The Paugh Regional History Hall in the Museum of the Rockies on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana has displays showing two very different house types.
Tar Paper Shacks:
Many Montana homesteaders built one-room shacks—often 10 feet by 12 feet—using a frame of 2x4s covered with tar paper. According to the display:
“Interior furnishings were minimal. A small stove provided for heat and cooking, with an attachment in the chimney that could be used to bake bread. A few chairs, a fold-down bed, and a table rounded out the necessities.”
Catalog companies, such as Sears, offered furnishings (shown above) for living in small spaces.
Balloon Construction Houses:
Balloon construction originated in Chicago in 1831. Balloon construction relied on rough-sawn lumber assembled with nails as opposed to complex joints, mortises, and tenons. This type of construction did not require skilled carpenters, which were rare in the west. Balloon construction made the erection of buildings simple, inexpensive, and speedy.