William H. Padgett House, Flying X Ranch, Wheatland, Platte County, WY

Significance: William H. Padgett had spent his early working years freighting from Rock Creek Station to Fort Fetterman and later owned a saloon in Rock Creek. He and his wife, Josephine, were late-middle-aged when they built this house ca. 1898-9, and they lived in it for fifteen years while operating a small cattle ranch. Despite its rustic appearance, the cabin contained such Victorian amenities as carpeting and floor-length lace curtains. The Padgett House is representative of the small homesteader's cabin built in Wyoming in its layout and use of native materials (in this instance: fieldstones and grout, cottonwood logs, and pine lumber). It is composed of three sections - the main log building, a grout-and-stone addition used to house the ranch hands, and a frame lean-to kitchen. Alterations include the covering of the original earth roof with a wood frame and corrugated iron sheets and the enlarging of the door on the south by a subsequent owner to accommodate livestock.
Survey number: HABS WY-84
Building/structure dates: ca. 1898 Initial Construction