Life on The Ranch
May 20, 2020
My Great-grandparents, Harry, and Elvira (Page) Redfield homesteaded 160 acres seven miles south of Twin Bridges, Montana after their marriage in 1888. In 1892, they leased their ranch and moved to Whitehall where Harry worked as a butcher. He brought his family back to the Twin Bridges area in 1895 and to his own ranch in 1897 where they raised ten children. There, he lived out the remainder of his life and died in 1908. Elvira lived almost three decades more before her death in California in 1937.
On December 12, 1923, Harry and Elvira’s son Ralph, married Clara Louis Monroe in San Jose, California. Ralph had met her while she was staying with the Redfield family in Twin Bridges and attending school. After working on ranches in Montana and California for several years, Ralph and Clara returned to Twin Bridges in 1933 to take over the family ranch and there, raise their seven children. My mom, Phyllis, or Penny as she was nicknamed was the baby of the family.
Harry Redfield built a log house when he homesteaded the ranch. It was originally only one story. A second story was added later for much needed bedroom space for the ten children he and Elvira brought into this world. The kitchen was in an “addition” built at the end of the house. Four generations of the Redfield family have called this piece of Montana history home before it was abandoned in the 1980’s. Today, it is still standing, a lighthouse on the prairie, beckoning remembrances of era’s gone by.
Clara and Ralph had an open-door policy, and on any given day one or more of their 32 grandchildren would stop by for a visit. My family as well as my Aunt Shirley had the advantage of having homes on the ranch too. Sitting in the kitchen with Granddad eating “mush”, which was either oatmeal, Cream of the West or Cream of Wheat depending on the day, is one of many pleasant memories. The Cuckoo Clock that hung on the living room wall cheerfully told us the top of the hour throughout the day. The long, narrow stairs leading up to the second story moaned with decades of footsteps as we raced up and down, playing “button, button, who has the button”. As sub-zero temperatures gripped the Ruby Valley, a coal fed stove kept the Redfield ranch house warm. The coffee pot was always on and more times than not, kinfolk and neighbors sat around the kitchen table discussing cattle prices, the weather, or the latest equipment breakdown.
Life was much simpler growing up. Us kids would pack a lunch consisting of butter and sugar sandwiches and fresh baked cookies thrown in an old bread sack. Kool-Aid was poured into a rinsed-out mayonnaise jar to drink and off we would go on an adventure for the day, stopping only to raid the garden for fresh carrots or peas. The back field, the six acres, Talcott’s Ditch, the barn, or the Pillsbury tree were just a few of our destinations. Once there, we would spend hours playing with not a care in the world except to make sure we were back home by suppertime.
One of our family stories is that the Redfield genealogy dates to John and Priscilla Alden who came on the Mayflower to settle in the new country. Our family has some tremendous lovers of history and we are blessed to know our long lineage throughout the centuries.
John Howard Redfield wrote and published in 1860 the Genealogical History of the Redfield Family in The United States.
“The Redfield family origin seems to have been humble, even obscure, yet it is evident that our progenitors, however lowly their rank, brought with them those, virtues and qualities which rendered them not unworthy of a place among a people, who were to subdue a wilderness, maintain their liberties, and found a new commonwealth. The earlier generations of the family inherited neither wealth nor station, hence those of their descendants who have acquired either, have, under Providence, been mainly indebted to their own industry, energy, and perseverance, and the large number of “self-made men” enumerated in these pages, amply illustrated the truth of this position.”
True grit, determination and above all else, under Divine guidance, the Redfield family settled into the beautiful Ruby Valley of Montana. They laid a strong foundation for generations to come, relying on the promises of God and covered by the love of Jesus. It reminds me of a favorite Sunday School song I sang as a child about building a house on a rock.” The rains came down and the floods came up…. The rains came down and the floods came up…the rains came down and floods came up and the house on the rock stood firm.”
During this unpredictable time, likened to my pioneer family who helped settle the unknown west, stand firm on the knowledge, the grace, and the love of Jesus Christ and the Word of God! Lay a strong foundation of truth so when the storms of life come, you will be able to withstand it.
Luke 6:47-48
As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
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