P a g e 7 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r John and Nan Marty Homestead Photo by Shawn Shawhan This is Part 3, and the final part, of the John & Nan Marty homestead story as being told by Joan, their daughter. For my final group of photographs I will include some color versions of those I previously posted in sepia tone. I know some viewers prefer color over monochrome. Also with my own photographs I’m including 3 images of John & Nan that I copied from the book where I found their story. Here is Joan’s continuing story about life on the Marty homestead: The rear of a bunkhouse and the main house. “The terribly black dust storms of the 1930s and the annual hailstorms made a lasting impression on me as a child. As I look back, it seemed the weather completely controlled our lives. If it rained the crops grew, but you couldn't travel until the roads dried. If it hailed you lost your year's work, and the winter drifts kept us isolated as long as six weeks at a time.” Photo by Shawn Shawhan The 2-room bunkhouse and a doghouse. Photo by Shawn Shawhan “It was a hard, harsh life, but I know my parents, especially my father, felt a great sense of accomplishment in the ranch he had built, one stick at a time. Coming from a fairly genteel life as a parlor maid in London, I admire my mother for being the best helpmate my dad could have found. What an adjustment that had to be! I think she lived out some of her hopes for a ‘better life’ through me, as she urged me to practice the piano and get an education.” Inside the main house where the kitchen was located. Photo by Shawn Shawhan The Winnett Times of September 24, 1946, paid fine tribute to the Martys: Looking out the rear of the garage with the workshop ahead on the right and the chicken coop in the distance. “One of the outstanding successful farmers of the North county is John Marty residing about 18 miles north of Winnett. Mr. Marty homesteaded his present location in 1913, coming here from Iowa. His farm is located on the edge of the Missouri Breaks, which gives him timber for building as well as shelter. With the exception of his granary, all the buildings, including the comfortable Marty home, are built of logs which were hewed on his own land
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