RANCHO DEFUNCT

By Patrick Dawson/Billings

The so-called Freemen compound has been quietly put up for sale by the federal Farm Service Agency. Ralph Clark's 960-acre home, which he called Justus Township, was the site of the 81-day standoff that ended June 13. Clark, whose father acquired the property in 1926, quit making payments on his federal farm loans in 1982. Debt and interest on the place swelled to $2.5 million. Asking price for the Freemen headquarters: $150,000. But bargain-hunting land barons and roadside-attraction speculators can forget it: only "beginning farmers/ranchers" are eligible to apply for the screening process, the buyer to be chosen by an appointed committee. Locals aren't too interested; they think the property is overpriced at $156.25 an acre.

--By Patrick Dawson/Billings