THE CLEARWATER STORY A History of the Clearwater National

THE CLEARWATER STORY

A History of the Clearwater National Forest

Ralph S. Space

Clearwater National Forest Supervisor, 1954-1963

1981

Forest Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

The Clearwater Historical Society, Orofino, Idaho

Northern Region-79-03

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapters

1. Lewis and Clark West

2. Lewis and Clark East

3. The Lewis and Clark Grove

4. John Work

5. Captain John Mullan, U.S. Army

6. Wellington Bird and Major Truax

7. The Carlin Party

8. Maps

9. Boundaries

10. Railroad Surveys

11. June 11 Claims

12. Working and Living Conditions

13. Roads and Trails

14. Timber Management

15. Grazing

16. Fire Control

17. Wildlife

18. Mining

19. Trapping

20. Mountain Tragedies

21. Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

22. Wilderness Gateway or Boulder Flat

23. Emergency Work Programs

24. The Ridgerunner

25. Bernard DeVoto

26. Some Long Hikes

27. Packing

28. Miscellaneous Events

Appendix A - Forest Personnel

Appendix B - Geographic Names

FOREWORD

Most Forest Service employees become very familiar with the various areas where they are

stationed. Ralph Space had the fortunate experience of finishing out his career in the area where

he was reared. So in addition to the usual interest any new employee would bring to the

Clearwater, Ralph brought a keen interest in its people and history which he had developed as a

youth and nurtured as he pursued his Forest Service career.

The story of the Clearwater country is written in the lives of individual people. Ralph gives us a

glimpse into some of these lives. He has preserved a look at life as it was in the early-day Forest

Service and reminds us of some of the triumphs and tribulations of Indians, explorers, miners,

homesteaders and others who preceded the Forest Service by many years.

This work will be a great help to the student of local history and will be a good historical

reference for Forest Service land managers. It will also help give new forest employees an

understanding of the forest's heritage and will bring back many good memories for retired

personnel.

We in the Northern Region praise Ralph for his fine work and thank him for preserving this

collection of Clearwater "color."

Regional Forester

Northern Region

Clearwater National Forest

Location Map

The Lolo Trail

PREFACE

In 1959 Regional Forester Charlie Tebbe and I were discussing some of the events that had taken

place on the Clearwater National Forest. It was during this discussion that we agreed it was

unfortunate that the Forest did not have a written history. Charlie then suggested that I write it.

He further remarked that if I didn't do it, he doubted anyone else would.

I was a busy man, but worked on the history at odd times over the next three years. Most of it I

dictated. Much of my dictation was not transcribed until after I retired in 1963. "The Clearwater

Story" was printed in 1964, but the history of the Forest concluded as of 1960.

It was well received by the Forest Service and the general public. There have been several

thousand copies given to interested persons by the Forest Service. However, I was not satisfied

with it. It was not a complete history and it contained a number of errors. Some of the errors

were factual, but most of them were in the spelling of names. Some dates were wrong.

Several people have urged me to rewrite the "Clearwater Story." This second book is an effort to

present a more complete, accurate, and up-to-date history of the Clearwater National Forest as of

the late 1970's.

Ralph S. Space

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I was raised in the Clearwater country near Weippe, so I have heard tales of the Clearwater since

I was a small boy. I worked on the Clearwater while going to college and I was Forest

Supervisor for nine years. I have known every Supervisor of the Clearwater back to and

including Major Fenn. I have always been interested in history so I collected historical facts as I

went along. This book is a product of what history I have been able to learn by a lot of digging in

records and talking to people during a life of nearly 80 years.

Many people have furnished information for this book. Those outside of the Forest Service who

have passed away include my father, C.W. Space, my brothers, Allen and Roy, Ernest Hansen,

Cully Mooers, Harry Wheeler, Henry Holleman, William and Jimmy Parsons, Ed Gaffney,

Walter Sewell, and others.

Those outside the Forest Service and still living include Mr. and Mrs. Bill Harris, Frank

Altmiller, Angus Wilson, Warren Bohn, and others.

Forest Service retirees still living are Louis Hartig, LaVaughn Beeman, Bud Moore, Rollo

Perkins, Del Cox, Marvin Riley, Ralph Hand, and Morton Roark.

Retirees that have passed away include Albert Cochrell, Clayton Crocker, James Urquhart, Paul

Wohlen, James Girard, Adolph Weholt, Jack Godwin, and W.W. White.

I had wonderful help and cooperation from the Forest Service. On the Clearwater Forest I was

helped by Art Johnson (now retired), Robert Spencer (retired), Robert Adams, Ed Russell, Don

Jenni, and especially Andy Arvish (also retired). The graphics were prepared by Cheri Ziebart.

In the Regional Office Judd Moore, Peyton Moncure and Beverly Ayers were very helpful.

As might be supposed, most of my information came from the files of the Forest Service. I have

also taken information from the following: Journals of Lewis and Clark; General Howard's

Report on the Nez Perce War; McWhorter's book, Yellow Wolf; articles by Elers Koch; John B.

Leiberg's report on the Bitter Root Forest Reserve; Dean Shattuck's report of 1910; the story of

the Carlin Party as told in their book, In the Heart of the Bitterroot; Sister Alfreda's, History of

Idaho County; Albert Cochrell's, Nezperce Story: Early Days of the Forest Service; information

to be included in Hartig's history of the Lochsa District; articles from The Lewiston Morning

Tribune; and a number of old maps and letters.

To all this I have added by intimate knowledge of the Clearwater country and its people. I thank

everyone for their assistance.

Chapter 1

Lewis & Clark West

In this chapter and the one that follows I will trace the westward and

eastward journeys of Lewis and Clark across the Clearwater National

Forest. In doing so, I will quote Thwaite's journal. I will add my

comments either in parenthesis or after each day's journey. Dotted lines will designate omissions

from the journal, and to make easier reading I will use modern spelling.

Starting at Lolo Hot Springs on Highway 12 in Montana.

Sept. 13 (1805 Clark) ".....We proceeded over a mountain and at a place 6 miles from where I

nooned it, (on Lolo Creek) we fell on a small creek (Pack) from the left, which passed through

open glades, (Packer Meadows) some of which were one half mile wide.

"We proceeded down this creek about two miles to where the mountains close on either side and

encamped. I shot four pheasants of the common kind except the tail was black. Shields killed a

blacktail deer."

Comment: The party is now in Idaho and camped at the lower end of Packer Meadows. The

pheasants were Franklin Grouse or foolhens. The deer was a mule deer.

Sept. 14 (1805 Whitehouse).

"A cloudy morning. We eat the last of our meat." (Clark) "We crossed a high mountain on the

right of the creek for six miles to the forks of the Glade Creek, the right hand fork which falls in

is about the size of the other. We crossed to the left side of the forks and cross a very high

mountain for nine miles to a large fork from the left which appears to head in the snow topped

mountains south and S.E."

"We cross Glade Creek above the mouth at a place where the Flathead Indians have made a weir

to catch salmon and have but lately left the place. I could see no fish and the grass entirely eaten

out by the horses, we proceed on two miles and encamped opposite a small island at the mouth

of a small branch on the right side of the river, which is at this place 80 yards wide, swift and

stoney."

"Here we were compelled to kill a colt for our men and selves to eat for want of meat, and we

named the south fork Colt Killed Creek (White Sand) and this we call the Koos Koos Ke. Turned

our horses on the island."

"Rained, snowed, and hailed the greater part of the day. All wet and cold."

Comment: The party left Packer Meadows and went over the ridge between Crooked Fork and

Pack Creek to where Brushy Creek joins Crooked Fork Creek. They then crossed Brushy Creek

and went over the ridge between Crooked Creek and Cabin Creek to where White Sand and

Crooked Fork Creek join to make the Lochsa River, they crossed to the north bank of the Lochsa

and after traveling two miles camped at the present site of the Powell Ranger Station.

The island is now so heavily timbered that it would not furnish grass enough for one horse. The

Powell camp is well marked.

Northern Pacific survey pack train crossing Packer Meadows in 1909. Lewis and Clark

arrived here Sept. 13, 1805. They camped at the lower end of the meadows.

1938 photo at Powell Ranger Station, sites of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition's Sept. 14, 1805 camp.

Sept. 15 (1805 Clark) "We set out early, the morning cloudy, and proceeded on down the right

side of the river, over steep points, rocky and brushy as usual, for four miles to an old Indian

fishing place. Here the road leaves the river to the left and ascends a mountain, winding in every

direction to get up the steep ascents and to pass the immense quantity of fallen timber which has

fallen from different causes, i.e. fire and wind, and has deprived the greater part of the south

sides of this mountain of its timber. Four miles up the mountain I found a spring and halted for

the rear to come up and let our horses rest and feed. In about two hours the rear of the party came

up, much fatigued, and horses more so. Several horses slipped and rolled down the steep hills,

which hurt them very much. The one which carried my desk and small trunk turned over and

rolled down a mountain for 40 yards and lodged against a tree, broke the desk. The horse

escaped and appeared but little hurt. From this point I observed a range of mountains covered

with snow from S.E. to S.W., with their tops bald or devoid of timber. After two hours of delay,

we proceeded on up the mountain. When we arrived at the top, we conceived we would find no

water and concluded to camp and make use of snow we found on top to cook the remains of our

colt and make soup. Two of our horses gave out, poor and too much hurt to proceed, and left in

the rear. Nothing killed today except two pheasants" (ruffed grouse).

Comment: The party went down the north bank of the Lochsa to the ridge between Wendover

and Cold Storage Creeks. The fishing place was just above the mouth of Wendover Creek. I

found Indian artifacts there, proving that this was an old Indian campground.

Whitehouse mentions passing a pond. This pond is now called Whitehouse pond, as is the

campground across Highway 12. (The author suggested this name for the pond.)

The party went up Wendover Ridge, which was burned at that time but now has a beautiful stand

of mature timber, and camped on top of an unnamed mountain. The Forest Service has a sign

marking the place the old trail crosses the present Lolo Motorway.

The high snowy mountains were the Bitterroot Mountains south of Lolo pass.

Sept. 16 (1805 Clark)

"Began to snow about three hours before day and continued all day. The snow in the morning

four inches deep on the old snow, and by night we find it six to eight inches deep. I walked in

front to keep the road and found great difficulty in keeping it, as in many places the snow had

entirely filled the track and obliged me to hunt several minutes for it. At 12 o'clock we halted on

top of the mountain to warm and dry ourselves a little, as well as to let our horses rest and graze

a little on some grass which I observed. The knobs, steep hillsides, and fallen timber continue

today, and a thick, timbered country of eight different kinds of pine, which are so covered with

snow that in passing through them we are continually covered with snow. I have never been wet

and as cold in every part as I ever was in my life; indeed, I was at one time fearful my feet would

freeze in the thin moccasins I wore. After a short delay in the middle of the day, I took one man

and proceeded as fast as I could about six miles to a small branch crossing to the right, halted and

built fires for the party that arrived at dusk, very cold and much fatigued. We camped on this

branch in a small timbered bottom, which was scarcely large enough for us to lie level. Men all

cold and hungry. Killed a second colt, which we all supped heartily on and thought it fine meat.

"I saw four deer today before we set out, which came up the mountain, and what is singular,

snapped seven times at a large buck. My gun has a steel fuzee and never snapped seven times

before. In examining it, found the flint loose."

Whitehouse says ".....We descended the mountain down to a lonesome cove on a creek, where

we camped in a thicket of spruce, pine, and balsam fir timber." Whitehouse also says "Cap. Clark

shot at a deer but missed it."

Comment: Hunting stories are often known to disagree but in either case it was a keen

disappointment to the hungry party.

The place Lewis and Clark camped on Sept. 16 has been much disputed. It is my belief that they

ate lunch at Spring Hill. The distance checks and there is an abundance of grass there.

The Lonesome Cove Camp is almost due north of the Indian Post Office rock cairns. The old

trail, parts of which can be still found by careful searching, turned back or switch backed at the

rock cairns and dropped off on the north side and came close to a small timbered flat with a

small creek. This is where I believe they camped.

The eight species of the pine family Clark observed were likely alpine fir, grand fir, Englemen

spruce, mountain hemlock, Douglas fir, western white pine and white barked pine.

View to the north from the divide which separates the Lochsa and North Fork of the

Clearwater River drainages. The party travelled along this ridge Sept. 16 after having

climbed out of the Lochsa River canyon the previous day.

The author standing by rock cairns at Indian Post Office. The Expedition camped

near there the night of Sept. 16.

Indian Post Office Lake, immediately south of the rock cairns.

Sept. 17. 1805. Whitehouse: "Cold and cloudy. We went out to hunt our horses, but found them

much scattered. The mare which owned the colt which we killed went back and led four more

horses back to where we took dinner yesterday. The most of the other horses found scattered on

the mountain, but we did not find all until noon, at which time we set out and proceeded on. The

snow lay heavy on the timber. Passed along a rough road up and down the mountains. Descended

down a steep part of the mountain. The afternoon clear and warm. The snow melted so that the

water stood in the trail over our moccasins in some places. Very slippery, and bad traveling for

our horses. We ascend very high and rocky mountains; some bald places on the top of the

mountains, high rocks standing up and high precipices. Crossed several creeks or spring runs in

the course of the day. Camped at a small branch on the mountain near a round sink hole full of

water. We, being hungry, obliged us to kill the other sucking colt to eat. One of the hunters

chased a bear, but killed nothing. We expect that there is game near; we hear wolves howl and

saw some deer sign."

Clark states, "We camped at a run passing to the left."

Comment: The trail that Lewis and Clark followed did not stay on the main divide but dropped

down into Moon Creek, crossed Howard Creek, and down to the forks of Gravey and Serpent

Creeks, thence up the ridge between these creeks to the main divide. The eastern trip diaries are

more descriptive of this route.

The party killed the last of their colts at this camp, and apparently Lewis and Clark got together

on a plan of action that night, to decide what should be done about the emergency situation.

Sept. 18, 1805. Clark: "A fair cold morning. I proceeded on in advance with six hunters to try

and find deer or something to kill and send back to the party. The want of provisions, together

with the difficulty of passing the mountains, dampened the spirits of the party, which induced us

to resort to some plan of reviving their spirits. I determined to take a party of the hunters and

proceed on in advance to some level country where there was some game, kill some meat, and

send it back."

"We passed over a country similar to the one of yesterday. More fallen timber. Passed several

runs and springs passing to the right. From the top of a high mountain (Sherman Peak) at twenty

miles, I had a view of an immense plain and level country to the S.W. and W. At a great distance

a high mountain beyond the plain. Saw but little sign of deer and nothing else. Made 32 miles

and encamped on a bold running creek passing to the left, which I call Hungery (sic) Creek, as at

that place we had nothing to eat. I halted only one hour to let our horses feed on a grassy hillside

and rest. Drewyer shot at a deer but didn't get it."

Comment: Clark is now in the lead with six men.

The high mountain from which Clark saw the extensive plain is Sherman Peak. The plain they

saw was the open grass country extending northwest from Grangeville and is today called the

Camas and Nez Perce prairies. The high mountain beyond was likely Cottonwood Butte.

Hungery Creek became Obia Creek, and so it appears on old maps. At my suggestion, its name

has been changed back to Hungery Creek. Obia Creek is now a branch of Hungery Creek.

Sept. 18, 1805. Lewis: (Whitehouse and Gass were with Lewis.) "Clark set out this morning to

go ahead with six hunters. There being no game in these mountains we concluded it would be

better for one of us to take the hunters and provide some provisions, while the others remained

with and brought up the party. The latter was my part."

"Accordingly, I directed the horses be gotten up early, being determined to force my march as

much as the abilities of the horses would permit. The negligence of one of the party (Willard),

who had a spare horse, in not attending to him and bringing him up last evening, was the cause

of our detention this morning until 8:30 A.M., when we set out. I sent Willard back to search for

his horse and proceeded on with the party. At 4 P.M. he overtook us without the horse."

"We marched 18 miles this day and camped on the side of a steep mountain. We suffered for

water today, passing one rivulet only. We were fortunate in finding water in a deep ravine about

one-half mile from camp."

"This morning we finished the last of our colt. We supped on a scant portion of portable soup, a

few containers of which, a little bears oil, and about 20 pounds of candles, form our stock of

provisions, our only resources being our guns and horses. This is but a poor dependence where

there is nothing upon earth but ourselves, a few pheasants, small grey squirrels, and a blue bird

of the vulture kind about the size of a turtle dove or jay bird. Used snow for cooking."

Comment: The water the party crossed was at Indian Grave. The old trail went above the water at

Bald Mountain. The blue bird was a Steller's jay. Lewis' camp of Sept. 18 is about three miles

west of Bald Mountain and is marked with a Forest Service sign.

Sept. 19, 1805. Clark: "Set out early. Proceeded up Hungery Creek, passing through a small

glade at 6 miles, at which place we found a horse. I directed him killed and hung up for the party

after taking breakfast off for ourselves, which we thought fine."

"After breakfast proceeded on up the creek two miles and left it to our right. Passed over a

mountain and the head of a branch of Hungery Creek (Fish Creek), two high mountains, ridges

and through much fallen timber (which caused our road of today to be double the direct distance

of our course). Struck a large creek passing to our left which I kept down for four miles and left

to our left and passed over a mountain, bad fallen timber, to a small creek passing to our left and

encamped. I killed two pheasants (ruffed grouse) but few birds to be seen. As we descended the

mountain the heat becomes more perceptible every mile."

Comment: The glade where the horse was killed is on Hungery Creek about one quarter of a mile

from Windy Saddle. The party crossed to the head of Fish Creek then over the divide and down a

ridge to Eldorado Creek, down Eldorado Creek two miles, over a ridge to Cedar Creek and

camped.

The campground on Cedar Creek is marked by a Forest Service sign. There is also a splendid

grove of large western red cedar there called the "Lewis and Clark Grove." (See Chapter 3)

The author stands at the site of the Expedition's Sept. 17 campsite "near a

round sink hole full of water".

Interpretive sign at Lewis and Clark Grove, site of the Sept. 19 camp for

Clark's advance party.

The Lolo Motorway near Saddle Camp. Person in photo is standing on the location of the

Lolo Trail.

Sept. 19, 1805. Lewis: "Set out this morning a little after sunrise and continued our route about

the same course as yesterday for six miles, when the ridge terminated and we, to our

inexpressible joy, discovered a large tract of prairie country lying to the S.W. and widening as it

appeared to extend to the west. Through that plain, the Indian (Toby, their Shoshone guide)

informed us, the Columbia River of which we are in search runs. This plain appears to be about

60 miles distant (actually about 40), but our guide assured us we should reach its border by

tomorrow. The appearance of this country, our only hope of subsistence, greatly revived the

spirits of the party, already reduced and much weakened for want of food."

"After leaving the ridge, we ascended and descended several steep mountains, in the distance of

six miles further struck a creek (Hungery) about 15 yards wide, our course along this creek

upwards, passing two of its branches which flowed in from the north. First at the place we struck

the creek (Doubt Creek) and the other three miles further. (Bowl Creek)

"The road excessively dangerous along this creek, being a narrow, rocky path generally on the

side of a precipice. The course upward due west. We camped on the star side in a little ravine

having traveled 18 miles. We took a small amount of portable soup and retired much fatigued.

Several men are unwell of dysentary, breaking out or eruptions of the skin."

Comment: The mountain from which Lewis saw the plain was Sherman Peak. The joy of seeing

the open country to the S.W. is best expressed by Gass who wrote, "When this discovery was

made there was as much joy and rejoicing among the corps, as happens among passengers at sea,

who have experienced a dangerous protracted voyage, when they first discover land on the long

looked for coast."

Whitehouse states that after seeing the plains they "descended three miles, then ascended another

mountain as bad as any we have been up before. It made the sweat run off our horses and

ourselves." This is a vivid description of the trip from Sherman Peak into Sherman Saddle and to

the top of the mountain to the west.

The party reached Hungery Creek at the mouth of Doubt Creek; the second is Bowl Creek. The

little creek on which they camped is unnamed and unmarked except for a metal stake. It rises

near Green Saddle. I have suggested that it be named Soup Creek.

Sept. 20, 1805. Clark: "I set our early and proceeded on through a country as rugged as usual.

Passed over a low mountain into the forks of a large creek (Lolo and Eldorado), which I kept

down two miles, and ascended a high, steep mountain, leaving the creek to our left hand. Passed

the head of several drains on a dividing ridge and at 12 miles descended the mountain to a level

pine country. Proceeded on through a beautiful country for three miles to a small plain in which I

found many Indian lodges. At a distance of one mile from the lodges I met three Indian boys.

When they saw me, they ran and hid themselves in the grass. I dismounted, gave my gun and

horse to one of the men, searched and found two of the boys, gave them small pieces of ribbon

and sent them forward to the village. Soon after a man came out to meet me, with great caution,

and conducted me to a large spacious lodge, which he told me by signs was the lodge of his great

chief, who had set out three days previous with all the warriors of the nation to war on a

southwest direction, and would return in 15 to 18 days. The few men who were left in the

village, and great numbers of women, gathered around me with much apparent signs of fear, and

appeared pleased. They gave us a small piece of buffalo meat, and dried salmon, berries and

roots in different states, some round and some like an onion, which they call pash-she-co. Of this

they make bread and soup. They also gave us the bread made of this root, all of which we ate

heartily. I gave them a few small articles as presents, and proceeded on with a chief to his village

2 miles in the same plain, where we were treated kindly in their way, and continued with them all

night."

"These two villages consist of about 30 double lodges, but few men, a number of women and

children. They call themselves Chopunnish or pierced noses. Their dialect appears to be very

different from the Flatheads I have seen, dress similar, with more white and blue beads, brass

and copper in different forms, shells, and wear their hair in the same way. They are large portly

men, small women, and handsome featured."

"Immense quantity of the Quamash (camas) or passheco root gathered in piles about the plain.

The roots much like an onion in marshy places. The seeds are in triangular shells on the stalk.

They sweat them in the following manner, i.e., dig a hole three feet deep, cover the bottom with

split wood, on top of which they lay small stones about three or four inches thick, a second layer

of split wood, and set the whole on fire, which heats the stones. After the fire is extinguished,

they lay grass and mud mixed on the stones, on that dry grass which supports and passheco root

a thin coat of grass is laid on top. A small fire is kept, when necessary, in the center of the kiln."

"I find myself very unwell all of the evening from eating the fish and roots. Sent out hunters.

They kill nothing, but saw some signs of deer."

Comment: Clark left Cedar Creek, at Lewis and Clark Grove, and climbed the low ridge between

Cedar and Lolo Creeks. He then went down this ridge to the forks of Lolo and Eldorado Creeks;

crossed Lolo Creek and down it about one mile. From this point he climbed to Crane Meadows.

From there he went over the shoulder of Brown Ridge and down Miles Creek to Weippe Prairie.

He came upon three boys near Eric Larson's ranch. The first village was near Opresik's buildings.

The second camp was on the arm of the meadow southwest of Weippe. The first road to Weippe

came to this arm of the meadow, as did the trail from Weippe to Orofino. There are no markers

at either of these camp sites.

The name Weippe is of Nez Perce origin and is so old it has lost its meaning. Even in 1891 when

my father asked some of the old Indians what it meant, they had no answer except that it was the

name of a place. The English pronunciation is We-ipe (long i) but the Nez Perce pronounced it

Oy-yipe. It is a meadow where the Indians gathered camas, raced horses and played games.

Lewis and Clark called the Nez Perce, "Cho-pun-nish," which they said meant pierced noses.

Kate McBeth in her book The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark says, "Lewis and Clark called

these Indians the "Cho-po-nish." This was not correct, the word being Chup-nit-pa-lu, or people

of the pierced noses. William Parsons says the correct spelling is Chop-nit-pa-lu, the o is long.

The Nez Perces actually called themselves Ne-me-Poo or a slight variation of this word. Alice

Fletcher, who spent four years with the Nez Perces says: "Their native name 'Nim-e-poo'

signified 'the men or the real people', an appellation commonly used by tribes to distinguish

themselves from other peoples." The French called them the Nez Perce (Ney-per-say) but this

name has been anglicized to Nez Perce or Nezperce. It means pierced noses.

Passheco is a Shoshone word for camas. Later Lewis and Clark called it quamash. The Nez Perce

word is close to khamas from which comes the English word camas.

According to Nez Perce legend the Nez Perce considered massacring the party of Clark at

Weippe but were persuaded by one of their women named Wat-ku-ese, who had been befriended

by white people when a captive among Indians to the east, to treat them kindly. Captain Clark

knew of no such incident, but he did say that he met an Indian woman who had been as far east

as the Mandan Village. This statement strongly supports the Indian story.

Sept. 20, 1805, Lewis: Lewis first describes some birds which I take to be the flicker, Steller's

jay, camp robber or Canadian jay and three species of grouse common in the Bitterroot

Mountains. Then he states "We were detained until 10 A.M. in consequence of not being able to

collect our horses. We proceeded about two miles when we found the greater part of a horse,

which Captain Clark had met with and killed for us. He informed me by note that he would

proceed as fast as he could to the level country which lay to the S.W. of us.....to hunt until our

arrival. At one o'clock we halted on a small branch running to the left and made a hearty meal of

our horsebeef, much to the comfort of our hungry stomachs. Here I learned that one of the pack

horses with his load, was missing and immediately dispatched Baptiest LaPage, who was in

charge of him, to search for him. He returned at 3 P.M. without the horse. The load of the horse

was of considerable value, consisting of merchandise and all my stock of winter clothing. I,

therefore, dispatched two of my best woodsmen to search for him, and proceeded on with the

party."

"Our route lay through a thick forest of large pine, the general course being S 25 W about 15

miles. We camped on a ridge where there was but little grass for our horses and at a distance

from water. However, we obtained as much as served our purpose and supped on our beef."

Comment: Captain Lewis went up Hungery Creek and crossed over into the Fish Creek drainage

where he cooked lunch. He then went over the Lochsa Divide and camped on the ridge between

Dollar and Sixbit Creeks. This camp is not marked and, so far as I know, has never been located.

Sept. 21, 1805. Lewis: "We were detained this morning until 11 A.M. in consequence of not

being able to collect our horses. We set out and proceeded along the ridge on which we

encamped, leaving it at one and a half miles we passed a large creek (Eldorado) running to the

left just above its junction with another (Dollar) which runs parallel with and on the left of our

road before we struck the creek."

"Through the level, wide and heavily timbered bottom of this creek (Eldorado) we proceeded for

about two and a half miles, when bearing to the right, we passed a broken country heavily

timbered, great quantities of which had fallen, and so osbstructed our road that it was almost

impractical to proceed in many places."

"Through these hills we proceeded about five miles, when we passed a small creek (Cedar

Creek) where Capt. Clark had camped on the 19th. Passing this creek, we continued our route 5

miles through a similar country, when we struck a large creek (Lolo) at its forks."

"Passed the north branch (Lolo) and continued down it on the west side one mile and camped in

a small open bottom, where there was tolerable feed for our horses. I directed the horses be

hobbled to prevent delay in the morning, being determined to make an forced march tomorrow in

order to reach, if possible, the open country."

"We killed a few pheasants; I killed a prairie wolf (coyote), which together with our horsebeef

and some crawfish which we obtained in the creek, enabled us to make one more hearty meal,

not knowing where the next would be found."

Comment: Captain Lewis and party went down the ridge between Dollar and Sixbit Creeks,

crossed Eldorado Creek and went down it two miles. Clark gave a longer distance but Lewis

appears correct. Then they crossed over the ridge to Cedar Creek. From there they went to the

top of the ridge between Cedar Creek and Lolo Creeks. This ridge they followed to the mouth of

Eldorado Creek. Here they crossed Lolo Creek by a sign which designates it as "Wolf Camp".

The next day Lewis made it to Weippe Prairie.

Chapter 2

Lewis & Clark East

Starting at Weippe Prairie.

June 11, 1805. Clark: "Collected our horses early with intentions of

making an early start. Some hard showers detained us until 10 A.M. at which time we took our

final departure from the Quamash Flats (Weippe) and proceeded with much difficulty, due to the

slippery road. At nine miles we passed a small prairie (Crane Meadows) in which was quamash.

At two miles further we are at the camp of Fields and Willard on Collins Creek (Lolo). They

arrived at this creek last evening and killed another deer near the creek."

"Here we let our horses graze in a small glade and ate dinner. (This is the so-called Wolf Camp

on Lolo Creek.) After detaining about two hours, we proceeded on, passing the creek three times

and passing over some rugged hills and spurs, passing the creek on which I camped Sept. 17

(Cedar Creek). (Clark is in error. This should be Sept. 19.) Came to a small glade of about ten

acres thickly covered with grass and quamash near a creek (Eldorado) and encamped."

"We passed through bad fallen timber and a high mountain this evening. From the top of this

mountain I had an extensive view of the Rocky Mountains to the south and the Columbia Plains

for a great extent. Also in the southwest a range of high mountains which divides the Lewis and

Clark Rivers covered with snow."

Comment: Apparently the ridge between Cedar and Eldorado Creeks had been burned over,

because Clark complained of windfalls and was able to view the surrounding country much

better than you can do from this point today.

The Columbia Plains that he wrote about are, of course, the Nez Perce and Camas Prairies. The

high mountains between the Snake and Salmon Rivers are the Seven Devils.

June 16, 1806. Lewis: "We collected our horses very early this morning, took breakfast and set

out at 6 A.M. Proceed up the creek (Eldorado) about two miles through some handsome

meadows of fine grass, abounding with quamash. Here we passed the creek (Eldorado) and

ascended a ridge which led us to the N.E. about seven miles, when we arrived at a small branch

of Hungery Creek (actually a branch of Fish Creek). The difficulty we met with fallen timber

detained us so much we arrived at 11 A.M.

"Here is a handsome little glade in which we found some grass for our horses. We, therefore,

halted to let them graze and took dinner, knowing there was no other place suitable for that

purpose short of the glades on Hungery Creek, where we intended to camp.

"Before we reached this little branch on which we dined, we saw in the hollows and north

hillsides large quantities of snow, in some places two feet deep.....However, we determined to

proceed. Accordingly after taking a hearty meal, we continued our route through a thick wood

with much fallen timber and intersected by many small ravines and high hills."

"The snow increased in quantity so much that the greater part of our route this evening was over

snow, which has become sufficiently firm to bear our horses. Otherwise it would have been

impossible to pass, as it lay in masses, in some place 8 to 10 feet deep. We had much difficulty

in pursuing the road, as it was so frequently covered with snow."

"We arrived early at the place that Capt. Clark had killed and left the horse for us last September.

Here is a small glade in which there is some grass. Not a sufficiency for our horses, but we

thought it most advisable to remain here all night, as we anticipate if we proceed further we

should find less grass.....We came 15 miles today."

Comment: The party proceeded up Eldorado Creek, crossed it and then up the ridge between

Dollar and Sixbit Creeks, over the main divide into the drainage of Fish Creek, where they found

a small meadow and lunched. They then went over another divide into Hungery Creek and

camped at a small meadow. This meadow is unmarked and not on the maps but it is just below

Windy Saddle on the road to Boundary Peak.

June 17, 1806. Clark: "We collected our horses and set out early. We proceeded down Hungery

Creek about seven miles, passing it twice. We found it difficult and dangerous to pass the creek

in consequence of its depth and rapidity. We avoided two passes of the creek by ascending a

steep, rocky difficult hill."

"Beyond the creek the road ascends the mountains to the height of the main ridges, which divides

the waters of the Kooskooske (Lochsa) and Chopunnish (North Fork) Rivers. This morning we

ascended about 3 miles, when we found ourselves enveloped in snow from 8 to 12 feet deep,

even on the south side of the mountains."

"I was in front and could only pursue the direction of the road by the trees which had been peeled

by the natives for the inner bark, which they scrape and eat. As these trees were scattered, I with

great difficulty, pursued the direction of the road one mile further to the top of the mountain,

where I found snow from 12 to 15 feet deep. Here it was winter with all its rigors. The air was

cold and my hands felt benumbed."

"We knew it would require 4 days to reach the fish weir at the entrance of Colt Killed Creek

(White Sand), provided we were so fortunate as to be able to follow the proper ridge of

mountains to lead us there. Of this all of our most expert woodsmen and experienced guides

were extremely doubtful. Short of that point, we could not hope for any food for our horses."

"If we proceeded and should get bewildered in these mountains, the certainty was that we would

lose all our horses and consequently our baggage, instruments, perhaps our papers, and then

eventually risk the loss of our discoveries which we had already made, if we should be so

fortunate to escape with life.....Under these circumstances we decided it madness in this stage of

the expedition to proceed without a guide."

"We, therefore, came to the resolution to return with our horses while they were yet strong and in

good order, and endeavor to keep them so until we could procure an Indian to conduct us over

the snowy mountains. Having came to this resolution, we ordered the party to make a deposit of

our baggage which we did not have an immediate use for; also the roots, bread or cowis which

they had, except an allowance for a few days to enable them to return to a place at which we

could subsist by hunting until we obtained a guide."

"Our baggage being on scaffolds and well covered, we began our retrograde march at 1 P.M.,

having remained about three hours on the snowy mountain. We returned by the route we

advanced from Hungery Creek which we ascended about two miles and camped.....The party was

a great deal dejected, though not as much as I anticipated."

Comment: The mountain on which the baggage was deposited is just west of Sherman Saddle

and although it is unnamed on the map it is locally known as Willow Ridge. Their camp that

night was on the south side of Hungery Creek. It is marked on the ground with an iron post.

June 18, 1806. Clark: "This morning we had considerable trouble in collecting our horses, they

having straggled off to a considerable distance in search of food on the sides of the mountain in

thick timber. At 9 o'clock we collected them all except two, one of which was Shield's and one

Drewyers. We set out leaving Shields and LePage to collect the two horses and follow us.

"We dispatched Drewyer and Shannon to the Chopunnish Indians in the plains beyond the

Kooskooske in order to hasten the arrival of the Indians who promised to accompany us, or to

procure a guide at all events, and rejoin us as soon as possible. We sent by them a rifle, which we

offered as a reward to any of them who would engage to conduct us to Clark's (Bitterroot) River

at the entrance of Travelers Rest (Lolo) Creek. We also directed them, if they found difficulty in

inducing any of them to accompany us, to offer the reward of two other guns to be given to them

immediately, and ten horses at the falls of the Missouri (Great Falls, Montana)."

We had not proceeded far this morning before J. Potts cut his leg very badly with one of the large

knives. He cut one of the large veins on the inner side of the leg."

"Colter's horse fell with him in crossing Hungery Creek. He and his horse were carried down the

creek a considerable distance, rolling over each other among the rocks. He fortunately escaped

without much injury or the loss of his gun. He lost his blanket."

"At 1 P.M. we arrived at the glade where we dined on the 16th. Here again halted and dined. As

there were some appearance of deer about this place, we left J. and R. Fields with directions to

hunt this evening and tomorrow morning at this place and join us tomorrow evening at the

meadows on Collins (Lolo) Creek, where we intend to stay tomorrow to rest and hunt."

"After dinner we proceeded on to the fork of Collins Creek (Eldorado) and camped in a pleasant

situation at the upper part of the meadows about two miles above our encampment of June 15.

We sent out several hunters, but they returned without killing anything. They saw a number of

large fish in the creek and shot at them several times without success. We ordered Gibson and

Colter to prepare giggs in the morning to take some of the fish. The hunters saw much fresh

appearance of bear, but very little deer sign. We hope by means of the fish and what deer and

bear we kill to subsist until our guide arrives, without the necessity of returning to the Quamash

Flat (Weippe). There is an abundance of food here to sustain our horses. . . . Mosquitoes

troublesome."

Comment: The party retraced its route to Eldorado Creek and camped at the mouth of Dollar

Creek. The present Forest Service road crosses Eldorado Creek at this point.

The mosquitoes at Eldorado Meadows come after you in swarms in the spring of the year. I don't

see how they endured them.

June 19 and 20, 1806: The party stayed at Eldorado Meadows hunting, fishing, and fighting

mosquitoes. Hunting was poor so they decided to return to Weippe Prairie. The lost horses were

not found.

June 21, 1806. Lewis: The party returned to Weippe and "found ourselves at our old

encampment". They met two Indians enroute who had part of their lost stock, which included a

mule.

June 22 and 23 were spent at Weippe hunting with very good success. At 3 P.M. of the 23rd

Shannon and Drewyer returned with three Chopunnish guides.

June 24, 1806. Lewis: "We collected our horses early this morning and set out, accompanied by

our three guides .....we nooned it at Collins Creek .....After dinner we continued our route to Fish

(Eldorado) Creek, a branch of Collins Creek where we had lain on the 19th and 20th. We had

fine grass for our horses this evening."

Comment: With food, good horses and three expert Nez Perce guides, they were ready to make a

second assault on their much feared foe, the Bitterroot Mountains. Notice in the next few days

that these guides never miss. They waste no time looking for the trail and camp at horse feed

every night. It is unfortunate that none of those who kept diaries gave the names of their Nez

Perce guides. Some Indians say one the guides was a son of Twisted Hair and another the son of

Red Grizzly.

On their trip east in 1806 Lewis and Clark camped at Eldorado Meadows for

two days of hunting, fishing, and fighting, "troublesome mosquitoes."

The Lolo or Lewis and Clark Trail is still visible today atop the ridge which

divides the Kooskooskee (Lochsa) and Chopunnish (North Fork of the

Clearwater) Rivers.

June 25, 1806. Lewis: "Last evening the Indians entertained us by setting the fir trees on fire.

They placed a great number of dried limbs near the trunk, which when set on fire creates a very

sudden and immense blaze from bottom to top of these tall trees. They are beautiful in this

situation at night. This exhibition reminded me of a display of fireworks. The natives told us that

their object in setting the trees on fire was to bring fair weather for our journey."

"We collected our horses at an early hour this morning. One of our guides complained of being

unwell, a symptom I did not much like, as such complaints with an Indian is generally the

prelude to his abandoning any enterprise with which he is not well pleased. We left them at our

encampment and they promised to pursue us in a few hours."

"At 11 A.M. we arrived at the branch of Hungery Creek, where we found R. and J. Fields. They

had not killed anything. Here we halted and dined and our guides overtook us. (This is the third

time that they nooned it here.) After dinner we continued our route to Hungery Creek and

encamped about one and a half miles below our camp of June 16.

"The Indians continue with us and I believe are disposed to be faithful to their engagements. I

gave the sick Indian a buffalo robe, he having no other covering except his mocassins and a

dressed elk skin without the hair."

"Drewer and Shields were sent on this morning to Hungery Creek in search of their horses,

which they fortunately recovered."

Comment: Being a retired forester and a firefighter I cannot help wondering how far the fires that

were set spread during the following summer.

June 26, 1806. Lewis: "This morning we collected our horses and set out after an early breakfast,

or at 6 A.M. We passed by the same route we had traveled on the 17th to our deposit on the top

of the snowy mountain to the N.E. of Hungery Creek. Here we halted two hours to arrange our

baggage and prepare our loads. We cooked and ate a hasty meal of boiled venison and cowis."

"The snow has subsided near four feet since the 17th. We now measure it accurately and found

from a mark we had made on a tree when we were last here on the 17th that it was then 10 feet

10 inches, which appeared to be about the common depth, though it is deeper still in some

places. It is now generally about 7 feet."

"On our way up this mountain we killed two of the small black pheasants (fool hens or Franklin

grouse) and a male of the larger dominecker or speckled pheasant (blue grouse).....The Indians

inform us that neither of these species drum. They appear to be very silent birds, for I have never

heard any of them make a noise in any situation."

"The Indians hasten to be off and informed us that it was a considerable distance to the place

which they wished to reach this evening, where there was grass for our horses. Accordingly we

sent out with our guides, who led us over and along the steep sides of tremendous mountains

entirely covered with snow except about the roots of trees, where the snow had sometimes

melted and exposed a few square feet of earth."

"We ascended and descended several lofty heights, but keeping on the dividing ridge between

the Kooskooske and Chopunnish Rivers, we passed no stream of water. Late in the evening,

much to our satisfaction and the comfort of the horses, we arrived at the desired spot and

encamped on the steep side of a mountain convenient to a good spring. There we found an

abundance of fine grass for our horses. This situation was the side of an untimbered mountain

with a southern aspect, where the snows, from appearance had been dissolved about 10 days. The

grass was young and tender, of course, and had much the appearance of a lawn."

Comment: The Indians were correct; neither the Franklin or blue grouse drum. But they do make

noises. During the mating season the male blue grouse makes a grunting sound, or ump—ump—

ump. The foolhen makes a snapping noise while strutting. The female of both species call their

young by clucking sounds.

The party camped at Bald Mountain, which has been a favorite camping ground for parties

traveling the Lolo Trail due to its abundant grass.

June 27, 1806. Lewis: "We collected our horses and set out. The road still continues on the

heights of the same dividing ridge on which we traveled yesterday for 9 miles to our camp of

Sept. 17. About one mile short of this camp, on an elevated point, we halted by the request of the

Indians a few minutes to smoke the pipe."

"On this point the natives have raised a conic mound of stones of six or eight feet high, and on its

summit erected a pine pole 15 feet long. From thence, they inform us, that passing over with

their families some of the men were usually sent on foot by the fishery at the entrance of Colt

Killed Creek (White Sand) in order to take fish and again meet the main party at the Quamash

Glade (Packer Meadows) at the head of the Kooskooske River."

