Moulton Barn Sunrise: Facing the Future, Facing the Past
B1605
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
When homesteader T. A. Moulton started construction of this barn in 1910, he looked to the future with bright dreams and hopes for his family and his community. When we ponder it today we look to the past and try to grasp the vision and values that went into the making and use of this barn. For this structure is not just an old barn; it was part of somebody’s homestead, somebody’s life. And the uses it represents were integral to a larger way of life that was challenging but also rewarding and satisfying, if not always in the economic formulations of American society in the twenty-first century. This was part of a diversified farm operation: what was produced here was also consumed here. The process was as important as the product. When we look to the past, when we gaze upon this barn, we can contemplate in deep and meaningful ways the course and direction of the patterns of our history.
