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EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 Location: 13003 Camp Remington Road, Black Hills National Forest, Custer vicinity, Custer County, South Dakota. The cabin faces northwest toward the Black Elk Wilderness, which begins 200 yards beyond Camp Remington Road, otherwise designated as Forest Drive 345. The coordinates for the cabin are longitude: 43.829571, latitude: -103.457838. They were obtained using Google Earth on April 29, 2019. There is no restriction on the release of the location data to the public. Present Owner/ Occupant: The present owners and occupants of the cabin are John M. Ewing, Ellen Ewing, Elizabeth Ewing and Nancy Ewing. Present Use: The present use of the cabin is as a summer vacation dwelling. Significance: Ewing Cabin was the final cabin to be built in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve of Black Hills National Forest under the Term Occupancy Act of May 5, 1915. Completed in September 1950, it was built under a program of recreational residences which set aside lots of 5 acres or less in National Forests “for the purpose of constructing or maintaining summer homes and stores.” This was a time when it was believed that everyone should be encouraged to use the National Forest land. This program was and is unique in that it allows individual ownership of a structure on public lands while the land is owned by the government. The program reached its peak in the 1950s when almost 20,000 cabins were permitted. By the 1960s, no new lots were permitted, effectively ending new cabin construction. Ewing Cabin is part of the Camp Remington community, which opened in 1923 after approval of a residential lease by the Forest Service. Camp Remington cabins were built to provide a summer camp for clergy of the Episcopal Church Diocese of South Dakota. Historian: John M. Ewing completed this report in 2014. Project Information: John M. Ewing prepared the documentation and donated it to the Historic American Buildings Survey collection in 2015. EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 2) Part I. Historical Information A. Physical History 1. Date of erection: 1949-1950 2. Designer: Ewing Cabin was designed by its original owner, Joseph S. Ewing. Joseph S. Ewing was a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Commerce and well placed to handle the monetary and scheduling aspects of construction. 3. Original and subsequent owners, occupants, uses: Joseph S. Ewing was the original owner and on his death in 1965, Margaret E. Ewing succeeded him in ownership. John M. Ewing and Joseph B. Ewing became the owners in 1975 upon Margaret’s death. Upon Joseph B. Ewing’s death in 1982 the present owners and occupants of the cabin became John M. Ewing, Ellen Ewing, Elizabeth Ewing and Nancy Ewing. In 1970 Saxe P. Gantz a retired US Navy captain of Rapid City, South Dakota, made an informal arrangement with Margaret Ewing to lease the cabin, make repairs, and pay the permits and assessments to the Forest Service and Custer County. Between 1970 and 1977 he made significant changes to the heating and lighting systems as noted below. 4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: The marking of the trees, their size (8' diameter at the crown) and the rates set for them (sawn timber of 5452 board feet at $6 per 1,000, and house logs of 1,000 board feet at $18 per 100) were conveyed by the District Ranger at Keystone, South Dakota. The cutting of the trees and disposal of the limbs was completed by the Hill City crew of the Forest Service. The Custer Lumber Company of Custer, South Dakota, provided the cut lumber and the attendant wood supplies, and the Heidepriem Hardware Company, also of Custer, provided the immediate hardware and tools. The Montgomery Ward Company supplied the major furnishings from stores in Fort Worth, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Denver, Colorado. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway provided the transportation. All of these expenses were well documented. 5. Original plans and construction: The original plans and pictures of the construction were saved. They indicate that the cabin maintains its original design except for the changes noted below. No plans were found for the basement areas or the log work. (See field records accompanying this documentation.) 