"From this place we had an extensive view of the stupendous mountains, principally covered

with snow like that on which we stood. We were entirely surrounded by these mountains, from

which, to one unacquainted with them, it would seemed impossible ever to have escaped. In

short, without the service of our guides, I doubt much whether we, who once passed them, could

find our way to Traveler's Rest Creek (Lolo, Montana). These fellows are most remarkable

pilots. We find the road wherever the snow has disappeared, though it be only for a few paces."

"After smoking the pipe and contemplating this scene we continued our march, and at the

distance of three miles, descended a steep mountain and passed two small branches of the

Chopunnish River just above their forks, and again ascended the ridge on which we passed

several miles, and at a distance of seven miles arrived at our encampment of Sept. 16, near which

we passed three small branches of the Chopunnish River and again ascended the dividing ridge,

on which we continue 9 miles, when the ridge becoming lower and we arrived at a station very

similar to our encampment of last evening, though the ridge was somewhat higher and the snow

had not been so long dissolved. Of course, there was little grass. Here we encamped for the

night, having traveled 28 miles over these mountains without relieving our horses from their

packs or their having food."

"The Indians inform us that there are, in the mountains to our left, an abundance of mountain

sheep, or what they call white buffalo (mountain goats in the Blacklead area). We saw three mule

deer this evening but were unable to get a shot at them. We also saw several tracks of these

animals in the snow."

"The Indians inform us that there is a great abundance of elk in the valley about the fishery of the

Kooskooske River."

"Our meat being exhausted, we issued a pint of bears oil to a man, which with their boiled roots,

made an agreeable dish."

"Pott's leg which had been swollen and inflamed for several days, is much better this evening and

gives him but little pain."

Comments: The rock mound on which the Indians stopped to smoke is located on the first high

point west of Indian Grave. It is off the Lolo Motorway but on the old Lolo Trail. There is a

small rock mound there now, much smaller than the one Lewis and Clark described. It could be

the same mound much settled, or it may be that another one was erected. There are a number of

old rock cairns along the Lolo Trail. They camped at Spring Hill called Red Mountain by the

Nez Perce for the dock on it which turns red in the fall.

June 28, 1806. Clark: "This morning we collected our horses and set out early as usual, after an

early breakfast. We continued our route along the dividing ridge over knobs and deep hollows.

Passed our camp of Sept. 14 last near the forks of the road, leaving the road on which we had

come, one leading to the fishery on our right immediately on the dividing ridge."

"At 12 o'clock we arrived at an untimbered hillside of a mountain with a southern aspect just

above the fishery. Here we found an abundance of grass for our horses, as our guide informed us.

As our horses were hungry and much fatigued and from our information no other place where we

could obtain grass for them within the reach of this evening's travel, we decided to remain at this

place all night, having come 13 miles only."

Comment: Gass adds that they saw numerous elk tracks at this camp ground. This is the only

time elk tracks are mentioned in the Clearwater Valley.

The party has taken a shorter route than that taken westward and have arrived at Powell Junction

near the place where the road goes to Rocky Point Lookout.

June 29, 1806. Clark: "We collected our horses early and set out, having previously dispatched

Drewyer and R. Fields to warm springs (Lolo Hot Springs) to hunt. We pursued the heights of

the ridge on which we have been passing for several days. It terminated at the distance of five

miles from our camp and we descended to and passed the main branch of the Kooskooske

(Crooked Creek) one and a half miles above the entrance of Glade (Brushy) Creek, which falls in

on the N.E. side. When we descended from the ridge we bid adieu to the snow."

"Near the river we found a deer which the hunters had killed and left us. This was a fortunate

supply, as our oil was now exhausted and we were reduced to roots alone, without salt. The

Kooskooske at this place is about 30 yards wide and runs with great velocity. The bed, as of all

the mountain streams, is composed of smooth stones."

"Beyond the river we ascended a very steep mountain about two miles, and arrive at the summit,

where we found the old trail by which we passed when we went west, coming in from the right.

The road was now much plainer and more beaten, which we were informed happened from

Ootshashoots (Flatheads or Salish) visiting the fishery frequently from the valley of the Clark's

(Bitterroot) River, though there was no appearance of their having been there this spring."

"At noon we arrived at the quamash flats and halted to graze our horses and dine, having traveled

12 miles. We passed our camp of Sept. 13 at 10 miles. We halted at a pretty plain of about 50

acres plentifully stocked with quamash and from appearances this forms one of the principal

stages or encampments of Indians who pass the mountains on this road."

After dinner we continued our march 7 miles to the warm springs where we arrived early in the

evening and sent out several hunters." (Here the warm springs are described. The party,

including the guides, bathe in the warm water.)

Comment: The ridge they were following ended at Rocky Point and they descended to and

crossed Crooked Fork Creek. They then climbed the ridge to the southeast and came to their old

trail, which they followed to Packer Meadows, lunching at the eastern edge. They then went to

Lolo Hot Springs and camped.

Chapter 3

The Lewis & Clark Grove

In 1954, I was at a logging operation in the Musselshell area when

Axeb Kludt, a logging contractor, asked me if I had ever seen the tree

in that locality that had Lewis and Clark's names carved on it. At first I

thought he was kidding, but he said no, that he had seen the tree when he was a teenaged youth

in a hunting party. I asked him for more particulars as to where it was, the kind of tree, etc., but

he could give no details.

This story seemed so unlikely that I passed if off as a wild dream and all but forgot it. I went to

Browns Creek Lookout a month or so later. The lookout that year was a lady from Weippe who

taught school in the winter and served as a lookout during the summer. She had been doing this

since the war when a shortage of men made it necessary for the Forest Service to hire women as

lookouts. (Today, most Forest Service lookouts are female.) While there, much to my surprise,

she mentioned the tree with Lewis and Clark's names on it. One person knowing about such a

tree could be disregarded, but when two people seemed to know about it there must, I concluded,

be something to the report. She had not seen the tree, nor could she recall who told her about it,

but she understood it was on the ridge between Eldorado and Lolo Creeks.

Since Lewis and Clark camped on Lolo Creek and went up this ridge a few miles, I decided I

would search this area for the tree. Accordingly, my teenaged son, Jim, and I went to the forks of

Lolo and Eldorado Creeks one Saturday and by a slow process of careful observation found

pieces of the old trail. We would follow each part as far as I could identify it and when it became

too dim to follow Jim would stand at the last point found while I would look ahead for further

clues. When I located another section of the trail we would move ahead again. When we came

near a large tree we would examine it. There were a number of large pine trees on this ridge, but

no Lewis and Clark tree.

Slowly we worked our way up this ridge and then down to where the old trail crossed Cedar

Creek, which is where Captain Clark camped. There was a grove of large trees here, but again,

no luck. We gave up the search.

I told the ranger at Pierce about looking for the Lewis and Clark tree. A few days later he sent

me a note saying that he had talked with Bob Richel of Pierce who told him Blayne Snyder knew

where the tree was. Now, Blayne Snyder was a retired Forest Service employee and had spent

many years in the Musselshell country, so my hopes were revived. I wrote to Blayne asking him

about this tree. He didn't answer my letter but came to my office. He said that he was ashamed

that he had been a party to such a deception and regretted that he had caused me so much trouble

for he had carved the names of Lewis and Clark on a tree as a joke. He told me where the tree

was, but I have never looked for it.

Two years later a timber sale and a road were planned for the Cedar Creek drainage. I went with

the ranger and a staff man to look it over before it was finally advertised for sale. We walked up

the road location and I found that the proposed road was well above the grove of trees where

Clark camped. We stopped to look at it and I explained to them what had happened there and

stated that I felt that this area should be reserved from any cutting. Jack Alley, the ranger, said,

"OK, you walk around the area you want excluded from the sale. I have a paint gun and I will

follow you and mark the area to be reserved" While marking the boundary we referred to the

area as "Clark's Camp". We also came upon a huge white pine tree which we called "Clark's

Tree". When the boundary was marked I got to thinking and told the ranger that Lewis did not

camp here, but since Lewis and Clark did everything as partners it would be better to call the

area the "Lewis and Clark Grove". This name was adopted for the grove, but Clark's name is still

applied to the big pine tree.

A few years after this grove was established a young forester (not in the Forest Service)

examined it and wrote a memorandum criticizing the action taken as wasteful and costly. He

pointed out that the huge pine trees are overmature and will die from one cause or another in the

not too distant future. He estimated the volume of white pine at about sixty thousand board feet,

which appears to be about right. The Clark tree alone is estimated to have a volume of about

thirteen thousand board feet. No doubt he is right about the pine trees. They are very old and one

by one they will die. They may live longer than we think. Twenty years have already passed and

they are still there. Before they die they will give many people the opportunity to look at a small

spot of virgin timber when such areas are all but gone forever. Furthermore, I can think of no

finer tribute to pay to the great explorers than having a grove of trees set aside in their honor.

My designation of the Lewis and Clark Grove was an administrative action within the authority

of the Forest Supervisor. It could have been revoked by the same action. However, the area was

soon withdrawn from mineral entry. Then when the Nez Perce National Historical Park came

into being this grove became one of the units to be administered jointly by the National Park and

Forest Services. It then became a National Historical Site and so it will remain.

Chapter 4

John Work

By 1831 the competition between the Hudsons Bay Company and the

American fur trappers for the fur trade had become quite keen. This

was especially true in Montana, Wyoming and South Idaho. To

challenge the fur traders in this area and to discourage further United States expansion westward,

John Work or Wark, left the Hudsons Bay post at Vancouver, across the Columbia River from

present Portland, in the fall of 1831. His party of between 35 and 60 men, women, and children,

including his wife and three daughters, reached Weippe on Sept. 26, 1831. There were Indians at

Weippe and they attempted to trade with them but they found the Nez Perce not interested in

beaver trapping and hard bargainers when it came to trading horses.

Sept. 30, 1831. They moved to a little valley the country there had been burned and was pretty

bare of wood. This, in my opinion, was Browns Creek, although some consider it Musselshell.

My opinion is based on the age of the timber. The trees at Musselshell before harvest in the

1950s were over 200 years old; those at Browns Creek about 130.

October 1, 1831. According to the log of the journey "It began to snow in the night and snowed

all day." It is very unusual for snow on October 1 at this elevation, but not for the Lolo Trail.

October 2. The party started over the Lolo Trail and made 24 miles "over very steep hills and

thick woods" and "encamped in a deep valley." Here there was no grass and the horses ate

"bramble and briars. We have now fallen on the great road."

Some say that this camp was at Deep Saddle and the description would fit except for the

statement that they had reached the "great road". This would have to be the trail as followed by

Lewis and Clark and that makes it Sherman Saddle, since the trail followed by Lewis and Clark

turned down into Hungery Creek on the ridge west of Sherman Saddle. There are no clues as to

where the trail followed by Work ran, but apparently it was close to the Lolo Trail as established

by Bird in 1866.

October 3. The party made 17 miles through 9 inches of snow and camped by grass. This puts

them at Bald Mountain.

October 4. Storms prevented travel. The day was spent looking for missing horses.

October 5. More snow fell. The party moved 15 miles, which put them at Camp Howard. There

was grass covered with snow, "so the starving horses could not get it."

October 6. The snow continued and more horses were lost. One horse died, another "gave up."

The location of their camp is uncertain, but it appears to have been at Cayuse Junction.

October 7. Stragglers catching up with the main party report six feet of snow on the higher

elevations to the west. This would be Indian Post Office and Spring Hill. Less than a foot of

snow at the camp site. There is no horsefeed at Cayuse Junction.

October 8. The snow turned to rain as they move to a lower elevation. They made 15 miles and

camped on Crooked Creek. Again, no horsefeed.

October 9. Eight miles further and they reached Packer Meadows. "There is a good deal of good

grass for the horses, of which they are in much need." Here they camped for three days to rest

and give the horses an opportunity to feed on good grass.

October 13. They move to "a small plain at a hot spring." This is Lolo Hot Springs.

Thus the second known white party crossed the Lolo Trail. They found it just as difficult as their

predecessors, Lewis and Clark. They returned to Vancouver by way of South Idaho.

Chapter 5

Captain John Mullan, U.S. Army

Captain Mullan was directed to explore the possibilities of constructing

a military road from Walla Walla, Washington to Fort Benton, now in

Montana. His field examination started in 1853 and was completed in

1854. He first interviewed the Indians, hunters and priests who had traveled the country. He soon

learned that a route from Fort Benton to Missoula was not difficult and in March, 1854, he

brought a wagon over this part of the route, reaching Missoula locality on March 31. This

narrowed his explorations down to finding a route from Missoula to Walla Walla, which was not

easy.

He explored all possible routes, going over the Lolo Trail in September, 1854. The following is

quoted from this report of 1863:

"In September, 1854, my party having been ordered in from the field, I decided to proceed to the

coast by a new route, and the only one left unexplored, namely, via the Lo—Lo Fork Pass; not

that I felt or believed it to be practical for wagons, but more with a view to arm my judgement

with such facts as would not leave a shadow of a doubt behind which would cause us to error in

the final conclusion in so important a matter. This route I found the most difficult of all

examined. After eleven days of severe struggle with climate and country we emerged into the

more open region where "Oro Fino" now stands, glad to leave behind us so difficult a bed of

mountains. After examining all these passes my judgement was finally decided in favor of the

line, via the Coeur d'Alene Pass, as a proper connection for a road leading from the head of

navigation on the Columbia to that on the Missouri, and the result was so reported to Governor

Stevens, under whose direction I was then acting".

The three principal routes examined by Captain Mullan were the Clarks Fork, St. Regis-Coeur d'

Alene, and Lolo Pass. The Burlington Northern and Highway 10 follow the two northern routes

and Highway 12 the Lolo Pass. Considering the road building equipment of the time, no doubt

Mullan picked the most practical route.

Notice that the name Lo—Lo was well established in 1854. The Oro Fino of 1863 was not the

Orofino of today, but a mining town close to the present town of Pierce.

Chapter 6

Wellington Bird & Major Truax

Gold was discovered in Pierce late in the year 1860 and a rush to the

gold fields of the Clearwater took place in 1861. At first Walla Walla

was the base of operations, but a town was soon established at Lewiston

and it served as the taking off point and center of supplies. Gold was soon found at Elk City and

Florence and then in 1863 the big find was made at Alder Gulch in what is now Montana.

The base of supplies for the towns on Alder Gulch, the largest of which was Virginia City, was

Salt Lake City, Utah. Lewiston tried to get in on the trade and some men, such as Magruder, took

supplies to Virginia City by pack train, going over the Nez Perce Trail. But Salt Lake had a

distinct advantage over Lewiston because freight could be hauled from there by wagon. So the

merchants of Lewiston promoted a wagon road east by way of Lolo Pass. There was a road to

Pierce and they reasoned that it would be practical to make a shorter route to Montana by

building a road through the mountains to Missoula. Some citizens of Lewiston even formed a

corporation to build a toll road but they never got started.

Pressure was brought on Congress to build such a road and in 1865 Congress, always in favor of

promoting development of the West, appropriated $50,000 to construct a road through Lolo Pass.

Little did anyone realize the difficulties involved. It was 74 years before this dream was fulfilled.

Although the appropriation was made in 1865, the Secretary of the Interior could not find an

engineer who would undertake the job. The pay was $2,000 a year, a fair sum at that time in the

East but not much in Idaho Territory in 1865, where prices and wages were much higher.

Mr. Wellington Bird was hired as the Chief of Party in 1866 and George B. Nicholson his

assistant. Professor Oliver Marcy, a botanist and zoologist from Northwestern University, was to

accompany the party, but he made a quick trip over the Lolo Trail while the snow was melting in

the spring and missed an opportunity to make a worthwhile contribution to science.

Bird's original plan was to assemble an outfit in the East and move it to Lewiston but after

consultation with the Secretary of Interior he discarded this idea and took passage on March 10,

1866 by boat to Portland. Here Bird and his aids bought some road building equipment. They

then moved to Lewiston arriving May 1, 1866. At Lewiston, Bird spent considerable time talking

to people about the geography of the country and making final preparations for an assault on the

Lolo Trail.

The party left Lewiston on May 24. It was a sizable outfit consisting of Wellington Bird, George

Nicholson, Oliver Marcy, Major Sewell Truax, one time commander of Fort Lapwai, William

Craig, cooks, teamsters, blacksmiths, etc. They were well equipped with a plow, shovels, axes,

wagons, tents, stoves, medicine chest, mess outfits, blankets and food for 60 men for six months.

All this cost about $20,000 leaving about $30,000 to be spent on the job.

They took the road to Weippe, going through Lapwai and over the Nez Perce Prairie, crossing

the Clearwater River at Schultz's Ferry, now Greer. In the meantime Bird had gone ahead and

scouted the area. The prospects for a road were anything but bright. There was six feet of snow

in the mountains and the country was covered with a dense forest with heavy underbrush and

plenty of windfalls. It was a dismal prospect but Bird could not find any route that was better.

Bird then notified the Department of Interior that it was not possible to build a road through the

mountains for $50,000. He said he would survey a route for a road and then attempt to build a

trail on that location that could later be developed into a road. In the meantime, the Lewiston

sponsors of the road would probably be less demanding.

Even a survey was difficult. The forest and brush were so dense that axemen were required to

open a line of sight. The country was steep and camping sites few and far between. The survey

took a month. Bird arrived at the mouth of Lolo Creek in Montana on July 7 and his party was

utterly exhausted.

Bird then returned to his construction crew over the Lolo Trail. He had sent his assistant, George

Nicholson, Major Truax, and Tahtutash over the Southern Nez Perce Trail. They made the trip

from Fort Owen to Elk City in eight days, which was something of a record for that time.

Nicholson reported that the Lolo Trail was the better route. Sometimes we see statements that the

Southern Nez Perce Trail was an easier route than the Northern route, the Lolo Trail. Actually

both routes were very difficult and either way a traveler went he would likely wish he had taken

the other. One thing that may have confused people is that the Forest Service completely

relocated and rebuilt the Southern Nez Perce Trail. Still later they replaced this trail with a

motorway. Many people mistake segments of the Forest Service Trail as parts of the Old

Southern Nez Perce Trail.

While Bird and his surveyors were locating a trail across the mountains the crew widened the

trail from Weippe to Musselshell into a road and moved to Musselshell. A large part of this road

was on the same location as the road today.

The party spent the months of August and September in building the Lolo Trail. Several

important changes were made in the trail as followed by Lewis and Clark. Bird changed the trail

from Indian Post Office to Indian Grave Lookout, following along the main divide. He also

changed the trail from Sherman Saddle to Weippe. Instead of dropping into and climbing out of

Hungery Creek he rerouted the trail along the main divide to Snowy Summit, thence to

Musselshell, Browns Creek and Weippe. He graded from saddle to saddle, thus eliminating many

steep sections and generally easing the grade.

Bird built a very good trail. Trees did fall across it and since no one was responsible for keeping

it open it became clogged with windfalls. But its route remained practically unchanged from

1866 until it was replaced by a motorway in 1934, a period of 68 years. So the money was well

spent.

In September, Bird realized that winter was near in the mountains. There remained $8,000 of the

appropriation. So Bird turned everything over to Major Truax and went to Washington. The

Secretary of the Interior, knowing little about local conditions, was displeased that the project

had been suspended and that Bird had taken it upon himself to appoint his successor.

The Idaho Territorial Legislature asked Congress for $60,000 to continue the project, but

Congress would not appropriate the money so the project came to an abrupt end.

Apparently the Bird construction crew named several features along the Lolo Trail. Snowy

Summit, Rocky Ridge, Sherman Peak, Sherman Creek, and Indian Post Office are all names that

were probably first used by Bird's Crew.

CHIEF JOSEPH and GENERAL HOWARD

The next well-known trip over the Lolo Trail came several years later during the so-called Nez

Perce War. After the engagement between General Howard and Chief Joseph near Stites, the

Indians retreated to Weippe. They arrived July 15, 1877. At that time there were only a few

ranches in the Weippe vicinity, belonging to Martin Mauli, Wellington (Duke) Landon,

"Grasshopper" Jim Clark and John Reed. These people fled to Pierce where a makeshift

fortification was put together.

The Indians burned the ranchers' buildings and, having lost a greater part of their food supplies at

Stites, they proceeded to kill the ranchers' cattle and dry the meat.

At Weippe, the Indians held a war council. They had to make a tough decision. Some of the

Indians, including Joseph, wanted to negotiate a peace treaty. Others, particularly those who

thought they and their friends might be hanged for murder, wanted to continue the war. All the

chiefs were convinced that they could not whip General Howard without assistance. They were

faced with deciding whether they should negotiate a peace, flee to Canada, or seek aid from the

Flathead or Crows who had always been their friends. Finally they decided to go to the Crow

country and, if need be, later go to Canada. The Nez Perce, particularly Looking Glass, had

always been on the friendliest terms with the white people in Montana and the Crows and had

every reason to believe they would experience no difficulty there; a hope that led to bitter

disappointment.

General Howard, after the battle at Stites, did not press the war. He did send out a scouting party

which was ambushed. One friendly Nez Perce was killed where the old trail from Kamiah to

Weippe crossed Incendary Creek.

It is not known just when Joseph and his band started over the Lolo Trail. They first moved to

Musselshell Meadows and were there when General Howard's scouting party was turned back.

They then started over the Lolo Trail. Counting the days back from the passage around Fort

Fizzle, it appears that they started on July 20 or 21 and were six days crossing to Grave Creek, a

branch of Lolo Creek in Montana, arriving there on July 26.

Joseph's Band consisted of about 250 men, about 450 women and children and two thousand

head of horses. They followed the Lolo Trail as improved by Bird and Truax. Apparently, the

windfalls had not been removed since Bird did his work in 1866; the trail was choked with fallen

timber. The Indians jammed their horses through, breaking legs and leaving the crippled and

dying animals on the trail.

General Howard left Weippe, he called it Oy-ipe, on July 31. He camped that evening at

Musselshell Meadows. Joseph was then leisurely moving up the Bitterroot Valley.

On August 1. General Howard camped, I believe, at Soldiers Meadows.

Apparently he reached Weitas Meadows on August 2. This is a good camp site. Here his trail

clearing crew, which had been recruited in Lewiston but which he had not waited for, overtook

him. An officer's sword, now in the Clearwater Historical Society Museum, was found there.

On August 3. He apparently reached Bald Mountain, which has excellent horse feed and water.

A small number of cannon balls were left here. The Clearwater Historical Society Museum has

one of these balls and a bayonet found there.

On August 4. Howard reached what is now called Camp Howard. Here he received a request, by

messenger, from Captain Rawn to hurry assistance as he was following Chief Joseph up the

Bitterroot. Some cannon balls were also left at this site.

August 5. Howard took his cavalry and went ahead. He camped where the Lolo Trail crossed

Crooked Creek. This spot is heavily timbered and the horses had no feed.

August 6. Howard moved to Packer Meadows where an hour was spent eating breakfast and

grazing the horses. He then went on to Hot Springs to camp.

Thus Chief Joseph and General Howard crossed the Clearwater National Forest. They had a long

way to go before they met at the Bearpaw Battlefield where Joseph, finally surrounded by

Colonel Miles' forces, declared he would "fight no more forever".

**************

There is a legend that General Howard abandoned a cannon somewhere along the Lolo Trail.

Various stories are told. Some say it rolled down the mountain from the trail and was abandoned.

Others say it was buried in a rockslide. The location varies. The first report I heard was in 1924,

when I was camped at Bald Mountain. The cannon was supposed to have been abandoned there,

perhaps buried. I spent considerable time evenings and Sundays looking for it and prospecting

likely looking mounds by driving a telephone ground rod into them, but I had no luck.

Later rumors placed the cannon somewhere in the vicinity of Rocky Ridge. The ground around

there was thoroughly searched without success. Another rumor is that the cannon is near Camp

Howard and if a cannon was abandoned, this is the most likely place. Here Howard took his

cavalry and hurried to the assistance of Captain Rawn. It could be, but it is only a guess on my

part, he left the cannon so he could make better time. The War Department insists that no cannon

was abandoned. Nevertheless, the story had wide circulation among the pioneers of the

Clearwater country and many people today believe it is true.

There were some cannon balls abandoned along the trail. They were seen by early Forest Service

employees: Allen Space, A.N. Cochrell, Wolfard Renshaw and others. My brother, Allen, saw

these cannon balls in 1918 but said that by 1920, they had all disappeared.

In 1928, Mr. DeCray, a forest telephone lineman, found a cannon ball in the vicinity of Bald

Mountain and the Clearwater Historical Society has one, but so far as I know these are the only

ones known today.

Chapter 7

The Carlin Party

In the middle of September, 1893, three young men who had been

planning a hunting trip for at least two years assembled in Spokane.

They were William P. Carlin, the 27 year-old son of Brig. Gen. Carlin

of Vancouver; A.L.A. Himmelwright, 28, an engineer; and John

Harvey Pierce, 30, Carlin's brother-in-law from White Plains, New York. Carlin was considered

the head of the party and had made some advance inquiries about hunting places and conditions.

They decided that it was too late to hunt for mountain sheep, but Carlin had talked to a guide,

Martin C. Spencer, about a hunting trip into the back country of the Clearwater. Carlin had also

made arrangements for George Colegate, 52, from Post Falls, Idaho, to go along as cook.

Spencer at first objected to a man as old as Colegate going, but since he had cooked for Carlin

before and Carlin insisted, Spencer finally consented. Of course, it should have been up to the

guide, who knew the hazards of the journey, to make all decisions concerning the safety of the

party.

In Spokane they assembled an outfit of ten horses, guns, cameras, three dogs, and what appeared

to be ample food supplies. This they shipped by railroad to Kendrick, Idaho, which was the

nearest railroad depot to the Clearwater country in 1893.

They left Kendrick on September 18. At Weippe they purchased a sack of potatoes from Patrick

Gaffney, who was concerned about their safety and warned them they should get out of the hills

at the first signs of winter.

The party went through Weippe on September 20 and camped that night at Browns Creek where

due to rain they camped in a cabin. The next day it was raining hard so they remained at Brown

Creek. There they caught a string of 53 trout and killed four ruffed grouse. In the afternoon they

were visited by a rancher. In a story of the trip Himmelwright published in 1895, he pokes fun at

this rancher, but apparently he was a real mountaineer. He told them "I reckon you'll have a hard

time in the snow, so late in the fall." He also said to them "It's a pretty tough trip for tenderfeet.

Do you fellers all think you can stand the trip?" Likely he had his eyes on Colegate's gray hair

and was, in his way, hinting that he should not go. The party resented his remarks and

disregarded the warning, but gave him a mess of trout.

On September 22 they started over the Lolo Trail. They camped at Snowy Summit in about eight

inches of snow. This should have been a warning to them that winter was close at hand.

On September 26 they descended to the Lochsa River by the old trail, which has been partially

replaced by the road to Jerry Johnson Lookout. When they reached the Lochsa, Colegate was

exhausted and his feet and legs were swollen, but he insisted he would be all right with a day or

two of rest.

The party was surprised to find four men camped on the river. Jerry Johnson, a prospector, and

his partner Ben Keebey were building a cabin and planning to stay all winter. The other two were

hunters who had killed one elk and were preparing to leave for Missoula, which they did the next

day. Jerry Johnson advised the party to make their stay short because of possible snow, but they

thought Johnson wanted the hunting for himself.

The party considered Jerry Johnson something of a grouch. I talked with people who knew Jerry,

after he was too old to prospect, and they say he was actually a rather jovial man. Apparently he

was a little roiled at the Carlin party for not taking his advice. He could foresee the danger ahead

and certainly wasn't going to do anything that would prolong their stay.

The hunt, if it could be called that, started the next day. It consisted of sneaking up to the licks at

what are now called Jerry Johnson and Colgate Warm Springs and shooting at game there. They

did not go out into the woods to hunt. They shot two elk, but their shooting was poor. It required

five or six gut shots before they could bring an animal down. They wounded a grizzly but,

luckily, it did not charge. The weather was miserable; it rained every day.

As it continued to rain, Spencer warned them they might get snowed in, but no one took his

warning seriously. The cook, Colegate, continued to get worse. On questioning him, they learned

that he had extreme difficulty in urinating. He had used a catheter for some time but neglected to

bring it along. He was relieved of his work but there was no feeling that it was urgent to get him

to a doctor. The Carlin Party should have left before this, but they could be forgiven for staying a

few days. But when the guide said they were in danger they should have heeded his warning.

Then it is almost unbelievable that any group of men could be so indifferent to the suffering of

one of their party. Surely these men must have known that Colegate was in serious condition and

should have been rushed to a hospital.

On October 2 Colegate was in bad condition and Spencer, their guide, urged that the party get

out immediately. Pierce agreed with Spencer, but the others had not had enough hunting, and

they hoped for better weather.

It continued to rain and by October 6, Colegate's legs had swollen to nearly twice their normal

size and he was barely able to move about without assistance. Spencer continued to urge the

party to move out, but they would not go.

On October 10 six inches of snow fell in their camp and more in the mountains. They then

decided to move, but ran into three feet of snow on the ridge above camp. They were trapped!

The trail had been silently, softly and firmly closed by coming winter!

The party now took stock of its situation. They had food supplies for eight days. Colegate was

unable to walk, there was no possibility of getting over the Lolo Trail with horses, and to travel it

afoot pulling Colegate on a sled was equally useless to try. The only way out was down river and

that was not going to be easy, for Spencer informed them that the river ran through a very steep

canyon.

They finally purchased Keeley's share of the food supplies and hired him to build rafts to take

them down river. However, while Keeley and Spencer finished the cabin, which took four days,

the other members of the party continued to hunt. They killed two cow elk and a bull with the

usual number of gut shots. They had plenty of meat, but all they took of the bull was the hide and

horns.

When the cabin was completed, Spencer and Keeley started on the rafts and had them ready to

go by October 30, but they did not get underway until November 3. They then started but made

only one mile when the larger raft tipped over in a rapid. They saved their food but all, including

Colegate, were thoroughly soaked in water.

They took some of the stuff, including the precious antlers, back to Jerry Johnson the next day. It

rained hard and Colegate was much worse.

On November 5 they started on and passed Indian Post Office Creek about noon after

considerable difficulty and camped on the first flat below Weir Creek, near the mouth of Ginger

Creek. Here they noticed that the dogs kept sniffing the air as if game were near. Had they but

known it, there were elk at the spring.

On November 6 the battle with the river continued. They made little progress and camped on an

island near the mouth of Ashpile Creek. They stayed there the next day to dry out and explore

the country ahead.

On November 7 Mr. Wright of Missoula sounded the alarm. He was an experienced guide, a

friend of Spencer, and knew what was happening in the mountains. This prompted Brig. General

Carlin to organize relief parties. One party was to go in from Missoula and another from the

west. The rescue parties moved quickly, considering the transportation of the time. A rescue

party under guidance of Wright left Missoula on November 10 and another reached Weippe on

November 13.

In the days that followed, Wright penetrated from the east as far as where the old trail climbed

the ridge toward Rocky Point. Here he ran into four feet of snow and was forced to turn back. At

the same time Lieutenants Elliott and Overton went to Weippe, where they consulted the

Gaffney family. Pat Gaffney had been in the Pierce and Weippe localities since the gold rush to

Pierce in the sixties. John Gaffney, one of his sons, was born near Pierce in 1868 and was raised

in that locality. They were real woodsmen and mountaineers.

The Gaffneys told them that to cross the Lolo Trail was next to impossible, but although it would

be rough going, it might be possible to go up the Lochsa River. Furthermore, they reasoned that

if the Carlin party was on its way out, it would of necessity, come down the Lochsa River. To

follow his advice the party split. One party, with John Gaffney as guide, was to take the Lolo

Trail, while Elliott and his crew, with Winn as guide, was to go to Kamiah and up river. The next

day, November 14, Elliott set out for Kamiah and Overton took the Lolo Trail.

Overtons' party reached Snowy Summit, where they found snow so deep that they could make

only about one half mile a day. They made little progress and were still fighting snow when they

received word that the Carlin party was found. Now let us return to the Carlin party itself.

On November 9 Carlin and his crew camped on the south side of the River near Holly Creek.

During the next three days they scouted the river below and found it impassible. They then

decided that it would be necessary to walk out. Since they could not take Colegate, they would

abandon him.

November 13. It took them until 1 P.M. to cross the river, which they accomplished by falling a

large pine tree. In the afternoon they crossed Bald Mountain Creek and camped a half mile

below. According to Himmulwright, Colegate was so far gone that he apparently did not realize

what was happening, but he was alive and they left him without food or a gun.

November 14. They made about five miles and camped near Nooseeum Creek.

November 15. This day they passed Boulder Creek about noon and camped at the present Lochsa

Work Center. Boulder Creek was named before 1893.

November 16. It was necessary to fall a tree across Fish Creek for a footlog. They called it Wild

Creek. They camped at the upper end of the dreaded Black Canyon. In his diary Carlin stated

"The view did not impress me so much with its grandeur as with the undefinable dread weiriness.

It immediately associated itself in my mind with death." They tried fishing but the fish were so

large they broke their hooks. They did succeed in landing three fish.

November 17. A determined assault was made on the canyon but they made only two and a half

miles. At their campsite they found a copy of last summer's Spokane Review, which gave them

courage.

November 18. They climbed up and down cliffs all day. They made one and a half miles and

camped a few yards east of Tumble Creek, about 1500 feeet above the river. They killed one

grouse and had a difficult night. They left a gun here. So far as I know it has never been found.

November 19. The end of the Black Canyon was reached about 4 P.M. and they camped near the

mouth of Tick Creek.

November 20. The last of their food was eaten for breakfast and they set out. They were growing

weak and stumbled and fell a great deal but made progress and camped at Apgar Creek. They

caught a one pound fish for supper.

1909 photo of George Colegate's grave. The grave is located a few feet below the present

route of U.S. Highway 12 just east of Colegate Warm Springs.

November 21. They went fishing and caught three fish for breakfast. Started on at 11 A.M. and

made one mile, when they came to a fishing hole at the mouth of Canyon Creek. They camped

here and caught six large trout which gave them a good supper.

November 22. Fishing failed to produce any food and they started out without any breakfast.

They met Elliott's rescue party, who were starting to portage the Hellgate Rapids, a particularly

bad rapid at the mouth of Hellgate Creek.

Elliott wanted to go after Colegate, but after learning how far it was, Colegate's condition, and

the impassible state of the river above them, decided his efforts would be in vain. He dispatched

a messenger to inform the other rescue parties and the outside world that the Carlin party was

found. He then took the party by raft to Ahsahka and by horse to Kendrick, where they ate

Thanksgiving Day dinner on November 30.

When the Carlin party reached safety, the news first caused a wave of rejoicing. But when it

became known that they had abandoned Colegate without food or a gun, the public turned on

them in blazing anger. Every paper in the West criticized the party for violating the woodsman's

creed that all must stick together regardless of circumstances. Charges and denials flew between

Spencer, Keeley, and the Carlins. The truth could not be determined.

The Carlins paid Mrs. Colegate $25. The people of Post Falls held a meeting and collected

money for the support of Colegate's widow and seven children. Since Colegate was a Mason,

that organization came to their assistance.

In February 1894, Colegate's son, Charles, and three other men went up river in an attempt to

find Colegate. They claimed to have gone up river 65 miles, which would have put them to about

Indian Grave Creek and well above where Colegate and the raft were abandoned. They found no

trace of Colegate nor did they find the raft. A tree, which they had set afire, at one of their

camps, fell and broke on man's collar bone. The others helped him down stream to Pete King's

place.

The next spring Carlin hired Spencer and two other men to search for Colegate. They brought

out the hunting trophies but did not find Colegate. At the camp where he was abandoned they

found evidence that Colegate had not left camp and that the site had been flooded by high water

in the spring runoff.

In midsummer, Lieutenant Elliott and party went into the Lochsa and travelled downstream to

where Colegate was abandoned. They carefully searched below this point and eight miles further

down found some of the bones, clothes and small possessions of Colegate. Elliott packed the

remains up to Colgate Warm Springs and buried them. He placed some stones on the grave and

set a post on which was burned "George Colegate". The grave is now marked by a Forest Service

marker and is now a few feet below Highway 12 and just east of Colgate Warm Springs.

Chapter 8

Maps

The oldest maps of portions of the Clearwater Forest are those drawn by Captain Clark of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition. These maps cover the route they traveled and are very inaccurate.

Their chief value is in tracing their actual route and in learning where events of that expedition

took place. One volume of Thwaite's Journal is devoted to Lewis and Clark's maps.

In 1862 Giddings prepared a map which covered the Clearwater area. It shows the names of

creeks around Pierce. One interesting thing about this map is that it shows Lolo Creek as the Lo

Lo Fork. However, he got the creek too long by showing it heading at Lo Lo Pass. This is further

evidence that the early miners named Lolo Creek, Trail, and Pass.

A map, dated 1865, was drawn by DeLacy, an engineer for the Northern Pacific Railway

Company. It was on a small scale and very crude, but it shows Pierce City, the old town of Oro

Fino, and the road from Lewiston to the mining country. The Lolo Trail is shown as it is today,

but Lolo Creek in Montana is called Lou Lou Creek. The Lochsa is called the Salmon Fork.

The next oldest map is one prepared by Asker and Adams in 1874 and shows the Northern

Pacific survey down the North Fork. The location of the North Fork is very accurate, otherwise

the map is quite inaccurate. The Little North Fork is named. Lolo Creek is called Lo Lo Fork.

Pierce City is shown, but not Oro Fino. Apparently it had ceased to exist. Orofino Creek is

named, but no other creek names are shown. The Lolo Trail is omitted.

Lt. Robert Fletcher drew a sketch of the Clearwater country to accompany General Howard's

report on the Nez Perce Indian War in 1877. This map is very poor. The only new feature named

is Musselshell Creek. Howard's camps on the Clearwater Forest are shown, but there are no

identifying features.

In 1894 Lt. Elliott prepared a map of the country around the mouth of Warm Springs Creek. He

shows Parson's and Isaac's graves. He also shows Colgate Hot Springs and since he buried

Colegate, he can be credited with putting this name on the map.

In 1898 J.B. Leiberg made a map of the Bitter Root Forest Reserve. Most of this map covers the

Selway, but the upper Lochsa and the Blacklead countries are included. His map was fairly

accurate but, of course, lacked detail. On this map Rhodes Peak, Indian Post Office, Sherman

Peak, Castle Butte, Rocky Ridge and Weitas Meadows are named.

In 1902 the Land Office started to sectionize townships 37-6, 37-7, 37-8, 37-9, 38-8, 39-7 and

40-7. These townships were at that time outside the National Forest boundary. They made maps

as their work proceeded. Their survey ran from 1902 to 1907.

In about 1908 the Forest Service put together in one map all the known surveys up to that time.

The gaps in the information were filled in "by guess and by golley". A blueprint of this map was

made and this map served until it was replaced by a U.S.G.S. map in 1913.

In 1911 the U.S.G.S. made a field survey of a large part of the Clearwater Forest. The survey

was under S.G. Lunde. This was a contour map and was by far the best map the Clearwater

Forest had up to that time. The map came out late in 1913.

In 1914 a cruise of the Eldorado, Lolo, Musselshell country produced a good contour map of that

area.

In 1915 to 1917, F.E. Bonner, J.B. Yule and K.D. Swan of the Division of Maps and Surveys in

the District (now Regional) Office compiled a map of the Clearwater Forest. This map combined

all previously known maps. The result was a contour map on a 1/2-inch and also a 1-inch to the

mile scale. This was the best map of the Clearwater Forest that had ever been prepared. With

revisions in 1926, 1936 and 1942 to show added roads, trails, lookouts, and telephone lines it

served until maps prepared from aerial photos took its place.

Today 3/8-inch scale maps are issued for each Ranger District and a 1/2-inch scale map is issued

for the Forest. These are aerial photo maps and are very accurate.

Chapter 9

Boundaries

The Clearwater National Forest, according to Major Fenn, is one of the

offsprings of the old Bitter Root Forest Reserve, proclaimed in 1897 by

President Cleveland. This Bitter Root Forest Reserve embraced an area

of about 4,147,200 acres and included territory in both Idaho and

Montana, now part of the Bitterroot, part of the Lolo, all the Nezperce and a greater part of the

Clearwater National Forests. It was divided into two jurisdictions, Bitter Root Idaho and Bitter

Root Montana. The Idaho section was further divided into the northern and southern divisions.

The boundary of the Bitter Root Reserve, including the area now in the Clearwater Forest,

followed the present western edge of the Forest along the range line between Township 5 and 6

E. to near Pierce. From Pierce it went due east 24 miles along the township line between

Townships 36 and 37 N. to near Porphy Peak. At Porphy Peak it went north 12 miles along the

range line between Townships 9 and 10 E. to near Junction Mountain. From Junction Mountain

it went due east along the township line between Townships 38 and 39 N. to the Montana line.

While the Forest Reserve had this boundary, some lands were taken under Timber and Stone and

Lieu Selection Acts in the Orogrande and Weitas country.

In March 1905 the Shoshone Forest was withdrawn. It included all the present Clearwater

National Forest not included in the former Bitter Root Reserve, except T. 38 N., R. 7 E., and a

part of T. 37 N., R. 6 E. A large part of this township was patented under the various land laws.

In 1906 the Coeur d'Alene Forest was proclaimed. It included the former Shoshone National

Forest and added Township 38 N., R. 6 E., to the Forest.

In 1907 the Clearwater Forest was proclaimed. It included all the present Clearwater Forest

except the Palouse District, and all the old Selway Forest. Its headquarters was at Kooskia,

Idaho.

Following the severe fires of 1910, it became evident that the Forests were too large for efficient

management. The old Clearwater Forest was, therefore, split by proclamation in June of 1911.

