FREWEN'S CASTLE

In the late 1800s this area was all open range, with cattle ranging far and wide. Several of the ranches were operated by people of Scotish origins and there was a large operation headed by Moreton Frewen. He built a two story log home at a time when most dwellings were much smaller. It was know as Frewen's Castle. The main room was forty foot square, there was a musicians gallery where they could sit and play for the guests dancing below. Twenty guests could dine with comfort and often the table was adorned with flowers brought in from Denver. The staircase and interior woodwork were imported from England. A piano came overland after arriving by train at Rock Creek. There was a telepohone connecting the home with their store some twenty miles distance. There were also a bunkhouse, storage sheds and stables in the compound. Coal lamp chandeliers with crystal bangles illuminated the main rooms. Mike McCue, a fromer body guard for President Lincoln served as the Frewen's cook. he told one group they would not get Boston baked beans, but Powder River beans! By 1886 the Frewen family had moved on, leaving the home and its furnishing behind. Eventually the rosewood and walnut were "recycled" being made into smoking stand, candle holders and a gavel currently used by the local Historical society.