Rebuilding the Cabin in the Sky

On December 15 the Big Horn City Historical Society talk by Matt Westkott, The Cabin in the Sky drew a large crowd of 44 people. The talk focused on Westkott’s discovering and rebuilding the historic Louis Larsen cabin in the Big Horn Mountains.

In the 1930’s Louis Larsen, a local outdoorsman from Sheridan, WY, embarked on an adventure to build a cabin in the Bighorn Mountains. His endeavor led him to the edge of a mountaintop near Little Goose Peak along the Little Goose Canyon cliffs. After completing the cabin, he permitted the land and received a deed in 1937.

In the spring of 2022 Matt Westkott, an experienced backpacker & local Realtor, received a call from Louis Larsen’s granddaughter, Leslie Nelson, regarding the property and the adventure began again. After nearly a month of trying to find its location, the cabin site was found but the structure had perished.

Larsen passed away in 1942 and many of the adventures seemed to drift away. Louis had two children: a son named Boyd, and a daughter Geneva, named after Larsen’s favorite lake in the Bighorn Mountains.

He added that although there was a permit issued in 1937, Larsen had been on the mountain for many years prior. Larsen also took photos of the Bighorn Mountains and developed the film himself.

He said a lot of people wonder where the cabin, and he had a photo of the location, and said that there is 40 acres, but it is on a cliff, it is not a flat 40 acres. “it’s very challenging,” he added.

He talked about his backpacking in the Bighorns, and his experience as a realtor, because as a realtor in 2022, he was contacted by Leslie Nelson, one of Larsen’s grandchildren, about getting a valuation on the property.

He called her back and said he would get a valuation on the piece of land. Real estate values and property taxes have gone up a lot, and the grandkids decided to sell it. One problem was there is no access to the property, which makes it very difficult to sell.

Due to the difficulty of getting there, Westkott talked about how he finally found the cabin site, the property would be difficult to sell. Westkott purchased the property, with a promise to the grandchildren to rebuild the cabin and continue Louis Larsen’s legacy.

He talked about finally finding the cabin site, and how difficult it was to rebuild it. Supplies, including a methane hut that they slept in during the summer and storied supplies in during the winter, were flown in by helicopter, as they could not access the property any other way.

He said that they are rebuilding the cabin with wood found on site, using chair saws to cut and mill the lumber for the cabin. So far, they have the footers and floor finished and will do more in the summer of 2025. Westkott said anyone who would like to help will be welcome.

Westkott has a U-Tube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULQvgvvmAFs where those interested can follow the progress of the re-building of the cabin.