The Clearwater Forest, as proclaimed in 1911, included all of the National Forest lands in

Orofino and Lolo Creeks and all the North Fork of the Clearwater except the drainage of the

Little North Fork and T. 41 N., R. 5 E., and 6 E. The latter areas were in the St. Joe Forest.

By executive order in 1931, T. 41 N., R. 6 E. was transferred to the Clearwater Forest. Lands in

T. 41 N., R. 5 E. south of the river remained in the St. Joe Forest. This still did not make a

logical boundary.

In October 1934 the Selway Forest was split and added to adjoining Forests. A number of

boundary adjustments were made. Boundaries were usually drawn on the basis of fire protection.

Each area was assigned to the Forest or Ranger District that could get there first in case of fire.

The north boundary of the Clearwater Forest was roughly the divide between the Little North

Fork and St. Joe Divide. The east boundary was the State line.

The south boundary was very irregular, as follows: starting near Woodrat Mountain it ran

northeasterly along the divide between the branches of Lolo Creek and the Middle Fork and

Lochsa Rivers to the head of Canyon Creek. Then southeasterly along the divide between Fish

Creek and the streams that drain into the Lochsa River to McLendon Butte. From McLendon

Butte to the mouth of Big Stew Creek. Thence up Big Stew Creek to Huckleberry Mountain.

From Huckleberry Mountain along the ridge to East Peak, thence down Lizzard and Rhoda

Creeks and up the South Moose to the divide between Moose and Warm Springs Creeks. From

there it went over McConnell and Bear Mountains to the Lochsa at the mouth of Fish Lake

Creek, thence down the Lochsa to the mouth of Indian Grave Creek and up the ridge between

Indian Grave and Lost Creeks to the Lochsa and North Fork Divide west of Indian Grave Peak.

Thence along the ridge between Weitas and Gravey Creeks and then Gravey and Monroe Creeks

to Raspberry Butte, thence to Lunde Peak and along the ridge eastward to the State line.

During the depression years (1930-1939) much land in Clearwater and Latah Counties passed

into county ownership and then was donated to the National Forest. A large acreage was also

donated to the National Forests by timber companies.

By 1956 the Lewis and Clark Highway had passed the Lochsa Ranger Station. A more logical

Forest Boundary then became possible and necessary. On July 1, 1956, the south boundary of the

Clearwater National Forest became the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River to Lowell. From

Lowell it followed the divide between the Lochsa and Selway River to just west of McConnell

Peak, thence over Bear Mountain to the mouth of Fish Lake Creek, down the Lochsa to Indian

Grave Creek, up the ridge between Indian Grave and Lost Creeks, along the divide between the

Lochsa and North Fork to Spring Mountain, across Cayuse Creek to Blacklead and on this ridge

to the State line.

In 1956 the areas donated to the National Forest south of the North Fork of the Clearwater were

proclaimed a part of the Clearwater National Forest.

In 1959 the boundary between the St. Joe and Clearwater Forest was adjusted in Townships 41-5

and 41-6, the Clearwater taking lands in these two townships south of the Little North Fork.

The Powell District of the Lolo National Forest was added to the Clearwater National Forest in

1961 and the Palouse District became a part of the Clearwater in 1973.

Chapter 10

Railroad Surveys

As early as 1854 Government officials and railroad men were thinking

of constructing a railroad from the Great Lakes to Portland. Captain

Mullen looked for the best road route from Fort Benton, Montana to

Walla Walla, Washington. He also scouted the country for the best

route for a railroad. His findings had much to do with the route selected for the Northern Pacific

Railway. In 1855 Governor Stevens of Washington Territory recommended the route the

Northern Pacific followed.

In 1864 Congress chartered the Northern Pacific Railway Company. This company was to build

a railroad from Lake Superior to Portland and Puget Sound but the exact route to be followed

was left for later determination. The route by way of Sandpoint was tentatively adopted.

In 1870 the directors of the Northern Pacific decided to investigate other routes across the

mountains. One ran from Three Forks, Montana, up the Beaverhead River and down the Salmon

River to Lewiston, Idaho and on west. Another went via Missoula up Fish (then called Fishery)

Creek and down the North Fork of the Clearwater, on to Lewiston and west. A third went up the

St. Regis River and down the Coeur d'Alene River and west. The fourth was the present route

through Sandpoint. At that time the possibility of following the Lochsa River was not

considered.

In 1870, 1871 and 1872 these routes were surveyed. Only the survey of the North Fork of the

Clearwater will be covered here. I am unable to say who was in charge of the 1870 survey. This

survey and the one down the Salmon River were described by the Northern Pacific as "The most

difficult instrumental surveys ever made in the United States." The North Fork Survey ran up

Fish Creek through the pass at Goose Lake (5,800) and from there down Goose Creek to the

North Fork of the Clearwater and down the Clearwater to Lewiston, Idaho. From where the

survey reached the North Fork to its mouth there were no trails. The canyon was steep and rocky;

much of it was heavily timbered. It is remarkable that a survey could be conducted in such a

short time under such difficult conditions. The route proved to be impractical, but an accurate

charting of the course of the North Fork resulted. Some modern names of creeks are shown on

the plat of this survey and it is probable that the surveyors gave them these names.

The 1908-09 Survey

The Northern Pacific and Union Pacific each decided to survey a railroad through the Lochsa

and Middle Fork canyons. A railroad on this location would provide a shorter route from

Portland to Missoula. Apparently each conceived the idea at about the same time; each started

surveys in the spring of 1908.

A race developed to see which could complete the survey first and thus acquire the key points on

the right-of-way. This was wild inaccessible country with almost no trails and some very bad

rocky canyons. To make a quick survey required almost an army of men. Accordingly, the

Lochsa canyon and trails heading to it were filled with laborers, packers, packstrings, surveyors

and all the personnel, equipment and supplies necessary to make a survey. Haste was the order of

the day. Money was spent like water. Where possible, trails were built along the river. Where too

rocky, supplies were brought in either over the Lolo or Coolwater Ridge trails and down branch

trails to the river.

A graded trail was built from the Lolo Trail to the mouth of Weir Creek. Another ran from

Sherman Peak to Boulder Flat. A branch of the Coolwater Trail ran past Maude and Lottie Lakes

to Boulder Creek.

An effort was made to run supplies down the Lochsa River from Powell by raft, but it capsized.

All supplies and equipment were lost, but luckily no one drowned. Boats were used on the

Middle Fork and up the Lochsa as far as Hellgate Rapid. This was the end of navigation.

Hellgate Creek took its name from the rapids.

The survey work continued through 1908 and 1909. The Northern Pacific started to build a

railroad out of Lolo, Montana. Then, all at once, all work stopped. The two companies agreed

that neither would build a railroad here. The trails were taken over by the Forest Service. Some

sections were improved, but for the most part, the old trail along the river remained the same

until the highway was built.

When I traveled over the old trail in 1924, sections of survey lines and stations could still be

found. Today it is hard to find even an occasional blaze. Up to 1959 there was still a survey stake

setting in a mound in Colgate Warm Spring, but it fell over in 1960. Apparently the hot water has

preserving properties. There is a toppled cedar tree near the spring with a benchmark.

Just why the idea of a railroad on this location was abandoned no one seems to know. Cost may

have been the deciding factor; but it was likely a change in railroad plans and policy. Governor

Dixon of Montana, in a talk before the Missoula Chamber of Commerce in 1922, stated that had

Jim Hill lived 90 days longer the railroad would have been built. Jim Hill was president of the

Northern Pacific. Out of this survey the idea for a road through the Lochsa to Missoula

originated.

In 1913 the Northern Pacific surveyed another railroad location. This time it was from near

Superior, Montana up Fish Creek with a proposed tunnel under the crest of the Bitterroots and

then down Kelly Creek and the North Fork of the Clearwater to Ahsahka. They hoped this would

be cheaper and shorter than the Lochsa route. It would be closer to the timber holdings of the

Weyerhaeusers who were talking of a railroad to their holdings. It turned out to be a great

disappointment; it was both longer and costlier than the Lochsa route. A separate railroad was

built to the Weyerhaeuser timber holdings around Headquarters in 1925.

Northern Pacific Railroad survey crew rafting down the Lochsa River in 1909. Shortly

after the photo was taken the raft was upset and all the supplies were lost.

Chapter 11

June 11 Claims

When the Forest Reserves were proclaimed, the land was withdrawn

from all forms of entry except mineral, subject to all valid claims. Thus, further homesteading

was barred, but those living on the land under what was known as squatters' rights could remain

on their claims and eventually obtain patent.

Bringing homesteading to a sudden halt on such large areas was not in accordance with long

established customs in the West, nor did it meet with the approval of local people. The Forest

Reserves were condemned as unnecessary, and an infringement on free enterprise. Forest

Supervisors and Rangers became very unpopular. Such a big protest went up over the

homesteading issue that it was necessary to find a means to compromise on some ground that

would be acceptable to the opposing forces. This resulted in the Act of June 11, 1906, from

which came the term June 11 claims.

This act provided that any lands classified by the Secretary of Agriculture as chiefly valuable for

agriculture were to be opened to homestead entry. This placed upon the Department of

Agriculture the burden of examining all National Forest lands and listing for homestead entry

any chiefly valuable for farming.

To do this the Rangers went over the forest and on a map drew a sketch of any area that was

large and flat enough that it could possibly be considered as a potential farm unit. This was

called an extensive land classification survey. It narrowed the lands to be considered to scattered

tracts along creek and river bottoms.

This work was followed by an intensive survey which was conducted by college graduates in

agriculture who were not employees of the Forest Service. These men carefully examined the

lands the Ranger had mapped as possible homesteads. They considered the quality of the soil,

weather conditions, irrigation possibilities, etc. Their recommendations were final. However to

avoid controversy they were instructed to list the land if there was any doubt.

After the land was classified as agricultural, surveyors then went to the area and surveyed out the

homestead. If the land had previously been surveyed by the General Land Office, their regular

land descriptions were used, but if it was unsurveyed then the homesteads were set out by Metes

and Bounds Surveys called Homestead Entry Surveys, often shortened to H.E.S. The land was

then ready to be homesteaded. It took ten years to get this work done but it settled the homestead

problem.

The lenient policy in listing homesteads later brought about a lot of problems. I estimate that at

least ninety percent of the lands listed were unfit for farm homes due to remoteness from

markets, short growing season, small size, too difficult to clear or poor soil. Many homesteads

were abandoned before going to patent and many more after the claimant had "proved up." A lot

of people spent five years on one of these "stump ranches" only to finally give up and move

away. To the country these homesteads were a great expense to furnish schools and roads. To the

Forest Service they often became sources of right-of-way, poaching, trespass and other

problems.

The Clearwater National Forest was more fortunate than most forests. Only one homestead was

listed on the North Fork at the mouth of Milk Creek. It was later abandoned and is now under

Dworshak Reservoir. There were also a few near the forks of the Selway and Lochsa Rivers

although most of the existing privately-owned land in that locality was homesteaded before the

Forest Reserves were proclaimed. None of these claims are now used for farm purposes. They

support service stations, motels, stores, restaurants, and summer homes. The owners cater to the

traveling public and serve a useful purpose which can be better operated from private rather than

public lands.

Chapter 12

Working & Living Conditions

During the history of the Forest Service nothing has changed more than

work hours, pay and working conditions. Of course, this isn't true of

just the Forest Service. It is true, perhaps to a lesser degree, in almost

every industry. When the forests were created, men worked six days a week from sun up until

sundown. Pay for Rangers was $50 a month and they were laid off during the winter months

without pay. A Ranger could not exist unless he had other work during the off season. Trappers

fit into the work well, but others worked at anything they could find. The prospectors liked the

job since they could do a lot of looking around and get pay while doing it. In addition to the low

pay, Rangers were required to furnish their own stock, personal equipment and food. They even

had to furnish their own snowshoes. The Forest Service did winter the Ranger's stock which gave

rise to the comment that the Forest Service took better care of the horses than they did of their

men. The requirement that a Ranger furnish his own stock was discontinued in 1924.

So far as houses were concerned there were none. Tents were used except at No. 1 and the

Musselshell where small cabins were built. The other stations had tents, but the Rangers did not

live there in the winter. Marriage for Rangers was frowned on, but if they were married, they

usually left their wives in town. In 1908 and 1909 a special Act of Congress authorized the

Forest Service to use the National Forest receipts to build improvements. The Forest Service

came up with a standard cabin. It was made of hewed logs with two rooms downstairs and an

attic type upstairs which also served as either one or two rooms. There was no basement. There

was an outdoor toilet. The cabin was usually built near a spring or creek for household water.

There are a few of these old buildings still in existence in the Region, but none on the

Clearwater. Into this two-room house a Ranger had to crowd his family, if married, and his

office. His wife answered the telephone and often cooked for visiting officers and firefighters

without pay. Then the Forest Service had the audacity to charge him rent. Conditions were far

from satisfactory. Many men quit as soon as they could find steady work or improve the lot of

their families.

During World War I, there was a mild inflation and prices and wages in general rose a little.

Congress raised the salary of Rangers to $100 per month and recognized the need of giving them

yearlong employment. The eight hour law was passed but it applied to the unclassified workers.

It wasn't until 1948 that positions below the rank of Ranger had Civil Service appointments. An

attempt was made to hold work hours to eight except for lookouts and firemen.

In 1924 the Employee Classification Act was passed. This was one of the major steps in

personnel management by the U.S.A. Under the provisions of this Act the beginning salary for

Forest Rangers was $1800 per year, Assistant Supervisors $3000 and Forest Supervisors $4500.

This compared very favorably with private industry. This law contained the first provisions for

retirement and annual leave. If the Supervisor wished he could grant up to 14 days annual leave

and 10 days sick leave. The law also declared if the employee was required to furnish anything

more than personal items he was to be paid for it. The requirement that a Ranger must furnish a

horse came to a quick end. The housing situation was still very bad.

The great depression started in 1929. I doubt that anyone who is too young to have lived at that

time has any conception of the suffering and mental anguish this catastrophe created. I was a

Ranger at that time and I could hire the top woodsmen in my community for $70 per month and

board. In fact some offered to work for less, but $70 was the least paid. During this time

government employees with their "fat" salaries became quite unpopular. Congress responded by

requiring each employee to take three days a month off without pay. It was cabled the "Stagger

System". Employees were supposed to take these three days off at different times so that

someone else could do the work when they were off duty. This sort of an arrangement may have

been possible if everyone was in the same office but it was an absurd idea as far as the Forest

Service was concerned. Forest people took it for what it was meant to be, a cut, and went right on

working. Another provision of this law was that there were to be no promotions in salary. With

the expansion to take care of the emergency programs many people were advanced to higher

positions at the same old pay. To make it worse, appointees in the emergency programs were not

subject to the cut. Nothing ever hurt the morale of the Forest Service like this part of the New

Deal. Fortunately, it lasted only a few years.

In the early twenties Forest Officers began using their private cars to do official business. For the

use of such cars they were reimbursed at the rate of 5¢ per mile. But along with the officer's

mileage statement which showed places he went and mileages, he had to submit a justification

statement showing that a savings was made to the government through the reduction in time over

any other means of travel. Of course, on the forest the only other means of travel was by horse so

it was easy to do. This was just so much red tape. Nevertheless, these reports were required until

1927 when they were discontinued except for trips between cities. Forest officers continued to

use their cars until 1935 when the Forest Service began furnishing pickups and cars for official

travel.

In 1932 the work week was reduced to five and half days. The idea was to put more men to

work. But so far as the Forest Service was concerned there was no increase in allotments so it did

not accomplish this objective. However, it kept Federal employees' hours of work in line with

private industry.

In 1935 leave was extended to cover temporary employees and it became a right.

In 1933 the first Emergency Employment programs were started, and the Forest Service took

advantage of these funds to provide some badly needed housing at the Ranger Stations.

A cabin near the site of the present Powell Ranger Station. The cabin was built by trapper

Franz Kube and was used later by the Forest Service. The photo was taken in 1909.

Oxford Ranger Station on Elk Creek, a branch of Orogrande Creek. The structures are similar

to others built in the early days of the Forest Service. Photo taken in 1921 or 1922.

In 1945 the first Overtime Act was passed. Congress had considered this action a few years

earlier but the Chief's and the Regional Offices opposed it. It was forced onto the Forest Service

by the unions and other departments of the government. There was a conference of fire control

officers in Washington when it became law. As Assistant Chief of Fire Control for Region One, I

was present. We were called into a meeting with the Chief's Staff to discuss the new law and its

impact on fire control. Chris Granger, Associate Chief started the discussion by stating, "It is

inconceivable that any forest officer holding the rank of Ranger or higher would ask payment for

overtime." The discussion which followed was mostly concerned with schemes to evade the law.

Of course, they were not called that but that is what they were.

The eight hour law that had been in effect for about 20 years had been generally disregarded by

the Forest Service except for seasonal laborers. There were many abuses. Forest employees had

great pride in their work and in their ability to get things done. They voluntarily worked more

than eight hours even though there was no emergency. There was great pressure to get more than

eight hours work. As an example, in the personnel rating form it was asked if the employee being

rated was sufficiently interested in his work to put in more than eight hours per day. There were

other abuses. Conferences were often scheduled to start at 8 A.M. Monday, forcing travel on

Sunday. I remember my first detail to the Regional Office. I was to report a 8 A.M. January 2. It

took me all day of January 1, a holiday, to get there. Travel was slow in 1929. Another example

of how business was conducted was an annual meeting of the Chief of Operation and a few

others with each forest for allotment purposes. They were called allotment meetings. These men

met with the Supervisors, their staff and the Rangers and to save time traveled from one forest to

another. To save them laying over Sunday at some Forest Headquarters they would schedule

meetings. These were the obvious violations. They were less common than scheduling work

loads and deadlines that could only be met by working nights and Sundays.

Gradually overtime was accepted as a law that had to be followed. It corrected a lot of abuses

and regardless of its advantages and disadvantages it is here to stay. It is the way of life over a

large part of the world today.

Since 1945 there have been a number of changes in the laws that govern Forest Officer's rates of

pay and fringe benefits. Pay is by two week pay periods instead of by the month. Leave has been

changed and made accumulative; there is a 40 hour week; retirement age has gradually been

reduced from age 65 to 55; costs of moving added and others.

PROPERTY RECORDS

The bane of early day Rangers was property records. In those days a complete annual inventory

was taken of everything classed as property which included knives, forks, spoons, cups, axes,

saws, keys, blankets, etc. This annual inventory was taken in the fall and all shortages had to be

reported and explained on a form numbered 858. If the Ranger could not give a satisfactory

reason for the shortage, he had to pay for it.

During the summer each Ranger had a bin where anything that was broken or worn out was

thrown. Then when the Forest Supervisor or his assistant came around he would examine it and

condemn that which was useless. The difficulty was that a lot of worn out or broken items never

got into the bin. If a cook found a broken spoon or if a kettle got a hole in it they likely went into

the garbage pit. If a packer found a worn out army blanket he was apt to convert it into a saddle

blanket.

So the Ranger was sure to wind up paying for some items if he wasn't pretty careful with his

property and clever in telling how articles were lost. A lot of time was wasted in accounting for

property. I once saw a Ranger ride back to a fire camp to get three tin cups and two wash basins

that the packers had missed because they were left at the spring where the camp got its water.

The submission of the 858 reports of lost property also resulted in some of the most ingenious

lies ever written. If a packstring rolled (they apparently often did) or a mule drowned you could

bet that they were laden with property that had disappeared. If a cabin or a fire camp burned, a

lot of property went up in smoke. A boat once sank on Priest Lake and after the forest clerk had

reviewed the 858 reports, he remarked that with such heavy load, it was small wonder the boat

had sunk.

There was another way to get out of paying for lost property. It was a matter of a little advanced

preparation. The Ranger would snitch a few items from the fire outfits and build up a surplus

above what he was charged for. This was called packratting. Of course, these items had to be

hidden someplace where it would not be picked up in the annual inventory. Then if the inventory

showed a shortage, he would suddenly find the missing property.

This was red tape to the nth degree and everyone hated it, but it took years to get a change.

Finally, in 1924 property was reclassified. It didn't do away with property accounting but it did

grant a great measure of relief by making inexpensive items expendable.

This didn't mean that troubles with property were all solved. One time Procurement and Supply

(P&S) bought some saws. These saws were marked "Sanvig-made in Sweden". P & S claimed

they got them at bargain prices and likely they did. But even if they got them free, they got beat.

They were the thickest and heaviest saws I ever saw. No one would use them, not even the

Swedes. This may be the reason they were exported to America.

Since no one used these saws, they never wore out and the Ranger couldn't get them condemned

because they were in good condition. But where there is a will, there is a way. The 25 man

outfits had good saws, so every time a fire outfit came on the district from the Spokane

Warehouse, the Ranger would trade saws before he sent it back. P&S set up a howl and the result

was an agreement to condemn the Sanvig saws.

COMMUNICATIONS

One of the greatest handicaps to the early day Forest Ranger was lack of an adequate

communication system. Up to 1910 there was no means of transmitting messages faster than by

saddle horse. The need for better communications was so emphasized during the severe 1910 fire

season that the Forest Service embarked on a telephone line construction program. It also

equipped lookouts with heliographs.

The heliograph was an instrument for conveying messages by code using mirrors and a shutter to

flash rays of light from the sun. It was not very effective for Forest Service work because of its

limitations. It could not be used at night; cloudy weather made it inoperable; many men were not

patient enough to learn the code; it took a lot of time to send a message; the instrument had to be

reoriented almost continuously due to the earth's rotation; it could not penetrate smoke or haze. It

was a little better than nothing for some messages did get through.

The Forest Service recognized these handicaps and set out to establish a telephone system that

would link every lookout to a Ranger Station and every Ranger Station to the Supervisor's office.

The first of these lines were made of No. 12 galvanized wire hung on solid insulators spiked to

trees. The maintenence on these lines was slow and expensive because every time a tree fell

across the line it broke and frequently it tore off the insulator.

In about 1911 Ranger William Daughs invented the split tree insulator. He whittled the first

model out of a piece of Douglas fir bark. It was in two parts that were wired together so that the

telephone line rode in an oval hole in the center. The ends of the wire that bound the insulator

together were then bent into hooks that hung on a staple driven into a tree at the proper height.

This insulator let the telephone line ride free so that when a tree fell across it the line seldom

broke. Slack wire would be pulled from both directions and let the line go to the ground with the

falling tree. If more than one tree fell across the line then the insulator unhooked from the staple

and came to the ground. The maintenance men cut the windfall off the line and replaced the

insulator to the staple. This insulator was immediately adopted and at this same time No. 9

galvanized wire, which was much stronger than No. 12, became the standard. These innovations

made telephone line maintenance much easier and cheaper but it still required a lot of tree

climbing.

By 1915 there was a telephone line to each Ranger Station except the Fish Lake District on the

Lochsa. A few lookouts also had lines. Chamberlain Meadows, Elk Summit, and the North Fork

Fish Lake Districts were connected by lines to Montana.

By 1917 almost all lookouts and Ranger Stations in use at that time had telephones.

James C. Urquhart atop a peak in 1917 with a Forest Service heliograph.

Omer Snyder and Ralph Teed constructing telephone line near Cook Mountain

in 1916.

Following World War I, which ended in 1918, the Forest Service was able to get "outpost wire"

from Army Surplus. It was an insulated wire which was hung on tree or other natural supports

without insulators. It came in rolls of a quarter or half mile. There was a frame that went on a

man's back like a pack board in which the wire was placed so that it reeled out as the man

walked. Another man followed with a forked stick and placed the wire over tree branches etc. in

an attempt to get it off the ground and above wandering big game. However, where there were

not tree branches to hang it on game did frequently get tangled in it. It was a big help especially

in providing communication to trail and fire camps.

In 1933 the first practical radios made their appearance. These sets were used to communicate

from fire camps to Ranger Stations and from Ranger Stations to the Supervisors Office. These

sets were very temperamental. Special training in their use was necessary to keep them in

operation. On fires "ham" operators were hired to keep them in operation.

The conversion of the communication system from telephone lines to radios was very gradual

covering the 40 year period from 1934 to 1975. Starting in 1934 a number of forests and Ranger

Districts were combined which cut down the need for telephone lines. Then when smokejumping

became practical a number of fireman and lookout stations primarily used in fire suppression

became out of date. The largest change came when air detection replaced lookout detection. This

started on the Bob Marshall Wilderness area as an experiment in 1944 and spread to all forests.

The transition was so slow that telephone lines gradually fell into disuse without being removed

from the ground. The wire was a hazard to game which often became entangled in it. It took a

special effort to get the wire picked up and out of the woods but sections of old telephone lines

can still be found.

After World War II, radios were much improved and the Forest Service moved rapidly to the use

of radios. At the present time the Clearwater has none of its own telephone lines. The last one

was taken down in 1975.

For communication the Clearwater Forest now has an extensive radio system and uses the

modern commercial telephone system.

Chapter 13

Roads & Trails

The Nez Perce Indians had two main trails through the Bitterroot

Mountains. One was the Lolo Trail or Northern Nez Perce Trail and the

other was the Southern Nez Perce Trail. The Lolo Trail was discussed

in some detail earlier. The Southern Nez Perce Trail went through the Nez Perce Forest. The

Indians also had two other trails which bordered the Forest and went through a part of it. From

these trails they had branch and connecting trails, making it difficult now to say which were

Indian trails or the work of early prospectors.

One of the Indian trails went up the Middle Fork of the Clearwater to Lowell, then up Coolwater

Ridge past Old Man Lake, Shasta Lake, End Butte, Fish Lake, Lost Knife Meadows, Army Mule

Pass, Saturday Ridge, Friday Pass, Elk Summit, Big Sand Lake, Blodgett Pass and down

Blodgett Creek.

Another Indian trail started near Clarkia and followed the St. Joe-North Fork Divide. It took a

small short cut by crossing the Little North Fork at the mouth of Rocky Run. I am not sure what

course it took when it reached the vicinity of Chamberlain Meadows, but it did go to the Clarks

Fork in Montana.

There was an Indian trail from Orofino to Quartz Creek that the road today follows fairly closely.

At Quartz Creek it was joined by a trail from Weippe. From Quartz Creek it crossed to Reeds

Creek in the vicinity of the mouth of Deer Creek. From Deer Creek it crossed to the meadows of

Washington Creek. At one time I understood that it went up the ridge between Beaver and

Scofield Creeks, but I find that this trail was built by miners. From the lower part of Washington

Creek Meadows it went to Deadhorse, Sheep Mountain, Eagle Point and crossed the North Fork

near the mouth of Skull Creek, then up Indian Henry Ridge to Chamberlain Meadows.

Up the Lochsa there was an Indian trail that took off from the Lolo Trail about two miles east of

Indian Post Office and came to the Lochsa River near the mouth of Warm Springs Creek. This is

the trail the Carlin Party took in 1893.

Another old trail, followed by Shattuck in 1910, went from Hoo Doo Lake to Tom Beall Park

and down the ridge the road follows today. It crossed the Lochsa River about a mile below

Powell Ranger Station.

The Indians had a trail from Cayuse Junction to the Blacklead country and on north up the main

Bitterroot divide as far as Kid Lake and likely to Fish Lake.

There is another old trail which may have been an Indian Trail. However, it could be that it was

built by the Northern Pacific engineers who surveyed a railroad location in 1870 from Superior,

Montana over the summit at Goose Lake and down the North Fork to Ahsahka. This trail ran

from Pierce over Elk Mountain to the Bungalow and went over Pot Mountain and Fly Hill where

it joined the Indian trail at Birch Ridge. This old trail was also used by Moose City miners.

No doubt there were many branch trails leading off from these old Indian trails, but their location

is unknown.

In 1860 gold was discovered at Pierce. A gold rush followed and prospectors followed

established travel routes where practical, but they hacked their way through the country and

established many more trails and improved some of the older routes. For example, a trail called

the Moscow Bar Trail was built following from what is now Headquarters east along the divide

between Beaver and Washington Creeks to Deadhorse. From there it went to Moscow Bar,

reaching the river at the mouth of Deadhorse Creek.

A trail was built into the Blacklead country from Montana connecting with the Indian trail to

Cayuse Junction.

Following the Indians and the miners, the Forest Service took over. For a number of years Forest

Service trail construction was very slow. From 1902 to 1907 the Land Office surveyors

sectionized several townships within the Forest and opened up a few routes. One went into the

Cook Mountain country going in from Beaver Saddle over Leanto Ridge.

In 1904 Howard B. Carpenter surveyed the State line between Idaho and Montana. To move his

survey party through the mountains and to keep them supplied, he cut out a trail that in a rough

way followed the Bitterroot Divide. This old trail, with only minor changes, is in use today.

In 1908 and 1909 the railroad surveyors opened a trail through the Lochsa with some branches to

the Lolo and Coolwater Divide trails. The railroad survey did not build a trail through Black

Canyon. This section of trail was built by the Forest Service in 1927.

Following the fires of 1910, the Forest Service received appropriations for trail construction.

Trails were badly needed. A table of mileage on the Forest, prepared in 1916, shows that the

Clearwater had a total of 160 miles of trail. This did not include trails on the Lochsa which was

not part of the Clearwater at that time.

The job of constructing an adequate trail system was tremendous and the Forest Service set to

work with vigor. Every Ranger had at least two and some had more crews building trails. By

1927 trails were completed up almost every major drainage and up every ridge of any

importance. In fact, the Forest Service had developed a mania for building trails. Even though a

good network of trails was completed by 1927, it was decided to build even more and cheaper

trails by building what was called "way trails"; any trail a loaded mule string could get over. As

early as 1925 some Forest officers suggested diverting the money to road construction, but such

ideas were quickly suppressed. Trail construction was pursued with vigor up to 1933, but a few

road jobs that were easy to construct were started in 1929.

With road construction in full swing in 1933, all trail construction stopped. Many "way trails"

were never maintained.

1921 photo of the trail along the North Fork of the Clearwater at Castle Rock.

A tunnel along the North Fork trail below Bungalow. Construction of the North Fork

Road in 1955 wiped out the tunnel.

In 1939 the Forest Service developed aerial delivery of supplies by parachute and in 1940 men

were being parachuted to fires. This made many miles of trail unnecessary. Way trails were

almost entirely abandoned and many more miles of trail became useless except for hunting.

The helicopter next came into use, making still more miles of trail of no practical value except

for harvest of game.

THE LOLO TRAIL

The Lolo Trail, strictly speaking, is the travel route from Lolo, Montana to Weippe, Idaho.

However, the route has had a number of names and its termini have been changed from time to

time.

The Indians traveled the Lolo Trail before the coming of white men. The Nez Perce name for this

route is Khusahna Ishkit or buffalo trail. It was one of the two main routes of travel for the Nez

Perces to the buffalo herds in Montana and Wyoming. The other route was further south and first

became known as the Southern Nez Perce Trail and later as the Nez Perce Trail.

Some writers state that this trail is thousands of years old. However, the studies I have made

indicate that, while part of it is very old, a large part of it has been used only a few hundred

years, probably after the Indians of this locality acquired horses (about 1700 A.D.). One of the

old sections of the trail is from Lolo, Montana to Wendover Creek. Lewis and Clark found this

part of the trail much deeper than the mountain section. It was used by the Salish Indians in

reaching the salmon fishing areas around Powell Ranger Station, there being no salmon in the

waters of the Clarks Fork River. Another feature of the Lolo Trail that supports my theory is that,

at the time of Lewis and Clark, the trail ran from meadow to meadow. Apparently this was to

insure horsefeed, when a much shorter route with fewer changes in grade could have been

developed.

The Lolo Trail was a formidable obstacle to the early explorers, trappers, hunters and soldiers. It

is often described as precipitous, boulder strewn and over high rugged mountains. It is none of

these. The highest point on the trail is 7035 feet at Indian Post Office, which is not high as

mountains go. Boulders are rare and there isn't a single cliff to be seen in the entire route.

What then, made this trail so difficult to cross? There are a number of reasons.

First, the area is densely timbered. Each year dead trees rot off and fall, others are blown over by

the wind or broken off by snow. Even one year's crop of down trees would make travel difficult,

and the accumulation of several years made travel slow and dangerous to horses.

Second, snow comes early and melts late. Snow may fall any month, but winter snow may come

as early as October and leave sometime between July 1 and August 1.

Third, there is little game along the Lolo Trail. Game animals do cross this divide, but prefer the

basins at the heads of streams for their feeding grounds.

Fourth, the ridge this trail follows is not a hogback but a series of mountains and deep saddles.

The divide is cut by six major saddles and many more small ones so that the traveler is

continually dropping into deep saddles and then climbing out the other side. For example, the

elevation at Sherman Saddle is about 4800 feet and Sherman Peak 6500, a climb of about 1700

feet in three miles.

General Howard's description of the Lolo Trail illustrates this point. "It does not appear far to the

next peak. It is not so in a straight course, but such a course is impossible. 'Keep to the Hogback'.

That means that there usually is a crooked connecting ridge between two neighboring heights

and you must keep on it. The necessity of doing so often made the distance three times greater

than by straight lines; but the ground was so stoney, too steep, the canyon too deep to attempt the

shorter course. Conceive this climbing ridge after ridge, in the wildest wilderness, with the only

possible pathway filled with timber, small and large, crossed and criss-crossed; and now, while

the horses and mules are feeding on unnutritious wire grass, you will not wonder at only sixteen

miles a day".

Fifth, the Clearwater mud. The country is blessed with a deep fertile soil that becomes slick and

deep mud when wet.

In 1897 President Cleveland proclaimed the Bitter Root Reserve. It included territory in both

Idaho and Montana. The Lolo Trail was within its boundaries. After a number of changes, the

Lolo Trail fell within the boundaries of the Lolo and Clearwater National Forests in 1907, and it

has been there since that time.

Ever since the forest was created, the Lolo Trail was one of the main travel routes for the Forest

Service people. It had been in continuous use since the days of General Howard, when it was last

cleared of windfalls, but travelers had gone over or around windfalls where possible. In 1907, the

Clearwater and Lolo Forests received allotments for opening the Lolo Trail. They started from

both ends. The Lolo started at Lolo Hot Springs which was the end of the road in Montana. The

work on the Lolo was under Dwight L. Beatty. I am not sure, but I believe he was the Ranger.

The work on the Clearwater was under Ranger John Durant. He spent considerable time on the

job himself, but he hired Ralph Castle as foreman, Walter Sewell as cook, and Charley Adams as

packer. There were a number of axemen and sawyers in the crew. They started in May and set up

their first camp at a small creek on the old road my father, C.W. Space, built in 1897 or 1898 to

take machinery to the old Pioneer mine. They were almost immediately subjected to a snow

storm. They named the creek Siberia Creek and so it is today.

From Siberia Creek they built an almost level trail to the forks of Lolo and Yoosa Creeks,

thereby eliminating a very muddy section of the old trail that went down Lolo Creek and over a

low hill to Musselshell Meadows.

From the forks of Lolo and Yoosa Creeks they were on the trail built by Bird and all they needed

to do was remove the windfalls and brush that had accumulated in the thirty years since General

Howard went over it. Of course, there was plenty to do, but it was much faster after they did not

have to dig a tread. The crews met near Indian Post Office. Thereafter, the Forest Service

maintained the Lolo Trail annually and there was little or no change until road construction

started at Lolo Hot Springs in 1925 and reached Powell in 1928.

To replace the Lolo Trail, a single-lane road with turnouts was started in 1930 and sections built

from both ends each summer, the crews meeting in 1934. A celebration was held at Indian Grave

to commemorate the event. This was, and much of it still is, a rough, steep and crooked road. For

the benefit of the numerous parties I have taken over the Lolo Motorway, I wrote a little jingle. It

goes like this:

"This road is winding, crooked and rough,

But you can make it, if you are tough.

God help your tires, God help your load,

God bless the men who built this road."

In addition to building a motorway along the Lolo Trail, the Forest Service had located and

signed many points of historical interest. Elers Koch, at one time Supervisor of the Lolo National

Forest and later Assistant Regional Forester in charge of Timber Management, did much to

locate the campgrounds of Lewis and Clark. He worded the first signs that were installed in 1939

and took part in seeing that they were properly placed.

When I became Supervisor of the Clearwater in 1954, I revived the effort to locate the camp sites

of Lewis and Clark and other points of interest along the Lolo Trail. Practically all camps are

now located and many are noted with historical markers.

I first crossed the Lolo Trail in 1924. I have no idea how many times I have been over it in the

past 50 years. I have walked it, ridden on horseback and traveled by car. I have slogged over it in

the rain and mud, fought fires along it in summer heat, dust and drought and been caught in some

of its early snowstorms. I have seen it change from a trail to a road and highway, and a large part

of the area that it traverses from a sea of snags, following the disastrous fire of 1919, to a

beautiful forest.

The Lolo Trail has exacted its measure of toil, pain suffering and death. Yet it is a beautiful

country with a lot of history. In fact so much history that in 1965, it was designated a National

Historical Landmark.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Up to 1920 the Clearwater Forest had practically no roads. There was a rough road to the Oxford

Mine on Elk Creek built by the mining company in 1902. There was also a road to the Pioneer

Mine from Musselshell built about 1897. This road soon became almost impassable beyond the

Musselshell Ranger Station. Another road of sorts ran up Swede Creek across a hill to the mouth

of Greer Gulch. There were also some miners roads around French Mountain. The road up the

Middle Fork ended at the Middle Fork (No. 1) Ranger Station. All these roads ended at or near

the Forest Boundary. They were exceedingly rough, muddy and steep. They were passible only

during the summer months.

Following the fire season of 1919, which ranks second to 1910 in area burned, the Forest Service

appealed to Congress for money to build some roads. This request was granted, but since the

Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) was the road building agency of the United States, the money was

alloted to them. The BPR let contracts to Morrison-Knudson (this was a small outfit then) to

build roads to Pete King in 1920 and to the Bungalow in 1921. These roads were typical of that

day. They were nine feet wide and followed the contour of the hills. They were "crooked as a

snake" and if you met some other vehicle it was a problem to pass, but you didn't meet many

people. The Forest Service soon found that it was necessary to widen these roads.

The Forest Service wanted to get into road building and something of a hassle arose between

them and the BPR over who should have the authority. The BPR was dominant until about 1928

when the Forest Service assured the BPR and Congress that it was interested in building low

standard roads which were termed "Motor Ways" or "Truck Trails". It agreed that the BPR was

to be the agency in building highways. The Forest Service then began building roads. These

roads were not designed. All that was used was a center line location. The roads under the CCC

Program were all truck trails. The primary purpose of these roads was for fire protection and they

were well worth the cost. The Forest Service did not anticipate that these roads would be used

much by the public. In this, they were greatly mistaken. Traffic built up on some of these roads

far beyond what they could carry without rutting them deeply. This was especially true in the fall

when the hunters took to the woods when they were wet and easily damaged. Waterbars and

open top culverts came into use but they were never very satisfactory.

The CCC ended in 1942. Since then the only road built by Forest Service crews was the road

from Pierce to Musselshell. It was a war emergency project to open up timber needed for the

war.

Following the war all roads, except those in campgrounds, have been built either under contract

or as part of a timber sale agreement. Some of these roads were designed by the BPR but most

were by Forest Service Engineers.

The Clearwater Forest now has a total of 2,320 miles of roads. A list of all the roads and the date

of construction would be too long to include here. I will list only those of major interest.

ROAD

DATE

COMPLETED

Pete King Ranger Station

1920

Bungalow Ranger Station

1921

Weitas Guard Station

1933

Road to Elk Summit

1933

Lolo Trail

1934

Road up the North Fork through to Superior, Montana was built from both ends

and finished

1935

Tom Beall

1935

Smith Creek-Pete King Creek

1953

Glenwood-Eldorado

1953

Diamond Match Road (Superior-Cedars)

1954

Cold Springs

1955

Eldorado Musselshell

1955

Eldorado

1960

Down River

1967

Beaver Creek

1967

THE WASHINGTON CREEK BRIDGE

At the mouth of Washington Creek there is a fine, heavy duty bridge across the North Fork of the

Clearwater River. The peculiar thing about this bridge is obviously a more elaborate structure

than is needed for the traffic it carries, the question arises as to why it was built.

In 1953, Assistant Regional Forester, R.U. Harmon, made an inspection of the Clearwater

National Forest. One of the points covered in his memorandum of inspection was the road

situation in the area tributary to the North Fork downriver from Orogrande Creek.

At the time the situation was as follows. The Forest Service had a road on a good grade from

Pierce to the mouth of Orogrande Creek (The Bungalow), but most of it was too narrow for log

hauling. This road ran down river to Pack Creek. Potlatch Forests, Inc. had two logging railroads

extending out of Headquarters. One ran down Washington Creek to a log landing at the mouth of

Lodge Creek. The other ran up Alder Creek and down Beaver Creek to the mouth of the South

Fork of Beaver Creek. The Forest Service had roads to Canyon Ranger Station and Washington

Creek with connecting links, but these were one lane roads or motorways that went over Elk

Mountain or Bertha Hill. They were narrow, crooked, steep and were passable only during the

summer months. There were some good logging roads on National Forest lands around Sheep

Mountain and Deadhorse but these ended at the P.F.I. railroad landings.

Of course, this situation was very much to the advantage of P.F.I. since no other company could

bid on National Forest timber in that area. It was greatly to the disadvantage of the Forest

Service, not only because it limited bidding for timber, but also because if repeated timber sales

were made as in the past, the forest would eventually have some very good roads on the forest

that could be reached only by going over some low classed roads. Mr. Harmon pointed out this

situation in his memorandum of inspection and urged that a better system of roads be planned.

