Charles M. Bair came to Montana from Paris, Ohio. Shortly after his arrival in 1883, he worked as a train conductor. Charles also ran a small sheep operation in Central and Southeast Montana. Bair later made a considerable fortune by investing in a ground-thawing device used during the Alaskan Gold Rush. He used his earnings to further invest in oil, mining, banking, and real estate.
Charles Bair
turned one of his investments—a ranch he purchased in Martinsdale—into one of
the largest sheep ranches in the world.
For a time, he ran 300,000 head of sheep on his ranch. The Bair’s constructed a mansion there alongside
the Musselshell River.
Charles and
his wife, Mary, collected antiques, artwork, and Native American clothing and
relics. The Bair’s raised two girls: Marguerite
and Alberta. Following the death of
Charles and Mary, the two girls traveled extensively and continued amassing
artwork and fine furnishings from Europe.
By the 1960s,
the girls envisioned and began planning to turn their lavish Montana ranch home
into a museum. The last surviving girl,
Alberta, passed in 1993 at the age of 97.
Not long after Alberta’s death, the property became the museum she long
envisioned.
On our Sunday drive home from Red Lodge, Desiree stopped to tour the museum. The museum offers too much for proper description. I encourage anyone able to visit there to do so. I am posting a few photographs from our tour to offer some idea of what you will find.
View From the New
Museum Building
The Two of Us
Enjoying the Grounds
The Office
A Bedroom
Fancy Bath
Modern Kitchen
—Mitchell Hegman
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