The Barn at Country Club is preparing for its first annual Montford Days Festival from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at 1675 OK-37 in Newcastle.
The Montford Days Western Festival is to celebrate what is described as the rich history of this area. A portion of the proceeds will fund a museum, which is being established on the property. Admission is free to the public, but those attending are asked to bring plenty of money to support the various vendors and The Foundation.
Montford days Western Festival is a fund raiser for the Foundation for the Barn, a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit, created to help preserve the local heritage of Indian Territory and the early pioneer history. They are doing so by restoring and preserving this turn of the century barn and surrounding property which was a key feature of the Marchant Ranch.
Spokeswoman Patty Maness said, “This will help further the appreciation of the early western lifestyle for both students and adults.”
Montford Days will have chuck wagon displays, Dutch oven cooking, historical displays, basket weaving, goat milk soap-making demonstrations, vendors, concessions, a petting zoo, animal interactions, an alpaca obstacle course, crafts, and the ranch store. A stage with live music events and performers is also scheduled throughout the day. Oklahoma History Learning Engagement will have a pioneer woman as well as a period peace officer present.
Maness said Montford Thomas Johnson (1843-1896), also known as the Chickasaw Rancher, has had both a book and movie regarding his life.
“He was an instrumental part of developing this part of Indian Territory. Montford was a contemporary of Jesse Chisholm of the Chisholm Trail fame,” Maness said.
She added that Newcastle opened a post office on March 26, 1894, with a population of 25 and was located in the Chickasaw Nation.
“Many people don’t realize the Land Runs never went past the Canadian River, or that there were multiple Land Runs,” Maness said.
She also said, The Barn is an Amish-style gambrel barn and the exact date of when it was built is lost to history. Maness explained that a gambrel roof has two slopes on each side of the ridge and allows much more storage for hay in the loft.
“Many old timers in the area such as Orvis McMahan have stated it was there before the bridge over the South Canadian River was built in 1923. Mike Van Zandt, another longtime Newcastle resident, stated his grandfather kept cattle there in 1897,” Maness said. “Another resident shared how the loft has had alfalfa stacked to its ceiling in the past. Many locals have stories about this property.
“The Barn suffered severe roof damage in the 2013 Tornado, which is the same one that took out the old trestle bridge.”
Maness acquired the Marchant property in 2017. The ranch headquarters was a mansion for its time period and replaced three smaller buildings that served as the headquarters. The house, which sits along State Highway 37, is rocked and apparently had a rock fence around it as well, Maness said, but that was lost when highway 37 expanded.
She said part of this house burnt in the 1970s, but was rebuilt. These buildings have been restored and updated with air conditioning and ADA compliance.
These last 20 acres of the Marchant Ranch, which once encapsulated 2,000 acres, is now used as an event center. A history gathering event was held in March 2018, and the debut video of this will be screened on Saturday.
Maness said there is plenty of hard surface parking, and many children events will be available during the event.
For those who would like to make a donation to The Foundation for the Barn, in either money or historical artifacts, contact Maness at the Barn at Country Club, 405-777-3769. Donations can also be sent to: 1675 N.W. 32nd Street, Newcastle, Oklahoma.