In the spring of 1954, I came to the Clearwater as Supervisor just in time to sit in on the review

of Harmon's inspection report by the Regional Forester and his staff. There was a lively

discussion. No one disagreed with the idea of a better road system, but there were a lot of

different ideas on what to do about it. It was a difficult problem involving a large expenditure of

money.

Finally, I proposed that Forest personnel make a thorough investigation of the problem and come

up with a report and recommendations on what the best transportation system should be. I

promised a study of all their proposals and any others we could think of and a comparison of the

costs, advantages and disadvantages of each. The Regional Forester, Percy (Pete) Hanson, agreed

to this proposal and gave me a year to make the study and report.

I returned to the Forest and immediately organized my staff to get going on this difficult but

interesting problem. The organization set up was for my Timber Staff Assistant, Sam Evans, and

his helpers, but mainly Robert Spencer, to compile the information on timber volumes by

logging units. The Forest Engineer, Bernie Glaus, and his assistants, particularly Norman

Allison, were to study the possible road routes and estimate the costs of the construction and

hauling. I was to coordinate the work, assist with difficult situations and pull the data together for

the final report.

We started out by listing every route for investigation that had the least promise of being

feasible, but it soon boiled down to three routes with possible combinations and variations. These

were the Orogrande, Washington, and Beaver Creek routes.

One variation of the Orogrande route we studied was the possibility of staying on the south side

of the river from the Bungalow down to Washington Creek and then bridging the river. This

would have permitted use of the old bridge at the Bungalow for administrative travel since it was

inadequate for log haul and thus saved the construction of one bridge. This route proved to be

more costly than the north side because a one lane road had previously been built to Pack Creek.

During the summer of 1954, I rode the trail from the Bungalow to Canyon Ranger Station. I

examined all the blocks of timber and checked the road possibilities and satisfied myself that the

estimated timber volumes were there. I made my last trip in October to Wallow Mountain (I took

annual leave because I shot an elk).

During the fall of 1954 we assembled and analyzed our data. We found that the Washington

Creek route was the least acceptable. One thing against this route was the steep grade from the

river to Lodge Creek.

This left the Beaver and Orogrande Creek routes. We found that it would be cheaper to haul out

by way of Beaver Creek, but the P.F.I. logging railroad occupied the only practical location. To

take this route would also omit any road from the mouth of Orogrande Creek down river to the

vicinity of Quartz Creek. We had no way of placing a value on this section of the road for

administrative purposes, but after considering the small difference in the cost of the two routes,

the difficulty of acquiring a suitable right-of-way for the Beaver Creek route and the

administrative advantages of having a road downriver we recommended the Orogrande route.

Constructing Washington Creek Bridge across the North Fork in 1962.

I presented the forest's report to the Regional Forester and his staff. I received many

compliments on the work we did, and the decision was made to follow the forest's

recommendation. The first contract on the downriver road was let that spring.

The road work progressed as fast as finances became available. The road to the Bungalow was

being rebuilt and a bridge was constructed across the North Fork at the mouth of Washington

Creek in preparation for a connecting link between the roads in lower Washington Creek and the

main road along the river.

Times changed and so do logging methods. The P.F.I. had operated a system of private logging

railroads for years but they found that it would be cheaper to do away with their railroads and use

logging roads instead. They, therefore, decided to do away with their Beaver Creek railroad and

replace it with a logging road. Since the Forest Service was interested in a road on this location it

was proposed to build the road on a cost sharing basis. An agreement was soon signed to that

effect. This then became the main road to the Canyon area. It also made the proposed connecting

road from Lower Washington Creek to the river unnecessary. The bridge across the river was

then left without filling its original intent.

THE LEWIS AND CLARK HIGHWAY

During the mining days of the 1860's the people of Lewiston clamored for a road to Montana by

way of the Lolo Trail. This route was impractical and the proposal was dropped.

A railroad was surveyed from Kooskia to Lolo in 1908 and 1909 and, although it was never

built, out of this survey came the idea for a road following the same route. Anyone who would

think of such a thing in 1908 had to be a dreamer. Who the dreamer was is unknown. The idea

caught on around Kooskia and Kamiah but gained little headway until 1915 when the Forest

Service investigated the proposal. I am unable to find a copy of the report and recommendations

on this project, but they must have been favorable because in 1916 this road was designated a

state highway and given the name of "The Lewis and Clark Highway".

Before 1919 there was a ferry crossing the Middle Fork just above Kooskia. It was replaced by a

bridge in 1919. This was the first work done on the Lewis and Clark Highway. However, prior to

1919 there was a wagon road built by settlers up the Middle Fork as far as Smith Creek.

In 1920 a narrow road was built to Pete King Ranger Station. It was nine feet wide and was

reconstructed twice before the highway was finally completed.

Up to this time, interest in the highway was pretty much confined to the people of the Kooskia

and Kamiah localities and the Forest Service. But the use of cars and trucks was expanding

rapidly and increased the need for through highways. Wider interest in a road from Lewiston east

soon developed and that city got into the act in 1921. In December of that year the Lewis and

Clark Highway Association was organized with headquarters at Lewiston.

Building the road up the Lochsa to Pete King in 1919. This road was later upgraded and

eventually extended across the Bitterroots into Montana. It is the Lewis & Clark Highway

(U.S. 12).

Ferry across the Middle Fork of the Clearwater just east of Kooskia in 1918. A bridge was

started at the site the following year.

Mr. Seaburg was its head man, but Mark Means also took a very active part. The first meeting of

this association was at Lewiston in January 1922 and was attended by representatives of

Chambers of Commerce and other organizations from as far away as Missoula.

The Lewiston meeting was followed by another Chamber of Commerce meeting in Missoula. At

this meeting Governor Dixon was the speaker. His talk was a big boost to the highway; he

covered the need for the highway and announced Montana's approval and support of the project.

With all the support and enthusiasm that had been generated it appeared that the highway could

soon be built. In 1923 the survey was extended beyond Boulder Ranger Station. A river crossing

was planned near Old Man Creek and another near the present Lochsa Ranger Station. The

decision to move the Ranger Station from Boulder Creek to the present site of the Lochsa Work

Center was partly based on the assumption that there would be a bridge across the Lochsa at this

point. The highway was extended to Deadman Creek in 1923; it was a narrow road that was later

reconstructed.

In 1924 Grangeville and the Northwest Mining Association opposed further expenditures on the

Lewis and Clark Highway until a water grade road was built to Elk City. However, the road was

extended to Bimerick Creek. This section was also reconstructed later.

In 1925 it was decided to build a road from the east to Powell Ranger Station before doing any

more work on the western end. The road reached Powell in 1928. It was a low quality road that

was later rebuilt, although parts of the old road were used.

In 1929 the State Highway Department yielded to pressure to place money on other roads ahead

of the Lewis and Clark Highway. At this time the attitude of the Forest Service changed. With

the antagonistic attitude of the Forest Service and only local support in Idaho, money for this

project was not forthcoming. The ends of the road stayed at Bimerick Creek and Powell Ranger

Station from 1928 to 1941.

There was some work accomplished during this period, but compared with the total job it seemed

small indeed. An aerial road survey was made of the route in 1931. It was the first such survey in

the U.S.A. The state did the best it could by using convict labor starting in 1935. A camp was

built at the mouth of Canyon Creek and prisoners were employed in widening the road that had

previously been constructed. A narrow road was built to Wild Horse Creek. This camp was later

used to house Japanese internees who also worked on the road. But prisoner work was not very

effective, mainly because not enough heavy equipment was available.

Times changed. The Forest Service again became favorable to the project, partly due to pressure

from the public, but mainly because the road was needed for National Forest Administration. In

1941 the Regional Forester stated that he favored the road. That summer the Bureau of Public

Roads surveyed the entire project. The Forest Service furnished the packers and pack stock.

Considerable pressure was continually exerted by the Lewis and Clark Highway Association to

get the highway through. At one time it was proposed to punch a low-grade road through with a

bulldozer under the theory that the traveling public would demand that the road be brought up to

standard. The Forest Service strenuously opposed such a move. Regional Forester P.D. Hanson

publicly went on record against such a proposal at a meeting in Lewiston in 1945. He contended

that such a road would be unsafe and a waste of money. The Idaho State Highway Board agreed.

By 1948 funds were available and construction was resumed at the rate of two or three miles per

year. This was not fast enough to satisfy interested parties, so all sorts of publicity stunts were

used to call attention to the need for a speeded-up program. As an example, in 1952 a party

headed by Harold Coe of Clarkston hiked through the unfinished section through the Lochsa

Canyon. They were not woodsmen and in some places lost the old trail and had to beach it over

the rocks along the river. It took them four days and some members of the party were exhausted.

In 1955 the Idaho Legislature passed a law which made a toll road legally permissible.

Thereafter, a group known as the Turnpike Association was organized to study the possibility of

completing the remaining section as a toll road. A study was made but was reported unfavorable.

In 1957, a trek through the canyon was organized, culminating with a meeting at Boulder Flat.

The old trail along the river had not been repaired after the heavy damage caused by the 1948

flood. It was not practical to ride through all the canyon. The party went down the river to the

cable bridge, then over Mocus Point and down Boulder Creek. It was an enthusiastic meeting

attended by about two thousand people.

In the fall of 1957, a U.S. Senate investigation was held at Lewiston by Senator Gore from

Tennessee. The Lewis and Clark Highway received such support that the legislature appropriated

four million dollars to complete the road. There really was no need for further publicity but

another trek through the Lochsa was conducted in 1958. It was a lot of fun, but the goal had been

reached and the trek and meeting were pointless. There were proposals to have another trek in

1959, but I told them that I would not accompany them. I had walked and rode over the route

several times and from then on I was going to ride in a car.

In October 1959, U.S. Senator Dworshak of Idaho was escorted through the uncompleted section

of the road in a four-wheel drive vehicle supplied by the Triangle Construction Company which

opened up the last section of the highway. I rode through with the Senator. Similar vehicles had

gone through as early as July 1959.

In 1960 the section from Powell to Lolo Pass was widened, straightened and oiled and some

minor improvements were made in 1961 and 1962.

In 1962 the road was completed and a big dedication ceremony held at Packer Meadows. About

ten thousand people were present including such dignitaries as Forest Supervisor Ralph Space,

Regional Forester Boyd Rassmussen, Chief Forester Edward Cliff, Governor Babcock of

Montana, Governor Smylie of Idaho, Senator Church of Idaho and Senator Gore from Tennessee

who was the main speaker. Ray McNichols of Orofino served as master of ceremonies and the

two governors sawed a log in two instead of cutting the usual ribbon.

Construction of Lewis and Clark Highway by Years.

1919

Bridge built across the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River.

1920

Road built from Kooskia to Lowell.

1923

Road built from Lowell to Deadman Creek.

1924

Road built from Deadman to Bimerick.

1925

Eastern end built to Crooked Creek.

1926

Crooked Creek to four miles east of Powell Ranger Station.

1927

Crooked Creek bridge built.

1928

Road completed to Powell Ranger Station.

1930

Preliminary survey of entire route.

1931

Aerial survey made of proposed route.

1935

Middle Fork of Clearwater Bridge built.

1941

Complete survey of entire route.

1941

Western end extended from Bimerick to Wildhorse Creek.

1948

Road built from Powell Ranger Station to Papoose Creek.

1950

West end extended from Wildhorse to Beaver Flat.

1951

West end extended to Fish Creek.

1951

East end extended to Wendover Creek.

1953

East end built to Squaw Creek.

1954

West end constructed to Five Islands.

1955

West end built from Five Islands to Bald Mt. Creek.

1956

West end extended from Bald Mt. Creek to Stanley Creek.

1956

East end built from Squaw Creek to Warm Springs Creek.

1957

Road oiled from Kooskia to Syringa.

1958

Section built from Stanley Creek to Eagle Mt. Creek. The section near Old Man Creek widened.

1958-59

From Syringa to Pete King widened and oiled.

1958-60

From Colgate to Eagle Mt. Creek constructed. Closed the gap.

1959-60

The section from Powell to Lolo Pass widened and straightened.

1962

In August Highway officially opened and dedicated.

Where the Lewis and Clark Highway crosses Fish Creek.

Chapter 14

Timber Management

The major portion of the Clearwater National Forest lands was

withdrawn in 1897. To this was added further withdrawals up to 1908.

So far as the Clearwater Forest was concerned, no timber sales were

made for about 20 years. The chief concern of the Forest Service for many years was fire

protection. In this activity the Forest was not very successful. Huge areas were burned in 1910,

1919, 1929 and 1934.

In 1912 a sawmill was established at Weippe and an inquiry made concerning the possibility of a

timber sale in the Musselshell country. There was talk that a railroad might be built to Weippe.

The Northern Pacific Railroad Co. had surveyed a possible route up Fords Creek in 1909.

Following this inquiry the Forest Service organized a cruising party early in 1913 and set out to

cruise what was known as the Musselshell country, which was actually all of the Lolo Creek

drainage within the forest. So great was the rush to get the job done that it was started in March

with five feet of snow on the ground.

According to K.D. Swan this party, in addition to himself, consisted of the following men:

Fred R. Mason

Chief of party

R.V. Buckner

Traverseman

Shaw

Cruiser

Miller

Cruiser

Eldon Myrick

Cruiser

Lloyd Fenn

Cruiser

Alfred Hastings

Cruiser

Clark Miles

Cruiser

James Yule

Draftsman

Charlie Farmer

Checked work from the Regional Office

Robert Gaffney

Cook

Many of these men later had long careers in the Forest Service. This crew not only cruised the

timber, but made a contour map, which proved very accurate.

The timber sale was advertised in July 1914 for 602 million board feet and 300,000 cedar poles.

This would have been an enormous sale. I doubt Region One has ever made one so large.

The advertised prices were as follows: white pine, $3.50; Ponderosa Pine, $2.00; Lodgepole

pine, $1.50; spruce, $1.50; grand fir, $.75; and others at $.50 per thousand board feet. The

average price was $2.05 per thousand board feet.

The logging plan contemplated the construction of a railroad up Fords Creek to Weippe with

branch lines to the Lolo-Musselshell sale. Cutting was to be clear cut and plant.

No bids were received. The mill at Weippe was discontinued in 1918.

In 1921, U.S. Swartz cruised the Orofino Creek drainage. This survey was made upon the

application of Messrs. Baily and Watters, miners in that locality. They planned to establish a

sawmill at Pierce. The sale was never made. The cruise showed 48 million board feet of timber,

21 million of it white pine, in the Orofino Creek drainage. It cost three and one eighth cents per

acre to make the cruise.

An extensive reconnaissance of the forest was conducted in 1921 and 1922. The primary object

of this survey was for fire control. However, it did produce a good map of the timbered and

burned areas. It also showed that there were large areas of burn that were not reproducing.

In 1923 and 1924 there was further reconnaissance of the merchantable areas to determine what

volumes they supported. The total volume of timber on the Clearwater Forest at that time was

estimated to be 4,200 million board feet. That did not include the Palouse District or any of the

Lochsa and Middle Fork drainages which were not then a part of the Clearwater. Today's cruises

show that those estimates were conservative. So the Clearwater, even with its large burns, had a

sizable volume of timber.

The first timber sale on the Clearwater, so far as I can determine, was for cedar poles on Smith

Creek. These poles were cut in 1916 to 1924 and driven down the Middle Fork to Kooskia.

The next sale was also for cedar poles. It was to Chapin on Rat and Yakus Creeks in 1929.

Sales then dribbled along on an intermittent basis up until 1939. Since 1939 sales have been

made each year. At first sales were either to the Musselshell Lumber Co. which had a mill at

Musselshell Meadows or to the Potlatch Forest Inc. in lower Beaver Creek. Cut remained small

until lumber prices were spurred by a war time economy. The largest cut in one year before 1946

was 18 million board feet, but the average for the 10 years prior to that had been 8.4 million.

With the increased demand for timber the Forest Service moved to open up large blocks of

timber by a road construction program. A good logging road was built from Musselshell to

Pierce, another from Kamiah to Lolo Creek, a third into the head of Pete King Creek then on the

Nezperce Forest, and a fourth into the Sheep Mountain area.

In 1951 the Diamond Match Co. bought the privately-owned lands in the Deception-Moose

Creek area and a sale was made to them for the National Forest timber there. They completed the

road about 1953. From these main haul roads extensions were built under timber sale contracts

by the purchaser.

When logging was started in the Clearwater country logs were moved by horses.

Even the railroad didn't do away with the need for real horsepower! Horses still assisted in

the skidding of logs to rail loading points like this one near Headquarters in 1935.

A portion of the old Beaver Creek flume which was used to float logs down the

slopes to the North Fork. It was used from 1933 to 1944 until the advent of a more

extensive road system ended its usefulness.

The "wanigan," cookhouse and bunkhouse for crews on the annual log drive down

the North Fork of the Clearwater. Originating from decks at Isabella Landing, the

logs were floated down the river to Lewiston every year for 43 years. The last drive

was in 1971.

The annual cut climbed to 116.3 thousand board feet in 1959 and has been below 100 million

only one year since that time. The average cut in the past fifteen years has been 143 million

board feet. The largest cut in any one year was 206 million in 1966. They are still below the

allowable annual cut of 205 million board feet, but expanding the cut goes hand in hand with

extending the road system which many people oppose.

There were discussions of management plans on the Clearwater forest as far back as in the early

thirties, but the timber cut was so low and fire control so uncertain that nothing was done. With

the increased cut in the 1940's, cutting budgets and management plans became more practical

and necessary.

The first set of timber management plans were prepared in 1950 but they were not approved. In

1953 the forest set out to prepare a new set of Management plans. Under the leadership of Robert

Spencer, plans were prepared for both the North Fork and the Pierce-Lochsa Working Circles.

These plans were approved in 1960 and revised in 1967.

The huge fires before the forest were established and those of 1910, 1919, 1929 and 1934 laid

waste a large area. Attempts were made to plant some of the areas of double burn but finances to

make more than a token showing were not available. Under the CCC program about 6500 acres

were planted in the Bimerick Creek and Boundary Mountain areas. Some of these plantations

were very successful but, unfortunately, in some parts of this area ponderosa pine was planted on

sites where it would not do well.

Some areas around Cook Mountain and on Hemlock Creek were also planted from about 1955 to

1960 and these plantations are doing well.

In 1955 one of those freaks of nature happened that foresters dream about but seldom see. That

year the forest produced a tremendous seed crop. Normally any species of tree has a good seed

crop about every four years, but ordinarily the seed year of one species does not match that of

another. For example, white pine may have a good seed crop in 1976 and white fir in 1977.

However, in 1955 every species, for some unknown reason, had a bumper crop of seed. Even

trees not over 20 feet tall were loaded with seed.

At the time this happened the Clearwater Forest had an area of about 200,000 acres that was not

reproducing. A reexamination of areas needing planting was made in 1973 which showed that

this had been reduced to about 50,000 acres. The forest is reducing this by planting each year.

The Forest now has an enormous stand of young trees.

The cumulative cut of timber on the Clearwater Forest reached one billion feet in 1961, the two

billion mark in 1969 and in 1976 went over three billion. So the Clearwater has contributed a

sizable cut of timber to the nation's economy and is continuing at an average rate of 160 million

feet per year for the past ten years.

There have been some large sales of timber. The largest was the Quartz Creek sale which cut out

about 151 million. The Diamond Match Sale ran for 19 years, 1949 to 1968, cut 149 million. The

Canyon Face sale threatens to produce more than either of these. It has a cut of 135 million and

is still in operation.

A portion of the old Beaver Creek flume which was used to float logs down the slopes to the

North Fork. It was used from 1933 to 1944 until the advent of a more extensive road system

ended its usefulness.

The "wanigan," cookhouse and bunkhouse for crews on the annual log drive down the North

Fork of the Clearwater. Originating from decks at Isabella Landing, the logs were floated down

the river to Lewiston every year for 43 years. The last drive was in 1971.

The forest is endeavoring to salvage the large volumes of white pine being killed by the blister

rust. Mature white pine dies rather slowly when attacked by the rust. This has given the Forest an

opportunity to salvage a major portion of it. However, there are some inaccessible areas in the

upper reaches of Isabella and Collins Creeks that probably will not be reached in time.

Helicopter logging came to the Clearwater in 1974. It had been developed on the coast about 10

years before coming to the Clearwater. It is past the experimental stage and holds great promise

for logging steep areas which would be subject to heavy erosion by other methods.

TUSSOCK MOTH SPRAY JOB

The Bureau of Entomology, with Jim Evenden in charge at Couer d'Alene, reported in 1946 that

a tussock moth infestation on the Palouse District which had been under observation for several

years had reached an epidemic stage. The infestation then covered about 350,000 acres, and it

was recommended that the area be sprayed with DDT in the spring of 1947 when the moth was

in the larva stage.

This was one of the first and largest aerial spraying jobs the Forest Service had conducted. To

spray 350,000 acres is a sizable project by any yardstick and the job was complicated by several

factors. The land ownership was complicated since the National Forest, state and number of

private owners were involved. The permission and cooperation of each owner had to be obtained

before the project could start. Then the whole project had to be completed during the time the

moth was in the larva stage, which is about a month. Another complication was that the spraying

could not be done in rainy weather.

To get ready for such a large project was like planning for a battle. Everything had to be foreseen

and an organization set up to take care of every detail. Headquarters were set up at Moscow with

Jack Jost in charge. The newspaper clipping in the "History of the Palouse Ranger District"

erroneously gives his name as "Jack Frost". Under him were a number of assistants that handled

various parts of the program. Eldon Myrick was in charge of public relations. He talked to the

press, answered calls from the public, and attended meetings concerned with the project. Many

reporters, since they rarely if ever contacted Jack Jost, got the idea that Myrick was in charge of

the project. James Evenden and his crew directed the planes, kept records of the areas covered,

and tested to see that there were no misses. George Duvendack had crews transporting the DDT

from the tank cars and loading the planes. The army airforce furnished the tank trucks. Norm

Henry and Don Chamberlain made purchases and paid bills. Wilber Crumm and Charles

Syverson of the Weather Bureau made the weather forecasts. B.F. Wilkerson established and

operated a radio system that provided communication through out the area. The 14 planes were

furnished by Johnson Flying Service of Missoula and Central Aircraft Company of Yakima.

Landing fields were at Moscow-Pullman for the larger aircraft and at Princeton, Laird Park and

Burnt Ridge for small planes.

The weather was good and the operation was completed well ahead of schedule. There were two

slight accidents. One plane flipped over at Laird Park but it was not serious and the plane was

soon back in action. Another plane made a forced landing, but no one was was injured.

The project was a success. The tussock moth epidemic ended and there were no complaints. No

side effects were reported.

BLISTER RUST CONTROL (BRC)

I first learned that such a thing as white pine blister rust existed in early 1920 when two men

came to the University of Idaho Forestry School to solicit recruits to combat it. They explained

that the disease came from Europe and had been established in British Columbia and the Lake

States. It was not as yet in Idaho. It was a very destructive disease and if it was not kept out

could destroy the stands of Idaho white pine. They wanted to hire men to go to all the farms in

North Idaho and destroy all currant and gooseberry bushes to prevent it from becoming

established from such a possible source. The currants and gooseberries are the alternate host for

the disease.

Early blister rust control efforts were confined to the destruction of domesticated currant and

gooseberry bushes which are scientifically called ribes, and to scouting to see if there were any

infested areas.

I did not go into this work, but I explained the disease and its potential to my father who

introduced the first bill in the Idaho Legislature in 1923 appropriating money to combat it.

In 1923, Mrs. Ted Peterson, a school teacher, discovered and reported a blister rust infection on

white pine near her husband's ranch on Browns Creek. This infection was so far from any known

source at that time that her finding was doubted.

In 1925, a reconnaissance covering 3500 acres, was conducted on Orofino, Orogrande and

Browns Creeks to get information on the numbers of ribes plants involved. This reconnaissance

also confirmed Mrs. Peterson's report that the rust was established on Browns Creek in 1922

from an unknown source.

In 1929 the first treatment of ribes was started. It consisted of hand pulling ribes on 373 acres

and spraying of 370 acres. Indications were that the disease was spreading rapidly.

In 1930 BRC started on a large scale. H.E. Swanson was in charge on the Clearwater. Working

under him were Virgil Moss, Frank Walters, Jim Thaanum, B.A. Anderson, F.H. Heinrich, Lee

White and others. Many of these men later became well-known in BRC and other Forest Service

work.

In 1932 there were 20 BRC camps of 25 men each. About 53,000 acres were worked.

In 1933 CCC and NIRA work started. B.A. Anderson was in charge on the Clearwater. There

were 4 CCC camps of 200 men each and five NIRA camps of 50 men each. In addition to their

regular BRC work they were a powerful fire fighting force.

The number of men employed on BRC work continued on about the same basis as 1933 and

1942. World War II started in 1942; in 1943 BRC manpower was much reduced. In 1943 it was

necessary to employ 17-year-old laborers. This continued through the war.

In 1946 2-4DT was used for the first time in spraying ribes. That year there were 12 camps

employing 480 men. They worked a total of about 10,500 acres.

In 1947 employees were again 18 years or older in age. There were 435 men in 10 camps.

In 1954 the Forest Service assumed the responsibility of all BRC work on State and private as

well as on National Forest lands. Up to this time the work on State and private lands was under

the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. The BRC personnel became a part of the Forest

Service. During this year the organizations were welded together as one organization under the

leadership of Marvin C. Riley, who became a staffman on the Clearwater Forest.

In 1958 the Clearwater Forest experimented in the use of actidione, an antibiotic. This was first

applied to trees in the Beaver Creek plantation. Test areas were also set up elsewhere in North

Idaho.

Spraying trees with actidione to prevent blister rust appeared to be successful and everyone

became very optimistic. Here at last, they thought, was a quick and easy method. It got away

from the slow and laborious process of going over the area foot by foot and pulling the ribes. A

helicopter could spray thousands of acres in one day. In 1959 the Clearwater Forest set out to

spray all plantations and other areas of white pine where the disease had not advanced too far.

High hopes continued for three years when a study showed that the spray was nowhere near as

effective as it was first believed to be. In 1962 a study of the white pine blister rust disease and

the possibilities of growing white pine seedlings was initiated. In 1966 the results of this study

were summed up in these words; "... until blister rust-resistant stock be comes available or a

reliable toxicant for the rust is developed, it appears physically impossible to grow the species in

reasonable quantities." This brought the BRC program to an end.

The only hope for white pine now lies in developing a rust-resistant species. This work was

started in 1940. Foresters traveling through the white pine areas noticed that once in a long while

they would come upon a white pine that was immune to the disease. From this came the idea of

developing a rust-resistant species by crossing these trees. This idea was put into operation, but it

is much more time consuming than developing a rust-resistant species for a plant that matures in

one year. A white pine does not bear seed until it is from 15 to 20 years old. To get a resistant

species requires crossing two resistant trees then testing and discarding the offspring that are not

resistant and then crossing again and again. It requires a number of generations before a rust-

resistant species is produced and a period of about 60 years before any large amount of stock is

ready for planting.

The forest has planted some rust-resistant pine and the program will expand as stock becomes

available. In the meantime the salvage of the mature, diseased white pine of the forest is the

order of the day.

Chapter 15

Grazing

It is difficult to say just when stock grazing started on the Clearwater

Forest. Before the forests were proclaimed, stockmen grazed their stock

on the public lands without permit and paid no fees, but since there

were no roads and few trails only the more accessible areas were grazed.

When helping suppress a fire at West Dennis on the Palouse District in 1944, a farmer who had

lived there all his life told me that a severe fire burned in that locality around 1899. Following

this fire sheep were grazed on the burn until reproduction became so thick it drove the sheep out.

There is a creek in that locality called Sheep Creek.

Sheep were grazed on the old burns in the head of French Creek in the 1890's. Pat Madden, who

owned a ranch and winter range in the Lewiston locality, took several bands of sheep into the

Forest to graze each year and continued to do so until reproduction took over the range. Another

man named Thiesson took some sheep into the country east of Pierce to graze in about 1905, but

I do not know where his range was located.

Sheep were also grazed in the high country along the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains from the

extreme head of the North Fork to the North Fork of Kelly Creek. Grazing likely started in this

area before the Forest was created. These sheep came in from Montana and returned by the same

route.

Following World War I there was a boom in the sheep raising business. This coincided with the

increase in available sheep range created by the 1919 fires.

In 1922 the first sheep went into the upper Weitas and Cook Mountain country. Dobbins and

Huffman grazed 8,400 in this area. Fireweed and holly hock were the chief food plants. That

same year a sheep driveway was scouted out to Montana and was completed in 1924. Herders

grazed their sheep across this driveway, stopping for the summer at their respective ranges, and

proceeded to Superior to ship their lambs. They would then feed back to the west end. A branch

of this driveway led off to Rocky Ridge. Two bands of sheep grazed in the Rocky Ridge, Obia

Creek and Boundary Peak areas. One band grazed around Bald Mountain and Indian Grave.

The records of 1924 show that the Clearwater Forest, as it is today, had an estimated carrying

capacity of 46,000 sheep for the grazing season. Actual use was 18,700.

Sheep grazing built up rapidly. There were about 26,000 in 1928 and 32,000 in 1929. The peak

was reached in 1933 with about 35,000 head.

By 1934 several changes affecting sheep grazing were taking place. Reproduction and brush

were beginning to take over the old burns to the point where many areas were becoming

unusable. The snags created by the 1919 fire were falling and windfalls became so thick that the

sheep could not get through. Supervisor Myrick called attention to this condition in his annual

report. He also pointed out that many areas were overgrazed and that erosion was starting. The

number of sheep grazed had dropped to about 28,000. In his 1934 report Myrick also commented

on the large elk herds developing on the Forest. The number of elk had then reached such

numbers that they were damaging their winter range.

After 1934 the sheep industry began to decline. The changes brought about by windfalls, logging

in ranges, and growth of reproduction, forced the number of sheep grazed downward. By 1939

the carrying capacity was given as 17,000 sheep, but permits for only 14,000 were issued.

The construction of roads made it possible to bring cattle into the Forest and in 1937 permits

were issued to graze cattle on Bimerick Meadows and at Boundary Peak.

In 1943 the number of sheep permitted had dropped to 13,000 head but the cattle permits had

built up to 437 head.

In 1945 the last band of sheep made the trip over the driveway to Montana and back. The

driveway as far as Cook Mountain was used in 1948 for sheep, but that was the last year. From

1949 to 1951 a part of the driveway was used for cattle, but in 1952 this practice was

discontinued and it has not been used since. This old driveway became deeply eroded in places

and it was necessary to put water bars in it to prevent further damage.

By 1949 the number of sheep grazed dropped to 2000 head. They grazed from the head of Goose

Creek around the Bitterroot Divide to Five Lakes. They spent part of their time on the Lolo

Forest. This number continued to 1974 when all sheep grazing ceased.

Most of the Clearwater Forest is so heavily timbered that grazing of domestic stock is not

practical. However, there are a number of natural meadows such as Bimerick, Packers, Elk,

Weitas, Chamberlain, and Oxford, and some smaller meadows that are excellent cattle range.

There are a number of open ridges suitable for horse grazing.

Cattle grazing on the Clearwater Forest started when the road neared Packer Meadows about

1925. This was followed by 52 head in 1936 when the road was far enough up the Lochsa to

reach Bimerick Meadows. Cattle grazing permits increased rapidly with the World War II

increase in beef prices.

Because of the large elk herds at this time, the number of horses used in packing hunting parties

into and from the forest greatly increased. Many of these outfits pastured their stock on the forest

during the summer months. The result was that cattle and horse permits went up rapidly from

about 100 head in 1936 until the number reached 1000 head in 1947. After that there was a

steady increase to 2000 in 1963, about 4000 in 1972, and now about 5000 head, an all time high.

It will be interesting to see what effect the declining elk population will have in the future on the

number of horses grazed on the forest.

When I was Supervisor of the Clearwater Forest I had an interesting experience with cattle

getting lost and going far astray. One fall a hunter came to my office about the middle of October

and told me there were seven head of black Angus cattle on Junction Mountain. This was almost

unbelievable since there were no cattle permits for areas closer than Sherman Saddle and the

cattle there were Herefords. But this was a reliable man so I thanked him for the information and

told him I would look into the matter.

The only black Angus grazing on the forest were owned by a man in the Glenwood country. So I

called him and asked him if he had some cattle missing. He said he did, but he was not worried

about them. His cattle grazed in the Yakus creek area under an on-and-off permit. He said that

since his cattle grazed so near this ranch they had always returned when the first snow came. I

told him about the cattle on Junction Mountain. At first he said that they were not his, but when I

told him that he had the only Angus cattle on the forest he said he would go and look. The cattle

were his.

How the cattle got there is unknown. None of the Forest Service employees had seen them

enroute. The cattle also had to pass through two other cattle allotments which they did without

being seen. When found they were about 65 miles airline and about 85 miles by trail from where

they started.

Chapter 16

Fire Control

The Clearwater Forest has a rather heavy annual precipitation. At

Pierce the average is about 42 inches. It is even more at points of

higher elevation. At Orofino, which has a much lower elevation, the

annual precipitation averages about 26 inches.

If this moisture was evenly distributed by months, there would be little reason to fear forest fires.

However, such is not the case. In almost every year there is a time during the months of June,

July, August and September when the forest became dry enough to burn. There have been a few

years when rainfall was so great or well distributed every month that fire protection would not

have been needed. In my memory only 1916, 1943, 1948, 1956 and 1976 could be so classed.

On the opposite side there have been years when rainfall during the summer months was

confined to a few thunder showers. I will list only the notoriously bad fire seasons. There have

been other years with low rainfall but these will serve as an illustration. These with their summer

month's rainfall at Orofino are as follows:

Year

June

July

August

September

Total

1910

.18

.05

.02

1.06

1.31

1919

.07

.21

.19

.30

.77

1929

2.61

.00

.05

.53

3.19

1934

1.79

.00

1.01

2.80

The Branch of Fire Research in Missoula analyzed the fire reports for North Idaho and Montana

and found that the number of fires started on the Clearwater Forest per 1000 acres of area was

the highest of any forest in Region One. Fifty or sixty fires from one lightning storm is not

unusual. There are few man-caused fires on the Clearwater when compared to the number caused

by lightning. This does not mean that there have not been some very costly and damaging man-

caused fires.

Since there are so many lightning fires, it is easy to understand why forest fires have swept over

large areas of the Clearwater Forest as far back as history is recorded. In their travel over the

Lolo Trail, Lewis and Clark reported that Wendover Ridge, which they climbed from the Lochsa

to the divide, was a "burned and windswept ridge". They also tell that when camped at Eldorado

Meadows in June, the Indians entertained them by setting fire to some tall trees which burned

throught the tops, presenting a display similar to fireworks. They also reported that the

mountains on the north side of Eldorado Creek were burned, while the south side was green.

John B. Leiberg traveled over the Bitter Root Reserve in 1898 and studied the conditions. His

study was thorough and his report should be considered the most authentic that can be found on

conditions at that time. Here are some of his statements about fires: "In the North Fork and

Lochsa basins badly-burned areas. . . . North Fork of Clearwater basin 76,800 acres, Lochsa

basin 701,000 acres." This is a total of 777,800 acres. At another place he states, "The amount of

destruction brought by fires of modern date is enormous. The largest continual block of forest in

the Reserve comprises about 200,000 acres. The balance is all made up of numerous smaller

stands separated from one another by long, wide lanes or large expanses of burned forests.

Dr. Shattuck, Dean of the Idaho School of Forestry, who examined the Forest in 1910 before the

big fires of that year, had this to say: "We often rode for miles among the blackened and fallen

trunks of what had formerly been magnificent stands of valuable timber, now only a jumble of

decaying logs." Again he stated: "This ridge has practically no living timber remaining on it. . . .

From this eminence, by the aid of a field glass, one can easily determine that the condition here

obtaining is the same as that on practically all the ridges within a radius of 25 miles." Later he

added: "Fire on this Reserve has produced far greater loss than all other agencies combined and

is today the most dreaded and dangerous forest enemy with which we must contend."

After the Reserves were established, the first order of business was, as it is now, to suppress

forest fires. Without experience no one had any idea of the enormous task before them. From

1899 to 1910, there were a few Rangers with little assistance scattered through the forests. They

fought fires the best they could, and due to favorable weather conditions and a lot of hard work,

they were moderately successful. However, at times they were forced to admit defeat. Ranger

Stuart in his diary of 1904 reports going to a fire in the North Moose Creek country that was so

large he could do nothing with it and was forced to abandon it.

1910

The year 1910 will long be cited as the year of the big fire. Actually there were many fires.

Books have been written on this season's activities and large burned areas all over the Northern

Region give mute testimony that this was indeed a bad fire year.

There was no advanced warning that 1910 was going to be anything other than an average fire

year. The snowpack of the preceeding winter was heavy and late in melting. Rainfall during the

early spring months was normal or a little above average. May had a rainfall of 3.89 inches at

Orofino, compared with a normal of 2.31.

June was a different story. It was hot and dry. Only .18 inch of rain fell at Orofino. This was

followed by a blistering hot July with .05 inch of rain which came during a dry lightning storm

that started numerous fires.

The cause of virtually all early-day fires and most modern fires in the Clearwater country.

The Forest Service with its meager force of men fought valiantly to bring the fires under control.

Handicapped by lack of communication, an inadequate transportation system, and poor

equipment, it was a situation that could be controlled only by rain. This was the big hope. Hang

on until it rains; but it didn't rain!

Gradually the situation became worse. During late July and early August fires escaped control

and spread so that there were numerous large fires scattered over the forests. Fires on the Lochsa

were spreading from their starting points in Fire Creek, Warm Springs Creek, and in the Upper

Crooked Creek. In the North Fork drainage there were fires on Burn Creek, Cayuse Creek, near

the mouth of Kelly Creek, Hemlock Creek, Skull Creek and perhaps others.

My remembrance of 1910 is that of a nine-year-old boy on a homestead between Weippe and

Pierce. The smoke from fires to the west was so thick that it reduced the summer sun to a yellow

ball you could look directly into without hurting your eyes. Semi-darkness came at about 4 P.M.;

it was so dark that the chickens went to roost. When it finally rained, our eyes were so

accustomed to the darkness that the bright sun caused our eyes to water.

By mid-August everyone became a little more hopeful. While there were a lot of big fires, it was

believed rains could not be far away.

On August 21 the wind began to blow. Not just an ordinary wind, but one that kicked up the dust

and swayed the trees violently. In a very short time, the fires became raging infernos. It then

became a matter of saving life. Efforts to fight the fires were useless. It was a question of getting

out of the way or finding a place where a safe stand could be made until the fire passed.

Fortunately, so far as I can learn, no life was lost on the Clearwater.

Two Forest Service men at Hansen's first cabin on Kelly Creek (near the mouth of Deer Creek)

took to the creek for safety. They tied their horses to willows near them. One horse broke loose

and raced the fire to Superior, Montana and made it. The first Hansen cabin on Kelly Creek

burned while the brothers were at their mine. At the mine they managed to save their cabin after

a hot fight. This area is high and rocky. Looking at it today, the fuel is so light that you may well

wonder how a fire could burn at all. Billy Rhodes' old cabin burned.

A crew of men, led by Ranger Friday and including John Blumhagen and Fred Foss, was cut off

by the Skull Creek Fire and fled northward. They came to what to them was an unknown river

(St. Joe). They managed to come through alive and then went downstream coming out at Avery.

It took them several days to make the trip. They subsisted chiefly on grouse that had their

feathers so badly burned that they couldn't fly.

Lottie Walde says that she, her father Bill Parry, her mother, and an assistant packer along with

their packstring were surrounded by a fire somewhere in the Hoodoo Lake country. Lottie and

her mother took to the lake. The men covered the horses with blankets and threw water on them

with a bucket. They all came through unharmed.

The wind raged for three days and nights. One of the peculiarities of these fires was that they

burned just as fast at night as they did during the day. At the end of the third day there was a

little rain, and snow fell on the higher mountains. The rain was light, but the cooling temperature

ended the fire season.

The Clearwater Forest had a tremendous area burned in the 1910 fires. The fire that started on

Fire Creek burned up the south side of the Lochsa covering Old Man Creek and Boulder Creek

to Fish Lake. Further up the Lochsa, the Warm Springs Creek drainage burned and the fire on

Crooked Creek burned the head of that creek and crossed the divide into the Lolo Forest in

Montana. On the North Fork a large part of the Weitas burned, Collins Creek burned, and the fire

that started at the mouth of Kelly Creek burned up that creek and over the divide into Montana.

Of course, some of this area, had been partially burned in earlier fires.

The 1910 fires ravaged thousands of acres. Looking downstream into Kelly Creek.

1914

The fire season of 1914 was very dry during the month of July and August when a total of .02

inch of rain fell at Orofino. There was not a large burned area on the Forest that year, but there

were several troublesome fires. A large fire on Washington Creek started on lands protected by

the Clearwater Timber Protective Association and entered the Forest north of Elk Mountain.

In 1959 a fire on Washington Creek occurred under similar conditions. Comparison of the action,

methods of fighting, equipment use, transportation, etc. is interesting.

The 1914 fire started on the north side of Scofield Creek. It was called the "Scofield Fire". The

exact location is probably unimportant, but it was near the mouth of Middleton Creek. The date it

started is unknown, but it was about August 10.

