Abandoned Pioneer Cabin of Riddle Ranch

[Music] so if you think about it if it wasn't for Rex Clemens who didn't do anything really to upgrade the structures he kept them in the historic State this place wouldn't be the way it is today [Music] hey did you know that this Ranch produced 150 tons of hay every year from the flood irrigated Fields along their little Blitzen River and they also sold mules and horses to the US calry and after World War One the livestock changed to cattle only to be a mile more than a mile [Music] this is a Pioneer Homestead dating back to 1896 or actually earlier one of the buildings dates back earlier to that and they don't know the date of it really I mean and this is I know the things about ranches too is I mean they're expansive but the road getting in here we're so far back in the canyon we're over 20 mil from the nearest road and the ranch the historic side of the ranch is actually only a th000 Acres but it's believed that the original Ranch was many many many many times bigger than that yeah now this was Frederick's cabin the three boys so there were three Bachelors Ben who came here in 1896 and then Fred and Walter followed mhm and this is Fred's cabin seems pretty nice this is actually very luxurious considering it was uh like a 1900's cabin I say the dining room table with the radio Ator a built-in refrigerator one of the first ones huh well I don't think that would have been 1900 par say no little bit later yeah that looks around 50s well they runched here until 1952 was it 1952 and then they sold it Frederick the last of the brothers he had in his later years 40 cats 40 4 Z and used to feed them three gallons of milk a day oh jeez tree story The Crazy Catman huh look at these cool old the soda cans like all the old things on here like the you got an old grape drink Seven up root beer I just all the love the old tins the style of them we've seen these tons of times tobacco Prince Albert Prince Alberts so these have just been I guess found around the property yeah uhuh this is really neat this is very nice and then into the living room or no bedroom or at least there's a bed set up in here now living room there's an upstairs yeah oh look there's a photograph of uh the ranch I don't know when that was taken riddle Ranch 2016 no volunteer caretaker oh is that in 2016 so this is a caretaker at the ranch back in 2016 was a neat little uh bed frame again really luxurious yeah nice big stove oh I like the radio do you think uh he used to hang his laundry up here to dry in the winter that makes sense oh right next to the stove there a photograph of uh the parents Tobias and Sarah Jane riddle parents of Walter Fred and Benjamin did you know I think they were uh nine there were nine children and the three boys they all moved back and the three boys ended up staying M see they've got kind of like make shift uh holders yeah I don't know if that would was that be original it looks a little bit more modern but this isn't original this isn't this would be yeah not the string no oh but is that the heating vent I wonder this so they put one here I wonder if it originally did oh yeah cuz there's a flap right there so it did originally go out that side but imagine how cozy this would have been heat rising yeah you've got um things to cover up yeah and there was newspaper newspaper all over cuz you can see the light coming through but there was newspaper everywhere along what's that date is that a date there 18 1976 looks like maybe oh that would be uh quite late yeah but it was all over because the farm was sold back to well sold to the BLM in the80s yeah so I I guess if it was a continuing thing to redo the newspaper that could be I mean it looks like it's original or it was on here a nice view over the property isn't it a shame the one bit that doesn't have the date well there's I think uh this is very very luxurious yeah I agree for back in those days right yeah looks like all the ones that would have a date are gone huh well these aren't really early you can tell by their clothes yeah ooh yeah see no banister coming down you wouldn't want to have one too many Take a Tumble oh yeah so Fred was the last remaining brother and he was 82 when he sold this place to Rex Clemens yeah and then he passed away 5 years later oh wow at the age of 87 oh so we lived a good life spent most of it here Yep this is the bath house what would a bath house have been literally where they have a bath I guess it's right next it's right next to the water so oh storage shed now for the caretaker oh okay oh yes look look it's the old shower noo oh yeah so yeah that's pretty cool now so this is kind of like the main Ranch area this is Frederick's house but house was way over and Walt's house was further still I mean you're talking like a mile away yeah would they have to have come down here to have a wash I would have thought that they would have built the cabins closer together although Ben was the first one here well and then