6. Alterations and additions: Saxe Gantz, who informally leased the cabin from 1970-1977, made a number of alterations. The decision to build a fireplace seems to have led to his first alterations. Under and rising as part of the floor he had poured a concrete fireplace foundation block 6'-3" in length and 6' in width along the center of the east wall to provide warmth to the center section of the cabin, which housed the living room. EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 3) Then he laid a brick wall against that east wall, 6'-3" in width and 5'-11" in height. Later he decided against a fireplace and installed a Franklin stove with a 9' flue that would clear the roof top. Also in that time frame in a further attempt to winterize the cabin, he placed a gas heating unit inside the north wall of the living room with its exhaust pipe extending through the wall and closet area of the sleeping porch and then penetrating the roof line. The screened areas on the inside of the cabin he framed by 1 by 3/4" rounded spruce, and then sandwiched plastic sheets between a second similar frame by double threaded bolt and wing nuts. (The author of this report dismantled the outer frame, the plastic, and the threaded bolt and wing nuts, and have not replaced the gas line to the heating unit.) Gantz's second series of additions were the installation of three gas lights on the living room side of the north wall, on the living room side of the south wall and on the kitchen side of the south wall. His last additions, in an attempt to block the water and leaves from flowing under the cabin, included a concrete foundation wall of 1' under most of the east wall along with a gutter and downspout along that east wall that extended and exited over the rock alongside the north wall. (The author later breached this foundation wall to allow water and leaves to move under the cabin and out the front lattice work.) B. Historical Context In 1922, Bishop Hugh Burleson of the Episcopal Church Missionary District of South Dakota sent Suffragan Bishop William Remington to the Black Hills in search of a suitable setting for a summer community. In September Remington’s application to the Forest Service for a permit to establish “a summer camp for clergy of the Episcopal Church in the vicinity of the Pomeroy cabins on Iron Creek” was approved. The camp was opened in 1923 and the Community House (now the Guest House) and the Bishop’s House (now the Trask cabin) were built. Nine additional cabins were built, two of which are rented by the Diocese of South Dakota and the rest are individually owned. The chapel and the garage are maintained by the Diocese as well. The purpose of the camp was not purely recreational, but recreation that leads to renewal and service. It has served that purpose and to some extent still provides that to the lay and clergy families who continue that use.1 The only additions to the early 1920s Diocesan cabins have been the Stark cabin and the Ewing cabin of the late 1940s and early 1950s. John S. Ewing had construction of the Ewing Cabin started in 1949 and finished in 1950. It occupies Lot I of a U.S. Forest Service lease as an independent cabin (lease application September 14, 1947), but is considered a part of the Camp Remington community. It belongs to the Camp Remington Association of cabin owners, which includes those cabins put under individual lease by the Forest Service in 1947 as well as those of the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota. 1 See David Trask, "Introduction," in A Little Bit of Heaven: History and Memoirs Camp Remington 1922-2012, ed. Sharon D. Ewing (Custer, SD: Camp Remington Association, 2012), vii. EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 4) Access to the Ewing Cabin on State Road 345 and Forest Road 345 has changed over the years. As part of its name implies FS 345 is a Forest Service access road for maintenance, but also provides recreational access for pedestrians and motorized vehicles. In 1966 a proposed summit highway to Harney Peak using the Iron Creek Road (FS 345) as a part of a Harney Peak Recreation Area was never implemented. Then in 1972 the Black Hills Flood took out sections of the road as well as many of the Civilian Conservation Corps bridges. In 1978 the Forest Service issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement closing FS 345 and phasing out the cabins along Iron Creek. Due to a pending lawsuit and letters of protest the Forest Service filed a final environmental impact statement with no mention of a phase out and indicating that Forest Development Road 345 would remain open.2 FS 345 now dead ends and after September 2001 also became the Camp Remington Road. The cabin’s location makes it subject to Forest Service regulations, as well as those of Custer County, South, Dakota. The Forest Service makes yearly inspections of the cabins and attends the Camp Remington Association meetings. Starting in 1996 the CR Association fought a raise in the annual Forest Service residence permit payments by funding a second appraisal for a Forest Service Fair Market Value determination. In 2001 this second appraisal was accepted. Part II. Architectural Information A. General statement 1. Architectural character: The Ewing Cabin is a simple wood frame and log structure in the form of a screened porch on stilts cantilevered over Iron Creek valley. It is sited with a view of the Camp Remington rocks, a part of the Black Elk Wilderness in Black Hills National Forest. 