This fire escaped control of the initial crews of the Association and spread eastward down the

north side of Scofield Creek. Extra crews were employed but the fire spread faster than firelines

could be built. The Association was successful in cutting the fires off from spreading up

Washington Creek and went down it on both sides. John Durant was Ranger at the Oxford

Ranger Station and through the lookout at Elk Mountain and his own observations kept watch on

the progress of the fire.

About August 15 it became apparent that this fire would enter the Forest if control measures

were not initiated. Action was started by sending a man who was an experienced firefighter to

look over the situation. He rode to Elk Mountain and after looking at the extent of the fire

estimated that 200 men would be needed.

At that time it was almost unheard of to have 200 men on a fire. Durant pointed out that it would

take more than men to fight a fire. To this he agreed and set out to organize a supply service that

would back up 200 men.

The nearest large supply of men was at Spokane, Washington. Men were recruited the day

ordered. The next day they came by passenger train to Greer. There they were loaded into

passenger cars and taken to Pierce. The next day they hiked to the fire camp. It took four days to

get these men on the fire and many of them were worn out when they arrived.

Tools and supplies moved even slower. The local stores were unable to supply tools and food in

sufficient quantities. Material was ordered from Lewiston. Because outfits were not assembled,

every single piece of equipment and every pound of food had to be ordered by name and amount.

Tools and supplies were ordered from Lewiston in the evening. The next day they were

assembled and loaded. The third day they went by freight to Greer and were loaded on wagons

that night. Trucks were not yet in use. On the fourth day they reached Pierce. The fifth, they

reached the Oxford Ranger Station and were cargoed that night. The sixth day they reached the

fire camp.

Meat was a very difficult problem because it would spoil on the road. At one time the Forest

Service considered buying cattle and driving them to Oxford to be butchered. However, this did

not become necessary; the meat butchered at Weippe reached the fire camps in an edible

condition.

With such a complicated supply line it is small wonder that fire fighting was not very effective.

Of course, considerable fireline was constructed and no doubt much timber was saved. But the

fire was not controlled until the fall rains came.

On the first Monday in September (first day of high school for me) it rained. From that day on

through September rain was almost continuous. Summer dust turned to mud; the roads became

impassable to cars. Even freight wagons operated at about half of summer capacity. To get the

men, equipment and tools off the fire was a slow and laborious process. Men hiked to Weippe.

On my return home from high school, I met many of these crews. They all wanted to know how

far it was to "We-hike".

A base was set up at Weippe under the direction of a man named Conrad. He assembled tools,

men, stock, etc. and sent them to their final destination. It was almost the end of September

before he was able to close camp.

Contrast this action with that taken in 1959.

A lightning storm set a number of fires in the Washington Creek area on August 1 at about 7

A.M. The Clearwater Timber Protective Association manned these fires, but four of them

escaped initial attack. The Clearwater Forest anticipated that the Association would get control,

so took no action until the afternoon of August 2.

The Clearwater Forest had just suppressed a large number of fires and was also giving the

Nezperce Forest assistance. To throw an effective force against this fire it was necessary to get a

large part of the manpower from the Kaniksu Forest.

The Clearwater was able to attack with only a few men and two dozers on August 3. However,

they did scout the fire and established a fire camp at the old Oxford Ranger Station.

At daylight August 4, the Forest Service with Ranger Radtke as Fire Boss and assisted by Gus

Verdal attacked with 360 men, 25 power saws, 4 bulldozers, a helicopter and enough trucks to

transport men from camp to the fireline. That day the Forest Service built and held about 4 miles

of fire line. The next day the Forest Service did mop-up work on the four miles of fireline it had

built and took over about three miles of line built by the Association. This enabled the

Association to control the remainder of the fire.

Demobilization started on August 6 and by August 9, twenty men were all that were left on the

Forest Service sector.

1919

In 1919 I became a smokechaser for the Clearwater Timber Protective Association. I had two

brothers smokechasing on the Clearwater National Forest. One of them was at Scurvy Mountain

and the other at Hemlock Butte. During the early part of the season I was on a trail maintenance

crew and traveled over many of the trails and visited many of the Association lookouts. During

the latter part of July and all of August, I was stationed at Bertha Hill. I had a ringside seat from

which to watch what was going to happen.

Unlike 1910, the year of 1919 had early makings of a bad fire year. Winter precipitation came

largely as rain. The snow came mostly in March. This snow did not pack and quickly melted. By

early May the snow was gone, except on the high ridges and mountains.

About May 20, the rains ceased and the long drought started. There is an old saying on the

Clearwater that 10 days of clear summer weather and the forest will burn, and 20 clear summer

days produces critical fire conditions. True to this saying, the forests were ready to burn in June.

A blast by a trail construction crew set a fire near Cave Creek which burned several acres before

it was controlled.

During July the forest became drier and drier. The brush turned brown and the trails were inches

deep in dust. Although there were no fires on the Clearwater by July 19, according to lookout

John Austin's diary, visibility was becoming very poor due to smoke from other forests.

On July 21, the first lightning storms came with a rash of fires. All hands turned to fighting fire.

Most fires were held to small acreages, but fires on Larson Creek, Lolo Creek, Fish Creek and

Split Creek got under way. However, by a strenuous effort that exhausted men, mules and

supplies, all of these fires except those on Fish and Split Creek were brought under control.

On July 31, a number of lightning storms (Austin says four) crossed the Clearwater leaving a

string of fires behind. Again all men went to work on these new fires. Progress was being made

when on August 3 another lightning storm raked the Forest. Larson Creek, Deadhorse, Elk

Mountain, Lolo and Weitas were liberally sprinkled with fire. Forest crews and firemen were

exhausted. Other men were scarce and those brought in from Spokane were mostly IWW and

wouldn't work. Butte miners were not very effective. Bringing in enough pack stock, equipment

and supplies was a problem due to lack of roads and trails. Supervisory personnel in any

numbers did not exist.

The first lookout on Cook Mountain. Built by Paul Wohlen in 1917.

Raising the first lookout on Bear Mountain in 1924.

As the days went by, several main fires developed. There was one on the east side of Elk

Mountain, another 12 miles below the Bungalow on the southeast side of the river, one on

Elizabeth Creek, one on Goose Ridge, one on the Hunch Divide now called Cabin Point, one on

Fish Creek and the Split Creek Fire. At about this time a sheep herder started a fire on Belle

Creek, a branch of Lolo, to burn out some hornets and it got away to a flying start.

Then came August 19, 1919. This day ranks with August 21, 22 and 23 of 1910. I will describe

what I saw from Bertha Hill. To this I will add statements from A.N. Cochrell, J.C. Urquhart,

John Austin's diary and things I learned by talking to my brothers and others who took part in the

action.

August 19 dawned clear and hot, but I immediately noticed that there had been a change in

smoke conditions. It had been so smoky that climbing the tower was useless since visibility had

been less than one quarter mile. This morning the smoke was almost gone and what was left was

fast disappearing. Soon a wind began to stir, but I do not believe it reached the strength of the

winds of 1910. The humidity must have been very low, but of course no one measured it. The air

became so clear that I could see every major fire in the country as far south as the Lochsa River.

By 10 A.M. every major fire was on the move and had started to roll up a high column of smoke

resembling a thunderhead. I timed the Twelve-Mile fire as it climbed Pot Mountain. It required

just a few minutes over one hour to move an airline distance of about five miles. Pulled by air

currents from the Elk Mountain fire backing down toward the river below the Bungalow, and the

Hunch Divide fire, the Twelve-Mile fire spread upriver until they joined. Together they swept

upriver to Trail Creek before evening. The fire around Hemlock Butte spread across Weitas

Creek and by night crossed Cook Mountain and burned out Fourth of July Creek. The Fish and

Split Creek fires burned out a large part of Fish Creek, all of Sherman, Noseeum and Balk

Mountain Creeks. The fire on Elizabeth Creek jumped the river and burned to the top of Moose

Mountain. The Goose Ridge fire swept to the Montana line, burning up 1,500 of a band of 3,000

sheep belonging to Quizzenberry.

A conference was then held to decide what to do. It was hopeless to try and build a line around

such large fires with such a meager force. The only thing that could be done was to save any

drainages that were threatened but not burned. A fireline was built across the lower end of

Orogrande and some other lines in the west sides of the Lolo and Split Creek fires, but that was

all. The wind stopped and the smoke, which had lifted on the 19th, settled so thick that visibility

again became almost zero and remained that way until the rains of August 31 and September 1.

Strangely enough, the fires spread very little after August 19. In some places the fires ran into the

1910 burned area which slowed the burning, and there was apparently a favorable change in

humidity.

The 1919 fires burned large areas of merchantable-sized timber. The Wietas, which previously

had an immense stand of timber, was a blackened waste. So was Larson Creek, Fourth of July

Creek and the North Fork Canyon from Moscow Bar to Cold Springs Creek. Jim Clark, an old-

time smokechaser stationed at the Bungalow, expressed well the feeling of everyone when asked

if it looked pretty tough around the Bungalow. He replied, "Yes sir, it just makes me sick".

It was fortunate that there were not fatalities. There were a number of close calls and some

harrowing experiences.

Jim Girard was in charge of the Twelve-Mile fire. His suppression efforts were not very

successful, so he decided to walk to the nearest telephone at the Bungalow and see if he could

rustle up more men and equipment. He started up the river. At about Cave Creek he became

aware that the fire he had left was spreading rapidly and was coming up the river behind him. He

increased his pace, but it soon became apparent that he was losing ground. He reached a point

about five miles below the Bungalow where the trail ran back into a draw and out. The distance

by trail was one quarter mile; the distance along the river was less than half that. Jim decided to

follow the river bank and cut across this loop. Not that he would save any time, but he preferred

to stay close to the river. This was a fortunate decision for here the fire overtook him with all its

fury. He knew he was in a tough spot so he wrote his will and cached it under some rocks at the

water's edge. By wading back and forth across the river and taking frequent dips below the

surface, he came through alive.

Two packers, Charles Kelly and Lawrence Howard, were coming down the river toward the

Bungalow. They met the fire head-on with no knowledge that they were anywhere near it. They

immediately took to the small island below the mouth of the Weitas with their strings. An old

Indian and his grandson of about 12 years, who had been fishing in that locality, took to the same

island as also did a cub bear which the youngster insisted on trying to capture. The packers had

two mules ahead of them. The two mules proceeded on towards Bungalow after the strings had

taken to the island. The next morning the packers started cutting their way through the fire-felled

trees toward the Bungalow and found the two pack mules, standing in the trail in a small spot

that didn't burn. It was the only unburned spot for miles in any direction.

The men at Cook Mountain Ranger Station, after a desperate battle, saved the cabin.

At Elizabeth Creek the fire broke loose and jumped the river. Urquhart was on the north side. He

got the crew on that side out of the way. To reach the crew on the west side he went down the

river through the fire. He almost suffocated. When he came out of the fire he passed out for a

short time. When he came to, he found himself lying in the water at the mouth of Elizabeth

Creek.

At Hemlock Butte the small group of men, including one of my brothers, was warned that they

were to get out of the way the best they could. They decided to leave the point and take refuge in

a small meadow with a creek running through it. This was in the head of Hemlock (then called

Beaver) Creek. The fire surrounded them and they fought for their lives. They came through, but

one member of the party (Richards) went insane. For a time he recovered from this condition, but

several years later was confined to a mental hospital. They returned to the lookout on Hemlock

Butte and were much surprised that it had not burned.

A.H. (Pete) Ott, a foreman, and Tom Hamilton, a cook, were located at the Bungalow. Pete had

been foreman on the trail upriver, but with his crew on the fire he was serving as a dispatcher for

men and supplies at Bungalow.

About 1 P.M. he and the cook were alone. Pete thought the fire down the river, which he could

see dimly through the smoke, was moving toward them and called Tom to the door and asked

him what he thought of the looks of things. Tom said, "Heck! I'm cooking on a hotter fire than

that", and went back to his cooking.

About one hour later a raging inferno turned the bend down the river! Ott and Hamilton hastily

grabbed a few belongings and fled up the Orogrande. Tom, being older and the slowest traveler,

was ahead and set the pace. Pete kept a close watch over his shoulder until he saw the fire cross

the trail behind them near the two mile board. They were safe and stopped to catch their breath.

Pete asked, "What time was it when we left?" Tom relied, "It was just 2 o'clock. I had just put the

cinnamon rolls in the oven and looked at the clock." Pete pulled out his watch and it showed

three minutes past two. If their timing was correct it was pretty fair time for a seventy year old.

On the last day of August it rained. It started at about 9 P.M. All of us at Bertha Hill had just

gone to bed when a few drops began to fall. Everybody got up, stripped off their clothes and

went outside, so glad we were to see and feel it rain. It rained on into the next day and put an end

to the critical fire weather. However, it continued to be dry through September and set the worst

drought record in Clearwater history. A total of .77 inch of rain in four months! A good shower

will often produce that much water.

Baking biscuits in reflector ovens in a 1919 fire camp.

Bungalow Ranger Station in 1920 following the devastation of the 1919 fire. Looking across

the North Fork and up Orogrande Creek.

FIRES AFTER 1919

The really old burns plus those of 1910 and 1919 had left the Clearwater Forest with a

tremendous burned area. There were hundreds of thousands of acres of burn. These burns,

particularly those of 1919, were a sea of snags. Within a few years these snags began to fall. The

combination of snags, brush, reproduction and down logs produced a mass of unbroken fuel

extending for miles.

To defend such an area from a reburn looked almost hopeless. There was much discussion which

even went down to the firemen about what should be done. Some wanted to reburn patches or

strips and some wanted to build fire lanes. Others, noting the fine reproduction that came in after

a fire, wanted to defend it all in the hope that, although some of it would burn, a large area would

come through without a reburn.

A fire survey was conducted in 1921 and 1922 to examine conditions and recommend the action

to be taken. This party was headed by C.E. Sutton. It was the first effort to make a complete fire

plan for the Clearwater Forest. A number of recommendations, such as trail construction were

ultimately accomplished. But so far as areas recommended for controlled burning (Sutton used

that term) and firebreak construction were concerned, none of this work was ever done. Only a

few areas were recommended for controlled burning. The many firebreaks suggested were later

considered of little value and were not built. As a matter of history, the areas recommended for

control burns because they possessed such high fire hazards have not reburned to date. They

have now lost much of their fuels through decay.

With all the high fuels (and it became progressively worse up until about 1939) it was inevitable

that there would be some large reburns. Unfortunately, in some instances, these fires spread to

green timber and added to the already extensive burns.

1922

A 3,000 acre fire at Scurvy Saddle, all in old burn.

1924

Bernard Creek watershed reburned.

1926

Skull Creek reburned plus some green timber. Larson Creek also reburned and added Lightning

Creek to the burned area.

1928

A fire starting near Weitas Butte reburned a large area in the Weitas. This was a very destructive

fire so far as reproduction was concerned.

1929

A fire started on Bald Mountain covered both sides of the Lochsa Canyon to above Colgate Warm

Springs. This fire covered parts of Weir, Fish Lake and Lost Creeks not previously burned.

1931

A large part of Hemlock Creek reburned, plus a part of Sylvan Creek.

1932

More of the old burn in Fish Creek reburned with considerable green timber.

The Forest Service always had some sort of fire control plans, but at first the plans reflected what

the Forest planned to do with the money alloted to it. In 1932, under the leadership of Lloyd

Hornby, the Region started to make plans that were based on needs. They were called Adequate

Fire Control Plans. This was a grassroots effort. The fuels were mapped on the ground showing

the rate of spread and the resistance to control. The area that could be seen from every peak that

could be considered as a possible lookout was mapped. Travel time was also placed on maps

showing the area that could be covered by each fire goer. This was then all worked into a plan

that combined detection and fire suppression action. It was recognized that some fires would

escape the first attack so a system of roads and airplane landing fields were planned that would

make it possible to put large crews on these fires.

This was a thorough job and it showed need for men, equipment, roads, landing fields and other

improvements far greater than the Forest Service had ever had before. The Forest Service was

not able to put these plans completely into effect, but they moved a long way in that direction.

Under the various emergency programs many miles of fire control roads were built, landing

fields developed in the back country and lookout houses erected on many peaks.

Burned area near Camp Martin, 1925.

1933

In the early thirties, I believe it was in 1933, the 10 A.M. control policy was adopted. It was

often referred to as the Chief's policy, but actually it was the kind of policy the field men had

long wanted. This policy was that for every fire, regardless of location or the values involved,

plans would be made to bring it under control by 10 A.M. of the next day. Ten A.M. was

considered the start of the day's burning period. Before this policy was adopted, those

responsible for fire control worked under a "damned if you do and damned if you don't

handicap". If a fire was quickly suppressed the charge was often made that it wasn't doing any

damage or that money could have been saved by using less men, but if the fire escaped control,

then the criticism was that action was not aggressive enough. Through the years the 10 A.M.

policy proved to be a sound policy.

Hemlock snags along the Lolo Highway near Rocky Ridge, 1938.

1934

The 1934 fire season was very dry. The Clearwater National Forest, as it existed in 1934, did not

have any large fires, but the Selway Forest had plenty of trouble. A large part of the area that

burned that year on the Selway is now a part of the Clearwater Forest. This burn was almost

entirely due to the Pete King and McLendon Butte fires. The history of the fire season of 1934 is

the history of these two fires.

On August 11, 1934 eighteen fires started on the Selway Forest from a lightning storm. Among

these were the Pete King and McLendon Butte fires. There had been 45 days without rain. Then

after the fires started, another 32 rainless days followed. This was truly critical fire weather.

The Pete King and McLendon Butte fires both started in single burns of 1919 and 1917

respectively. The points of origin were in areas of cedar snags, down timber and brush. This fuel

type covered a large area surrounding the points of origin and was considered one of the worst

fire hazards in Region One.

Initial action on both fires was fast, but failed. Both fires started at about 4 A.M. and by nightfall

the McLendon Butte Fire covered an area of about 1,500 acres and the Pete King about 5,000

acres. There were spot fires as much as four miles ahead of the main part of the fire. The

McLendon Butte fire had spot fires across the Lochsa and across Fish Creek about a mile above

the Lochsa Station. The stage was set for a major burn.

During the days that followed almost the entire resources of Region One were thrown against

these fires. Involved were about 5,500 men in 74 fire camps of from 50 to 200 men. Five fire

camps burned. Four hundred seventy-five head of packstock were required to supply the camps,

100 trucks and 15 cars were used. In addition, airplanes, private trucks and busses were used to

transport men, equipment and supplies from Spokane and Missoula to the base camps.

During the 32 days that these fires burned, the Pete King Fire moved down Pete King Creek and

jumped the Lochsa River. It then sent a mighty arm up the Selway to Halfway Creek. It also

burned up the south side of the Lochsa, jumped back to the north side near Old Man Creek, then

on up the river on both sides running into the McLendon Butte Fire. The McLendon Butte Fire

went up the Lochsa to Bald Mountain Creek where it ran into the 1929 burn where fuels were so

light it made little progress. The total area burned by both fires was 252,250 acres, about 100,000

acres of which is now on the Nezperce Forest. There has not been another fire anywhere near this

size in Region One since 1934.

In almost every year of bad forest fires, there is a short period, usually one day, which stands out

as far more destructive than all the rest. In 1910 it was August 20-21 when the forests roared and

millions of acres burned. In 1919, August 19 was the day when the Bungalow burned and a huge

area was covered with fire. These days are often termed "disaster days" by the public, but to

those who fight the fires they are called "blow-up days". Call them what you wish, but these are

the days when a hot dry wind hits the fire. This wind, plus the wind generated by the heat of the

fire, causes the fire to get so hot that it burns trees like a prairie fire burns grass. A fire on such a

day cannot be stopped. It can go anywhere. Many stories are told of the speed, power and strange

things done by such infernos. A cloud of smoke raises over such a fire that looks very much like

a thunderhead or the plume from an atomic explosion.

Such a day was August 17, 1934. That day the McLendon Butte and Pete King Fires covered

53,300 acres between 10 A.M. and 8 P.M.; an area of about 4,400 acres per hour. That day

separate forces of men fought to save the Pete King and Lochsa Ranger Stations.

It took a real fight to save the Pete King Ranger Station. But the fire came downhill at it, the

river was close at their back and there were more pumps and other equipment to assist in the

fight than there were in the battle to save the Lochsa Ranger Station. Without belittling in the

least the efforts or detracting from the honors due to those who fought to save the Pete King

Ranger Station, I will attempt to describe the battle to save the Lochsa Station which was a much

harder fight.

I believe it will be easier for me to tell the story and for the reader to understand what happened

if I start on August 11 when the fire started. The fire control organization, as far as the first

action on this fire is concerned, consisted of Ranger Leroy (Roy) Lewis, who happened to be at

Fish Lake when the fire started, Assistant Ranger Jack Godwin and Headquarters guard Warren

Bohn at the Lochsa Ranger Station. McHone was lookout on Fish Butte. Mrs. Lewis, not a part

of the fire organization and the only woman involved, was at the Lochsa Station.

The fire started at 4 A.M. August 11 about one half mile northeast of McLendon Butte in a snag

patch left by a fire in 1917. It was a lightning fire and was quickly detected. A CCC crew went to

it, but could not bring it under control. Another CCC crew soon arrived but still the fire

continued to spread. About 10 A.M. a snag burned off and fell and then slid down the mountain

toward Fish Creek. This scattered fire along a narrow strip for about a quarter of a mile. Shortly

thereafter this whole strip blazed up into a raging inferno. The fire then swept back up the

mountain to the southwest, widening and gaining such force that it threw a spot fire across the

Lochsa River over three miles away. Another landed across Fish Creek above the Lochsa Ranger

Station four miles away. There were many other spot fires closer to the main fire. In a matter of

an hour this fire had scattered over 1500 acres and set the stage for a major burn.

Early in the morning of the day the fire started an airplane picked Ranger Lewis up at Fish Lake.

He scouted the fires from the air and landed at Kooskia. From there he traveled by car to the

main or base camp fighting the McLendon Butte Fire which was established at the head of

Bimerick Creek. Here Lewis assisted in directing action on the fire under Clayton Crocker who

was Fire Boss.

Before the first day was over it became apparent that the Lochsa Ranger Station was in danger.

Ranger Lewis telephoned his wife, Mabel, and told her to leave but she was reluctant to go. She

said that she could stay if the men did. But her husband insisted and she left the next morning

riding her saddle mare up the Sherman Creek Trail. Her brother, Harmon Snyder, picked her up

at Noseeum Meadows and took her to her father's ranch west of Weippe. She did not return until

it rained.

The Fish Butte Lookout had spot fires all around it so the lookout, McHone, fled to the Lochsa

Ranger Station and helped in the activities there. The lookout building burned.

On the next day a CCC crew of about 200 men and a road crew of about 30 men arrived at the

Lochsa Ranger Station and set up a fire camp.

During the days of August 13-16, good progress was made in fighting the fire. The spot fire

above the Station was controlled and considerable line built above Fish Creek on Fish Butte. The

line was being pushed up Fish Creek, but there the fuels were very heavy and construction slow.

However, the situation did look much better.

Then came August 17! The crews went to work on the fire as usual. About 10 A.M. the station

received a message from the Weather Bureau that there was a high wind coming. Shortly

thereafter the fire began to pick up and it was evident that the fire was going to make a run

before the end of the day.

The bosses on the fire soon concluded that they would not be able to fight fire that day so they

gave orders to withdraw the crews to the Lochsa Ranger Station. There was still plenty of time

and the withdrawal started in an orderly manner. However, with the fire rolling up a cloud of

smoke behind them, the retreat became a panic. Many of the men threw away their tools in their

mad rush down the mountain and up the trail to the Lochsa Station. A packstring taking supplies

to the Station was overtaken by running and shouting men and it too was panicked. The mules

broke loose and scattered packs along the trail. At about 12:30 P.M. this mass of people reached

the Lochsa Station. Here it paused and the bosses restored order and the packer collected his

stock.

The panicked crew was followed by those who had kept their senses. The teamster who handled

the large horses (weight about 1700 lbs. each) came with his team and then on the end came

Ranger Lewis. When the fire started to blow up, he had headed for the Ranger Station to join in

the fight to save it. A roll call showed all present except Bill McDougal. Bill was a trapper in the

winter, but worked for the Forest Service in the summer. He was an expert woodsman. He had

been scouting the fire when it blew up. He didn't show up until the next morning. When he came

to the Station it was evident that he had been in the water, either in Fish Creek or the River. He

wouldn't say which, but he did say it was mighty hot.

Just as soon as the fire began to pick up at about 10:30A.M., Jack Godwin started the few men at

the station to work preparing for the fight to follow. They built a dam in Zion Creek, forming a

pond about 20 feet long, ten feet wide and five feet deep. They placed the only pump they had at

this pond and strung hoses to the buildings. They did not have enough hose to reach all the

buildings so the bunkhouse had no water. They also used the garden hoses which operated from

the Station's water system which was a gravity flow from Zion Creek.

They distributed water buckets and water bags at strategic places and equipped them with hand-

operated pumps as far as the number would go. There was not enough equipment to put all the

men to work.

The teamster took oat sacks and sewed them together and made blankets for his team. By

frequently wetting these blankets he saved the horses. The packer used the saddle blankets to

cover the animals in his string the same way. They carried the oats and hay into the area to be

protected. The hay shed and corrals were left without defense since any attempt to save them

would be useless. They wet the buildings and the surrounding area down with the pump and

garden hose.

Ranger Lewis and the foremen talked to the CCC crew. They told them not to run. Their chances

of coming out alive were good if they stayed at the station but if they ran, it was sure death. Such

talks no doubt help some, but a forest fire roaring down upon them with all its noise, fire, heat

and smoke is a fearful sight and they sometimes lose their power to reason. They panic and run

even though they know they should not.

By 1:30 P.M. the defenders were all organized and ready, Ranger Lewis was in charge and Jack

Godwin would handle the crews with the pump. There was a crew for each building, each

divided into two parts; one part to fight while the other rested and got its breath. Warren Bohn

and four CCC men were to defend the radio poles, etc. At this time they could hear the fire's low

pitched grumble, a great deal like a distant waterfall.

At about 2 P.M., the fire came over the hill west of the station. The hour of truth had arrived!

Here the puny hands of a small crew of men would be pitted against the forces of hell! They set a

backfire. Immediately in front of a big fire there is a suction that produces a wind toward the fire.

Setting a backfire at this time holds the main fire back a little and they needed every aid they

could get. The fire approached with all its noise, heat and smoke. Daylight turned to twilight as

the smoke blotted out the sun. The crews stood their ground!

At first the fire did not come directly at them. It angled up the hill from the river and then up

Zion Creek. It moved closer and the heat increased. The side of the cookhouse toward the fire

began to steam and had to be wet down continuously. Then the upriver side of Zion Creek went

whoosh as it burst into flame! The wind and the fire then came directly at them and across the

buildings! The fight was on!

The battle lasted for about three hours! During this time the fire pump ran continuously and the

men carried water! Thousands of sparks rained down, some as large as a dinner plate. One of the

large embers landed on the main line of the fire hose and went undetected for a few seconds. The

burning ember so damaged the hose that the pressure from within caused it to burst. Had it not

been for a special effort of the men with the handpumps and water buckets the buildings would

have burned! Just as the men were wearing out they got the hose repaired and the pump going

again. They then wrapped the most exposed parts of the hose in wool blankets and had a man

wet it down with buckets full of water.

Time after time a building would catch fire, but each fire was quickly hit with a stream of water.

The hayshed burned and its burning shakes added to the embers that fell on them. The

bunkhouse that could not be reached with the hose burned.

Ranger Lewis was in charge. He walked about through the protected area giving encouragement

and keeping a sharp eye out for anything that might go wrong. He found a small group of CCC

boys near Zion Creek outside the protected area. He hustled them out and this area soon burned

over.

Jack Godwin and his pump crews stood the worst part of the fight. In such a crew every man

fights two battles at the same time; one to save the buildings and the other to stay alive. Just how

does a man survive in such an inferno? It isn't easy! Above all he must keep his clothes soaked

with water from a hose or by rolling in the creek. This keeps the sparks from setting his clothes

afire and helps cool the body. The smoke stings his eyes and the tears stream down his face. He

gulps water not only to supply his body needs but also because his mouth and throat dry out from

breathing the hot air. He fights fire only a few minutes, then drops to the ground to breathe

cooler and fresher air near the ground, while the other crew keeps up the fight. He is a soggy,

dirty, crying, coughing and spitting mess, but when the other crew has taken all it can, he is on

his feet again and fighting the fire.

By 6 P.M. the fire passed! Warren Bohn said that he was first aware that the fight was won when

noise dropped in volume. Then the pump stopped and all was deathly quiet except for the voices

of the men; and they weren't talking much. The cooks had supper ready. The men were elated,

but too tired to celebrate. They bathed in the pool and went to bed.

The next day the crew rested. The doctor was busy taking care of sore eyes and throats but there

were no injuries. Smoke was still raising from some smouldering stumps and logs but the air was

cool. Under the blanket of smoke that hung in the valley the temperature rose only to 70 degrees.

The crew ate the noon meal with gasoline lights. Not a bird sang or a leaf rustled. The only signs

of life were the swarms of smoke flies, that came from the Lord only knows where, and the

ravens that flew over the burn. They were searching for and feasting on the animals the fire

killed but had not completely burned. But there stood the Lochsa Ranger Station, an oasis in a

blackened waste!

Warren Bohn standing on the hillside by the Lochs Station after the successful

battle to save it from the flames.

Looking across the river from the Lochsa Station following the fire. Smoke still

shows.

Clarence Longteig, a cook, standing near the Lochsa Station after the fire.

1938

In 1938 supplies were parachuted to a fire. Various devices had been tried with little success

before going to parachutes. Free fall packaging, manties with ropes to the corners and other ideas

were tried. The packages were either too small or hit the earth so hard that the tools were

severely damaged. What was needed was a means that would permit dropping the bundles

contained in the standard 25 man outfit. The parachute was adopted for this use.

Bob Johnson invented the static line that made this possible. He never patented this device. I

once asked him why and he said the idea was so simple he never thought of patenting it. He

added that had he done so he may have made more money out of it than he did out of the

airplane business.

1940

The fire season of 1940 deserves special mention, but not because of the area burned, close calls

or severity of burning conditions. It is a historical year because of the high occurrence of fires

and the large force of trained manpower the Forest Service had to meet the fire emergency.

The figures below relate to the Clearwater Forest as it was in 1940. The areas that were

subsequently added to the Clearwater also had high occurrences that year and had the manpower

to control the fires with little damage. Actually what happened on the Clearwater Forest was

duplicated on almost every forest in Western Montana and North Idaho. Region One had by far

the highest fire occurrence in 1940 than it has ever had.

The number of trained men available to the Clearwater Forest to suppress fire reached its all time

peak in 1940. At that time the Forest Service had a number of CCC camps of 200 men each. The

Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine (BRC) also had several camps. In addition there

were other crews available through emergency appropriations for road construction, blister rust

control and other work. The total manpower was about a thousand men. All of these crews were

well equipped and had trained, experienced foremen.

The fire season of 1940 started early. There were seven fires in May and 64 in June. The months

of June and early July were very hot. On July 12 a dry lightning storm crossed the Forest leaving

a liberal sprinkling of fires. There were 185 fires in July and most of them came from this storm.

Here is the record by months:

Month

Fires

May

June

July

185

August

September

Total

319

Three fires were man-caused. The area burned was 722 acres.

Smokejumping became practical in 1940. Experiments were first conducted in Region Six, but

the next year the project was transferred to Region One. Ralph Hand was in charge, but Frank

Derry was the technician that developed the padded suits, helmets and remodeled the parachute.

Smokejumping had been thought of years before it was tried, but was considered too dangerous.

The use of smokejumpers caused the first reduction in the number of lookout points manned. The

points which added little to the detection system but were manned to give smokechaser coverage

were the first to go.

In the first few years of smokejumping the men were trained at Seeley Lake and then stationed at

landing fields on the forest such as Moose Creek, Cayuse Creek and Seeley Lake. Experience

proved that better use could be made of the smokejumpers if they were more centrally located.

They were then stationed at the Remount Depot and then finally in Missoula.

1943

World War II drained the young, able-bodied men into the armed services. The Forest Service

had great difficulty in getting enough men to man the lookouts, fight fires, and get its other work

done. There were still some young men available and this was one of those rainy summers when

no one worried much about fires. So in spite of the handicaps everything went along quite well.

1944

This year the manpower shortage was severe. The Forest Service employed women and 17 year

old youths to operate the lookouts. The women were generally better lookouts than the 17 year

olds who had never been away from home. Most ranger districts had at least one woman lookout

who would get all the lookouts on the telephone and tell them what to cook and how to prepare

it.

The blister rust crews were mostly 17 year olds but there were some Mexican Nationals that

were contracted by the U.S. to help meet labor needs. They worked on the farms in the spring

and then went to work for the Forest Service fighting fire, etc. These were some of the toughest

men physically I have ever seen. They knew how to use firefighting tools, could take the heat

and had great physical endurance.

Some work camps were made up of internees. These were men who were in the United States

from enemy countries who were not citizens when the war was declared. They were very good

workers and most of them desired to be come U.S. citizens. Their numbers were rapidly

decimated by their acceptance into the armed services.

Conscientious objectors who volunteered for forestry work were used as smokejumpers. They

developed into a very good outfit.

The fire season of 1944 was not severe so the Clearwater Forest got a long very well.

Airplanes were used to scout large fires as early as 1926. They were also used after lightning

storms to fly over the forest scouting for fires, but the use of airplanes for the detection of fires

on a planned basis that combined lookout coverage and airplane detection started in 1944. These

plans were prepared by Ralph Hand and Herb Harris. This system was first tried in the Bob

Marshall Wilderness Area. It was so successful that it was soon adopted by all forests, and a big

reduction in the number of lookouts and the miles of telephone lines followed.

1945

In 1945 the manpower situation was about the same as 1944 except by this time German

prisoners of war were added to the firefighter crews. There were too many restrictions on their

use to be effective.

The season was quite severe and manpower was so scarce that it became necessary to use

soldiers to fight fire. A fire started in a snag patch in Little Washington Creek and burned to the

river. Almost all of this fire was in 1919 burn. Soldiers were used, but they fought fire

reluctantly. Soldiers have been used in fighting fires in 1910, 1919, 1926, 1944 and 1945.

During the war the Japanese hit upon an ingenious device to drop bombs on the United States.

This was a paper balloon that rode the jet stream across the Pacific Ocean. It was equipped with

sandbags and a barometer so that when the balloon dropped to around 10,000 feet a sandbag was

released and the balloon went back up to around 15,000 feet. There was also a timing device on

the balloon that set off the mechanism to start dropping bombs when they estimated the balloon

would be over the United States. When the bombs were all dropped a charge of explosives went

off that demolished the whole apparatus.

These machines were first released in the fall of 1944. It was given great publicity in Japan and

was a morale builder for a nation which had began to realize that going to war against the U.S.

was a mistake. The military knew about this as soon as it was started, but at first the Forest

Service learned about it was when Forest Rangers and local people began reporting strange

flashes in the sky. Then a balloon that failed to function properly landed near Kalispell. This

news made the local papers but was quickly hushed.

In January 1945 there was a Fire Control meeting in Washington D.C. at which I represented

Region One. At this meeting the Army told us all it knew about this bombing, but cautioned us to

keep it secret so that the enemy would not know what success they were having. They explained

the device and showed us a map where all known bombs had landed. They had also tracked

many of these balloons by radar and had plotted their paths on the map.

The balloons took a generally eastward course reaching North America all the way from

California to Alaska. Their timing of the bombs was poor because most of them fell in the

Pacific Ocean. All the bombs recovered were the anti-personnel type. These were designed for

use against cities, but with coming summer it was feared that the Japanese would switch to

incendiary bombs. However, the bombs were so widely scattered and doing so little damage that

the military did not plan any action to shoot the ballons down unless the situation became more

serious.

I returned to Region One and visited each forest where I explained what was happening and

emphasized secrecy. I had barely returned to Missoula when a Senator got his name in the papers

by telling the newsmen all about it.

Actually these bombs did little damage. One balloon hung up in a tree on the Pacific Coast where

some picknickers found it and touched off a fatal blast by tampering with it. In Region One

pieces of the paper from the balloons were found on the Nezperce, Colville and Deerlodge

National Forests. A bomb landed in a field near Darby, Montana. So far as is known none hit the

Clearwater although some claimed a fire was set by a bomb. The Japanese quit sending the

bombs in April 1945. I never heard why. Some said the Air Force bombed the launching site, but

others said, and I believe this is correct, that the Japanese decided the project was a failure.

Of course no one knew that the Japanese had quit sending out balloons. That summer the planet

Mars could be seen with the naked eye in the daytime. It was reported as a balloon so many

times to Fred Fite, the Regional Dispatcher in Missoula, that I calculated for Fred its azimuth and

vertical angle for each fifteen minute interval during the day.

At the Bungalow there was a guage for measuring the flow of the river. One of the parts of this

meter was a float that moved up and down in a pipe as the water rose and fell. It was a tube about

18 inches long and pointed at each end. On its sides four strips of metal were welded to serve as

guides and reduce friction. It did look a little like a bomb. The machinery that recorded the river

flow was housed in a small building about the size of a telephone booth. There was an extra float

in this building.

One day George Pollock, Headquarters guard, had occassion to open this building. Olie Bowlin,

the packer, was with him and saw the float. He asked Pollock what it was. Pollock told him not

to touch it because it was a Japanese bomb that one of the men had found out in the woods and

had put it there for safe keeping until some Army man could come and get it. He warned Bowlin

to keep it a secret.

Several days later the man who serviced the meter came and Bowlin felt it was his duty, since

Pollock was absent, to warn this man to use due care because of the bomb. The man unlocked the

booth and peeked inside. He could see no bomb. When Bowlin showed it to him the man said

"Oh, that". Then he picked it up and tossed it to Bowlin. For an instant Bowlin almost had heart

failure, then he realized that he was the butt of a joke.

1961

This was a very dry fire season and the Clearwater was engaged in fire fighting from the first of

August until about the 25th. This was one of the few years that the Clearwater Forest had

difficulty with man-caused fires. There was also a shortage of firefighters. Actually this was a

Regional problem brought about by three fires on the Clearwater occurring at the same time as

two on the Nezperce and a very bad fire on the Bitterroot.

The Clearwater had fires in the Musselshell area, one at Ashpile Creek, Cayuse Creek, Gravey

Creek, Orogrande, and Surprise Creek in the Wilderness Area. The total area burned was 12,625

acres of which 2,822 were in the Wilderness Area.

1967

This was another dry season. Fortunately there were few lightning storms so the occurrence was

low. Sneak Point, a logging fire, burned about 1400 acres and there were two fires in the

Wilderness Area on Cliff and Warm Springs Creeks that burned about 1100 acres.

There have not been any severe fire seasons since 1967.

Chapter 17

Wildlife

When the Lewis and Clark Expedition came over the Lolo Trail in 1805

they almost starved. This has led many people to assume that game in

the mountains was very scarce at that time. This may be true, but it is

by no means conclusive. It must be remembered that Lewis and Clark

had the misfortune to cross during a snowstorm when game would naturally withdraw to lower

elevations. Lewis and Clark did see some deer along the trail east of Indian Post Office. Clark

snapped his gun seven times on a large buck but his flintlock failed to fire, apparently because of

the wet weather. On their return trip in 1806 they reported deer in the vicinity of Indian Post

Office and killed a deer in one of the meadows at the head of Fish Creek and another near

Crooked Creek. They reported killing deer at Eldorado Meadows, Crane Meadows and a good

many at Weippe Prairie. They killed black and grizzly bear near Kamiah and saw a grizzly near

Crane Meadows, but did not kill it.

Elk

So far as elk are concerned, Lewis and Clark did not kill one in the entire Clearwater valley nor

do they mention having seen one. On their return trip the Nez Perce guides pointed to a spot

below Papoose Creek where they said elk were plentiful. The very fact that the Indians pointed

this spot out as a hunting ground for elk would indicate that elk were found only in limited areas

in the Clearwater country at that time. The place that the Indians went to hunt elk was in the

vicinity of Jerry Johnson and Colgate Warm Springs.

Apparently there were some elk scattered over the Clearwater at the time the early miners

arrived. A few creeks and mountains carry the name of elk, indicating someone saw these

animals there. However, they must have been scarce. My father came to the Pierce country in

1891. He never saw an elk in that country and knew of only one being killed before the increase

of elk there about 1930.

The diary of the men who died of scurvy at Cayuse Creek shows that they killed two elk near

there in 1907. One of the Hansens, who first came to the Kelly Creek country in 1902, told me

that there were a few elk in that country then, but that they were not plentiful.

In 1919 I became a smokechaser. During 1919, 1920 and 1921 I traveled from Headquarters to

Bertha Hill, Dead Horse, Elk Mountain, Boehls Cabin, Freezeout, Stocking Meadows and over a

lot of the trails in the intervening country. In all these travels I never as much as saw an elk track

and I never heard of others seeing elk.

The first elk I saw was in 1923 above the Ranger station on the Meadow Creek that runs into the

Selway just above the falls. That same year I saw evidence that some elk had wintered in Glover

Creek, but when I reported this to the local Rangers they expressed doubts.

