The Red Barn

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Siderius Ranch
In 1900 in Modersville, Michigan, Peter Siderius arrived into this world. He was one of 14 children born to Everet Siderius and his wife, Gertrude De Boer, both natives of the Netherlands. When land was opening up in Montana in 1907 the family moved to Kalispell, where, as a child, Peter helped the family financially by delivering their farm’s milk and other products around town and the reservation. Being second oldest, he always had to fetch the midwife when his mother was delivering a child and sadly, had to run and get his aunt when his baby sister, Susie, died. Pete was never educated beyond the eighth grade. He worked as a logger at the Somers Tie Mill to help support his family until he was 29. Then he met a charming school marm, Louise Johnson, who grew up in Idaho. He gave her a ride one night on a load of wood and fell in love. They were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Kalispell in 1929, then they moved to Somers. Pete continued bucking railroad ties by hand at the mill, which means he carried and loaded about 500 ties per day. Each tie averaged about 150 pounds, and loads ranged between 300-400 pounds. He continued doing this for 25 years until his company bought a forklift that he operated. He and Louise had six living children retired in 1965, and moved to Bigfork.

This ranch has been in the family since 1940, and the barn was built in 1918 by Pete Paoli. Half of their half-section of land was homesteaded in 1893 and changed hands several times before Paoli purchased it in 1904. Interestingly, back in 1895 loan rates were 18 per cent! The house, which has since been replaced, was built in 1902, and the metal roof on the barn was added in the 60’s. There is a non-freezing spring that flows 5,200 gallons per minute. Tom, Pete Siderius’ son, now owns and operates the farm with his wife, Terry. Pete Paoli’s children fondly remembers sitting in the hay loft with their cousins dangling something on a rope in front of a concrete wall to annoy the ram, which would try to butt it. They would jerk the object up, and the ram butted the concrete and staggered away. One day, however, the ram smashed a hole into the barn! Score one for the ram.

The entire Siderius’ extended family gathers every three years thanks to Pete’s brother Mitch, who fled Montana and among other ventures, opened a popular fish restaurant in Florida. When he died, his will provided a trust fund, for the family reunions.