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August 1941. "Harvesting wheat with combines on Schnitzler Corporation ranch at Froid, Montana. There are about 2,800 acres on this part of the ranch and they are getting over forty bushels to the acre. It is one of the largest wheat ranches in the West." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
It seems the family referred to it as a ranch as well, at least per this obituary for a family member "She was raised in Froid, devoted to her father who was a leading newspaperman, wheat rancher, banker and state senator."
Source: https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/obituaries/obituary/article_b46635...
... seems to be a McCormick-Deering No 31-T Harvester-Thresher.
Had to chuckle when I realized the bad advertising involved in naming Froid, Montana. Froid (pronounced fwad) is the French word for "cold", which is appropriate for winter in Montana. Maybe it was a Froid-ien slip.
Having spent a bit of time in wheat country, I look at this picture and can relive exactly how it looks, feels, smells, and sounds. You have to squint a bit because in the direction of the light tan wheat, with shiny stalks, it's really bright, it's hot and and (perpetually) windy, there's a smell of dust and the unmistakable smell of the moisture sucked up that is getting released as it's cut. There's a very "large" silence with rustling wheat from the wind, with the sound of the tractor a tiny source in a huge, huge space.
You would be hard pressed to find a grain farmer who would refer to his farm as a ranch, "farm" would be the term, "wheat ranch'' ? C'mon.
[Scroll up. - Dave]
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