During the summer of 1924 as head of a mapping crew I covered almost the entire Lochsa

drainage from Fish to Warm Springs Creeks. I saw a bull elk on Bald Mountain and one cow and

a calf in Bald Mountain Creek. I saw numerous elk at the warm springs on Weir Creek and

around Jerry Johnson and Colgate Warm Springs. Elk were plentiful in Stanley Creek, Lake

Creek and the head of Boulder Creek. I ran onto a small band on Doubt Creek, a branch of

Hungery Creek. I reported this to Ralph Hand who was Ranger at the Lochsa (then called

Boulder Ranger station). He said that was the first time he had heard of elk in the Fish Creek

drainage and was led to believe that the elk were spreading.

Albert Cochrell started work on the Clearwater Forest in 1913 and made the following statement

concerning elk:

"A few elk tracks were seen, but much as I looked, I never saw one of the critters and,

although the 1910 fires were blamed for the scarcity, I do not believe they had ever been

plentiful. In 1914 I saw my first elk near Goat Lake, and also my first mule deer, for a

closeup view, on Indian Post Office. In 1919, for the first time in years, there was an

open elk season starting October 1 and ending November 15. Paul Gerrard and I took

advantage of a Sunday and hunted in the head of Fourth of July Creek. We saw a small

bunch of elk but, at long range, our shooting was not effective. Later, however, the 14th

of November to be exact, I killed a four point bull on Elk Mountain. This and one other

killed by Samson Snyder and John Collins on the Orogrande, were, perhaps, the only elk

killed on the Clearwater that year."

Eldon Snyder told me his father killed this elk near what is now Seven Mile Point.

My brother, Dwain, tells me that the first elk killed near the old homestead between Weippe and

Pierce was in 1931.

Winter game surveys were conducted during the winters of 1934-35 and 1935-36. These surveys

covered all the elk winter range on the forest. In the early fall stopover stations were established

throughout the winter game areas. Cabins were built at strategic locations and stocked with food

supplies and equipment. In a few cases tent camps were used. The study of game in winter

requires snowshoeing over many miles of rough country in all kinds of weather. This work

probably required greater physical exertion than any work on the forest, unless it be firefighting.

Yet most of the men who did it enjoyed the work and were enthusiastic about it.

The knowledge gained, however, was very small. The winter range was mapped, but this could

have been done in one trip instead of making a trip over the same area every two weeks. The

game was also counted, but no two organizations could agree on the number of animals present

in any drainage. There could be duplications in animals seen although efforts were made to avoid

this. It was well known that some animals were present but not seen. In rough, mountainous

country this could be a large part of the herd. So, the question arose and was debated at length

whether 90, 80, 50 or 40 per cent of the elk had been counted. No agreement was reached. The

studies were discontinued in 1936 except for a trip into the areas about once a year.

Elk migration in the Lochsa River drainage, 1949.

In 1935 the Clearwater Forest grazing report contained a statement that the elk were becoming so

numerous that they were depleting their winter range. This conclusion was reached after a study

of the game surveys had started. This overgrazed condition of the elk winter range continued for

over 20 years from 1934 to about 1955.

Between 1954 and 1957 the State of Idaho Fish and Game Department made a game and range

study of the Clearwater. Their report was published in 1957. A helicopter was used to count the

game animals and map the winter range. Their map shows the winter range no different from the

Forest Service survey of 1934-35. Their count was doubtless more accurate in open areas, but

probably less accurate in timbered localities. They estimated an 80% count.

Their actual count in the Lochsa was 4,331 elk, of which 90 were seen west of Lowell along the

Middle Fork. In the North Fork, within the Clearwater Forest boundary, 4,246 elk were actually

counted. This gives a total for the Clearwater Forest of 8,577 elk actually counted. Using the

State estimate of 80 percent counted, would give the total elk population as 10,700.

There is no proof, but it is commonly believed by Forest personnel of the Clearwater, that the elk

population reached its peak in 1948. Numbers were reduced by the severe winter of 1948-49.

Albert Cochrell stated that there were probably only two elk killed on the Clearwater Forest in

1919. The Forest then did not include the Lochsa or Middle Fork drainages, but it does show that

the kill was very small. In the Idaho County Free Press of December 1948, Harry Palmer,

District Conservation Supervisor gave the following figures for the Lochsa and Selway

drainages: the 1946 number of hunters who checked in was not given, but the number of elk

checked out was 4,386; in 1948 15,929 hunters checked in and 3,675 elk were checked out. The

same area in 1973 showed 3,700 hunters had checked in and 532 elk were checked out. This was

quite a change.

There is a great deal of speculation on why the elk increased so rapidly from a scattered number

in 1913 to a herd of about 10,000 in 1948.

Since the increase in elk started after the fires of 1910 and continued after the 1919 fires, many

attribute the increase in elk to the increase in winter browse due to fire killing the timber. These

people now reason that the decrease in elk population is due to the timber growing back and all

that is needed to restore the elk in large numbers if to burn off the timber. It is human nature to

look for an easy and quick solution to any problem. This is fine if it will work but the elk

problem is very complex and there is no one thing that will solve it.

In the first place if the increase of elk was due only to fires then there should have been plenty of

elk before 1910. It is erroneous to assume that there were no large fires before 1910. In fact the

fires of 1910 were mainly in areas that had been previously been burned. Lewis and Clark

recorded burned areas, and contrary to some later statements that Indians did not deliberately

start forest fires they record such an event. In 1889 there were huge fires. Some old timers in

describing smoke conditions sound very much like descriptions of 1910. For an account of what

the burned areas were like before 1910 see Leiberg's and Shattuck's accounts under the chapter

on fire.

Here is what Adolph Weholt, Ranger at Hoo Doo Lake from 1910 to 1914 had to say about the

elk: "During the time I was on the Elk Summit District, I was not very much impressed with the

number of elk. In fact, they seemed scarce. The number of elk actually seen stack up about as

follows: 100 at the big elk lick on lower East Moose, 30 head at Elbow Bend, 35 east at Diablo

Mountain. Some tracks were seen at other places, but as a whole the elk were scarce.

"I do not attribute the increase of the elk population to the 1934 burn nor the 1910 burn. I think

the answer is obvious. Here are the facts: A team of mountain lion hunters, namely, Clarence

McCully and Matthews from the vicinity of Kamiah, in the fall of 1913 (I think I am correct)

outfitted and packed in to the Moose Creek area to hunt mountain lions. They made their

headquarters at the old Moose Creek cabin. From there they covered all the game winter range,

up Moose Creek for some distance and the upper part of the main Selway as far up as the winter

range extended. The winter range was quite limited in areas, creating a concentration of deer and

elk. This made lion hunting an easy matter.

"When they came back out they had bagged over 50 lions. The following winter they returned

and brought out almost 50 more hides. They stayed until the lions became so scarce that they

could no longer make it pay.

"Anyone can figure out the kill by over 100 lions in a terrain which would give the predators

every advantage. It is my contention that the elk began increasing from that very winter, then on

and on."

Of course, the hunters Weholt names were not the only lion hunters. George Lowe of Kooskia

had killed 166 lions in his career as a hunter. Walter Sewell was a well known lion hunter and

there were others.

It is well known that bears, both black and grizzly, kill elk calves.

Up to about 1929 there were numerous trappers and these men trapped bear for their fur. Sister

Alfreda in her book, "Pioneer Days in Idaho County" quotes a letter written by Welsey Fales

who trapped in the Big Sand Lake area about 1908. He describes bear trapping and, although he

does not give a total for the number caught; he must have taken about 30 in one season.

In addition to the trappers a number of hunters treed bear with dogs. The result was that although

the bear were once plentiful they soon became far less numerous than they are today.

Then there were the sheepmen who at one time ran sheep over a large part of the forest. The

herders were constantly on the watch for bear and killed every one they could. This helped to

decimate the bear population and practically exterminated the grizzly.

There wasn't much elk hunting on the National Forest prior to 1920. There were the trappers, a

few hunting parties and it is rumored that some elk were killed for their teeth, but if so this came

to an end when the Forest Service placed Rangers in the area. I would summarize the situation

which brought about the rapid rise in the elk population as follows:

1. There was an abundance of browse caused by fires that had swept over large areas of

the forest.

2. The predators were greatly reduced in numbers.

3. The forest could be reached only by packtrain so the number of hunters was low and

the kill light.

Now what has caused the elk population to decline?

1. The number of elk hunters has greatly increased.

2. Roads, particularly the Lewis and Clark Highway, have made the game areas much

more accessible to hunters.

3. The elk winter range has diminished in quality due to 20 years of overgrazing.

4. The conifer reproduction is topping out over the shrubs and shading the shrubs out,

thus reducing the quantity of winter range.

5. The number of predators has increased.

Deer

There are both mule and white-tailed deer in the Clearwater National Forest. They have never

been very plentiful and during the time the elk population was high they decreased somewhat in

number because they were not able to compete with the elk for winter browse. Strictly speaking,

deer on the Clearwater Forest are rarely hunted. Hunters do kill them if they happen to see one

while hunting elk.

Black Bear

The so-called black bear, which may vary in color from a light brown to a coal black, was

plentiful in the Clearwater country around the turn of the century. Then due to trapping and

hunting for furs the population was greatly reduced. The species was never near extinction.

In this part of the nation hunters as a rule are not interested in killing a bear. The few that hunters

do kill are usually shot when an elk or deer hunter happens to see one or because the bear is a

nuisance. During the early part of the elk and deer season some bear are killed, but as soon as

cold weather comes the bear hibernate and are rarely taken.

The black bear is omnivorous which means he will eat almost anything edible. He fares on ants,

worms, roots, plant seeds, yellow jackets, bees, berries, bird eggs, carrion, garbage and flesh. He

is a predator and will kill such animals as mice, ground squirrels, salmon, fawns, elk calves,

domesticated animals such as sheep, calves and hogs.

His appetite gets him in trouble with man not only because he kills livestock but also because he

damages orchards, breaks into cabins, robs campers of their food if camp is unattended, eats and

dirties hunters' kills, tips over garbage cans, breaks into cars for food and otherwise makes a

nuisance of himself. Many a farmer, rancher, camper, ranger, lookout, and trail laborer has

quietly brought a quick end to a bear that had become a pest.

Bear are now plentiful and appear to be increasing in number.

Grizzly Bear

The grizzly bear was, at one time, found throughout the Clearwater country. The Lewis and

Clark party killed them near Kamiah and in about 1903 one was killed at Musselshell.

Trappers took a great many grizzlies. They would trap marten and other fur-bearing animals in

the winter months and when spring came they would come out of the mountains and sell their

furs. They would then return to their cabins at about the time the bear came out of hibernation.

The fur of the bear was the best at that time since it had grown long and fine during hibernation.

The trappers would then set their traps. Grizzlies had no fear of the scent of man and were easily

trapped. It took most of a day to skin, flesh and stretch a bear hide so the trappers tried to hold

their take to one a day. The bear trapping season lasted about a month.

The last known grizzly to be killed on the North Fork of the Clearwater was in 1926 at Wallow

Mountain. There were grizzlies in the upper reaches of the Lochsa until about 1946. There are

now reports of grizzlies being seen almost every year. A grizzly was photographed in the

Chamberlain Meadows area in 1977. It has, however been many years since one was killed.

Mountain Sheep

The only record of mountain sheep on the Clearwater is a report by my brother Allen that he saw

some near Eagle Mountain in 1920. Perhaps Sheep Mountain got its name from someone seeing

sheep there, but if that is the case they became extinct there long ago.

Mountain Lion

As stated elsewhere mountain lions were not rare, but became so by about 1920. The men on the

game study work in 1935-36 reported three on that part of the North Fork of the Clearwater

within the forest boundary.

At that time mountain lions were almost extinct over all North Idaho and Western Montana.

Mountain lions are much more common today.

Mountain Goats

When Lewis and Clark were on their way east over the Lolo Trail in 1806 their Nez Perce guides

pointed to the country around the Blacklead and told Lewis and Clark that they went there to

hunt mountain goats, called white buffalo by Lewis and Clark.

There have continued to be mountain goats in the high country of the Clearwater. Blacklead,

Moose Mountain, Pot Mountain, Crags, Black Mountain, and the Bitterroot Divide south of Lolo

Pass all have mountain goats. The State Fish and Game Department trapped goats at Black

Mountain and flew them out by helicopter to be planted in locations without goats.

In Black Canyon of the Lochsa near the mouth of Old Man Creek there is a winter goat range.

Here during the winter months and early spring goats can sometimes be seen from the Lewis and

Clark Highway.

Moose

There have always been moose on the Clearwater National Forest. In the early days of the Forest

Service these animals were, for the most part, confined to the Kelly Creek country and the

Powell area including Big Sand Lake the high lakes area of the Crags and Fish Lake. There was

no open season on these animals for years and they did increase some in numbers, but not as

much as would appear logical. A cow moose usually bears twin calves. Except when the calves

are young and can easily be caught by a bear, the moose has no natural enemies. However, they

are easily hunted. The bulls have little fear of man and then moose are not as alert as elk or deer.

As ridiculous as it may seem moose are frequently killed when mistaken for elk. The State

permits hunting in some areas under a limited license program.

Salmon and Steelhead

Sergeant Gass of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in his diary of September 27, 1805 wrote of the

Clearwater River, "the water is clear as crystal and abounding with salmon of an excellent

quality".

The history of the steelhead and salmon in the Clearwater River is a parallel to the history of the

bison of the Great Plains. Salmon and steelhead at one time came into the Clearwater River each

spring and fall by the millions. They were the chief source of protein of the Nez Perce Indians.

Even the Salish, Pend Oreille and Coeur d'Alene Indians made their way in to the upper reaches

of the North Fork, Lochsa and Selway Rivers to take advantage of this abundant source of food.

When I was first back in the mountains in the early twenties the old timers said that the fish were

not as numerous as they were years before. Yet the numbers of salmon, we called both steelhead

and chinook, were present in almost unbelievable numbers. In 1924 I watched the salmon going

over Selway Falls. It was common to see four or five in the air at the same time, and at the slack

water point below the falls they were stacked up like cordwood. In the fall when the salmon died,

they washed ashore in such numbers that the creeks stunk. You didn't dare drink the water and if

you had a dog you had to keep him muzzled because if he ate a dead salmon it would poison

him. However, the bear, coyotes, ravens, eagles and fish hawks gorged themselves on them,

apparently without ill effects. Nobody in that day fished for salmon or steelhead with a hook and

line; they speared them.

Now the salmon have almost become extinct and this has been primarily due to dams, but there

are other reasons. The commercial fisheries have taken a heavy toll, but so did the fishermen.

One source of depletion which is generally disregarded is the large number of young salmon

taken by trout fishermen. After the roads were built up the North Fork above the Bungalow and

the Lewis and Clark Highway extended through the Lochsa the young steelhead were caught in

the fall by the thousands.

Getting back to the dams. The Washington Water Power Company built a dam at Lewiston in

about 1926. This dam had a fish ladder that was built according to designs approved by the Idaho

Fish and Game Department. The steelhead were able to climb this ladder, but the salmon could

not and in a few years the salmon run was gone. The fish ladder was rebuilt and tests showed that

the chinook salmon would go over it. An effort was then made to restore the salmon run by

planting eggs in the upstream waters. Then came more dams. Dworshak Dam cut the salmon run

off at the North Fork and dams on the Snake increased the nitrogen content of the water until

now there are few steelhead or salmon in the Clearwater.

Whether biologists will be able to solve the problems and restore the salmon and steelhead runs

remains to be seen, but right now the outlook is gloomy.

Fish Planting

There are a number of small mountain lakes scattered throughout the high country of the

Clearwater National Forest. Only a few of them had fish before they were stocked. The two Fish

Lakes and Big Sand Lake had native trout in them and that is how the two Fish Lakes got their

names. I know of no other Clearwater lakes that had fish before they were planted.

Deputy Game Warden C.K. (Andy) Hjort was responsible for planting fish in the lakes in the

Coolwater Ridge and Crag country. I don't know when he started this work, but when I visited

these lakes in 1923 and 1924 every lake that was big and deep enough to support fish was

planted.

Planting fish at that time was a lot of hard work. The road ended at Pete King. The fish would

come to Kooskia by train in ten gallon cream cans. Andy would load the cans in his old jalopy

and take them to Lowell where he would stay over night. He had installed holding facilities for

the fish there.

The next day he would load the cans of fish and water on his horses and go to Coolwater

Lookout. On the northeast side of this point there is a small flat with a spring. Here Andy had

another place fixed to hold fish overnight. The next day he would go to Old Man Meadows for

another stop over. The next day he would plant the fish.

Andy had apparently completed his planting by 1923. I found his holding facilities in place but

in bad condition. I caught a mess of trout in one of the Coolwater Lakes. Old Man Lake was still

closed to fishing but I found in a garbage pit the head of a fish that must had weighed two

pounds. Later, I learned that Andy had caught, weighed and photographed it, and sent a report to

the Game Warden in Boise recommending the lake be opened to fishing.

Today, if any fish were to be planted in the back country it would be done by helicopter. It would

take a few hours to make a trip that Andy would make in a week.

Chapter 18

Mining

One of the most important historical events in the Clearwater country,

or in all Idaho, was the discovery of gold at Pierce in 1860. This

discovery triggered the first rush of white men into Idaho. Pierce, as

well as the richest placer areas, was outside the present Clearwater

National Forest. There was a lot of placer mining in Armstrong Gulch and the Rosebud drainage.

Every small creek was sluiced out, and you can still find parts of the old mining ditches. While

clearing ground for mining in this area a fire, or fires, escaped and burned over most of the

Rosebud drainage and the head of French Creek. The upper basin of French Creek was mined by

a group of Frenchmen who later worked this area over a second time.

Rhodes Creek was the richest of all the placer areas around Pierce. Preacher and Clearwater

Gulches are the only parts of Rhodes Creek on the National Forest. Pat Gaffney, who later

became well known in the Weippe country, had a claim on Clearwater Gulch.

In what is commonly referred to as the Musselshell Country, Mike White mined on Lolo Creek.

Henry Greer and "Daddy" Cole had claims on Musselshell Creek. It was these two men who dug

the tunnel through which the creek flows. It was to drain a basin above so that it could be mined.

Gold mining in the Pierce area went through three stages. These stages did overlap, but in each

stage one type of mining was clearly dominant. The first was the placer stage which was

dominant from 1861 to 1892. Placer mining is the process of separating the loose gold from the

gravel and clay by washing.

The second stage was finding the lode claims and mining the ore. This method required a stamp

mill to grind the ore and separate out the gold. These stamp mills were heavy, but they were

taken into some of the most difficult places. This stage ran from 1892 to about 1910. In general,

this kind of mining was not very successful in the Pierce country because the veins of ore were

small.

The third stage was dredging. Dredging started in 1906 and ended in the 1930's. The dredge

mechanically did the same work as the placer miner, but more efficiently.

There were a large number of lode claims (at least a hundred) located in the Pierce Mining

District, but only a few showed enough promise to be developed. Here are the names of those I

remember: (This list is incomplete.) In the Bald Mountain country were the Mascot and the

Democrat. The American Mine near the mouth of McCauly Creek was both a lode and a placer

claim. On Lolo Creek and inside the Forest was the Pioneer. The Dewey on Musselshell was

inside the forest. There were several in the Rhodes Creek drainage, but all I can recall were the

Ozark, the Crescent, and the Wild Rose. The latter was inside the Forest. On Orofino Creek and

inside the Forest was the Rosebud. I believe this is the claim now called the Red Cloud. Inside

the Forest on French Creek was the Klondike. Then further from Pierce was the Oxford.

Several dredges operated outside the forest boundary. There may have been a few acres dredged

in Rhodes Creek. The dredges first operated close to Pierce, then Canal Gulch. Later Rhodes

Creek, the American Mine and small areas in Orogrande were then dredged.

Moose City

Gold was discovered at Pierce on October 1, 1860. Miners and prospectors flocked to the locality

in 1861. The majority of the miners came from California and were experienced prospectors.

They not only understood how to mine gold, but also knew the best ways of prospecting the

streams. Using Pierce and Lewiston as bases, the prospectors spread out in all directions over the

mountains. During the summers of 1861 and 1862, all the major gold deposits in the Clearwater

drainage were discovered and all its major streams thoroughly prospected.

Gold was discovered around Moose Creek and Independence Creek by a wandering band of

prospectors July 4, 1862. This placer ground paid its discoverers well for a short time but was

soon deserted. The rich deposits were limited. Independence Creek was dredged in the 1930's.

A second population influx was stimulated in the late sixties by discoveries made by prospectors

Ernest Hilton, William Shepard and Tommy O'Brien. It is said that fully two hundred people

rushed to this locality. This boom resulted in the founding of Moose City with a saloon,

restaurant, hotel, jail, butcher shop and three general stores. For three years the diggings

produced well and supported the population. But during the seventies the diggings began to fail

again. Moose City was soon abandoned, though a few people continued to mine there for many

years.

There is still some prospecting around Moose City and people pan the creeks to pick up a few

"colors", but there are no mines being operated. Until 1924, parts of the old jail could still be

seen, but shortly thereafter the Forest Service built a work camp on the site of old Moose City.

Men from this camp tore the old jail apart. Today nothing remains of old Moose City except a

few level spots where buildings once stood. A thick stand of young timber has reclaimed the old

town and the diggings. Moose City is hardly noticeable now, even when you stand at the Forest

Service sign that marks the place.

William Rhodes and the Blacklead

William Rhodes symbolizes the gold mining industry in the Clearwater country. Rhodes either

joined in the party that went to Pierce with Captain Pierce in late 1860 or he arrived early in

1861. He became quite wealthy for his time, but as the placer gold around Pierce was worked out

his for tune faded. Later, with the boom of lode claims in the Pierce country, Rhodes again came

to the Clearwater country and tried to develop a lode claim. He died while he was thus engaged.

It was but a few years after this time that lode mining in the Pierce country practically came to an

end.

William Rhodes, or Billy Rhodes as he was commonly called, was part Negro. Some accounts

say that he was one-eighth Negro. He was sometimes called "Blackie" Rhodes which would

indicate he showed his Negro ancestry strongly. He was a large bony man with black, curly hair

which, in his later years, turned snow white. He was characterized by Jauquin Miller as "a manly

mulatto of great honesty and good sense". He was not a drinker or a gambler. However, when he

had the money he was overly generous. Everyone had a good time while Rhodes had money.

Billy Rhodes came to California in 1849 with a Jones family from Missouri. He went to northern

California, mining near Scott's River. He proved to be a very successful miner and became

something of an expert. He joined in the early gold rush to Idaho and arrived in old Oro Fino late

in the fall of 1860 or early in 1861. He staked some claims or a claim on Rhodes Creek which

took his name. Rhodes apparently picked the richest ground in the Pierce locality. He worked the

mines around Pierce in 1861 and 1862 and, according to newspaper reports of the time, left in

1862 with $80,000.

From Pierce, Billy went to Arizona where he engaged in prospecting for a lode claim. He found

one and sold it for $75,000. In spite of this wealth, Rhodes returned to Pierce and Lewiston flat

broke. He prospected around Pierce without success. He also cooked for a cattle ranch in the

Salmon River country. Such, however, was the reputation of Billy Rhodes to find gold that John

Silcott and John Risse of Lewiston furnished him a grubstake and equipped him for prospecting.

The remainder of this account is taken from several sources. I have talked with Ernest Hansen

who prospected the Blacklead country for several years from about 1902 to 1914 and had heard

many stories about the death of Bill Rhodes and knew the country well. Another old timer I

talked to was Walter Sewell who knew Frank Altmiller, Sr. very well and had heard his story

from him. Frank Altmiller, Jr. also told me his father's story as told to him many times. I have

also read Sister Alfreda's account as taken from a scrapbook of A.F. Parker which had an article

in it taken from a Lewiston newspaper.

These stories differ so I have here tried to coordinate them, but in case of conflict giving greatest

weight to Frank Altmiller's story. The stories of Frank Altmiller, Jr. and Walter Sewell come

closer to agreeing than do the others, which is to be expected.

In the spring and summer of 1886 Billy Rhodes teamed up with Jerry Johnson, with whom he

had mined before, and another man, probably Zachery, and they went prospecting in the head of

Cayuse Creek. There they discovered the silver ore deposits around the Blacklead Country. Jerry

Johnson and Zackery were not interested in a lode claim. They knew that it would take a great

deal of money to develop a mine in such remote country, so they would have nothing to do with

anything except placer gold.

However, Billy Rhodes returned to Lewiston and reported his find to his backers who became

quite enthusiastic. John Risse sent his brother-in-law, Frank Altmiller, who was 18 years old at

the time, and Silcott hired Hass Crane to go with Rhodes and start developing a mine.

They packed into the Blacklead Country and had barely time to build a cabin before winter

arrived. In that high country snow came early and in short time was very deep. Fortunately,

Crane had the good luck of killing a very large mule deer before the snow came.

They went to work on an inclined tunnel at a spot picked by Rhodes as the most likely to lead to

a body of ore. Contrary to modern day rumors they did not find anything very promising.

Shortly after Christmas Rhodes had an attack of dysentery. His companions at first did not

consider his condition serious, but he gradually grew worse. Crane and Altmiller worked on the

tunnel and Rhodes did the cooking.

One day, about the first of March, Rhodes told Crane and Altmiller to go to work on the tunnel

and he would cook lunch for them. When they returned to the cabin at noon they found him lying

dead on the bed. They buried him in the snow which was about fifteen feet deep. Crane and

Altmiller knew little about mining so they stopped work on the tunnel and concentrated on

cutting wood, playing cards and looking for game to stretch their supplies which were running

low and now consisted only of flour and beans. Crane killed a lynx. Then in April they found a

bear in his den. They killed the bear and it furnished some badly needed meat, although their dog

refused to eat it.

About June 1 the snow had melted some and bare ground appeared in the path of the snowslide

of the previous winter. There they buried Billy Rhodes, marking his grave with a pile of stones.

Then they decided to try and make their way to Pierce by taking a downstream route. The Lolo

trail, their route in, was still covered with snow.

They dropped down to Cayuse Creek where the snow was gone. There they came upon an Indian

pony which had been there all winter so they called the creek "Cayuse", and so it is today. They

then went downstream to the mouth of Orogrande Creek and out to Pierce. They made the trip in

about ten days. Some prospectors went back to the Blacklead in the summer of 1887 to see what

Billy Rhodes had found and to see that he was properly buried.

Interest in the mineral showings in the Blacklead country continued. Lafayette (Lafe) Williams, a

banker at Lewiston, had some claims and a cabin at the Blacklead. He gave the mining area its

name. Just when he took his claims is unknown, but the map of 1898 shows Williams Peak

which was named for him. Then there were the Hansen Brothers, five of them, who came to the

area in 1902. They also had a cabin and did considerable work on a tunnel trying to find a larger

and richer body of ore than was apparent on the surface. There were a number of people who had

claims such as Walter Sewell, John Austin (not the trapper) and others.

There was a mining engineer named Charles M. Allen who lived near the town of Lolo,

Montana. He had worked for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. He was a geologist and a

mining expert. Perhaps he enjoyed going in the woods, but he may also have been looking for

Isaac's mine. At an old campground a short distance below where Jerry Johnson's cabin had

been, there was a pine tree that had been blazed. On this blaze was inscribed "Camp Allen 1896".

This tree was felled when the Lewis and Clark Highway was built but Ranger Puckett removed

the section of the tree that carried the inscription and took it to Powell.

At the request of Lafe Williams and the Hansens, Mr. Allen examined the Blacklead country in

1914. He stayed with the Hansens for two weeks and carefully went over the area. He also

examined many of the prospect holes. He finally told Williams and the Hansens that, in his

opinion, they were wasting their time and money. Williams and the Hansens quit the area, but

there still is a great deal of prospecting in the Blacklead country. No serious attempts have been

made to develop a mine.

Many stories are told about Rhodes' lost mine and how rich it was and about the tons of rich ore

the Hansens packed out, but there is no truth in any of these tales. Ernest Hansen told me that all

the ore was low grade silver and that no one ever took out more than a sample. If anyone is

interested enough in the facts, he can come and get me and I can take him to Rhodes' tunnel (that

is all it was), his grave and the rock foundation of his house which burned in 1910.

A.N. Cochrell at the site of Billy Rhodes' grave, 1956.

Lafe Williams in front of his Blacklead cabin in about 1915.

The Williams cabin in 1956.

Jerry Johnson and the Lost Mine

On September 26, 1893 the Carlin Party reached the Lochsa River a short distance below the

mouth of Warm Springs Creek. They were surprised to find four men there. Two were hunters

and departed for Montana the next day. The other two were Jerry Johnson and Ben Keeley. They

were building a cabin and planning to stay during the winter.

In his book "In the Heart of the Bitterroot Mountains", Himmelwright has a chapter on "The Lost

Indian Prospect and Jerry Johnson". He writes:

"Six feet in height, with a powerful frame slightly bent by advancing years, black hair mixed

with gray, jet black eyes, and a stubby gray beard, Jerry Johnson, the prospector, would arouse

curiousity and interest anywhere. A Prussian by birth, he emigrated at an early age to New

Zealand. There he became interested in mining, and since then he has devoted his life to

prospecting for the precious metals in the wildest and most unfrequented regions of the earth,

and occasionally acting in the capacity of guide, hunter and packer. Enthusiastically devoted to

his work and often with no other companion than his faithful dog, he has searched for gold in the

most inaccessible regions of the Cascades and Rocky mountains, and now, at the advanced age

of 60 years, rugged from hardship and exposure, he still loves the isolation and solitude of the

mountains, and is seeking with characteristic perseverance the long lost Indian Prospect.

"Many years ago, while Johnson was encamped in the heart of the Bitterroot Mountains, a half-

starved Indian found his way to Johnson's camp. The Indian was given food and shelter, and

grateful for the favors shown him, before departure, in broken English and by signs and gestures,

he informed Johnson he knew where there was "Heap Elk City, heap Pierce City", meaning

much gold, there being mines at the places named. Johnson at once engaged the Indian to guide

him to the place.

"Returning to the nearest point where supplies could be purchased, he secured adequate

equipment, and with one other man and the Indian started back into the mountains. The route

taken by the Indian was along the Lolo trail to the warm springs. Here the Indian fell sick, but

the party pushed on fifteen miles farther east to a small prairie which Johnson calls "The Park".

When they reached this point, the Indian became so sick he could proceed no further. Fearing he

might die, Johnson got the Indian to tell him how the gold was found. This was quite difficult as

the Indian could speak few words of English and had to convey most of the information by

gestures. The story he told was substantially as follows:

'A party of Indians were camped at the place they were journeying to, some years previously, and

one of them being suddenly taken very sick, a "sweat-bath" was prepared for him. (Here the

author describes the making and use of a sweat house.)

'While preparing this sweat-bath, it was necessary to loosen and remove some white rock and

while doing this, the Indians discovered that the rock was full of gold, or, as the Indian called it

"Elk City".

'The Indian guide grew worse and weaker every hour, and Johnson being alarmed, took him in

his arms and carried him to a more elevated position, where a view to the eastward could be

obtained.

'Which way from Here?' Johnson Asked.

'With his remaining strength, the Indian raised his arm and pointed to a peak covered with snow.

"See snow", he said. Then raising one finger, he pronounced the one word "sun" and rolled over

on his blanket exhausted. A few hours later he died.

"Not discouraged by his ill fortune, Johnson and his companion buried the Indian and pushed on

to the peak indicated to him and searched the country beyond and around the peak all that

summer, but never succeeded in finding the old Indian camp. Since that time he has spent several

summers fruitlessly in the same neighborhood, and is now passing the winter in that desolate

snow bound region, hoping, early in the spring, to continue his search for the "Lost Indian

Prospect."

Such is the story of Isaac's mine. I have heard various versions of it but this is the oldest and

came directly from Jerry Johnson so I presume that it is the most authentic. Isaac's complete

name was Isaac Hill. He came from a family of white, Delaware and Nez Perce origin which

lived near Kooskia. His grave has become somewhat lost, but a map I have which was made in

1894 shows his grave on top of the ridge about one and a quarter air miles southeast of Tom

Beall Park.

A lot of people have searched for Isaac's mine. Ben McConnell, Joe Ebberly and Bill Parry, early

day Forest Rangers, it is said, looked the country over thoroughly. There were many others that

did the same.

Another story that ties in with the Isaac's Mine is that years ago some Indians were camped at

what is now called Gold Meadows. They had some gold but refused to say where they had found

it. That is how Gold Meadows got its name.

Jerry Johnson spent his old age in the Missoula vicinity and is buried at the Missoula Cemetery.

Jerry Johnson (Photo courtesy Montana Historical Society)

Jerry Johnson cabin in about 1902.

OTHER MINES

In the days of Moose City some gold was placered out of California Creek in the extreme head of

the North Fork of the Clearwater River. Then in about 1911 an attempt was made to develop a

lode mine under the name of the "Clearwater Gold and Copper Co." There was considerable

activity for about 10 years, but the ore was so low grade that the operation was halted. The last

time I was at this mine the buildings were in bad condition and there was no sign of fresh work.

Pete King placered some gold out of Pete King Creek at his homestead. There were some other

placer operations further up the creek. Pete King came into that area about 1890. There is a lode

claim on Higgins Hump above these claims.

In recent years there has been some discussion over the possibility of developing a Kyanite mine

in the area around Woodrat Mountain. A Louisiana firm held a claim in the area, but has since let

it lapse.

Chapter 19

Trapping

Trapping is the oldest use made of what is now the Clearwater National

Forest. The Forest Service kept no records of the trappers, so it is very

difficult to trace their history.

The trappers entered the back country of the Clearwater from both the Montana and Idaho sides.

Those from the Idaho side went in from Pierce, Weippe and Kooskia. From the Montana side

they went in from Superior, Lolo Hot Springs and Hamilton. Frequently those who lived in

Montana and trapped in Idaho would not admit that their traplines went into or were in Idaho.

Out-of-state licenses were costly, and after 1920 a large area along the border in Idaho was in a

game preserve where trapping was illegal. They said they were trapping in Lapland; that is,

where Montana lapped into Idaho. It is a big country and few were ever caught trespassing.

They trapped marten, mink, fox, beaver, otter, lynx, wildcat and coyotes during the winter and

black and grizzly bear during the early spring. The marten was the animal trapped the most.

When made into fur, it sold on the market as sable and commanded a high price.

In addition to being trappers many of these men worked for the Forest Service during the

summer months. Some of them were prospectors when there was no snow to interfere with their

work.

Lawrence, commonly called Lu Lu, Lo Lo, or Lolo, was likely the first trapper of the Clearwater.

Almost all trappers had a base camp or headquarters. Lolo's base camp was at the meadows on

Grave Creek on the Lolo Forest. David Thompson mentions him in his diary of 1809. There is no

proof that he trapped in the Lochsa County, but he likely followed the Lolo Trail over the divide.

He was killed by a grizzly bear about 1852 and was buried near his cabin on Grave Creek. In

1939 I went to his grave, but a bulldozer has now erased all markers.

From the time of Lolo until trapping practically ceased there were some trappers on the

Clearwater Forest, but there are no records to show who the early trappers were. Pete Thompson

is credited with being one of the earliest. He homesteaded on Lolo Creek and ran a trap line in

both Idaho and Montana in the 1880's but that is about all that is known of him.

Two of the oldest trappers in the Powell Country were the Albury brothers. They covered a lot of

country. Their headquarters cabin was where the Lolo Trail crossed Crooked Creek. They also

had cabins on Brushy, Storm, Crooked Creeks and elsewhere. They started trapping before 1889.

Franz Koube (or Kube) started trapping in the 1880's and continued until 1912. His headquarters

cabin was at Kooskooskia Meadows. He had a cabin at Kube Park and others. (See a further

account of him under "Mountain Tragedies").

Franz Kube's cabin in about 1902.

Frank Meeks trapped around Big Sand Lake. When he started is not known, but Westley Phales

took over his area in 1898 and trapped until about 1910.

Trappers were few and far between until about 1892 when the so-called Cleveland Panic hit the

United States. There was little work, wages were low, the farmers received little for their

produce. There was no unemployment compensation at that time. Men turned to trapping and

prospecting. As a result almost every area had its trapper. Here are some of the trappers that

started trapping in the 1890's (starting at the north part of the Forest and going south):

Chamberlain trapped in the head of the North Fork and in Skull Creek. His area burned over in

1910.

Charlie Smith trapped Isabella and Collins Creeks. His homestead at the mouth of Milk Creek

was his base. He had a cabin at the mouth of Isabella Creek and another on Isabella Creek at the

mouth of Jug Creek. He had another on Collins Creek near the mouth of Heather Creek. When

he became too old to trap Frank Larkin took over his trapline.

Jack Sprague had the Pot Mountain area with cabins on Sprague Creek, Cold Springs and Twin

Cabins Creek. After Jack drowned, Ike Dunlap took his area for two years and sold out to

William Nesheim. Nesheim abandoned the area after the fire of 1919.

Eugene (Deadshot) Smith trapped Orogrande Creek and the branches of Weitas Creek from the

west. He had the Hunch Cabin on Cabin Creek, Leanto, McGerry, which he shared with George

Englehorn, and others. He did a lot of talking about his shooting ability and was nicknamed

"Deadshot", but actually he was a poor shot.

Jack McGerry trapped around Cook Mountain. He had cabins at the mouth of Fourth of July

Creek, Camp George, McGerry and on Gravey Creek. He sold out to George Englehorn in 1906.

The Hansen Brothers were prospectors but they did some trapping in Cayuse Creek from 1902 to

1914.

William Martin had a homestead at Musselshell, but he trapped a little in Lolo Creek. In addition

to his homestead buildings he had cabins at the forks of Lolo and Yoosa Creeks and at Camp

Martin on the Lolo Trail at the head of Camp Creek.

Frank Peters trapped from Musselshell east along the Lolo Trail. He sold out to John Austin in

1901.

John Austin had a very long trapline and a series of cabins. He headquartered at Musselshell with

cabins on Cedar Creek, head of Eldorado, Weitas Meadows, Bald Mountain, Skookum Creek

and on the Lochsa above Bald Mt. Creek. He worked for the Forest Service during the summer

for many years. He died of cancer.

George Bimerick trapped the drainages that run into the Middle Fork of the Clearwater and the

Lochsa Rivers. He must have had a number of cabins, but the only ones I know about were at

Bimerick Meadows and on Deadman Creek. Bimerick also served as a Ranger. He farmed in the

Kooskia locality when he became too old to trap.

In the Crags was Martin Stanley. I know of only two cabins, but no doubt he had others. One

cabin was near Mud Lake and the other at the forks of Surprise and Boulder Creeks. The cabin at

the Forks burned in 1910. He failed to return one spring and many suspected that Baliski (see

below) murdered him. Later Andy Hjort trapped some of his country and also served as a local

game warden.

Baliski was called a Russian although the name is Polish. He was a powerful man. He had a long

trapline running from Fish Lake to Elk Summit. He trapped until about 1908. He once swam the

Lochsa River at Powell at high water. A man at Powell saw him do it. He took off his clothes and

put them in a packsack on his back. He entered the water above the station with the intent of

swimming to the island where he would rest before completing the crossing. However, the

current was so strong that he missed the island and came ashore about a quarter of a mile below

Powell.

Generally speaking trappers did not follow the profession very long. Trapping the high country is

extremely hard work. By the time a man reached middle age, he looked for something to do that

required less physical exertion. Then there was the trouble these men had with forest fires. Their

loss ranged from a cabin or two to being almost completely wiped out. Of course, fires not only

destroyed their cabins, but also made their trapping areas non-productive. It was particularly bad

on marten areas since the marten live only in mature timber country. Upon leaving an area a

trapper would either sell his cabins and traps to a new trapper or just move out and let someone

take over or let his buildings fall apart.

Joe Ebberly was a trapper, prospector and Forest Ranger. He had a Nez Perce wife, Margaret

Hill, for whom Maggie Creek was named. He dug a tunnel near the Brushy Creek cabin. He had

cabins at Crooked Creek and the Fishery. He trapped from about 1902 to 1915.

Westly Phales trapped from 1897 to 1908. He headquartered at Big Sand Lake. He trapped Big

Sand and Hidden Creeks.

Charles Powell, an uncle of Ranger Powell, built the first cabin at Powell Station in 1903. He did

not stay long.

Fred Shot trapped from about 1908 to 1915.

Bill Bell was a trapper, then a Forest Ranger at Elk Summit, and then a packer at the Remount

Depot for many years.

Andrew and Carl Erickson trapped in the Powell country in 1912.

Milt Savage, Bill Woodman, and Elmer Pence were in the Powell Country about 1914. Trappers

in the Powell Country in the 1920's were Bill Wionsic and Jay Turner.

Those who trapped in Lapland were Earl Malone, Liege Burrell, and Joe Alkire.

Trappers in the 1930's were Homer McClain, J. Turner, and Bud Moore.

Bud Moore was likely the youngest of all the trappers. Just out of high school, he trapped

Crooked Creek and the head of Cayuse Creek. He started working for the Forest Service as a

Lookout on McConnell Mountain. In a few years he quit trapping and worked for the Forest

Service. Through the years he rose in rank until when he retired he was Assistant Regional

Forester in charge of Fire Control in Region One.

Following the huge fires of 1910 and 1919, the North Fork of the Clearwater, the Lower Lochsa

and the Middle Fork had few trappers. George Englehorn continued to trap for a few years. The

fire of 1919 not only burned several of his cabins, but also ruined his area for trapping. He did

extend his area eastward and built the cabin at Saddle Camp in 1920.

Ike Dunlap trapped the Pot Mountain area after Jack Sprague drowned. He sold out to Bill

Nesheim but he quit the area after the fire of 1919.