if you're just protecting your property you're going to be kind of all over to make sure nobody else is wrestling cattle and stuff on it you know yeah I guess so I love these old barns have you got any fun facts about this um no well guess what I bet you do [Laughter] no after you oh just another barn yeah so there a that's a desk up there yeah there's a desk up here some other see there's a hay door so that stack the hay up in here launch it out the door well they've used this in recent times for well I don't know cattle poop yeah and then obviously extra materials for keeping the the place looking like it does let's go around here watch your head oh okay this looks more like animal pens in here yeah can't actually see what they are looks like a dog house where I guess oh no the tops will come open keep grain and stuff in there I imagined H interesting oh no that's where they would put the feed and then the cattle would be able to eat it the hay or the horses mhm yeah really cool now I do have something else okay up here that's really really important so prior to 1986 sorry yeah uh prior to 1986 Scott catterson who was the original owner and they don't even know when he started farming the land yeah this was his cabin So in theory this should have square square nails oh wow so this oh look at the old boots so this is how he lived before the riddles came very reminiscent of like all the mining camps we've been to very just a humble structure but does the job I'm looking for where the uh stove would have gone out of the ceiling yeah I wonder if over the years they replaced everything and fixed it maybe they've covered it you thought they would have let's see they've got some patch workor and stuff in here but I can't see any square nails either no that's what I've been looking for Le you got the some of the old hand hun Timbers in here so drill press 1896 still works so this would have been what 18 probably about 1880 yeah huh so that is the original cabin that's too cool all these pieces of equipment I know and the old horseshoes so that was the cabin this was the storage shed it's tiny wonder whether or not this was used cuz there's a oh no maybe not huh you got the that device there yeah I don't know what that is Beats me and then this I know those are sinks but and then this last little room is the tack room kind that's pretty neat simple yet effective but again all of these I can't see any square nails whatever no oh these bits oh but look at the uh well the chinking yeah it's just mud mud and M and grass so maybe he didn't use nails at all to build it fun fact do you know what all these are in the wood yes they're insects like woodworm type thing whatever is there anything you don't know if I don't know it I'll look it up and then the rest of this room it's just some more obviously more modern materials to but that but then again there's another horseshoe but it's upside down I know very neat though isn't this cool yeah all the Horseshoes are upside down okay now what you've all been waiting for no trip finish the sentence um you got it h help me out again can I call a friend no trip would be complete without a trip to the blue ready for this one 2 three I take it back I wasn't ready very simple simple clean neat look at the old toilet roll holder yeah that's funny you use what you got okay and do I spy something else me too ha ha two no this is the smoker this is where they would oh you can't really get in anymore that's where oh there's a dead bird a so see how it's all dark inside yeah so I wonder if they hung their meats up and smoked smok me okay yeah so this is the smoker that's the CPE and this back here is the cooler okay not quite sure where the cooler is or do they mean that is this the cooler ah now that must be the cooler yeah it must have had some sort of roof on it yep with the chicken Co behind I Concur and last but not least this section this I believe is the bunk house really the bunk house oh isn't it tiny very small stove yeah the bunk house one room monk house huh well I guess couple of well that is a this is a pretty large size bed if they had carts you almost SPL that in half and you could get bunk beds I was going to say so you you could have maybe four guys in here yeah two two bunks for sure bit cozy especially you've been after after eating beans mhm and a hard day dark de you know that thing I'm trying to say a hard day work [Music] yes Benjamin who was the youngest of the three boys arrived here first and unfortunately he passed away in 1915 he took his own life now The Story Goes that he could have possibly had tuberculosis but they actually found some love letters in a trunk in Fred's house all of them dressed to Ben and each of them ending with a request for funds true story do you enjoy what we do would you like more Adventures maybe some behind thes scenes footage then why not join our Patron it helps support this Channel and these explorers the link is in the description below [Music]