From May 5, 1896 to January 19, 1903 the hand-hewn log cabin at the heart of this home served as the Hawkwood Post Office. The first Postmistress was Edith Palmerton. While much is not known about Edith, she's been the topic of many a dinner conversation at Hawkwood. What must it have been like to live upstairs in the small quarters above the post office in those days of large snows? After its days as the Post Office, the cabin became the Hawkwood School, Park County District No. 11, and served the families of McLeod and the west Boulder area from June 1904 to August 1926. [Hawkwood on the 1901 Map of Montana.]

In A History of Park County Rural Schools, Montana Centennial (1877-1990), Alta Rogers Rahn recalled school days in Hawkwood:

Alta Rogers Rahn went to school there in about 1913. She was in the first and second grades. Margaret Vance was her teacher the first year, and a Mrs. Cox the second. The school terms were about 3 months each. Alta and her sister, Irene, rode horseback to school. The other children attending were: 3 Fallats, 2 Moccasins, and 2 Fishers. The teacher boarded with the Moccasins. Mrs. Moccasin was the clerk. The building was quite spacious, new and made of logs. The boys and girls toilets were also small log buildings.
The school was on the West Boulder River—about 300 feet from the water, on the Hoff’s land. It had a large wood stove at one end of the building, black boards across the front. The desks were home-made seating two kids to a desk. The teacher had a regular teacher’s desk. There was no playground equipment. Games were played such as hide-and-seek and pom-pom-pull-away. The teacher played with the kids.
School was held May, June, July and half of August. Dances were held in the building and sometimes church services. Water was carried in a bucket and everyone drank from a common dipper.
Some other memories: She told me there was no need for a dustpan to take up the sweepings from the floor; the cracks between the logs in the floor were wide enough to sweep the dirt right through them. The toilet paper was the usual Montgomery Ward and Sears Catalogs. One time a neighbor brought nice, soft, peach-wrap papers for toilet use; the results were disastrous.
One day loud screams were heard from the river. A buggy and team had tried to ford the river about 600 feet away. Water had washed the buggy down to a sandbar, it was mired down the full of water. Some of the 7th. And 8th. Grade boys took Alta’s horse and tied one rope to the saddle horn with the other end tied to a tree. They rode out and got the man and then went out and fastened another rope to the buggy and pulled it to shore. Everyone got wet. One day the kids got upset because Alta, who was the smallest in the school, had to stay in at recess. They plugged the chimney and the room filled with smoke. The teacher was inside and could not get out. It seemed to Alta the teacher, Miss Vance, was old and crabby.

Hawkwood's owner/designer reflects on the newest chapter in the cabin's history:

When I purchased the property in 2001, in addition to the 20' by 24' cabin built of hand-hewn logs in the 1890s, there was a small outhouse that had been added by the previous owner. I quickly moved in some “camping” furniture, and after several overnight trips to Hawkwood, and several cold trips to the outhouse, I began to dream . . . of western rustic luxury.

I first decided to put on a small addition. As I searched for building sources, many local builders and realtors offered advice about the property: “Tear it down” or “Move it out of the view.” I entertained their ideas for about two seconds before concluding that Hawkwood was the view.

I worked out an architectural design with a friend who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design as I decided to add a bathroom and kitchen. The plan soon expanded to a total of 2500 square feet with 3 bedroom suites. My design would leave the original walls intact and use existing openings, and do nothing to compete with the beauty of the patina on the logs. Reclaimed antique wood was used for flooring, custom cabinetry, trim work and outside siding. I used natural materials to bring nature inside the house: stone tiles for bathrooms, stone floors on the lower level, and soapstone kitchen counters with a farmer's sink added rustic elegance. The Hawkwood cabin sits inside the new structure, with its exterior walls serving as the interior walls of the foyer, kitchen, dining room and master bedroom. A moss rock see-through fireplace joins the cozy old cabin living room space and the dining addition.

Few items were altered at Hawkwood. We did have to remove the original chinking between the logs and add small wood blocks for engineering purposes. The cabin had a second level which was made into a bedroom suite with a steam shower. Radiant heat was installed throughout, and the cabin floor was replaced by antique wood floors for the upstairs bedroom and throughout the main floor areas.

An historic photo (above—click the image to enlarge) of the old Hawkwood School sent to me by historian Bruce Graham positively identifies what is now a preserved part of Montana’s history. My objective to create a mountain home while not disturbing the beauty of the original cabin was successful, and a dream of quiet solitude and rustic elegance was realized in the summer of 2007.