Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 57 becoming part of the beer transport industry. Sometime in the late 1800s–early 1900s, the horse drawn barrel wagons were being retired by the Lehrkind's Genuine Lager Bozeman Brewery. Evidently Henry Woosley found himself a bargain. He picked up one of the wagons with what must have been some very stout draft horses of his own, and drove the big rig home to Sedan over Battle Ridge on a narrow, steep, dirt road. Once home, the top barrel-carrying part of the wagon was dropped off in a typical farm "boneyard" at the edge of a hay meadow. Lyle Woosley's best guess is that that massive wheels and strong undercarriage were used another 30 years carrying loose hay in a hayrack. en, some 70 years ago, the worn out wheels and undercarriage were dropped off in another forgotten swamp. Back to summer in 2014: Lyle Woosley and Dan Hurwitz, with the use of shovels, picks and a skid steer, were able to salvage four fourteen foot long hardwood beams, most of the "leaves" of the heavy springs, some of the wood of the massive wheels, the four inch wide steel rims, and the immense steel hubs big enough to straddle. e remains were delivered to Harlan Olson, who expressed inter- est in taking on the restoration. One wonders why Harlan was not just willing, but eager, to take on something as huge and challenging as a turn-of-the-century broken-up weather-decayed beer barrel wagon. He said, "It is unique. It is a rediscovery, excavated right out of the dirt of a Montana ranch. I just wanted to see it rebuilt." With the generous help of the Bozeman Lehrkind family, the barrel wagon went through several years of painstaking restora- tion. Interestingly, when the steel was removed from the hubs, the complicated inner wood hubs were still in perfect condition with one exception, protected all those years by the steel so expertly crafted to cover them. e profile of the driver's seat looks odd as it perches precariously high above the empty rack. is was a neces- sity, according to teamster Dan Hurwitz. "Imagine backing that vehicle up to a loading dock, maneuvering those four horses ahead of you and looking back over the top of three layers of stacked bar- rels at the dock location." e painting is another job, all unto itself. e barrel wagon, with its five coats of paint, shiny as a mirror, is expertly trimmed with delicate pin striping. Harlan says, "When that vehicle leaves here, we want it to be special, and to have others recognize it as special at first glance, even if they are not quite certain why." Dan Hurwitz and Lyle Woosley digging the original frame out of the creek bottom Retrieving the original frame with the skid steer Adding the final coat of paint

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