A few months back, my cousin Ann Hamblin Copelan, showed me the remains of a unique building that some of her ancestors built and lived in. It was a dugout on the north side of a large hill and was called Fourteen Mile, because it was fourteen miles north of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Ann’s Grandparents ranched there in the early 1900’s.

During my visit I took photos of the remains and made sketches and then painted this picture. I also had the help of a rough sketch by one of Ann’s relatives, Betty Ann Allen Ward.
It was well built with a rock front and wood post and beams to hold up the wood roof that was covered with turf. It consisted of four rooms and two storage rooms. One can clearly see the remains of one of the rooms and the storage room. The remains of an aquifer below that brought in good cold water, are still there as well a partially standing stone barn and corral.

This painting represents Fourteen Mile as a ranch house, rest stop and watering hole for Wyoming travelers, cowboys and even some outlaws.