From
The Daily Sentinel
– Horticulture, Farm and Ranch News –
Western Colorado and Eastern Utah
[date
unknown]
(Note:
In the original newspaper article the caption originally
appeared beneath the photos. The photos have been rearranged
and the caption and news article have been reproduced here for
easier readability. The
photocopy of the original article can be
seen on a separate page.)
STILL FOR SHOW—Once
the show place of the early 1900’s, the TeSelle farm property on
north Fruitland Mesa near Crawford stands unoccupied and
weather-beaten but catching the traveler’s eye with its monstrous
round red barn. The center photo shows
the home and barn as it is today with the towering peaks of
Mount
Lamborn
and Land’s End behind.
The extension to the barn, at its rear, is a covered ramp leading
to the second story and under which horses were stalled.
Horses pulled wagonloads of feed over the ramp for storage in a
cement silo placed in the center of the round barn. Ample
room was provided for horses to circle the barn inside.
Below, 25 stanchions held dairy cows, each with a trap door above
through which feed could be sent down. The barn itself is
shown in the picture at the left, taken from one of the porches of
the family home. At right is the family residence,
originally a one-story building but enlarged later, as the
children grew older, with four bedrooms under the gables.
Daily Sentinel photos by Robert Grant.
ONCE SHOWPLACE
Huge Dilapidated Barn Reflects Bygone Era
CRAWFORD - Once the show place of the country, a dilapidated and
weatherbeaten mammoth red round barn and its accompanying gabled
farm home now stand desolate and vacant on Fruitland Mesa as a
mute testimonial to the garishness and opulence of the early
1900's.
Only a few of the old-timers in the area can remember its
owner and builder, a health-seeking minister from Iowa. J.
W. TeSelle, Richard and Wallace Klaseen on Fruitland Mesa
recollect, was a preacher of the Dutch Reformed Church who came to
Fruitland Mesa about 1907 with his family and brothers, Henry and
Ben TeSelle. The Rev. TeSelle, as he was known, didn't stay
very long. He moved away about 1924 and was thought to have
returned to his preaching career.
J. W. TeSelle and his wife, Gertie, apparently homesteaded on
the property, since the files o f the county clerk's office at
Delta show a patent deed for the property, described as "the
southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 13, Township
51 North, Range 8 West," was issued by the U.S. government to
Gertie TeSelle Oct. 23, 1914.
Shortly after his arrival, the Rev. TeSelle began
construction of the one-story frame house with four gables.
As his five children grew older, Mr. TeSelle added rooms under the
gables until the house had seven rooms.
It was the red round barn, however, which caught the
attention of the countryside. Built about 1917 of two-by-six
inch boards, the massive barn had a diameter of 48 feet and was 32
feet high. A cupola topped the round barn and a huge long
ramp to the second story provided easy access to the cement silo
constructed inside the barn.
In the dairy business, the Rev. TeSelle had a large herd of
Holstein dairy cows. On the first floor of the round barn
were located 25 stanchions for cows, each served by a trap door in
the ceiling from which feed could be dropped into feed boxes.
A cement springhouse was located at the south side of the barn for
storing milk and churning butter.
Under the ramp were horse stalls, with trap doors overhead,
and a pig pen was located outside the barn.
Hay and corn were raised on the property and these were
loaded into huge wagons pulled by horses, said Ed TeGrotenhuis, a
Fruitland Mesa pioneer and now of Hotchkiss. Horses pulled
the wagon up the ramp and around the silo with ease, he said.
Silage was unloaded on the second story into the silo.
Once, while visiting the old Hanson ranch on Leroux Creek,
the Rev. TeSelle noted that the late J. Edd Hanson was raising
sunflowers for silage. Mr. TeGrotenhuis said. Mr.
TeSelle decided to use sunflowers for silage, but abandoned the
idea a short time later.
In those days, Mr. TeGrotenhuis said, the mesa was covered
with cedar and sagebrush, which had to be removed before the land
could be cultivated. Roads came into being as more settlers
moved to the fertile mesa.
The Fruitland Mesa School, boasting two teachers and about 40
students, was located on the TeSelle property. According to
records in the county clerk's office, Mrs. TeSelle deeded one and
a quarter acre of land to old School Distirct 2 Aug. 26, 1919.
Foundation of the old school remains a short distance south of the
barn, the building having been moved to Crawford several years
ago.
After the departure of the TeSelles, the house and barn were
apparently unoccupied, but Miss Genevieve Hartig of the Delta
County Abstract Co. found that a sheriff's deed was issued to
David R. C. Brown Aug. 6, 1928. In 1944, a warranty deed was
issued by Mr. Brown to William R. Horton, last occupant of the
house. The property is now owned by Royden G. Girling of
Lazear.
The old TeSelle property can be reached from Crawford and
across Fruitland Mesa or from Smith Fork Canon over Anderson
Grade. The house and barn are easily seen from the road.
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