Frank Larkin trapped in the Isabella Creek country from about 1918 to 1923 after Charley Smith

became too old to trap.

"Silent" Joe Klukey trapped along the river below the mouth of Isabella Creek from about 1930

to 1954. He died in his cabin opposite the mouth of Benton Creek.

Frank Altmiller took over a part of John Austin's area after Austin died. He confined his trapping

to the Lolo Creek Drainage. He headquartered at the old Pioneer Mine.

Joe Fix trapped a winter or two in the canyon of the North Fork of the Clearwater. He had a

cabin at the mouth of Fix Creek.

Burt Botts and Bill McDougal worked for the Forest Service during the summer months. They

wintered around Bald Mountain and did a little trapping.

Starting in about 1929 the price a trapper could expect for his furs began to decline. Some people

attributed the decline to the establishing of fur farms. No doubt this had some effect, but a

change of styles probably was the real cause. The number of trappers dropped rapidly. Soon

there were only a few trappers who trapped the choice areas. Joe Clark, who trapped predatory

animals for the Wildlife Service, continued until about 1954 when he retired. I know of no

professional trappers today. Gone are these hardiest of mountaineers; men who struggled through

the snow, enduring loneliness, cold, hunger and mountain storms for months, trapping marten,

mink, fox and lynx that some unknown lady in a far away city might revel in finery.

Chapter 20

Mountain Tragedies

There have been a sizable number of people who lost their lives while

on the Clearwater National Forest. I will give the circumstances

surrounding the death of those who died while working for the Forest Service and other people

who are buried on the Forest. I will not attempt to cover those who were killed on its roads, shot

in hunting accidents, drowned while boating or rafting its streams, killed in airplane wrecks or

lost their lives logging. These people are important, but I do not have the time to do the

necessary research.

MOOSE CITY GRAVES

Moose City was a mining camp about 1879. It lasted only a few years, but during the time it was

occupied as a mining camp, a small graveyard was established. There are three graves in this

burial ground. The names of persons buried here are unknown. Henry Hellman, one of the oldest

miners in that area, told me that one is the grave of an old man of Norwegian descent. Another is

the grave of a 17 year-old-boy who had cast his lot with the miners and could not survive the

rigorous life. The third is the grave of "Moose Creek Molly", a dancehall girl of Moose City hey-

day. Hellman told me that when he first visited the graves there was a fence around them.

Although the mounds were still there when I was to the graves last, there was no trace of a fence.

Apparently the fence has decayed.

WILLIAM RHODES

Rhodes' grave is just below an inclined tunnel and about 30 feet above the old trail which leaves

the first saddle east of Blacklead Lookout and goes down into Silver Creek. The trail makes two

short switchbacks and then crosses a springlike creek. Rhodes' grave is above the trail and just

across the creek. It is marked only with stones. The Forest Service has placed markers at his

grave at different times, but the snowslide has swept them away. (See article on Rhodes under

mining.)

ISSAC HILL

Isaac Hill for whom the Lost Mine was named was buried by Jerry Johnson on the ridge about

half-way between Tom Beall Park and Grave Peak. This must have been about 1892.

INDIAN GRAVE

There is a small meadow and a spring off the present Lolo Motorway and to the west of the road

to Indian Grave Lookout. This is called Indian Grave Camp because of an Indian grave at the

edge of the meadow.

According to Jimmy Parsons, a brother of the boy buried here, the family arrived at this camp

late in the evening and prepared a hasty meal. The next day every member of the family became

seriously ill. Several came close to death and Albert Parsons died. What caused the illness is

unknown, but years later Jimmy recalled what happened and concluded that food poisoning was

the most likely cause.

There is some confusion over the year that this boy died. The tombstone states that Albert

Parsons was born in 1881 and died at age 14, which would make his death in 1895. However, a

map dated 1894 shows the grave. In discussing this inconsistency with William Parsons, he said

that the birthdate was correct and taken from written records, but that the date of death was

supplied from memory and could be wrong. I was told by Cully Mooers, an old pioneer and early

day Forest Service packer, that the death occurred in 1892, but this is also from memory.

The boy was buried near the meadow. A headstone without letters was placed at the grave. After

the fire of 1910, the Forest Service placed a pole cover over the grave. About 1935 this pole

covering became so decayed that it started to fall apart, so the Forest Service replaced the cover.

By 1959 the second cover broke apart and in 1960 William Parsons marked the grave with a

tombstone.

The name on the grave is Albert Parsons Mallickan. Mallickan was his Indian name and was an

old Indian family name in the Kamiah and Kooskia locality. In the early days Nez Perce Indians

frequently had both Indian and English names.

Albert Parsons Mallickan grave marker.

GEORGE COLEGATE

The grave of George Colegate, commonly spelled "Colgate", is a few feet below the Lewis and

Clark Highway east of where the water from the Colgate Springs goes through a culvert. It is

marked with a Forest Service marker. See the "Carlin Party" for information on his death.

HUGHES, THE COOK

In 1907 the Land Office was dividing the township into sections around Junction Mountain and

established a camp there. A man named Hughes was cooking for them. He became ill and on his

deathbed requested that should he die, that he be buried in the mountains. His grave is located on

Junction Mountain to the left of the trail as you travel from the saddle towards the top of the

Lookout. George Englehorn, who was a trapper in that country, thought this man was buried at

Cook Mountain and that is how Cook Mountain got its name. Of course, there may have been

two cooks who died, but it is more likely that Englehorn was mistaken. Hughes' grave was lost

for a number of years, but was discovered by my brother, Roy Space, while smokechasing in that

vicinity in 1921 or 1922.

DEADMAN CREEK

In 1908 William Walsh found a dead man in a cabin about three miles up Deadman Creek at an

elk lick. Nothing was left of this man except his bones.

He was buried near the old cabin, but probably this grave cannot be found.

Deadman Creek obtained its name from this incident. A cedar slab marked the grave at one time,

but doubtless disappeared long ago.

HENRY SEBRING

In 1908 Henry Sebring became lost while hunting and died. His body was found by a group of

nine men. They buried him and blazed a large cedar tree near his grave. On this blaze they wrote

the name of Henry Sebring as well as their own. The names are now so old that they can no

longer be read. This grave is located near Pete King Creek in Sec. 22, south of the creek in a

grove of large cedars. The Pete King fire of 1934 originated near this grave.

UNKNOWN GRAVE

In November 1908 a severe snow storm accompanied by extremely cold weather came to the

Forest. After the storm, Jack Sprague and Fred Dennison started to go over their trapline from

their cabin at Jackknife Meadows. They found the body of a man who had camped by the trail.

He had only a small piece of canvas for shelter. His clothes were in rags and he had no coat. He

was equipped with a bow and arrows but he had no firearms. Apparently he had died of

exhaustion, starvation and exposure.

Fred Dennison snowshoed out to Pierce and reported what they had found. The county deputized

Jack Harlan as coroner to investigate the case. Harlan snowshoed back to Sprague's cabin and

buried the man beside the Pot Mountain trail above Jackknife Meadows. The grave is marked

only with stones.

JACK SPRAGUE

Trapper Jack Sprague and another man attempted to raft the North Fork of the Clearwater at the

Bungalow Ranger Station during high water of 1914. They built a small raft on which they put

their packs and Sprague tied his two hounds. In crossing they found that the water was so high

and swift that they could not control the raft.

They did succeed in maneuvering the raft to the Bungalow side close enough that the other man

thought they could jump to a point of land He told Jack to jump as soon as they were near the

point, but Jack stopped to untie his dogs and failed to make it ashore, but the raft continued down

river until in the spring it stuck a rock and upset. Jack was never seen again. His dogs swam back

and forth across the river looking for him until they also perished.

SCURVY

The following story was told to me by Ernest Hansen and Albert Cochrell. In the fall of 1907,

two men arrived in Superior, Montana. Their names were George Gorman and Clayton

Shoecraft. They came from Deerlodge, Montana, where they had been accused of killing a man.

While the supposed murderers were not convicted, public opinion was so much against them

they decided to make themselves scarce.

They were almost broke, but inquired of Williams and Young, contract packers, what they would

charge for packing them into the back country of the Clearwater. The charge for packing was so

great that they decided to go to Lolo Hot Springs and see if they could get a better bid.

In Lolo Hot Springs they found a packer who agreed to pack them into the Cayuse Creek

country. However, the price was so high that they had very little money left to buy food and

equipment. Therefore, they bought some dried fruits and vegetables and a few other staples such

as flour, sugar and salt, and a few traps. On their way to Cayuse Creek they went past Hansen's

cabin on Blacklead and while there discussed their plans for trapping during the winter. The

Hansens learned that they had very little food and that they planned to depend on game to

subsist.

Upon arriving at Cayuse Creek they built a cabin or may have merely moved into a cabin that

was already there. According to their diary, they killed two elk and salted them down in some

containers hewn out of wood. They established a trapline up Cayuse Creek.

In mid-winter they began to suffer with an ailment they believed to be rheumatism. According to

a diary one of them kept, their joints swelled, they had pains in their limbs and their teeth

loosened; almost sure signs of scurvy.

During the winter George Englehorn, another trapper on what later became known as Raspberry

Butte, was tending his trapline. When he saw smoke from the trappers' cabin on Cayuse Creek,

he considered going down and paying them a visit. After thinking of the time and effort it would

take, Englehorn decided against it. Had he made the trip, the chances are good that he would

have been able to get aid and might have saved their lives.

The condition of the men gradually got worse. They managed to hang on until the snow melted

along the banks of the creek. They tried taking walking exercises to see if that would help their

condition. It didn't. It was not until about this time that one of them finally concluded that they

had scurvy but were too weak to go anywhere. In the last diary entry one man reported that his

partner was dead and that he was no longer able to get out of bed.

In the spring of 1908 the Hansen Brothers wondered what became of the trappers and reported

the missing pair to the sheriff's office at Wallace, Idaho. This area was in Shoshone County at

that time and Wallace was the county seat. The sheriff instructed the Hansens to look for the

trappers and, if they found them dead, to bury them and bring any possessions of value to the

county office.

Hansens had a little difficulty finding the cabin, but finally located the trapline blazes and

followed them to the cabin. They buried the two men in a common grave and erected a marker

made of a cedar slab. They searched the cabin and found nothing of value. In fact, all indications

were that the men had lived in the most abject poverty. Contrary to subsequent reports, no gold

was found in the cabin.

If these men had committed murder, they certainly suffered far more by taking to the mountains

than would have been the case had they stayed in Deerlodge either in or outside the prison walls.

If they were innocent, then society tortured them unjustly.

For a time, the Forest Service could not find the grave of these men, but in 1922, A.N. Cochrell,

who was Ranger over this part of the Forest at the time, received from one of the Hansens a

description of the location of the grave and found it. The original marker is gone, but the grave is

now marked with a Forest Service sign.

SNODEN SNYDER

The first Forest Service employee to die on the Forest was Snoden Snyder. He had just returned

form France after serving in World War I. He was a member of a telephone crew and with others

went swimming after supper in the North Fork of the Clearwater near what is now called Snoden

Creek. He suffered cramps and drowned. Bob Markham of Grangeville packed the body out to

the Oxford the following day.

LESTER LOITVED

In 1921 Lester Loitved, a packer, drowned in a deep hole just above the mouth of the Orogrande

under circumstances similar to Snoden Snyder.

LYNN LEUTTY

In 1924 Lynn Leutty of Clarkston drowned while attempting to ford the river near the mouth of

Beaver Creek. He was alone and had hiked down from near Sheep Mountain, headed for the

Canyon Ranger Station. His tracks led into the river but did not come out and a search revealed

the body in a deep hole below the crossing.

MELVIN DIAL

Also in 1924 Melvin Dial, working at Kelly Creek, either drowned or had a heart attack while

fording Kelly Creek near the station. The water was not very deep and he was nearly across

when something happened and he went down. The body was pulled from the water about a half

mile below by someone from the station who ran down the trail and waded into the creek.

MIKE OLSON

Mike Olson was a miner and prospector and sometimes did a little trapping on the side. In the

winter of 1927 he took up residence in a cabin at the mouth of Deception Creek. The next spring

Forest Service employees found him dead in his cabin. Apparently he had died of natural causes.

He was buried near his cabin. His grave is marked with stones.

"PADDY" NIBLER

In 1932 or 1933 the Clearwater Timber Company was getting ready to conduct its regular log

drive down the North Fork. The crew was camped at the mouth of Beaver Creek where the

Company had a building. Nibler and his buddy decided to take a trip up the river. They failed to

return. In searching for them, the crew found Nibler's body in a deep hole in the river. His

partner was never found. It was assumed that the two men had constructed a raft and attempted

to come down the river and had met with some sort of misfortune. When the road to Canyon

Ranger Station was built in 1933 or 1934, Nibler's grave was covered by a road fill.

OTTO C. TROJANOWSKI

In 1934 a number of men were hiking into the Kelly Creek country to prospect. The mountains

proved too much for Trojanowski who was rather heavy. He had a heart attack and died. The

members of the party reported his death to the county authorities and his family. It was decided

to bury him near the place where he died. Ranger Hartig, then a temporary employee on the

Kelly Creek District, helped bury him. The grave is near the trail on Pollock Ridge.

CCC BOYS

In 1934, two CCC boys were killed by a falling snag while fighting the Pete King fire.

Also during the days of the CCC, two other boys decided to use dynamite to get some fish in a

hole in the Lochsa River near the mouth of Fire Creek. They had stolen from one of the work

projects some caps, fuse and a few sticks of dynamite. They rigged up a bomb out of a half a

stick of dynamite, a blasting cap and a very short fuse. With some string they tied the cap to the

stick of powder. One boy then split the fuse a little with his jackknife to expose the powder. He

then lit the fuse with a match. He then became excited and confused. He threw his jackknife into

the river and stuck the bomb into his pocket. The explosion was fatal.

SHORTY ENGLER

Shorty Engler and Sherm Merry were crossing the North Fork of the Clearwater on a raft. The

raft upset and Shorty was drowned. Sherm managed to swim ashore. Engler's body was found by

him. His grave was located close to the Forest Service boundary on what was known as Bishops

bar. It is now under Dworshak Lake.

LLOYD HORNBY

Lloyd Hornby, who had at one time been Supervisor of the Clearwater Forest, was assigned to do

a national study of fire planning. In connection with his work he returned to the Clearwater to

observe the action of a fire burning on Toboggan Ridge in the fall of 1935. While thus engaged

he suffered a heart attack and died.

CHARLES SMITH

Charley was killed by a tree he was falling while doing stand improvement work on Smith Creek

in 1958.

CHARLES HOGAN

In 1961, Charles Hogan, a 19 year-old employee on the Powell District was a member of a crew

fighting a fire on Wendover Ridge when he was struck and killed instantly by a snag that burned

off. Firefighting is dangerous work. However, as far as I am able to learn, only three have been

killed on the Clearwater fighting fire in its 75 years.

BERNARD DEVOTO and WAGNER DODGE

The ashes of Bernard DeVoto were, at his request, scattered over the Cedar Grove that now bears

his name. The ashes of Wagner Dodge were, at his request, scattered over the Powell Ranger

District. Dodge had been a CCC boy, smokechaser, smokejumper and dispatcher on the Powell

District. He was foreman of the Smokejumper Crew which suffered heavy losses on the Mann

Gulch fire on the Helena.

FRANZ KOUBE

There is a great deal of mystery about the trapper Franz Koube. Even the correct spelling of his

name is in doubt. Elers Koch spelled it Kube and that is the way it appears on the map of the

Powell Ranger District. Bud Moore spells it Koube. There is a family name of Kouba, for I once

worked with a man by the name of Kouba.

All agree that he spoke German and it is usually assumed that he came from Germany. But many

of the Austrians also speak German and the name Franz is Austrian as is the name Kouba. I will

use the name Koube.

Koube was well educated. It may be that he could speak English before he came to America. He

wrote to the universities and museums and collected plant and animal specimens for them. Since

he had a knowledge of biology and had worked on the Black Forest in Germany it is likely his

education was in forestry. When Ranger Frank Smith and a trapper Fred Shot, came to his cabin

searching for him when he disappeared they found a moose head all skinned out and ready to be

shipped. Attached to it was the permit the museum had to take a moose for scientific purposes.

There are two stories about why he left the old country. Like many people who came to America

from Europe he was fleeing from the law. One story is that he fled to avoid spending a stint in

the army. At that time in Germany and perhaps Austria, every able-bodied man was required to

serve a training period in the army. On completion of this training he became a part of the army

reserve subject to call in case of need. When I was a boy I knew several men who had fled to

America rather than spend time in the armed services.

He came to the Powell Country about 1890. He had his headquarters cabin at Kooskooskia

Meadows. He had several other cabins, one of which was at Kube Meadows. He trapped the

country south of Powell. He was a good trapper and was well known for the excellent condition

in which he kept his furs.

It was either in the fall of 1911 or 1912 when at Lolo Hot Springs he told some other trappers

that this would be his last winter trapping because he had found Isaac's mine. He said that the

Indian camp was there but it was in a most unusual place to camp. He met Supervisor Elers Koch

on the way to Powell and told him that when he came out in the spring he would be through

trapping. Some of the trappers Koube talked to had a feeling that he had spent so many winters

alone in the mountains that he was beginning to have illusions.

When spring came Koube did not show up at Hot Springs so Ranger Frank Smith and Fred Shot,

a trapper, went to see if they could find him. The water had been exceptionally high that spring,

but by the time Smith and Shot took the trail it had dropped considerably. The searching party

arrived at the Kooskooskia Cabin and found everything in good order. Everything was stored and

had the appearance that the owner expected to return. They found the moose head mentioned

before and a note that he had gone to the Hot Springs.

Ranger Smith and Shot came to Koube's place from Powell and had seen no sign of him on that

trail. They knew that Koube could not swim and was afraid of water so they reasoned that he did

not start directly for Powell where he would have had to raft the Lochsa River. They decided

what he must have taken a route that would enable him to cross smaller streams. Following this

route they went to the mouth of Colt Creek where White Sand Creek runs through a narrow

gorge. The Forest Service now has a bridge across White Sand at this gorge. Here Koube had

fallen a tree across the gorge and crossed. They knew it was Koube's work because it was fresh

and Koube had an unusual way of falling a tree. Woodsmen normally cut a deep notch in one

side of the tree and then cut in from the opposite side until it falls. Koube cut around the tree on

all sides, like a beaver, until it fell.

They then went down White Sand Creek on the east side and found that he had fallen another

tree across Storm Creek. When they came to Crooked Creek they found that he fell a tree out

onto an island in the creek. Apparently he intended to fall another tree from the island to the west

side of Crooked Creek but there the trail ended. Ranger Smith and Shot concluded that Koube

fell off the tree and was drowned. Later that year Ranger Smith found a belt buckle in Crooked

Creek which Gerber recognized as belonging to Koube.

Although the above appears to be a logical explanation of Koube's disappearance there were

those that were not convinced. A few years after Koube disappeared a man came to one of the

Forest Service trail camps during work hours when only the cook was in camp. This man had

long hair, a beard and was almost naked. Some believed this was Koube and that he had lost his

mind and went wild, staying in the mountains all year long and living off the country. This is

unlikely since the trappers found no signs of him during the winter and his cabins went

unoccupied.

Another story is that at the time Koube left Hot Springs he became angry at the storekeeper

Gerber, because he felt he had been overcharged for food supplies. He owed Gerber some money

and there were people who felt that he avoided going to Hot Springs so that he would not have to

pay what he thought was an unjust debt. The people who believed this, point out that it was not

necessary to cross Crooked Creek to get to Lolo Pass. He could have stayed on the east side and

crossed Brushy Creek at a narrow place called the Fishery.

No one, of course, will ever know for sure, but if a jury were to consider the facts of the case

they would likely vote to sustain Ranger Smith's conclusion.

Chapter 21

Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

For many years the National Forests of Region One (N. Idaho and

Montana) were plagued by large forest fires. The main reason for this

was lack of rapid transportation. If a fire escaped the initial attack by

the forest's firemen and crews and it was necessary to bring in men, food and equipment from

outside sources, it took too long to get there to be effective. To solve this problem a system of

trails was first developed. This did speed action some, but still traffic moved at a walking pace.

So a system of roads and airplane landing fields were started in 1929. During the next five years

many areas were opened up by roads. These roads included the Lolo Motorway, North Fork

Road, Elk Summit, Tom Beall and many others.

Soon it appeared that unless some action was taken to stop the road building there would be no

undeveloped areas left. The Forest Service decided to set aside by administrative action some of

the undeveloped areas. These were called Primitive Areas in which no roads would be permitted.

There were some airplane landing fields in these areas but no more were to be built. Thus the

Selway-Bitterroot Primitive Area came into being in 1936. The Forest Service explained its

action to the general public and a few people were interested and approved of the idea. There

were no objections. The attitude of the great majority was complete indifference.

As time passed people began taking more and more interest in the Primitive Areas. They were

not satisfied with having these areas set up by administrative order. They were fearful that what

had been done administratively could be easily undone by the same process; so a demand arose

to have the Primitive Areas made permanent Wilderness Areas by Act of Congress.

In 1953 the Forest Service started a study of the Selway-Bitterroot Primitive Areas to determine

what its boundaries should be. In 1954 the Wilderness Society joined in the study. I went with

this party on part of its journey. I had hoped that its members would consider the quality of areas

to be included in the Wilderness Area. That is, were there scenic, historic, geological, high

hunting and fishing values, etc., but all they seemed concerned with was getting the maximum

area possible.

In 1961 public hearings were held on the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area boundaries as

proposed by the Forest Service. Some of these meetings were formal, but almost every

community had some group that sponsored a meeting. I attended all the meetings in Idaho

adjacent to the Clearwater National Forest and explained what was proposed and why. Usually

Royce Cox of the Potlatch Forest Industries (now Potlatch Corporation) also attended and

presented the lumberman's proposal which was for a much smaller area.

All sorts of questions and arguments were raised. Potlatch was accused of being selfish, but I

noticed that most people interested in the wilderness had an axe to grind. The commercial packer

was interested in what he could do to get more hunting, fishing, and camping parties. He

opposed regulations on the kinds of camps he could build. Hunters were interested in keeping as

many people as possible away from their usual camping areas. Few, indeed, were the people who

gave any thought to the scenic, inspirational, or the natural attractions to be preserved.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own ideas of wilderness. I have tried to express mine in

the following poem.

WILDERNESS

To define a wilderness is difficult to do

For it means something to me and something else to you.

It is beauty, it is solitude, it is everlasting peace,

It is nature at its finest where man made changes cease.

But putting it in one sentence the very best I can

It's a maximum of nature and a minimum of man.

I stand on a high mountain and look out across the hills,

I am awed by their vastness and my heart within me thrills.

In the distance is a river and a multitude of creeks,

Row on row of ridges and lofty mountain peaks,

But there is not a house or road in the area I scan.

It's a maximum of nature and a minimum of man.

I sit by my campfire when the sun is sinking low

And I hear an elk bugle in a basin far below.

There is a bluejay scolding and a raven's raucous call.

Then a peaceful silence settles over all.

Just the wind a soughing as it has since time began.

It's a maximum of nature and a minimum of man.

I come to a fall in a rushing mountain stream

Where the mist is flying and the Crystal waters gleam.

In a pool trout are swimming and close by an ousel sings,

Above the roar of the fall his multinoted ballad rings.

The water foams and eddies just as it always ran.

It's maximum of nature and a minimum of man.

I walk within a forest where few other men have trod,

I feel I am a part of nature and much closer to my God.

I bow my head and humbly express my gratitude

For the wonders of nature and the peace of solitude.

That I am privileged to be a small part of God's plan

In a maximum of nature and a minimum of man.

Chapter 22

Wilderness Gateway or Boulder Flat

The area around the mouth of Boulder Creek has been developed as a

camping area and a take- off point for parties packing up Boulder Creek

and on into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. For a number of

years this place was known as Boulder Flat. It took its name from Boulder Creek which is an old

name shown on the maps as early as 1895.

For a time (about 1922 to 1925) there was a Ranger Station consisting of a cabin and a corral

located on the north bank of the Lochsa River and below Sherman Creek. It was called Boulder

Ranger Station. There was also a ferry across the river at this point. The cabin was later taken

apart and floated piece-by-piece down the river and skidded to the Lochsa Ranger station where

it was reassembled. It is there today.

The Boulder Flats have been subjected to two severe fires in my lifetime. The first was in 1910

and then in 1934. I was at Boulder Ranger Station in 1924 and that part of the flat on the south

side of the river was well populated with huge dead cedar trees that were killed in the 1910 fire.

While looking at the snags one day one man remarked "If you could just get them to the market

there are enough posts there to fence the United States". Well the road didn't arrive until 1953

and by that time nearly all the posts had been burned in the 1934 fire.

The formation of Boulder Flats is an interesting geological story. At the start of the Glacial Age,

snow falling in the high country around the Crags at the head of the various forks of Boulder

Creek failed to melt during the summers. After many years accumulation of snow, glaciers

formed in each of these drainages such as Surprise Creek, Cliff Cr. and Boulder Creek itself.

With an increase of snow each winter these glaciers from sheer weight moved slowly down

stream. During the summers a part of these glaciers would melt but each winter's supply of snow

was greater than the melt, so each year these glaciers grew deeper and advanced a short distance.

Then the glaciers from each of the side streams joined and year by year the leading edge of the

glacier moved down Boulder Creek. There were years when the melt would exceed the snowfall

and the glacier would stop or make a slight recession only to advance again in the following

years of heavier snowfall. The glacier was a slow moving but powerful force.

Finally this glacier approached the Lochsa River shoving ahead of it millions of tons of mud,

rocks, boulders, sand, and ground up timber. When this huge mass came to the Lochsa River the

river first washed away large quantities of this material and scattered it downstream as far as the

Pacific Ocean. But the glacier inched slowly forward forcing the river against the north bank

where it undermined the hillside and made a cliff into the river. Then the glacier drove its nose

hard against the north bank and dammed the Lochsa River thus forming a lake above the glacier.

The water from this lake flowed over the top of the glacier. Into this lake the Lochsa River and

Sherman Creek washed rocks, sand, and mud, partially filling the lake.

The glacier started to move down the Lochsa Canyon. It shoved a huge pile of mud into the

mouth of Zion Creek and formed the bench upon which the Lochsa Work Center is located. Then

the whole process began to reverse itself. The snowfall became lighter than the summer melt of

snow. The glacier continued to move but it could not keep up with the results of warmer weather.

The ice melted until the lake burst through the mud, rocks, and other debris which was no longer

reinforced with ice. The river cut a channel through the glacial debris which had collected in the

lake leaving the flats around the mouth of Boulder Creek and the remnants of the glacial moraine

at Lochsa Station. The lake apparently went out with considerable force scattering rocks and

boulders down river to below Fish Creek.

After the glacier had receded up Boulder Creek, it made another advance and stopped just short

of reaching the Lochsa River. It piled a small knoll of rocks and gravel on the south bank of the

river just below Boulder Creek.

In the process of receding up Boulder Creek, there were other times when the glacier would

make another advance and leave a mass of debris, called a moraine, across Boulder Creek.

Usually small lakes formed behind these piles of debris after the ice melted. These lakes would

partially fill with mud and the creek would wear a channel through the moraine. These old lake

beds with the rich soils became meadows. There are a number of these on upper Boulder,

Surprise, and Cliff Creeks.

One of the moraines on Boulder Creek was exceptionally high and made largely by boulders.

The old trail wound up over this moraine through a narrow pass between the boulders and was

called Boulder Pass. The trail now goes around the pass.

As the glacier melted it dropped boulders, rocks, sand, and mud all along Boulder Creek. The

creek being much larger than it is today, due to the melting ice, removed much of the finer

material leaving the creek channel a series of boulders from which the creek gets its name.

The ferry across the Lochsa at Boulder Creek, about 1924.

Chapter 23

Emergency Work Programs

The great economic depression started in 1929. At first it was not

considered serious. People generally had some reserves, and it was

hoped and believed that economic conditions would soon recover. As time passed conditions

worsened, so in 1933 a number of federal work programs were started to give people work and to

spur the economy.

To put the nation's unemployed young men to work, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was

created by Congress in 1933. This program was for youth from 17 to 21, inclusive. Its operation

was divided between the Army and the various conservation agencies. The Army was in charge

of subsistance, housing, pay and discipline. The Forest Service was in charge of the work

projects done by the camps assigned to it. Men were housed in roughly constructed, barracks-

type camps of 200 men, but spike camps were permissible. During the winter months the camps

moved to Forest Service Regions 3, 4 and 5.

The first camp established on the Clearwater Forest was at the Bungalow. Later a camp was

established at Cold Springs. Blayne Snyder was the Camp Superintendent. There were other

camps outside the Forest at Browns Creek, Hildebrand, Pierce, Bertha Hill and Camp 6.

These men could be employed on any type of conservation work. On the Clearwater they were

used on blister rust control (BRC), road construction and firefighting. These boys did a lot of

work, but the Forest Service used other funds to augment the work. Allotments for CCC work

were mostly for salaries. This severely limited the amount of machinery that could be used and

the amount of building material that could be purchased. Fortunately the Forest Service had

money alloted to it called FRD or Forest Road Development. NIRA funds, which will be

explained later, were also used for projects other than roads. By using these funds to purchase

and operate machinery and by combining these machines with the hand labor of the CCC, things

went along smoothly and efficiently. As the years passed Congress curtailed the FRD

appropriations and it became harder to do any work that wasn't almost entirely hand labor. The

BRC work fit the CCC program better than any other type of work.

The CCC came to an end when World War II occupied the nation and the young men were

inducted into the armed services.

There were other Emergency Work Programs during the depression. One of these was NIRA or

National Industry Recovery Act. This money was primarily used to build lookout buildings,

telephone lines and ranger stations. A lot of people were involved in this type of work. It came to

an end when the Supreme Court declared the Act unconstitutional.

There was another emergency program called the WPA or Works Progress Administration. The

Forest Service did not get involved in much of this. It was for cities and towns. It was limited to

hand labor and the cities did not have enough other money to go with it to make it effective. Of

all the programs, this one accomplished the least. It was often referred to as a leaf raking

program.

Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Bungalow in the 1930's.

Chapter 24

The Ridgerunner

There have been a number of stories written about a man locally known

as the Ridgerunner. Most of these stories describe him as a crafty

woodsman who by various tricks eluded capture by the Forest Service for years. The writers

make a hero out of him by picturing him as a poor individual who by his cunning outsmarted and

evaded the forces of a powerful U.S. organization that pursued him constantly. Well, the

Ridgerunner was an unusual character, but he was not the hero pictured.

The Ridgerunner's true name was William Clyde Morland or Moreland. According to

information collected by F.B.I. agent, A.J. Cramer, Morton Roark and others, Moreland was

born October 1, 1900, near Landsaw, Kentucky. His father and mother separated when he and

his sister were small. Bill went to live with his mother. His sister, who was older, lived with the

father. Bill's mother soon died and he was raised by his grandfather, Bill Stone. Later he and his

grandmother lived on a farm in Indiana.

Bill went to school just long enough to reach the fifth grade. He ran away and from 12 to 16

years of age spent most of his time in reform schools. Finally, when 17 he went to work for a

lumber company in Michigan. He tried to enlist in the Army in 1917 but was too young and too

small.

After this he drifted. He was sentenced in 1921 to 1-3 years for burglary in Arizona under the

name of John Howard. In 1922 he was sentenced to 2-4 years for grand larceny in Arkansas

under the name of John Williams. He also used the name of W.C. Morrison. He carried the

nicknames of "Wildcat" and "Dago" from being in the brush so much when he was young.

From 1923 to 1933 he wandered over the country but spent considerable time in Tacoma and

Seattle. He says he hired out in 1932 at Lewiston, Idaho to a sheepman who had a place near

Mountain Home. Other parts of his story indicate that this ranch was in Oregon, a short distance

west of the Snake River. He was there only a short time. He claims he got in trouble over a girl

on the sheep ranch near Mountain Home. He gave her name as Rose Baker or Baton, but no such

person could be located. The girl's mother, he says, was trying to frame him and he took to the

hills. He gave the name of the owner or chief herder of the outfit as Kuhnhouser, but here again

nobody by that name could be located.

He spent the winter of 1932-33 in the Sawtooth Range of south Idaho. He subsisted on venison

which he snared with telephone wire and stole from the Forest Service. He did not possess a gun.

In 1934 he went to Shoup, Salmon and Gibbonsville, but wintered near Chamberlain Basin. In

Chamberlain he tried to steal an airplane. The keys were in it but he couldn't get it started. He

had no knowledge of how to fly a plane. A check with the pilot confirmed that someone did

molest a plane at Chamberlain Landing Field at that time.

In January 1936 a man who fits his description robbed Frank Lantz's place on the upper Salmon

River. In addition to stealing food he took a 250-3000 rifle. Upon discovery of the theft, Frank

Lantz and another man gave chase and pressed Bill so close that he was compelled to abandon

the gun and packsack to make his escape.

After escaping from the Salmon River, Bill crossed over to the old Meadow Creek Ranger

Station. This was quite a journey to be undertaken in January, and demonstrates this man's ability

to survive in the severest weather with little food or shelter. He wintered in and around the

Meadow Creek Ranger Station.

In 1936, Bill spent considerable time around the upper Selway country. It was at this time he

found a Forest Service key in one of the buildings he entered. From this key he took impressions

in soap and set to work making a key. It took him quite a while to get one that would work but

finally he succeeded. Thereafter, Bill entered all buildings by means of a key. He never broke in

which made it difficult to detect an illegal entrance of short duration. He made these keys out of

tin from meat cans. To support the key, he filed a jackknife blade thin. By inserting the key and

knife into the lock together he could open any Forest Service lock.

Late in 1936, Bill traveled north as far as Red Ives, going by way of Powell, Kelly Creek, Cedars

and the old Chamberlain Meadows Cabin. This was a winter trip and in telling of it Bill said that

he almost perished.

From 1937 to 1942 Bill roamed the back-country of the Clearwater and St. Joe Forests. He spent

a great deal of his time near Roundtop Ranger Station, which was his chief source of supplies.

During this time the Forest Service knew that its cabins were being entered, but this was not

unusual. The Forest Service did not realize that many of these entrances were by the same man.

It was during this time that Moreland thought he was being pursued and he later stated that he

did something every day to throw the trackers off his trail.

On June 9, 1942 the first known theft of property by Moreland on the Clearwater Forest

occurred. He entered a trail camp at the Forks of Isabella Creek, while the crew was at work, and

stole some food, clothing, a bed and packsack. In one of the clothes pockets was a draft card of

W.C. Turner. This was Bill's first knowledge that the nation was at war. He read on the back of

the card that everyone of his age must have a draft card. Bill later tried to alter this card to fit his

description, but ruined it in the attempt.

The camp theft of August 1942 was the event that started action to capture Moreland. In casting

about for a person who might have committed the theft it was concluded that it was probably

Charles "Baldy" Webber. Webber was wanted for attempted murder and was also a short man.

Actually, Moreland is five feet two inches tall and Webber five feet five inches. Thereafter, it

was supposed that the Ridgerunner was Webber until his capture. The Forest officers got

together and compared notes and it then dawned upon them that the same man had broken into

many cabins before the theft of 1942.

A study of methods used clearly showed that it was the same person. He entered with a key; at

night he lit candles and dripped candle wax over floors and tables; he never washed dishes,

disposed of garbage, or cut wood if any was available; he had a special liking for jam and left

opened cans scattered about.

Moreland spent the winter of 1942-43 around the Roundtop country. In March the ranger went to

Roundtop and apparently Moreland saw him coming and fled. The Ranger followed his tracks

until he got below the snow line. Moreland said he escaped by hiding in a hollow tree. Following

this narrow escape Moreland changed his headquarters and shacked up in an old homesteader's

cabin near the mouth of Gold Creek. This cabin was a long way from the National Forest. There

was no trail to the cabin and it was away from the river far enough that it could not be seen by

travelers on the river.

In June of 1943 Moreland stole a 90-day ration from a lookout building. It had been packed there

in anticipation of occupying the lookout as soon as the weather made it necessary. When the man

arrived for duty the food was gone. In September of that year Moreland also stole a 22-caliber

rifle from the Collins Creek cabin. This was the first time he had a gun with which to kill game.

He had this rifle when captured in 1945. He said that he was so thrilled to get this gun that,

although he had entered the cabin to get food supplies, he grabbed it and raced away.

On March 30, 1944 two Forest Service employees, Louis Holt and Clyde Cole, came to the Flat

Creek cabin and found Moreland inside. He was preparing supper. They could have easily taken

him prisoner, but did not know they had the authority to do so. They ate supper together, after

which Moreland picked up his rifle and walked away.

Holt and Cole telephoned to the Bungalow that they had seen Webber (as they supposed). An

effort to overtake Moreland was then started. Morton Roark and Mickey Durant were dispatched

to the Canyon Ranger Station via the Bungalow to follow his trail and arrest him if possible.

There was no snow along the river and Moreland had better than a two day head-start. This was

going to be a very difficult mission.

Roark and Durant took a truck to the Bungalow and hiked downriver, reaching Canyon Ranger

Station on the second day. They picked up Moreland's tracks and he had passed the station.

They arose early on the third day and started downriver. A short distance below the station Roark

noticed tracks going upriver. The track showed a different pair of shoes than those that went

down river, but Roark concluded that it was probably the same man, so they followed this track.

The man had gone around the Canyon Station and back to the trail and continued upriver. This

effort to avoid meeting anyone was further evidence that it was the "Ridgerunner".

Roark and Durant followed this man up the river to Skull Creek and then up it to the Collins

Creek cabin at the forks of Collins and Skull Creeks.

They were sure that they would find their man in this cabin. Although he had been there and

cooked a meal, as evidenced by the stove being warm, he was nowhere about. The cabin was

locked and apparently a bed and some food were missing. The two men were sure their man

would return so they locked the door on the outside and crawled in a window and awaited his

return. They were supperless and went to bed to keep warm. Durant snored loudly all night, but

Roark stayed awake and listened and waited with his gun ready. Nothing happened. At daylight,

Roark crawled out the window and watched and waited for the man's return, but no luck.

Finally, Roarke woke Durant. They were almost starved since they had not eaten supper the

night before so they cooked and ate breakfast. After breakfast they took up the trail which led

across the creek on a footlog. On the other side the two men separated and started to comb the

hillside. Soon Roark saw his man breaking limbs off a tree to start a fire. He motioned to Durant

and the two men got together. It was agreed that Roark should approach the man while Durant

covered him with a rifle.

Roark approached within a few feet of his man before he was noticed. Roark took a look at his

fellow but he did not fit the description of the look "Ridgerunner". Roark remarked, "You don't

like the fellow we were sent after, but you will do".

This man had good outdoor clothes and a packsack. He carried no fire arms. He had a key, made

from a spoon that would open Forest Service locks. He offered no resistance, but could give no

satisfactory reason for being in that locality. He wouldn't talk much, and was very nervous. He

pled guilty to a charge of burglary and received a sentence of 90 days. He gave the name of

Davis. F.B.I. records showed he had a criminal record of burglary and theft. He was not wanted.

How many cabins this man had broken into no one will ever know. Perhaps some entries charged

to the "Ridgerunner" were actually his. Davis was never seen again.

Of course, this man diverted attention from the Ridgerunner who later stated that he became

frightened and decided he would change locations for the summer. He headed south and drifted

as far as Meadow Creek on the Nezperce Forest. He stole some food and clothes from a trail

maintenance camp on Rhoda Creek. In the fall he returned to his regular winter headquarters

near the mouth of Gold Creek. He obtained his winter supplies by theft from a logging camp that

was not in use. It was mostly peanut butter.

In the winter of 1945 the Forest Service decided to make a special effort to capture the

Ridgerunner. Morton Roark and Lee Horner were picked as two of the best woodsmen and

instructed in what they should do. They set up traplines. Roark trapped around the Bungalow and

Horner around the Canyon Station. Occassionally they would meet at the Flat Creek cabin. They

kept in touch with the Supervisor's Office by radio.

On February 2, 1945, Roark and Horner met at the Flat Creek Cabin. They spent a day there

skinning some coyotes they had trapped. They then decided to go to Canyon Ranger Station

together. They started downriver. Travel was slow because there was a crusted snow which the

elk had punched so full of holes that footing was poor.

Just above the Skull Creek cabin they came to rubber shoe tracks which they concluded were

those of the Ridgerunner. The snow was thoroughly tracked up showing that he had made

numerous trips to this point to look upriver. It may be that he saw them approaching, but Roark

didn't think he did. They decided to wait until near dark and then rush the cabin. This they did. It

was empty, but the Ridgerunner had been there. The door was closed and the padlock hooked in

the hasp, but it was not snapped shut. They looked around the cabin and crossed to the forks of

the trail up Skull Creek. There were numerous tracks, but darkness closed in so they could not be

followed.

Roark and Horner stayed that night at Skull Creek cabin. They decided that the Ridgerunner had

likely gone to Canyon Ranger Station and was spending the night there. The weather was so

severe that they could not believe a man would camp out without a shelter. They planned to

surprise him at daybreak. They arose at about 1 o'clock. Roark said he didn't sleep. They walked

to Canyon Ranger Station, arriving just before daybreak. They hid near the buildings and waited

for signs of life. Daylight came but no one was there. They then examined the trail and found

that the Ridgerunner had not come down the river to Canyon Ranger Station but was somewhere

up river.

