen to the men who originally helped build the barn.

“Those old boys used to tell me stories, and of course I loved to go back down there and listen to them talk,” Bayers said.

One day as he was nosing around the second floor hayloft, young Byron stumbled upon a rolled up piece of paper. When he opened it he discovered an original photograph of Spokane that had been stashed away years before by previous owners. Today, the well-preserved image sits on display in Bayers’ home.

However, the real history of the barn is in cattle ranching, not horse breeding, explained Bayers.

During the nearly 50 years the Bayers family owned the barn they saw their ranching operation become one of the top Hereford cattle producers in the country. They hosted an annual livestock sale in the barn, selling breeding cattle to stock ranches in several states around the nation and even going as far as Mexico and Canada. Bayers estimates that during the time his family owned the barn they sold more than $5 million worth of cattle out of it.

Byron Bayers displays an old photograph of the 1889 Kentucky Derby winner Spokane that he found while playing inside the Round Barn as a child. Photo by Ben Coulter

As for the way cattle ranching reflects on the cowboy culture and western heritage of Madison County, Bayers points out that it’s just as strong today as it was during years passed.

“The glory goes into the fishing and the hunting and the tourism that’s built around it,” he says. “But when you read the figures the cattle industry still generates a huge amount of money. “

The architecture of the barn alone is as impressive as its storied history. The three-story structure stands 48 feet tall from ground level to the tip of the third floor ceiling. The ground level spans one hundred feet across and holds 12 square horse stalls, and a 20-foot wide circular track circles the interior. In the center is an old grain elevator, harness closet and two hospital stalls designed for the animals. A spiral staircase leads to the hayloft on second floor.
The hayloft was capable of holding 50 tons of hay and up to 12,000 bushels of grain, Bayers said. Chutes were cut into the floor so feed could be deposited into individual horse stalls on the ground level. On the third floor was located a thousand gallon water tank that was filled by aid of a windmill atop the barn. The water was then dispersed by gravity through a plumbing system to the horse stalls on the ground level.

The building stands on stone abutments made from rocks gathered in nearby Hells Canyon, and sit more than a dozen feet underground below the water table.
According to Bayers the main supports in the center of the barn are as straight and true as the day it was built, but over time parts of the framework began to sag and the barn fell into a state of disrepair.

In 1985 the Bayers family sold a portion of the ranch that included the Round Barn and the building went unused. Eventually the property found its way into the hands of local rancher Allan Hamilton, who wanted to see the building restored to its original glory. Together with ranch manager George Trischman and local carpenter Bob Lancaster, Hamilton began the daunting restoration project in 1997 to ensure that the building and its rich history didn’t fade into the past.

The Round Barn was recently donated by current owners Tony and Amie James to house the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. Madison County is on the list of finalists for where the facility should be located, and with the barn and its most famous horse, Spokane, already admitted to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2008, the county will make a strong bid for the final location.