The Hindman Barn was built in 1870 by Samuel Hindman on land he purchased in 1868 in what became known as Hindman Station along the Santiam Wagon Road in Central Oregon. It served as part of Hindman Station, a once flourishing settlement, until falling into disrepair by the 1960s. Today, only the timber frame of the barn remains, maintained by the Deschutes Land Trust to preserve this important piece of regional history from the era of the Santiam Wagon Road.

1. Historical Crossroads
The Hindman Barn
Adapted and reprinted with permission from Martin Winch’s Biography of a Place.

2. The Hindman family
played a major role in
the settlement of
Camp Polk—and
Central Oregon—from
1868-1882.
Photo: Courtesy of Joyce Hindman, 1870.

3. In 1868, Samuel
Hindman purchased
160 acres of land from
the Wagon Road
Company for $400.
There he built a house
and barn which would
become Hindman
Station on the Santiam
Wagon Road.
Photo: Courtesy of Jan Hogers.

4. Today, the posts and
beams from the
Hindman Barn are all
that remain of the once
flourishing Hindman
Station.
Photo: Land Trust.

5. Built in 1870, the barn
is the only remaining
structure from the
Santiam Wagon Road
era and is one of
Deschutes County’s
oldest structures.
Photo: Ed Barnum, 1972.

6. The Hindman barn
originally measured 75’
long by 50’ wide.
Photo: Ed Barnum, 1972.

7. Samuel Hindman was described as
an “axeman” – a man who cleared a
line of sight for road and land
surveyors. He used his skills to build
this barn and likely drew on his
knowledge of barn construction
from time spend in Ohio, Iowa, and
theWillametteValley.
Photo: Bowman Museum c. 1880.

8. The barn has mortise-and-
tenon joints that are secured
with wooden pegs called
trunnels. Samuel Hindman
would have crafted these
joints by hand using his
knowledge as a skilled
woodsman.The kind of
joinery and timber framing
Hindman used were more
sophisticated than the log
structures that soldiers and
many settlers used.
Photo: Ed Barnum, 1972.

9. The timbers all show signs of
a broad axe—not a draw
knife, nor an adze.The barn
siding, however, was sawn at
a mill. At the time, milled
lumber could have been
hauled from Prineville, the
Dalles, or from the Willamette
Valley (an eight day round-
trip with freight!).
Photo: Courtesy of USDA Forest Service,
NationalTechnology and Development
Program..

10. The timbers used to frame
the Hindman barn were cut
on site.They came from
ponderosa pines that were
large enough to produce
straight heartwood beams
10” square.There are sixteen
14’ tall posts on horizontal
sills.The top beams that hold
the structure together are 65’
long, hewn from a single log!
Photo: Ed Barnum, 1972.

11. Foundation stones provided
solid footing for sills and
posts. Most of the barn was
probably built around the
same time because the plank
framing, structural members,
and construction appear
consistent throughout.Of
course, over the years, the
barn was altered for different
uses.
Photo: Deschutes Land Trust.

12. Today, all that remains
of the Hindman barn
are its inner core
structure that is 62’
long by 25’ wide.
Photo: Darlene Ashley.

13. By 1960, the Hindman barn
was no longer used for day-
to-day ranching activities. In
1970, the barn suffered sever
damage in a snowstorm.
Photo: Courtesy of the Nugget Newspaper, 1990.

14. By the time the Deschutes
LandTrust acquired the
meadow in 2000, all that was
left of the once flourishing
Hindman Station were the
posts and beams from the
Hindman Barn and the root
cellar from the Hindman
Home.
Photo: Joan Amero.

15. Today, the LandTrust is
honored to protect and care
for this amazing piece of our
regional history.Visitors to
the Hindman Barn have the
opportunity to step back
through time through barn
doorways and catch a glimpse
of Central Oregon’s past.
Photo: Ed Barnum, 1972.

16. Many thanks to the following people for
their incredible help with this Camp Polk
Meadow history project:
• The Oregon Community Foundation
Oregon HistoricalTrails Fund, the
Roundhouse Foundation, and private
donors for their support of this
project.
• MartinWinch and his amazing
book Biography of a Place.
• Carol Wall for researching and
sharing the Hindman family story
with our community.
• Jan Hodgers for sharing her personal
photos of the Hindmans at Camp
Polk Meadow.
• Ed Barnum for sharing his original
architectural drawings and photos of
the Hindman Barn.
• The DeschutesCounty Historical
Society for help with research and
photography.
• The Bowman Museum for help with
research and photography.
Photo: Universal Drone.