The 4,000-acre (as of 7/23/2015) Reynold’s Creek Wildland Fire in Glacier National Park’s St. Mary Valley has destroyed the historic Baring Cabin. Also called the Sun Camp Fireguard Cabin, this National Register listed property was built in 1935 as part of a compound of buildings used by the park service.

It was the last remaining structure before being destroyed by the fire on 7/22 that–according to latest reports–has come within 200 feet of Rising Sun Motel and is being moved by high winds toward the now-evacuated village of St. Mary at the junction of Going-to-the-Sun Road and highway 89 on the eastern side of Glacier Park. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

The cabin was built by Harry E. Doverspike at the mouth of Baring Creek, according to NPS Division of Landscape Architecture specifications, a mile east of the Going-to-the-Sun Chalet. The chalet as removed in 1948. The cabin, which has housed park personnel on an as-needed basis, was fully staffed into the early 1960s.

The 20×25-foot cabin (including a covered porch) was built in the rustic architecture style and  featured a stone foundation and chimney, log walls and a singled roof.

It was listed on the National Register in 1999 based on its history and architecture.

While the Blackfeet name for the creek is ápa-oápspi (weasel eyes), the name “Baring” was applied to the creek and the falls in honor of the old-line banking family who visited the area frequently during the 1920s. Author and explorer James Willard Schultz (Apikuni) named the creek, falls and nearby glacier (since changed to Sexton).

You can track the fire on this frequently refreshed map.

–Malcolm