Part of what I do for a living is reclaiming old lumber from the prairies and mountains of my home state of Montana and sell the old wood for the rustic lumber market and give the old lumber that would have been destined for disposal or to rot away, a new life for generations to enjoy. I source my lumber from various structures such as old barns, and corrals but when I can I like to reclaim and preserve old antique hand-hewn log buildings that were built around the 1850's when settlers first arrived to this area. Over the years of doing this I have taken some great photos that really captures the beauty of old lumber that I would love to share with you all. Every single one of these photos has been taken with a cheap smartphone. I can't wait to get a real camera!

The photo below is of some old growth fir corral windbreak boards that I reclaimed from an old homestead in northern Montana and skip planed the surface to reveal these amazing colors! It was hard to sell this batch of material! I just wanted to keep it and use for my self! haha!

Here is one of the historic hand-hewn log cabins that I took down and sold to a client last summer! This old homestead was one of the first settlements of what is now known as Clyde Park MT and was built in the mid-1800's before Clyde Park (formerly Sunnyside) was founded by Texas cattlemen who were attracted to the area for grazing their herds. Local legend has it that this was the first building constructed in the area. Later on, as the homestead grew there were many more structures built very close by that got burned up in a grass fire, yet this, the oldest building was luckily spared in the incident. This cool old building has since been set up in a new location and is being utilized as a guest house on the buyer's property! Good to know that this unique old cabin with all of its history and stories, has been preserved and will be enjoyed for many generations to come!

This next photo is simply some old weathered corral planks that were stacked on my trailer. Me and my crew reclaimed these planks and while in the middle of stacking the load I had to stop them so I could snap this pic because that morning lighting was just so beautiful shining on these gray old corrals boards and the color contrast between the really light and the darker ones was striking.

Here is one more. This dragonfly momentarily takes a rest on a board I was in the middle of stacking. I had to stop for a photo opportunity and got a great shot right before it decied to fly on. Thanks dragonfly! :)

I hope you enjoyed these photos. I have many more to come and enjoy writing accompanying content along with them. Thanks!