2. Condition of fabric: The west half of the cabin has settled a slight bit. Externally the logs the rafters and the plates are turning gray around the exposed sides, ends and the edges. The drip edges of the new roof applied in 2006 have somewhat protected the rafters and the plates. The slab coverings on the gable ends and under the eaves are weathering and turning dark brown. The attempt to apply spar varnish to the gable ends has left portions lighter than others. The columns are splitting but have been filled. The bottom two logs of the northeast corner have been encased by concrete due to soil impaction. The logs show the need for a light oil application. The bottom log on the east side lying close to the ground has been treated with linseed oil and darkened. 2

"Errata Sheet For Final Environmental Impact Statement For The Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, Record of

Decision for the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, Final Environmental Impact Statemen," U.S. Forest Service, Black Hills National Forest, (August 28, 1989), Private Collection, John M. Ewing. EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 5) Internally the flooring has weathered, especially on the north side near the northwest corner of the cabin. This was caused by a roof leak from the north ridge line, the motivation for the roof repair. That portion of the floor needs to be oiled and varnished as does the rest of the cabin flooring. B. Description of Exterior 1. Overall dimensions: Ewing Cabin has the form of a rectangular, half-timbered porch 23'-5" in width and 33' in length. 2. Foundations: The log foundation was built on three logs running south to north. The east log rests on a one foot concrete base. On its south and north ends the middle log rests on log supports 3' to 4' long and approximately 2' in circumference. This middle foundation log is also supported along its length by two iron rods anchored with concrete on rocks of various levels. At the west front of the cabin the base log is supported by five log columns ranging from in height from 7' to 8', with the highest logs at the center. Their base circumference runs from 2'-2" to 3'; their lintel circumference runs from 1'-11" to 2'-5". There are two cross logs running west to east that are half notched to rest on the three basic foundation logs and help support the four layers of logs that lie above them and the 4" thick rough lumber that is the sub-flooring. 3. Walls: The base of the exterior walls consist of 2'-6" to 3'-2" logs with concrete chinking, then 4' of screening and windows, and then 6" planed slabs of 4" rough lumber to finish walls up to the eaves or gable ends. 4. Structural system, framing: The framing under the fourth layer of logs consists of 2 x 6" floor joists running west to east, which support the subfloor and the main floor. The 2 x 6" exterior wall studs are placed approximately every 4' and are notched directly into the top log. Along the west and east walls the upper wall plates are 2 x 6" rough lumber. Between the upper wall plate and the top plate, spaced every 2', are 2 x 6" cripples. Instead of the cripples and the top plate, a wall plate and reinforced vertical 6" and 8" planking fills in the north and south gable ends above the exterior wall studs. The 2 x 6", 15' rafters of clear rough pine are for the most part notched into the top plate at 1'-10" intervals. The gable rafters at the ridge are nailed and then joined by 1 x 4" diagonal bridging. These last two of the eighteen rafters support the roof overhang on the south and north gables. A 2 x 4" truss is built into the sheathing that covers the inside of the end rafters. 5. External Steps and Landing: A landing or porch opens up to the dining area in the southwest corner of the cabin. Along the exterior of the south wall runs a walkway from the landing to the east or rear side of the cabin. The eleven steps to the landing stretch over. Constructed of 3 x 11" planking material they have a 2 x 4" EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 6) railing on the west side interspersed by 4 x 4" railing spindles. This railing extends along the south side of walkway to the rear of the cabin. 6. Chimney Pipes: The stainless steel chimney pipe is located at 19' from the north edge and 3'-9" from the east edge. The stainless steel heater pipe is located 11'-7" from the north roof edge and 4'-6" from the east roof edge. Each pipe has a spark arrester and a stainless steel cap plate. 