SCHS Tours Barns

SCHS members enter the north barn of Lemon Canyon RanchThis past Sunday, September 24, the Sierra County Historical Society (SCHS) held its annual picnic at the Lemon Canyon Ranch. This ~1,455-acre property of forest and rangeland, located in the southeast corner of the Sierra Valley, is a certified organic cattle ranch. It is now secured for future generations by a conservation easement ensuring the continuation of ranching and forestry operations, enhancement of riparian and wet meadow habitats, and maintenance of critical wildlife migration corridors between upland forests and valley meadows.

Prior to their lunch, members of the SCHS gathered at the two large barns built in the 1870s by the original owners for the storage of unbaled hay and shelter for cows and oxen. There, Bill Copren, a lifelong resident of the area and local historian who served as the Sierra County Assessor for decades, spoke about the tools and methods used to harvest and store hay. He also provided an impressive listing of the numerous Swiss-Italian families running dairy operations he saw each day while riding a school bus from Sierraville to Loyalton.

Lucy Blake, the current owner of the ranch, followed Copren by speaking about the expensive investment in traditional carpentry practices (no nails) used to restore the sill and siding of the northern barn in 2001. She also talked about salvaging the wood from a nearby third barn whose roof had fallen atop the building’s posts and beams, largely preserving them. Some of the wood went to help repair other large barns in the area and to construct a new ranch house on the property.

Then, after adjourning to roughly half a mile east of the barns, attendees sat at picnic tables placed on the lawn outside Lucy Blake’s ranch house to eat a hearty meal highlighted by sandwiches filled with tri-tip beef roasted by Paul Roen.

Yes, the group had a most convivial and educational experience during their time at Lemon Canyon Ranch.