Mom Visits Karst Ranch in 1941

The other day I was scanning some of my mom's old pictures into the computer from before she was married when she and three school teacher friends from Minnesota visited Yellowstone Park in 1941.  They stayed at a dude ranch called Karst Ranch in some log cabins in the mountains.  

I Googled the place to see if it was still in existence.  Sure enough, it's still there, although the name has changed to Karst's Camp.  It is southeast of Bozeman, MT, about halfway between the northeast corner of Yellowstone Park and Bozeman.  

I also found a website of the curator of a museum at Montana State University and sent him a few of the pictures showing the buildings, a walking bridge, and thatched roof building, etc.  I told him that the dates on the back of the pictures seemed to indicate that they visited about the last week in June of 1941.  An email soon returned with a picture of the guestbook for June, 23, 1941, that my mom Anne Christensen and three friends Esther Wachter, and twins Anna, and Cora Neumann had signed!  Imagine their signatures still being preserved there after all these years!

I remember Mom telling me that on that trip it was the first time she had worn slacks.  They did do some horseback riding so suppose slacks were necessary.  The ones they wore had wide baggy legs.  But most of the pictures showed them in their best dresses, hats, and even purses out in the wilds of Montana!  Mom is second from right on a  horse in picture below and in a light-colored (white?) dress on a fence and atop a thatched roof. It must have been difficult to climb up that ladder in a dress!  In this day and age, it does seem comical to see them so dressed up, but back then women wore dresses almost exclusively so I suppose it seemed normal to them.

Some notes on Karst's Camp from online sources:

Karst's Camp was originally a dude ranch that was founded in 1901 by Pete Karst. He was awarded the property because of back pay that the Cooper Tie Company owed him. Karst built a cabin and eventually built twenty-five cabins to accommodate one hundred people. In 1937 he installed a rope tow for use in recreational skiing. Karst's Camp eventually hosted a local bar and brothel for the local miners. Karst operated this resort of sorts for fifty years and eventually retired.

The original cabins are still standing and are occupied today but the ski lift and the camp no longer exists. The mine can still be reached by a short trail that travels up into the hillside behind the camp site. This area was one of Montana's unusual present day mining ventures - an asbestos mine.

Another article:

This genuine Old West ghost town is the remains of one of the region's earliest dude ranches, and features original buildings and the entrance of an old asbestos mine.

Developed by Pete Karst around 1901, the ranch at one time bustled with summer visitors eager to see Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding rugged environs. Karst was given the land as back payment by his employer, the Cooper Tie Company. He first built a cabin for himself followed by a total of 25 guest cabins. Karst later put in a tow rope for skiers – long since vanished – as well as a bar and brothel for the local miners.

At its peak, Karst's ranch saw up to 600 summer visitors. Today, only a few of the old cabins remain surrounded by a modern-day subdivision, but access is easy to this beautiful canyon in the Gallatin Mountains. Visitors can take a peek at a few of the original cabins, enjoy a short hike up to the old mine, and imagine the rugged conditions both residents and tourists must have had to endure to appreciate Yellowstone Country 100 years ago.

Location/Directions
Located between Bozeman and Yellowstone National Park, near Big Sky on Highway 191. Call the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce at (406) 995-3000 or (800) 943-4111 for more information.

Hours/Seasons
Accessible year-round, but it's easiest to visit in the summer.

Fees/Costs
Free

Another source:

Directions: Karst's Camp is located in the south central area of Montana. It is between Bozeman and Yellowstone National Park, near Big Sky on Highway 191. Although currently home to residential and commercial cabins, Karst's Camp is the original location of the old mining camp.
Karst's Camp
Big Sky Chamber of Commerce, Big Sky, MT 59716