7. Openings: a. Doorways and doors: The major south doorway is at the west end of the porch. It is wood frame screen door having a plywood panel at the inside top screen and a detachable plywood panel at the inside lower screen. It has a detachable spring attached that slows opening and closing. The secondary door is also a wood frame screen door with fiberboard panels which also has a detachable spring. A basement level entrance is through the lattice work on the indented west wall. It is fitted with a solid pine door. b. Windows and shutters: The two windows on the east part of the living room are single hung with no grids on either side of the meeting rail. The detached shutters are rough reinforced pine of the same dimensions as the windows. The three west windows making up the living room’s east wall are fixed picture windows. 8. Roof a. Shape, covering: The gable roof is rough pine planking covered by green asphalt shingles. b. Eaves: The overhanging eaves have exposed rafter ends. C. Description of Interior 1. Floor plans: The 22' by 32' main floor plan is divided into a 13' by 9' dining area, a 5' by 9' kitchen, a 4' by 9' washroom, a 22' by 14' living area, and a 9' by 22' sleeping porch. 2. Stairways: Exterior stair only 3. Flooring: The flooring of the entire cabin is 4" tongue and groove pine that has been lacquered with a light finish. It has presently darkened with age. It runs lengthwise south to north on top of a sub floor of 4" rough lumber running diagonally southwest to northeast. 4. Walls: The interior walls are 4" to 6" notched pine. Viewed from the south entrance a south and north wall extend to the underside of the roof and split the cabin into EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 7) three parts. The south part of the cabin is further divided by two partial walls into the dining area, kitchen, and a washroom. Above this area is a loft and storage area of 4" tongue and groove flooring. The walls are finished with knotty pine paneling varying between 4" to 8" wide. The walls of the basement or the underside of the cabin are the logs on the north, south and east sides. The wall on the west side is composed of latticed rough 1 by 4" pine painted forest green. This wall is inset 5'-11" from the upper edge of the cabin. The lattice work is continued to supplement the logs on the north and south walls. 5. Openings: a. Doorways and doors: The two sliding prefabricated spruce doors are hung from the north wall and become a part of that wall. The spruce is light yellow in color and has a spar varnish coating. There is a door from the east corner of the washroom to the living room consisting of reinforced light lacquered spruce with bracing on the washroom side. The door has a latch and bolt that are set from the living room side, meaning that the cabin’s security necessitates opening the south entrance padlock, then going to the east side door and opening its entrance, then the sliding door lock and finally entering the living area to open its washroom door. The two walls that lengthwise divide the cabin into three parts are also partially composed of light finished spruce sliding doors. These 8'-8" by 8'-2" doors also serve as wall extensions and help enclose the central section or living room of the cabin. b. Windows: The frames of the three west windows are 1 by 4" planed pine. The east wall windows are also encased in a pine frame. In the summer time there is abundant light as it is open as a porch. 6. Decorative features and trim: In the dining porch the decorative features are the pine dining table and benches. Most of the benches were fashioned by Fred Babcock and feature his penciled notations. A replacement crafted by Daniel Gergen, a former monastic cleric, is a work of art having a slit in the seat for easy carrying. There are two china shelves built on to the east wall of the dining porch and a shelf above the opening to the kitchen. A wooden ladder to the loft is built against the south wall just inside the door. There is a counter top along the south and west walls of the kitchen and a shelf above the opening to the dining porch. The counter has a shelf below it for sealed goods storage. There is a movable cabinet on the floor next to the stove on the east kitchen wall that is used for boxed material. The washroom has a counter for the washbasin and water supply on the south wall and a series of clothes hooks on the east wall. The living room’s north wall has a small shelf above the heating unit, and there is a cabinet on the south wall for games and tools. The sleeping porch has a built in 5 by 8' clothes closet against the nonmoveable section of the south wall. EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 8) 7. Hardware: One piece of notable hardware is the shafts in which the sliding doors roll. They are the typical heavy metal used formerly used for barns and sheds. Also notable is the use of floor hasps on the outer and lower corners of the sliding doors that padlock from the dining room side and the sleeping porch side. 8. Mechanical equipment a. Heating, air conditioning, ventilation: A Franklin stove provides the heat for the cabin. There is a standalone vented heater in the living room that does