Butterfly Lodge is a five and half room log cabin, originally constructed as a hunting lodge in 1913 for the author, James Willard Schultz. Originally a rectangular building measuring 18 feet by 24 feet, it has been expanded over the years and now covers 40 feet, 10 inches by 32 feet, 6 inches, the shorter side being the front of the cabin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1992.
History
The cabin exists in a rural area off of Forest Road (FR) 245, just to the west of its intersection with Arizona State Route 373. In 1911, the U.S. Forest Service declared the area which includes the property where Butterfly Lodge sits as a protected area. As part of a program which encouraged U.S. citizens to develop public lands, a long-term lease was issued to Schultz by the local forest ranger. Schultz financial success as a writer and explorer enabled him to build the first cabin by a non-resident in the remote White Mountains. Two men from nearby Greer, Arizona, John T. Butler and Cleve Wiltbank, built the cabin in 1913, intending to be used by James Willard Schultz as a hunting lodge and retreat. The men used ponderosa pine and Douglas fir to build the cabin. Schultz son, Hart Merriam Schultz (also known as Lone Wolf), later put additions on the structure, including an artist's studio. The site was a clearing near a spring, purported to be the headwaters of the Little Colorado River. The plethora of butterflies in the area was the impetus for the name of the cabin. Between 1916 and 1929 three additions were made to the structure, including a bedroom and storage area, an artist's studio, and a kitchen.
The exterior of the cabin has also undergone changes over the years. Initially, there was no front porch, the main entry was reached by two wooden steps. There was very minimal trim as well after its construction, and very early on there was an Indian geometric design painted on the front door, as well as the phrase "Apuni Oyis 1914" painted on the front fascia. Apuni Oyis is Blackfoot for "Butterfly Lodge". Above the apex of the front door there was an antlered deer skull mounted. The two wooden steps were replaced by a wooden porch, followed by a stone porch, with a wooden railing supported by concrete and rock tapered pylons. The modest trim was replaced very early on, with wider, more ornate trim, which exists to this day. By the end of the 1930s the deer skull was removed, and the skull of steer was placed above the windows. The natural logs lost their bark, and eventually the structure was painted brown, with the trim originally painted green, which was changed to brown later on. Currently, the railing on the porch is in a state of disrepair, as is the concrete surface of the porch.
From its initial construction through the 1920s, the house was used by Schultz primarily as a retreat and a base for hunting. However, it is likely that he did some of his writing on the premises. In the 1930s Schultz transferred ownership to his son, Lone Wolf. It was Lone Wolf's primary residence from the 1920s through the 1960s. While he did maintain a residence in Tucson, and a temporary summer shelter in Montana, the cabin near Greer was his base. The long-term lease originally given to Schultz in the 1910s expired with the death of Lone Wolf in 1970, and the property, along with the cabin, reverted to the National Forest Service. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Forest Service used the cabin to house men and equipment. In 1990 the supervisor of the Apache National Forest applied for inclusion the National Register of Historic Places. The organization, James Willard Schultz-Lone Wolf Museum, obtained the cabin and the two acres surrounding it from the Forest Service, and established the Butterfly Lodge Museum.
Structure
The cabin consists of 5 and half rooms, of logs with plank and slab construction. Originally it covered 18 feet by 24 feet, but has been expanded with three additions during the 1920s and 1930s, and now covers 40 feet, 10 inches by 32 feet, 6 inches, the shorter side being the front of the cabin, which lies to the southwest of the building. There was a fireplace on the east end of the structure. The logs were hewn on three sides, leaving the bark on the fourth side to serve as exterior facing, as well as their corners having a double saddle notch in the corners of the building. The logs were procured from the Isaacson Saw Mill, which was located not far away on Benny Creek.