Anyone who has followed me on Facebook knows that DH and I
are downsizing and getting ready for his retirement. To do so, we’ve purchased
property in Tennessee and three years ago, I started working on our tiny house.
Okay, to be technical, it’s actually two tiny houses connected by a covered
deck, but let’s not split hairs. Y’all do realize the sheer volume of books I
own, right? (This is not what they look like now, but I don't have any "after" images loaded on this computer.)
Anyway, the tiny house living is not a new phenomenon.
Neither is living for months at a time in an Airstream or some other travel
trailer. The first ones to live out of a “camper” were the pioneers traveling
overland to the West Coast. And, after that, there were the sheep herders who
lived for the summer months in a sheep herder’s wagon.
Sheep were introduced in the late 1860s to Wyoming. That
didn’t sit well with the cattle ranchers but that war is another blog post
entirely. During the summer months, the sheep herder would pull his wagon to
the pastures and live out of this little canvas covered home on wheels. They
offered all the amenities: a bed, a roof over one’s head, a place to cook, and
heat for those nights when it got cold.
Long before Winnebago, Fleetwood, or Airstream campers,
there were these little gems. For the
summer months in the high country in Wyoming, I think I could tolerate living
in one of these. For more information on sheep herder wagons, check out these YouTube links.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=v0IxzB-wKaY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuOS9LZjE4
2 comments:
Lynda - these tiny homes have always fascinated me. I could see us downsizing in the future - though, like you, I'd probably need the extra unit for my books (and office)!
Thanks for sharing the history. Very interesting, too.
Barbara, when DH and I made this decision, he was the one who insisted on the second unit for my office space/library. And, I am happy he insisted on it.
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