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-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Don Albertson, seated, and his daughter Tracie Roos regale their assembled friends with tales of A-T Ranch's history.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY A budding cowgirl has fun at the A-T Ranch centennial celebration Saturday.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Friends gather at the Albertson ranch as they celebrate their 100th anniversary. Left to right, Mike Keough, Don Pischner, Shawn Keough and an unidentified friend.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Tom Albertson, left, listens as Don Pischner of the Idaho Historical Society speaks at a celebration marking the ranch's 100th year.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY It takes teamwork to unwrap a commemorative sign at the Albertson Ranch Saturday. Left to right, Don Pilschner, Terri Albertson, Stacy Keough and Don Alberson.
—Photo by LYNNE HALEY Guest look over the displays at the Century Ranch celebration marking A-T Ranch’s 100th year.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Beautiful quilts, hand-pieced by matriarch Wilma Albertson for members of her family, graced the site of the celebration on Saturday.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Members of the Albertson family greet guests at their centennial celebration.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY A-T (A bar T) Ranch, near Gold Creek, has been operated by the Alberson family for 100 years.
—Photo by LYNNE HALEY Some of the original gear patriarch Bill Albertson used in the early years of A-T Ranch. Hitching equipment for teams of work horses is shown at the top, while Bill’s saddle and chaps are displayed below.
SANDPOINT — One hundred years ago, World War I was raging in Europe. Norman Rockwell drew his first Saturday Evening Post cover, and President Woodrow Wilson officially established Flag Day. Meanwhile, on a property north of Sandpoint, brothers W.T. (Bill) and Charlie Albertson bought themselves a ranch.
They purchased the original 640-acre property from the Humbird Lumber Company, according to Don Albertson, Bill's son. It was a stump ranch when they first moved there from Twin Bridges, Mont., bringing five train carloads of cattle, one carload of horses, a carload of machinery and a couple handfuls of big dreams.
Before they could act on those dreams, however, Bill joined the military and went overseas to fight in the war. Once he returned, he and his brother had their work cut out for them, clearing the land with the help of horses and stump-pullers to make way for livestock, said his son. They leased some extra land from the nearby Samuels Ranch where they lived and grew hay for feed.
Bill married Wilma Nash in the early 1930s on the threshold of the Great Depression. Like most ranchers, their cattle operation suffered during the lean years.
"Their cattle weren’t worth anything, but they were pretty much self-sufficient," said Don.
They lost their home when the Samuels Ranch mansion burned to the ground and the owners needed the building they occupied, forcing the couple to build a home on their own land. Bill, Wilma, Don and his sister Irene lived there without electricity until 1946.
That homestead, called the A-T (A bar T) Ranch, still exists today, and is still owned by the same family. Saturday, it became an Idaho Century Ranch, courtesy of the Idaho Historical Society and the Idaho Department of Agriculture. Don Pischner, IHS Trustee, conferred the honor in a June 25 ceremony at the ranch.
"The award recognizes agricultural property owned and operated in Idaho by the same family, at least forty acres of which must have remained in agricultural use for 100 years or more," according to Steve Barrett of the Idaho Historical Society.
The Albertsons' son Don and his wife Terri, their grandchildren, Tom Albertson, Scott Albertson, Nani Gray, and Tracie Roos and their spouses, plus several great-grandchildren, were on hand to accept a certificate signed by Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter. They also received a commemorative steel sign, suitable for display on their farm.
"We all live out there and help run the place," said Roos. "We call it the compound."
The property boundaries have waxed and waned over the generations, with the land being divided between siblings and added to whenever possible. What started out as a 640-acre stump farm now amounts to over 700 picturesque acres that include a stretch of Gold Creek, pasture benchlands, and mountain views, according to Don.
It remains a working ranch with about 100 head of cattle. The family harvests about 2,000 tons of hay each year, which amounts to around 4,000 big round bales, Don said.
Along with the Century Ranch presentation, W.T. and Wilma Albertson's descendants hosted a celebratory barbecue for 300 guests. Those in attendance included neighbors, family members and longtime friends who shared fond memories of the ranch and the community-minded people who ran it.
"My father had the biggest herd of cattle in Bonner County. He was a commander in the Idaho State Guard during World War II. He helped put on the first rodeo in Sandpoint and organized the Pack River Grange. He was a two-term commissioner for Bonner County," said Don.
He said his parents would be pleased to know about the Century Ranch designation, another outstanding accomplishment for the family.
"They’d be very proud. They loved the ranch and they kept going after a lot of lean years, and it meant a lot to them, just as it does to all of us," he said.