Roth

History

This barn was built in 1916 using frame construction and balloon framing. It is likely that Barney Schares had a hand in building it. Barney built many barns in the Heisler area and this barn is very similar to his other barns. The barn was constructed by the Roth family to replace an old log barn that stood in the yard prior to 1914. Perhaps Barney Schares just provided the blue print and know-how to the Roth family. We do know for certain that the new barn was built with the help of friends and neighbours.

Burkhard and Augustine Roth came to the Heisler area in 1904 from North Dakota. They officially homesteaded a quarter section of land 2 miles west of the property this barn sits on. Homestead rules stated that a family could live on a piece of land within 2 miles of their homestead quarter. Burkhard had purchased the quarter this barn sits on, a CPR quarter, in 1903 from someone he knew in the States. He liked the CPR quarter better than his homestead land and so the family began residing there.

Burkhard, Augustine, and family moved to the outskirts of Cheweelah, Washington for 3 years, from 1911-1914. They rented out the land near Heisler while they were away to Joe Leeb. By that time, they had already had six children: Killian (died young), Annie, Martha, Carl, Herman, William. William Roth was only three-years-old at the time of the move and six-years-old when they moved back to the Heisler area. However, he remembers that he didn’t like the mountains very much. No, the prairie suited him better and so he was glad when the family made the trek home. Burkhard passed away in 1923 and William helped his mother on the family farm after that. In 1933, William married Mary Rakoz and the two lived on the quarter this barn stands on with Augustine until she moved to Heisler in 1935.

The barn was built 30 feet high for the storage of loose hay. There were no balers at the time of construction. Instead, the hay was cut with a mower, raked by horse drawn equipment into windrows, and forked by hand onto a hay wagon. When a full wagon of hay pulled in front of the barn, the southern loft door would be lowered and slings of hay would then be lifted into the loft by the horses. The hay carrier and all of its related systems accomplished this momentous task. If you wish to see a video of a hay carrier system in action or learn more about hay carriers please click here and scroll to the “Hay Carrier System” section.

The younger children of the Roth family got the job of following the hay sling to the back of the barn’s loft and pulling the trip rope that dropped the hay in the sling into a pile. Pull and run, so as not to get covered, was the trick. Randy Roth, William and Mary’s youngest child, remembers the loft being full to the roof’s peak with loose hay. He could then climb the pile up and get into the large wooden cupula to look out to the north to see the Spring Lake Church! Hay was forked down chutes into the mangers on the main level where the horses and cows would eat. All the children had the opportunity to fall through a chute at least once.

In the early years, the western shed housed the horses that were used to work the land and thus it is still known as the “horse barn.” Ken Roth, William and Mary’s oldest child, still remembers having to harrow with the horses. The main part of the barn was for cows. Milk from the cows in the early years was left to rest to allow the cream to rise to the top. Then the cream was skimmed off for making butter. Some cream and butter were taken to town to exchange for groceries. Later, a cream separator, first turned by hand with a crank and later powered by electricity, was used to obtain the cream. A cream truck would come from Sedgewick to pick up the cream and leave a cheque that was used for groceries. The milk was not sold but instead eaten by the family or given to the pigs.

Tractors came to the Roth farm in the early 1940’s so not as many horses were needed. The southern end of the “horse barn” was used for pigs and calves yet it was referred to, and is still referred to, as the “horse barn.” For many year, the northern end of the main barn housed pigs in old milking stalls that had been renovated into pig pens. However, most of the main barn was still used for milking cows. In the mid 1960’s, Doug Roth, William and Mary’s second youngest child, brought in a milking machine, possibly a Westfalia, that made milking much faster and easier on the hands. William Roth continued using the barn until the mid 1970’s. After that, the animals were split between Ken and Doug and the barn has been used for storage ever since.

William and Mary Roth moved into Daysland in 1987. Randy and Barb Roth moved back to the quarter this barn stands on in 1991 from Forestburg.

Roth, Randy and Barb. Personal communication. 17 Aug. 2017.

Roth, Randy and Barb. Wagon Trails in the Sod: A History of the Heisler Area: Volume II. 1st ed. Heisler: Heisler Community Historical Society, 2017, pg. 671-672. Print.

This frame shows the western side of the barn’s roof and the shed addition.

This frame shows the western half of the barn’s roof and the southern face of the barn. Notice how the barn has three small wooden cupolas on the edge of the roof and one large cupola in the center of the barn.

This frame shows the southern face of the barn and shed addition.

This frame is a close-up of the loft door on the southern face of the barn.

This frame shows the southern face and eastern half of the barn’s roof.

This frame shows the hay hood and hay track on the southern face of the barn.

This frame is a close-up of the center wooden cupola on the barn’s roof.

This frame shows the eastern side of the barn.

This frame shows the eastern side and northern face of the barn.

This frame shows a close-up of the guide for the hay carrier rope in the loft.

This frame is of the northern face of the barn.

This frame shows the northern face and part of the western side of the barn.

This frame shows the north-western corner of the barn’s foundation.

This frame shows the inside of the shed addition on the western side of the barn. This area was used by the Roth family’s horses. The stalls pictured are on the northern end of the barn.

This frame shows the north-south walk-way inside the western shed. This frame was taken from the north whilst looking south.

This frame shows the western wall inside the shed. Notice the tack harness in the left aspect of this frame.

This frame shows the window in the previous frame. Underneath the window are the initials “KMR”. It was carved by Kenneth Michael Roth, Randy Roth’s brother.

This frame shows the walk-way, part of the roof, and some of the stalls inside the western addition.

This frame shows the staircase into the barn’s loft. Additionally, there is a door underneath the staircase that leads into the main barn.

Above the staircase, the floor boards of the loft have rotted away.

This frame shows one of the stalls inside the main barn. This stall is located in the south-western corner of the barn. The walk-way from the western shed into the main barn is located just out of this frame to the left.

This frame shows the penned area in the northern end of the main barn. The main barn used to house milk cows and pigs.

This frame shows the northern face of the barn. Notice the bale elevator and the trusses for the barn’s roof.

This frame shows the northern face and eastern part of the barn’s roof. Notice the rope for the hay carrier in the right aspect of this frame.

This frame is a close-up of one of the feed chutes on the western side of the main barn.

This frame shows the chute for the smaller cupola in the south-western corner of the barn.

This frame shows the inside of the loft door on the southern face of the main barn.

This frame shows the hay carrier in the peak of the barn’s roof.

This frame shows the loft above the western shed. Notice the hay chutes in the floor of the loft. These allow hay to be thrown down into the mangers inside the western shed.

Location

52.717520, -112.222832 SW 23-43-16 W4

Characteristics

Barn Condition: Poor

Construction Date: 1916

Features: Seven wooden cupolas; one large, six small, hay hood, hay carrier, and hay track, shed addition, weather vane

Roof Shape: Gambrel

Paint: Faded, used to be red with white trim

Decorations: No names or dates

Roof Covering: Wooden shingles

Siding: Wooden drop siding

Foundation: Concrete

Additional History on the Property

Burkhard and Augustine Roth Family History

Roth, Herman and Bill. “Roth, Burkhard and Augustine”. Wagon Trails in the Sod: A History of Heisler and Area: Volume I. 1st ed. Heisler: Heisler Historical Society, 1982. Print.

William (Bill) and Mary Roth Family History

The Family. “Roth, William and Mary”. Wagon Trails in the Sod: A History of Heisler and Area: Volume I. 1st ed. Heisler: Heisler Historical Society, 1982. Print.