not have gas piping tied to it. The original cast iron stove that was replaced by the Franklin stove is still stored in the cabin. Ventilation in the living room is enhanced in the summer by opening the two screened windows as well as rolling up the awning covering the screens. b. Lighting: Aladdin lamps and gasoline lanterns were used prior to the installation of the wall gas lights. The Aladdin lamps were suspended by chains from the ceiling in the dining porch and in the living room. There were also standing Aladdin lamps for the various tables. These lights are stored in the loft. The existing illumination consists of one gas light located head high on the inside or living room side of the south wall and one on the living room side of the north wall. A third is placed head high on the south wall of the kitchen. The gas is supplied by a propane tank located near the northwest corner of the cabin. The gas fixtures are fed by 1/4" copper piping. c. Plumbing: Ewing Cabin does not have plumbing. The water is obtained from a nearby spring. d. Stoves and refrigerators: The Skelgas stove is a relic of 1932 and is original to the cabin. The ice box was first replaced by a Servel gas refrigerator and now by a Consul refrigerator. The gas lines are run through the lattice work under the cabin to below the dining porch and the kitchen and then through the flooring to connect the two appliances. D. Site 9. Original furnishings: The large original bed, which for storage was hung from the living room ceiling as mouse protection, has been replaced by a queen size box spring and mattress permanently located on the sleeping porch. The two folding single beds that can be propped upright are still in service, and a third has been added. Also a living room chair and a queen size futon have been placed in the living room. A slice of a 400 year old pine tree has been made into a coffee table and sits in the living room. 1. Historic landscape design: The site was chosen not only for its view of the Camp Remington rocks but also for its sheltering under an outcropping of rocks. It had to be squeezed between two main rocks and on top of a number of smaller ones. It was also EWING CABIN HABS No. SD-39 (Page 9) placed between two large ponderosa pine trees. In accordance with Forest Service regulations there was no landscaping except for the provision of a circular drive to provide access to the cabin. The cabin is in a forest of virgin ponderosa pine along Iron Creek that only recently has been threatened by the pine beetle. 2. Outbuildings: The privy or “spiffy biffy” is located 62' over the rock bordering the north side of the cabin. The measurement is from the cabin’s northwest corner to the biffy’s northwest corner. The access is up a flight of steps around the rock and across a footbridge. Like the cabin, it is located 113' up the slope from the road. The concrete vault’s thickness is 4". The wood structure is approximately 5' square in plan and 4' high, with a shed roof and additional screened area enclosing the base. The plywood and asphalted roof has an overhang from 6" on the south side to 1'-6" on the north side. The standard door is of reinforced tongue and groove 4" pine like the rest of the biffy. The hardware is the common metal door handle, and an outside padlock hasp plus an inside hook and eye for security and privacy. The wood footbridge to the biffy has wood 2 by 4 handrails. Part III. Sources of Information A. Architectural drawings: The Ewing cabin floor, elevation and site plans were drawn up by Joseph Ewing from 1948 to 1949. The first floor plan of 1948 shows the cabin dimensions to be 32' in length running south to north, and 20' in width running east to west. Of the cabin's length 10' was the space for dining porch, kitchen and washroom, 12' was for the living room and porch, and 10' was for the sleeping porch. Of the cabin's width the dining room was 11' and a combined kitchen/washroom was 9'. Both sliding doors would be 6', although the northern one was also noted at 8'. “Glass or screen,” “large glass,” and “glass or screen” filled the three spaces on the west wall of the living room and porch. There was no secondary or east wall entrance. The site was shown as having pine trees on the southwest and northeast corners and clumps of aspen on the front or west side and on the southeast corner. “Against tall rocks” is noted on the east or rear side, while there was just “tall rock” on the north side. The rocks as pictured were not and cannot be removed. Later floor plans and elevation plans show dimensions of 32' by 22' with a screen door on the northeast corner of the sleeping porch. B. Early Views: The existing views of cabin construction were captured by Joseph Ewing using the 620 film format to produce the 2 ¼ by 3 ¼ prints. They proceed from showing the foundation logs in place on July 1949 to the shingling of the roof in August 1950.