They next decided that the Ridgerunner had probably gone to Collins Creek Cabin, so they went

there, but no one had been up the Collins Creek Trail more than half a mile or so. They returned

to Skull Creek for the night. This was quite a bit of hiking for one day.

Roark and Horner radioed for new showshoes and a radio. Their shoes were wearing out and

their radio was failing. These were dropped by parachute at Canyon Ranger Station and they

hiked down there and back to get them. By that evening Ranger Lewis, Amsbaugh, Meneely, and

Holt arrived at Canyon Ranger Station to join in the hunt.

The next two days were spent patrolling the trails in hopes of picking up the Ridgerunner. The

belief was that he did not have enough food to keep hidden more than a few days and would

have to come to one of the cabins. During these two days Roark studied the Ridgerunner's tracks

carefully. He concluded that the Ridgerunner had left the trail between Skull Creek and Canyon

Ranger Station where the trail crossed a small creek. The Ridgerunner had walked up this creek

in the water where he would make no tracks and was, so Roark reasoned, camped somewhere on

the mountain side above, likely under an overhanging cliff.

That night Roark and Horner planned to capture the Ridgerunner. They decided that he was

camped somewhere up the small creek and was likely watching his trail. They concluded that

their best approach would be to go up Skull Creek and climb the ridge and this put themselves

above him.

The next day they put their plan into operation. They went up Skull Creek about one mile and

climbed the ridge to the left. This ridge is extremely steep and, with snow on the ground,

progress was slow. They did not reach the top until about noon. They then hoped they were

above the Ridgerunner and started downslope by a series of long switchbacks, keeping a sharp

eye out for any signs. After losing some elevation Roark saw some smoke. He whispered to

Horner and tried to point it out to him, but Horner could not see it. Finally neither man could see

the smoke. They proceeded as before and came upon a very fresh man's track going uphill. This

they followed a short distance and found where the Ridgerunner had cut some kindling out of

cedar tree and gone back down the hill by a different route. They followed this trail and soon

they could plainly see smoke from a camp fire. They stole closer, keeping a large tree between

them and the fire. They looked around the tree, one on either side. They saw a camp consisting

of a piece of canvas thrown over a pole to make a crude shelter. It was open at both ends. The

smoke was coming from under this canvas, but they could not see the Ridgerunner because one

side of the canvas hid him.

Roark and Horner had previously agreed that should they come upon the Ridgerunner they were

to separate and come at him from two sides. At a nod they advanced. Horner had one of his

snowshoes catch in some brush before he could reach the Ridgerunner. Roark came upon him

and the Ridgerunner later said that he first knew of Roark's presence when he saw his snowshoes

on the opposite side of the fire and heard him say "Don't move".

Roark and Horner had expected to find Baldy Webber, a murderer, armed to the teeth. Instead

they had captured a meek little man, trembling with fright, armed only with a .22 rifle and it

leaning against a tree. His only shelter was a piece of canvas thrown over a horizontal pole. He

had a kapok bed rolled out under this canvas but it was sopping wet. His clothes were ragged and

worn. He wore two pairs of "tin pants", or weatherproofed trousers. He had no underwear and

used dishtowels for sox. He had improvised a shirt out of a Forest Service blanket. He had lost

most of his teeth. He later said that they had become loose and he pulled them. This may be an

indication that he had had a touch of scurvy. He carried a pocketknife, some matches, a 6-inch

fry pan, some aspirin, a bottle of cloves, a .22 rifle with cartridges, a small axe and a Forest

Service key of his own make. He had no snowshoes. He was cooking his last morsel of food.

This man must have suffered greatly from cold, hunger, and toothache. Why did he choose to

lead such an existence? Certainly not for love of the outdoor life. He must have been in great

fear, either real or fancied. It was probably the latter, but no one will ever know.

Following Moreland's arrest in 1945, he was sentenced to one to five years for burglary, but it

was suspended. He actually spent about 90 days in jail at Orofino. During this time he was sent

to the State Hospital for observation. The report of the hospital was that he was rather antisocial,

but no more apt to harm anyone than the ordinary individual.

The public sympathized with Moreland. They admired anyone that could live in the mountains

without support for 13 years. The fact he robbed Forest Service and other cabins did not cause

them concern. The Forest Service estimated that it cost the United States over a thousand dollars

a year to feed him and then there was all the inconvenience he caused and his messes they had to

clean up. Stories were built up about what he had done and how clever he was in throwing Forest

Officers off his trail. Actually the Forest Service personnel followed Moreland only three times.

One out of Roundtop when he came very close to getting caught, the time Roark and Durant

followed him a short distance and the last time by Roark and Horner when they caught him. In

his imagination he was being pursued almost daily and repeatedly eluded arrest. He told many

stories of these exploits and many people believed them.

There was one thing about Moreland that cannot be denied. He could live outdoors with very

little shelter. He stayed in Government cabins at times, but for fear of being caught he usually

camped under cliffs, in old abandoned cabins or some sort of an improvised shelter.

While the above may be an ability to be admired, he had many less commendable habits. He was

always filthy dirty and you could tell when he had stayed in a cabin by the dirt he left behind. He

never washed a dish or disposed of his garbage. If there was a cap over the stovepipe to keep out

rain or snow he frequently would not remove it, but disconnected the pipe and opened a window

for the smoke to go out. He used candles for light and dripped wax over the table and floors. He

never replaced the wood he burned which is a violation of the woodsman's code of ethics.

After he was released from jail in 1945, A.B. Curtis hired him to work for the Clearwater

Potlatch Timber Protective Association. Moreland also worked for the Potlatch Forests, Inc. as a

grease monkey and as a watcher on Camp T flume. He couldn't get along with other people,

particularly with foremen. He had a hatred for anyone in authority. In June 1950, he was accused

of dynamiting a P.F.I. tractor, but a jury refused to convict him. Then in 1952, he fired some

shots around Studebaker, a P.F.I. foreman, for which he received a six month sentence. The

result of all this was that by 1953 no one would hire him.

He then took up residence at the old Smith Homestead at the mouth of Milk Creek and

improvised a shelter out of what had been a root cellar by adding to it with split cedar boards.

From this place he operated a great deal like he had in the past. That is, his chief source of food

supplies was by theft from the logging camps, the Forest Service, and the Association. However,

he did raise a garden and hunted and fished, but he was a poor hunter.

Prior to this time, Moreland had written letters to various people complaining about how he was

being treated. Now he settled down in earnest using stationery he stole from the Canyon Ranger

Station. He wrote letters to the Governor, the Regional Forester, the Forest Supervisor and the

P.F.I. He gave his address as the Milk Creek Ranger Station, flew the American flag, which he

had stolen, and signed himself as a special agent of the U.S. Government. His letters were full of

accusations about everyone in authority. He accused them of murder, theft, poisoning elk, etc.,

but usually he accused them of sexual crimes. He never accused me of any crime, but he referred

to me as "Blackie". At first I wondered why. In my youth, when my hair was black, I had at

times been called "Blackie", but that was before my hair turned gray. He finally stated in one of

his letters I was called "Blackie" because I was married to a Negro. My wife was a blonde

Norwegian!

I came to the forest in 1954. I read Moreland's history and the stack of letters he had written to

the Forest Supervisor. I concluded that, in spite of what the hospital people had said, the man

was definitely insane and dangerous, and should be in a hospital.

About a month after coming to the Forest, I took part in the State Land Board trip down the

North Fork. This was sponsored by A.B Curtis of the Clearwater and Potlatch Associations. We

boarded rafts at the mouth of Beaver Creek and started downriver. On the way down, Curtis was

kidded about the Ridgerunner and some of the things he had said about Curtis. This aroused the

interest of the party and when we came near Moreland's shack someone proposed we go ashore

and see him. I protested, but no one gave heed. As we neared shore Moreland fired a shot with a

.22 pistol. He must have fired into the dirt because no bullet hit the raft or the water, nor did I

hear it hit the woods on the opposite side.

In spite of the shot we went ashore and Curtis walked up to Moreland. By this time Moreland

had taken the cartridges out of the .22 six-shooter and pulled out the pin that holds the cylinder in

place. He said he had lost the pin and was looking for it. Curtis questioned him about some of the

statements he had made, but all he got out of the Bill was that the statements were true. He said

he wasn't shooting at us when he fired the shot. We left, but one of the party who stayed a little

longer to look at Bill's garden saw him take the lost pin out of his shirt pocket and replaced it in

the cylinder.

In March 1956 I received word from a local pilot that someone was at the Canyon Ranger

Station which the Forest Service did not occupy during the winter months. Suspecting that it was

Moreland, Ranger Cowles flew there in a helicopter and caught him in the residence. He was

eating Forest Service food, which he said he was entitled to since he was a Government Agent.

Again he had neglected to take the cap off the chimney. The house was so badly smoked up that

it had to be redecorated. All the dishes were dirty and garbage scattered about. He was feeding

Forest Service hay to the elk and deer. He had shoveled the snow off the buildings which was

unnecessary since the were designed to carry the snow load, but this made a favorable

impression on the judge.

He was arrested and flown to Orofino. The judge took the matter very lightly. He felt that anyone

in the mountains during the winter should have the privilege of entering Government cabins.

Moreland was in the county jail for 60 days and was then released. He returned to the "Milk

Creek Ranger Station".

Following Moreland's release I asked the assistance of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney. They were

very cooperative and assured me that they would be glad to handle the case. In discussing the

case with the U.S. Attorney I told him that it was my opinion that Moreland was insane and that

our efforts should be directed toward getting him into a mental institution instead of putting him

in prison for a short time and then allowing him to go back to his former way of life. The

Attorney agreed.

During the winter of 1957 Moreland stole a powersaw from the Skull Creek cabin, a .45 pistol

and clothes from an employee at Canyon and other equipment and food supplies. The FBI agents

flew in by helicopter to his place and searched it. They recovered the saw and the pistol, but the

numbers were filed off. They recovered other property. The pistol was sent to Washington and

there identified as having the same numbers as the one that was stolen. That fall Moreland was

arrested for grand larceny.

When he came up for trial he refused to enter a plea and refused legal advice. Assistant U.S.

Attorney Whittier then suggested to the judge that Moreland was not mentally competent to

understand the gravity of the charge and suggested that he be given a mental examination.

He was examined by several doctors who reported that Moreland was suffering from

malnutrition and was insane and dangerous. He was committed to the mental hospital.

Moreland escaped in May 1959 and returned to his old shack, but Hall landed his helicopter

there and persuaded him to return to the hospital.

About two years later the hospital released Moreland. He returned to the locality of the Canyon

Ranger Station. One day the District Ranger met him on the trail and stopped to talk to him. The

Ranger introduced himself and Moreland gave a different name. The Ranger asked him if he

wasn't Moreland and he said he was, but Moreland had become a bad name so he had taken a

new name. The Ranger then asked him if he planned to stay in the area. Moreland replied that he

came back to see if the country was like he remembered it or if he had merely been dreaming. He

said that he did not plan to stay. That was the last time Moreland was seen in the Clearwater

country.

Chapter 25

Bernard DeVoto

U.S. Highway 12 runs through a grove of large and ancient Western

Red cedars. Past this grove flows Crooked Fork Creek to join with

White Sand Creek about two and a half miles downstream to form the

Lochsa River. For many years this grove could be reached only by driving over a narrow gravel

road that ran from Lolo, Montana over Lolo Pass and ended at Powell Ranger Station. During

that time this grove was called the Big Cedars and the Forest Service maintained a public

campground there for hunters, fishermen, and others who came to enjoy the forest.

When DeVoto was following the route taken by Lewis and Clark and writing his book "The

Lewis and Clark Journals" he camped at this grove and fell in love with it. His favorite spot was

under a massive cedar tree where he could look at the clear flowing Crooked Creek and hear it

babbling over the rocks.

In 1955 DeVoto suddenly died. He had wanted his ashes scattered over one of the National

Forests. This task was given to Chet Olsen, Regional Forester of Region Four and an old friend

of DeVoto. James Vessey of Region One, knowing of DeVoto's love for the Big Cedars Grove,

suggested this spot to Chet Olsen. Here in the spring of 1956 Chet Olsen, riding in a plane he

hired from the Johnson's Flying Service of Missoula, carried out the last request of Bernard

DeVoto.

DeVoto had many friends and it was not long before they were looking for a suitable memorial.

At first they proposed that the Clearwater National Forest be renamed the DeVoto National

Forest, but this was so bitterly opposed by the people of Idaho that the proposal was dropped.

Next it was proposed to fasten a plaque to a large tree, but it was pointed out that although some

trees live a long time every tree will some day die. At this time Highway 12 was being

completed and it was necessary to widen the old road through the grove from a narrow one lane

road to an oiled two lane highway. The Forest Service concluded that this widening process

would reduce the area of the grove enough that it would no longer be suitable as a public

campground. It was then decided to dedicate the grove to DeVoto.

In making a place to park cars it became necessary to remove one of the old cedars. Jack Puckett

was present when it was felled. It was hollow but he counted the annual growth rings on the

sound wood and from this estimated the age of the tree to be about five hundred years.

At the edge of the parking area is a sign which reads, "This majestic grove of western red cedar

is dedicated to the memory of Bernard DeVoto, conservationist, author, and historian. He often

camped here while studying the journals of Lewis and Clark. At his request, his ashes were

scattered over the area". Then on a large boulder in the grove there is a bronze plaque which

reads, "In memory of Bernard DeVoto 1897-1955, conservationist, and historian of the West".

The dedication ceremony took place in 1961. As requested by his family, there was only a small

group present consisting of the DeVoto family, some close friends, and a few Forest Service

Officials.

The author at DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove.

Chapter 26

Some Long Hikes

In the early days of the Forest Service, until about 1930, there were few

trails. Even when there were trails, horse feed was scarce so most travel

was by foot. It was only natural that, with all the hiking that took place, some fast and long-

distance walkers would be developed. Hikes of 30 miles in one day over the mountain trails were

not unusual and occasionally someone would beat that by ten miles.

There are three hikes that have become something of a legend in the Clearwater country. These

factual stories illustrate the way men of the Clearwater worked and lived at that time.

Henry Knight's Hike. Henry Knight was raised at Pierce, Idaho. He grew up in that locality and

became an expert woodsman and powerful hiker. He started working for the Forest Service in

1912.

In 1915 Knight was stationed on Mallard Peak when he received a message at about 3 p.m. that

his stepfather had been accidently killed. He sent a message to Pierce to have someone meet him

with a horse on the trail between Headquarters and Deadhorse the next day. He then took off

afoot. He didn't take as much as a lunch with him. He walked to the North Fork via the Nub. A

party surveying a trail down the river rowed him across the North Fork in a boat. He then

climbed to Sheep Mountain and from there to Deadhorse and from there took the trail towards

Headquarters. He met Ed Gaffney at Walker's cabin near Dull Axe early in the morning. They

ate breakfast there. This was the only food he had during the entire trip.

This hike was over rough country. The drop from the Nub and the climb to Sheep Mountain is a

loss and gain of about 5000 feet. In this stretch there was no trail. Also the greater part of the

hike was during the night and without a light. The distance traveled was 36 miles and he made it

in about 15 hours. This was a remarkable feat of endurance and workmanship. Even among the

good hikers of that day it was considered almost unbelievable.

Henry Thompson's Hike. Henry Thompson worked out of Pierce in cruising parties and on fire

suppression work. He had followed this type of work, which required much hiking, for a number

of years. He was about 45 years old.

During the summer of 1920 Henry was stationed at Boehls cabin and when the fire season ended

he started to hike to Pierce. He left Boehl's cabin early in the morning and arrived at

Headquarters for supper. After supper another man who had not made the hike from Boehl's

Cabin suggested they go to Pierce, so Henry walked with him to Pierce.

The total distance was 47 miles, but he did ride a mule for about three miles when Ike Dunlap

overtook him with a pack string. The peculiar thing about this long hike is that it was made as a

regular course of events. There was no compelling reason why Henry had to make the whole trip

in one day, nor did he set out to make a name for himself. If fact, when he started out he had no

intention of going the whole distance.

My Own Hike. I will relate the story of one of my own hikes that became somewhat famous.

This fame was partly earned and partly overrated. How well earned you may judge.

I was raised on a ranch and started hiking early by walking one and a quarter miles to school and

back each school day. Then I became a smokechaser in 1919 and a cruiser in 1920. In 1924 I was

cruising and mapping on the Lochsa District and had been hiking all summer.

In September I arrived at the Boulder Creek Ranger Station with my crew. We were through for

the summer and planned to go to Pete King the next day. From there I planned to go to Moscow

to college. I had barely time to make connections.

It was about the middle of September. Everyone had considered the fire season closed. Ranger

Hand was getting ready to close the station for the winter. That evening Ranger Hand received a

telephone call from the Supervisor's Office that a Lolo packer had gone to Grave Peak and

reported a fire southeast of McConnell Mountain. It was suggested that Hand and I suppress the

fire. Hand, knowing my college plans, reluctantly did this. I consented, but stated that we were

going to have to travel fast.

We left Boulder Creek the next morning with fire packs on our backs and arrived at Fish Lake in

the early evening. A fire pack in those days weighed 35 pounds. I would have gone on, but Hand

could go no further. I walked down to the lake and caught a mess of fish and looked at the

moose. Distance traveled was 20 miles.

The next day we went to McConnell Mountain where we got a location on the fire. It was across

a branch of the West Moose that heads in Chain Meadows. We went on to the fire, built a fireline

around it and felled all the snags. It was not out, but it was nearly so and the skies showed signs

of an approaching storm. We headed back to McConnell Mountain arriving after dark. I went to

the spring for water, another mile, while Hand cooked supper. Distance traveled was about 23

miles with packs, 13 of this without a trail.

The next morning I left my pack and headed for Boulder Creek. Hand decided to make the trip in

two days. It soon began to rain and then it turned to snow. I had no coat so I stopped at Fish Lake

cabin and made a poncho by slitting a seam in a manta I found there. I arrived at Boulder

thoroughly soaked and spent the remainder of the day drying out my clothes. Distance hiked 27

miles.

The next day I left Boulder Ranger Station, carrying my 20 pound duffle, and arrived at Pete

King at 2:30 P.M. The trail at that time went over McLendon and Middle Buttes and back to the

river at the mouth of Deadman Creek. When I arrived at Pete King, John (Cap) Rice looked at

me in surprise. He asked "Where did you come from?" I said "Boulder Creek Ranger Station",

but he wouldn't believe me so he went to the phone and called Boulder and asked what time I

had left there. The reply was "about 8 o'clock". Cap cried "Holy Smoke! He's here now!"

Actually, I left Boulder Creek at 7 A.M. and walked the 31 miles to Pete King in seven and a

half hours, but according to Cap's figures, I made it in six and a half hours. I tried to put him

straight, but he stuck to his figures and told the story to all would-be hikers in that locality.

Miles with pack

Miles without pack

Miles no trail with pack

Total in 4 days

101

In addition spent 3 hours fighting fire.

Now these are not the only long hikes taken, probably not even the longest, but they are the ones

that I know about and can confirm.

Chapter 27

Packing

In the early days of the Forest Service travel was by horseback. Each

Ranger was required to have a saddlehorse and each one usually had

one or more pack animals to carry his food supplies and camping

equipment. The practice of requiring Rangers to furnish their own stock was discontinued in

1924. Thereafter, the Forest Service furnished all the stock but some Rangers kept their horses

for a few years. I know of no Ranger who owned stock after 1928 in Northern Idaho and

Western Montana. In the grazing forests in eastern Montana some Rangers preferred to have

their own stock.

Packing to large fires or to construction projects was at first handled by contract packers and

their packstrings. Among the first packers were Bill Parry, the Stonebraker Bros. [Sumner,

Toode (Toad)], George Renshaw - Decker, Mackey Williams and McDaniels in the Clearwater

country and Williams - Young at Superior. Likely there were others in Montana. Before the

creation of the Forests these outfits had been packing for settlers and mining companies. Many of

them had packed into the mines around Buffalo Hump and Elk City.

The transportation of food and equipment by packhorse and mules in the Clearwater country has

been around as long as the horse itself has. The Nez Perce Indians did not use the travois. They

used the packsaddle and some of their old saddles do not differ in design very much from the one

Robinette patented. They used elk horns instead of steel.

The diamond hitch is a system of tying the load onto the packsaddle with a rope and a cinch. It

gets its name from the diamond the rope forms on the top of the load. This system was used all

over the Northwest with few exceptions. In the first Ranger examinations the would-be Ranger

had to demonstrate that he could throw the diamond hitch. One of the exceptions in the

Clearwater was a man named Mackey Williams who used the cargo system of packing. I don't

know whether he invented it or not. There may have been men on the Clearwater who used it

before him, but I never heard of them.

In about 1910 some of the Forest Service packers began using the cargo system and it spread

rapidly in the Clearwater and Nezperce country. Soon the commercial packers began adopting it.

For instance the Stonebraker Brothers used the diamond hitch, I am told by Bill Harris an old

packer, but when I knew them and saw them packing in 1922 they were using the cargo system.

Slowly the cargo system spread across Region One. Lloyd Hornby, who had been Supervisor of

the Clearwater National Forest, took it to the Flathead Forest when he became Supervisor there

in 1924. I was the first Ranger to use it on the Blackfeet Forest in 1925. Soon thereafter there

were many good packers that did not know how to throw the diamond hitch. I haven't thrown

one for forty years, but I will bet I can still do it.

After 1919 the large commercial pack outfits began getting out of the packing business. There

was little packing to do except for the Forest Service and to them only in bad fire seasons. This

drop in available packstock caused the Forest Service to build up their own strings.

Winter ranges for pack stock were at first on an individual forest basis but in a few years the

Clearwater and Nezperce were leasing winter pastures together. As the numbers of pack animals

grew this became increasingly hard to do. The winter range at Parma came into use in about

1934. At this same time or a year earlier the number of packstock needed began to decline. As

roads and landing fields were built supplies were more and more being delivered by truck or

airplane. Next came the smokejumpers, then aerial detection, so the number of stock dropped.

Now the helicopter has taken over. So the winter range went out of use in 1967.

As an example of the use of pack stock, take the year 1927 when my brother was head of the

supply base at the Bungalow. That year each ranger district had two pack strings and there were

ten more operating out of the Bungalow. A similar supply system once operated at Pete King

Ranger Station with John (Cap) Rice in charge. Each pack string consisted of a saddle horse, a

bell mare, and seven mules. I estimate the Clearwater, as today, had about 225 head of saddle

and pack stock. As of 1976 the forest had 18 head, nine at Lochsa and since this stock is used for

travel into the wilderness the number of stock likely will remain at this number.

Chapter 28

Miscellaneous Events

In presenting this history of the Clearwater National Forest I have

divided it into various activities or chapters. Some events do not

logically fall under any of the activities I used and yet are too short to make a separate chapter.

So I will combine a number of these items into one miscellaneous collection.

Firefinders - Before 1914 the detection of fires was by patrols. A patrol was usually two men

who rode the higher ridges looking for fires. If they saw one they would go to it and try to put it

out. If they couldn't put it out alone one man would go for help. In 1914 fixed detectors came

into use. It was then that the use of an azimuth circle and alidade to give readings and cross-

readings on a fire came into use. In Region One this system was first used on the Lolo Forest

where Elers Koch invented the Koch board. This simple tool was later refined by Bosworth in

1927 in Region One and Osborne and others in other regions. The boards all had the same basic

idea.

The Pulaski Tool - There have been a number of hand tools for fighting forest fires invented.

There was the Koch, Council, Lillevig and the Pulaski tool. They were all tried and some of them

may still be used locally, but in Region One the Pulaski accompanied by the shovel have stood

the test of time as the best combination. The Pulaski is a combination of an axe and a mattock. It

is not as good a digging tool as the mattock or as good a chopping tool as the axe but it serves the

purpose of both and thus eliminates one tool.

The Pulaski Tool was first invented by Ranger Pulaski of Wallace in 1909 or 1910, although

blacksmiths in other localities were making them shortly thereafter without knowledge of

Pulaski's work. In making the Pulaski the local blacksmiths destroyed the temper in the axe so

that it was a poor axe. I remember the first Pulaski I worked with. I limbed a tree, cutting off

several dead limbs. When I finished the blade of the Pulaski was bent and full of nicks. In 1924

the Kelly Axe company redesigned it and tempered it properly. The Pulaski then became a good

tool.

Tool and Mess outfits were first developed by Bob McLaughlin of the Blackfeet Forest in 1914.

He worked up outfits for 10, 15, 25, and 50 men. All these sizes of outfits could be found on the

Forest until about 1924 when Procurement and Supply (P&S) revamped them and eliminated the

10 and 15 man outfits which were seldom used. The 25 and 50 man outfits have undergone

numerous changes but the 25 man outfit is still in use.

The Spokane Warehouse resulted from the 1919 fires. It came into being in 1923 under O.C.

Bradeen and was a very efficient outfit, furnishing tools and supplies, not only to Region One,

but to all other firefighting agencies in the Northwest. It was terminated in 1967 when the fire

center at Boise took over its functions on a larger scale.

The first kapok beds came into use in 1931. They were too short for men and the feet were not

adequately covered but they were a big improvement over the worn out army blankets the Forest

Service had been using since World War One. Their faults were soon corrected. In the early days

of the smokejumpers, to cut down on the weight of packs, the goose down bed was developed.

They were light and warm. The only difficulty with them was that once they were sent to a forest

it was very difficult to get them returned.

In about 1929 the bulldozer was invented. At first these machines lacked power but they were

steadily improved. In 1923 the so-called 35 was in use and then they were soon followed by the

55. In 1944 the D7 and other machines came onto the market.

These machines revolutionized road building and firefighting. Roads were built faster and at far

less cost than the old hand labor-horse drawn scraper method.

These machines were used on fires as early as 1934 on the McLendon Butte fire by Clarence

Sutliff but they were not very effective. By 1940 they were far more useful, but it wasn't until

1944 that the D7 and similar machines had adequate power for firefighting.

Since these machines made road building much easier they also revolutionized logging. The

P.F.I. continued to log by railroad and drove the Clearwater River until 1972, but all other

logging outfits went to roads in about 1935.

Pioneer Justice. The methods used in bringing law offenders to justice and the action by the

courts have changed greatly since the early days of the Forest Service. The two cases that follow

will serve as illustrations.

Ranger Ralph Hand once took a man before the local Justice of the Peace and charged him with

leaving a campfire burning. In due time the judge asked the defendant if he was guilty or not

guilty, to which the reply was "Not guilty". Whereupon the judge said "Not guilty! Of course,

you are guilty! Haven't you owed me ten dollars for the past five years? I fine you twenty five

dollars".

The following story about Ranger Ed McKay was first told to me by W.W. White, who was Ed's

Supervisor when it happened, then by Earl Tennant, Ed's brother-in-law, and finally by Bud

Moore. They each told it a little differently but the essentials are the same. I have supplied the

conversation as it might have been.

Ranger Ed McKay came upon a man just as he shot an insulator off a Forest Service telephone

line. Ed said to him, "I have always wanted to catch one of you monkeys who do tricks like that.

Don't you know that puts the line out of order and is against the law?"

The man replied that he had not thought much about it.

Ed said, "I could take you to court for this or I can settle it right here by giving you a good

trouncing. Which shall it be".

The man said, "Let's settle it right here".

So they squared away and went at it. Ed was a huge man outweighing his opponent by at least

forty pounds but what Ed didn't know was that he faced a prize fighter. In the action which

followed Ed found that he couldn't hit his adversary who danced out of the way but repeatedly

hit Ed with stinging punches. Ed decided he would have to get a hold on his opponent so he

made a rush at him. The result was that Ed found himself sitting on the ground looking at his

adversary through fast closing eyes.

Ed said "You win." Got on his horse and rode away.

Paint Guns. In 1944 the paint gun replaced the marking axe for designating trees to be cut and

for marking sale boundaries. I believe it was first used on the Kootenai. It was brought about by

the wartime shortage of manpower and declining skill in the use of the axe. It has saved a lot of

time and accidents.

Power Saws. Power saws for purposes other than cutting fuel became practical in 1945. The

early models were very crude. They weighed about 85 pounds and required two men to operate

them. They were rapidly improved. By 1950 lightweight makes operated by one man were used

everywhere in the woods.

Meal Drops. In 1940 P&S made some insulated containers and began dropping hot meals by

parachute to fire camps. This practice had expanded some before 1959. Now a large part of the

firefighter meals are delivered either by helicopter or parachute.

Aerial Photography. Using photographs taken from aircraft to make maps started 1930. Howard

Flint and Jim Yule did a lot of work on this. The first road in the U.S.A. to be designed from

aerial photos was the section of Highway 12 through the Black Canyon.

Water Drops. Experiments in dropping water from an airplane were first tried by Howard Flint in

the late 1920's. He found it impractical for two reasons. It was very difficult to hit a small fire

and then water dropped at high speeds breaks into mist that does not go to the ground. After

World War II, containers that opened with a proximity fuse were tried but were not sufficiently

accurate to be practical. Then the Forest Service began dropping sludges. These are used all over

the country now and are effective in slowing a fire down until a fireline can be built. They will

sometimes put out a fire in grass or other light fuel but they are not dependable.

Land Exchange. In 1924 legislation was passed that permitted land exchanges and gifts of land to

the National Forest. A large area now in the Clearwater Forest was acquired under this act

through donations from the counties, Potlatch and Clearwater Timber Companies. A large part of

the Palouse District and a sizeable area in Beaver Creek was donated to the Clearwater National

Forest.

Whiskey Trouble. The personnel of the Forest Service have long enjoyed a reputation of being

good citizens and being able to work together in the greatest of harmony even when under the

stress of firefighting or other emergency. There were exceptions. For example, take the following

incident which was related to me by James Urquhart, a Ranger of the Clearwater starting in

1918.

It was in the fall of 1918 on the Chamberlain Meadows District. The fire season was over. There

had been a snowstorm that covered the high country with snow, but it had melted except along

the creeks and in shaded places. The lookouts and trail crews had all been discharged for the

year. The only forest men left on the district were the Ranger Henry Knight and the packer. They

were closing the buildings for the winter. The Clearwater Mining Company had also laid off its

crews but hired a man who had worked at Chamberlain Meadows Ranger Station during the

summer to stay at their camp to shovel the snow off the buildings etc. This man also planned to

do a little trapping during the winter.

Ranger Knight was raised at Pierce. He had worked for the Forest Service for several summers

and passed the Ranger examination the previous year. He had received a probational

appointment early in 1918. He was a good woodsman and a man of great strength and endurance.

Few men could match him in hiking over the mountains. So far he had a successful year and

could expect to receive his firm appointment. However, men who had worked with him knew he

had a terrible temper and would resort to acts of violence when enraged. Once in a fit of anger he

shot one of his horses.

In 1918 Idaho was a dry state but Montana was wet. Since Knight had a taste for whiskey he

decided that as far as liquor laws were concerned Montana lapped far enough west to take in the

Ranger Station. Therefore, when he took over the Ranger District, in the early spring, he

purchased a small cask of whiskey in Superior, Montana. He kept this cached in a grove of trees

near the creek a short distance from the cabin. Other workers at the station knew that it was there

but they also knew they better keep hands off.

For the final closing of the buildings Ranger Knight had gone to one of the lookouts where he

would stay over night and return to the station in the morning. The packer was to make his final

departure the next morning for Superior, Montana with the packstock. He was to leave Knight's

two horses for him to take out by way of Pierce.

The next morning the packer got things together and left for Montana but it was almost noon

before he got started. Shortly after he left the trapper working for Clearwater Mining arrived at

the station from a different direction. He found no one at the station. He knew the location of the

whiskey cache and thought what a wonderful addition it would make to his winter supplies if he

could someway get it without being suspected of theft and being called to account by the owner.

As explained before there had been a snowstorm a few days before and there were still spots of

snow in shady places. There was no snow at the cabin but the whiskey cache was surrounded by

snow. The trapper then noticed a pair of rubber shoes hanging on a nail driven into the cabin

under the porch. He recognized them as belonging to the packer who had left them there because

he would not need them at lower elevations. The trapper quickly changed his shoes for the

rubbers, got the cask of whiskey and changed back to this shoes again. He hung the rubbers back

on the nail and with the whiskey disappeared.

Ranger Knight arrived at the station shortly thereafter. He decided that his hike in from the

lookout merited a suitable reward and went to the cache. The whiskey was gone! His rage knew

no bounds! He quickly noticed the tracks and the wet rubber shoes. He had no doubt about who

took the whiskey and decided he would pursue the packer! He took out after him!

The trail to Montana forked. One branch followed the divide. The other left the divide, went

down to the mine, then back to the divide near the head of Bostonian Creek where the trails

rejoined. The trail past the mine was on a better grade so the packer took that route. He traveled

at an ordinary gait since he had no reason to suspect trouble. Ranger Knight took the other route

and since he was travelling fast reached the junction of the trails first.

Ranger Knight met the packer and at gunpoint demanded that he unload the whiskey. The packer

protested that he did not have it. After a few angry words Knight gave him three choices, either

produce the whiskey, pay him fifty dollars or die on the spot. Of course, the packer paid the fifty

dollars and went on his way.

The further the packer went the more determined he became to do something to punish Knight

for robbing him of fifty dollars. He discharged his duties at Superior and then took the train to

Wallace where he swore out a complaint of armed robbery against Knight. When Knight was

brought to court he admitted he had forced the packer to pay him fifty dollars but told the court

that he had been robbed by the packer. This the packer denied. The judge then stated that since

Knight admitted the charge he found him guilty and if he wished to file a charge of theft against

the packer he was at liberty to do so. He then sentenced Knight to six months in prison. Of

course, Knight lost his position as Forest Ranger.

The next spring when Urquhart took the district over he hired the trapper who had stolen the

whiskey. He did not hire the packer because he assumed he had something to do with the theft of

the whiskey and didn't want a trouble maker in his outfit. Then one day the trapper told Urquhart

what he had done and considered it a big joke. Urquhart told him that it was a fool trick that may

have resulted in someone getting killed. The trapper admitted that it turned out far more serious

than he anticipated.

He was sorry for the packer but said that as far as Knight was concerned it was a good thing for

the Forest Service. He didn't think that Knight would actually go as far as shooting someone.

But Knight would go that far. Up to this time Knight had been guilty of some minor infractions

of the law, but from that time on he led a life of crime. He was in and out of prisons. He finally

committed murder at Butte, Montana. When surrounded by police, he took his own life.

Computers - The computer has brought changes in almost every activity of the Clearwater

Forest. The payrolls were the first to be computerized in about 1955 and this was quickly

followed by road engineering. Then came timber management and fire control in 1969. No doubt

the services provided by computers have greatly shortened the amount of labor time required, but

they have also had their limitations. They can solve a complex mathematical problem in a split

second, but there are some situations, especially in an area like fire control, where only good,

common sense on the part of an experienced fire fighter can solve the problem at hand.

Multiple Use - The Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act was passed in 1970. It was hailed by

some as a major change in Forest Service policy. I think, however, it merely confirmed what the

Forest Service has been doing all along.

Unique Plants - The Clearwater Valley has a number of plants found no other place in Idaho.

These plants are common along the Oregon Coast and inland to some extent along the Columbia

River as far east as The Dalles. Plants so far separated from their normal habitat are called

disjunct species. This simply means "disconnected".

These species became disconnected from the coast through a geological change which brought

about a plant change. At one time the portion of the Cascade Mountains south of the Columbia

River were much lower than at present. At that time rainfall was much heavier along the Snake

River as well as along the Columbia below the mouth of the Snake and in the Clearwater

Country. The forest of the coast extended east and covered not only the portion of the Columbia

that is now desert but also the Clearwater valleys.

When the Cascades rose they cut off a great deal of the rainfall over the country to the east. The

area immediately east of the Cascades became a desert, or nearly so. The forests died or were

burned so often they ceased to exist. Only the species in the warm, wet portions of the

Clearwater survived.

There are a number of these disjunct plants, but perhaps the best known is the Pacific dogwood

(cornus nutalli). This plant has a large white flower (botanically, a group of flowers or a cyme)

surrounded by white sepals. It blooms in May and sometimes in September. It is a beautiful

flower. Its leaves turn scarlet after the first frost, making it a very attractive plant then too.

The only place it grows in Idaho, as far as I know, is from the mouth of Lodge Creek on the

Middle Fork of the Clearwater upstream to about a half mile above the mouth of Fish Creek on

the Lochsa River. On the Selway it reaches to about Selway Falls. I have heard reports that it

grows elsewhere, but I doubt this. At least I have never seen Pacific dogwood anywhere else in

Idaho. It is most abundant from the Selway-Lochsa junction up the Lochsa to the mouth of Old

Man Creek.

I first saw this shrub in 1924, but it was already well known locally by that time. The oldest

record I have found which makes reference to this plant is John Leiberg's 1900 report. He wrote:

"This shrub is of rare occurrence in the Bitter Root Reserve, being confined in its range to the

bottom lands and stream banks of the central and lower portions of the Middle Fork and Selway

Valleys. Its altitudinal range extends to the 2800 foot contour line, but it is chiefly found in

proximity to the banks of the two streams mentioned, at elevations below the 1800 foot level.

"That the species should occur in the fauna of the Clearwater drainage is remarkable. Its home in

this latitude is in the Cascades and, so far as is known, it does not grow at any intermediate

station."

Dr. Shattuck of the School of Forestry at the University of Idaho also recorded its presence in

1910.

In 1977 the Lochsa Research Natural Area was created to encompass and protect these unusual

species. It is approximately 1300 acres in size.

Glaciers - The Clearwater country had numerous local glaciers. These glaciers usually formed on

the north and east side of a mountain or high ridge. That was because the snow melted less on the

north side and because the winds in this part of the world generally blow northeast. Much snow

which fell on the ridges drifted to the valleys to the northeast. However, some of the glaciers first

started moving in a northerly direction, but the valley course turned south. These glaciers,

through their slow grinding and pushing, produced results which are very noticeable today. Let

us consider some of these results

There are a number of lakes, ranging in size from ponds to lakes about a mile long in the high

country. These lakes were all formed by glaciers. Some are called craters, but I have never seen a

lake on the Clearwater not formed by a glacier. There are few lakes that I have not visited.

There are also quite a few meadows on the forest. Some of the meadows, especially in the

Weippe and Grangemont areas, are the result of lava flows. In the high country there were lakes

formed by glaciers and then filled with silt. When the outlet eroded, the lake and its silt would

flow out, forming a meadow.

Traveling up a stream which arises in the high country, a visitor's first sight of glacial action is a

terminal moraine, a ridge of rocks, sand, gravel and mud left by the glacier when its leading edge

melted and receded. These moraines are often easily picked out, but sometimes water action

removed much of the moraine and left only portions noticeable on either side of a valley. Above

the moraine the valley is usually U-shaped from the grinding and scraping action of the glacier.

Occasionally the glaciers did some unusual and interesting things.

I will give a few examples. Kelly Creek is formed by the joining of the North and South Forks of

Kelly Creek. Glaciers came down both of these valleys. They joined and moved on down to

below the mouth of Bear Creek.

When they melted back, the glacier coming down the North Fork, being from a lower country

than the one from the South Fork and being more exposed to the sun, melted first. The water

coming out of the North Fork formed a pond back of the glacier which built up until it ran over a

low ridge and came back to the Kelly Creek below its original mouth. When the glacier in the

South Fork melted back to above the old channel of the North Fork it left so much mud, rocks,

etc., in the mouth of the North Fork that it never returned to its original channel. The trail up the

North Fork goes up through the old channel because the new one is still quite steep and rocky.

Another good example of ice action is on the Lolo Divide at the head of Squaw Creek. A glacier

formed in the high country at the head of Cayuse Creek and moved downstream. The leading

edge was many miles downstream near the Cayuse Landing Field.

At Cayuse Junction this glacier was very thick. In fact, it was so thick a portion of it was higher

than Cayuse Saddle. The result was that water from the glacier drained down into Squaw Creek.

So great was the volume of water and so steep the grade that the water tore out portions of the

hills sloping into Squaw Creek. The result was some very steep, cliffy country in the head of

Squaw Creek. The Lolo Divide was also worn down so that the top of the divide is now much

further north than it was before the glacier. Had this eroding process continued a few more

thousand years, it is likely that the head of Cayuse Creek would have drained into the Lochsa

River. However, before this could happen the glacier melted and the stream returned to its old

channel.

Although glacial action was mainly confined to the higher portions of the Clearwater, the water

from melting glaciers had marked effects on the rivers below. The increased flow caused the

rivers to cut deeper into the earth. That is the reason the Clearwater and its branches have steeper

side walls near their bottoms than on the high banks. The banks before the glaciers formed a flat

V or a U, but the water action changed them to a broken V. After the glaciers the lower part of

the broken V began to fill and are still filling because there is not enough water to remove the

material that washes and rolls in from above.

Minor Events

First pack bridge built at Bungalow, 1914; burned 1919.

Second pack bridge built a Bungalow, 1920.

Bungalow built by Nat Brown, 1905; burned 1919.

Fish Lake Landing Field started in 1933; finished 1935.

Cayuse Landing Field built 1935.

Big flood years were 1933 and 1948.

Big floods tore out Isabella, Grasshopper, Skull, Quartz and Larson Creeks in 1933 just before

Christmas.

The flood of May 1948 came out of almost every major stream.

Big floods came out of Orofino Creek in December 1933 and May 1957.

Fire Creek washed out in July 1952.

Split Creek washed out in May 1931.

Willow and Lower Fish Creek washed out in July 1953.

The first use of an airplane to scout fires on the Clearwater Forest was in 1926 on the Skull

Creek Fire.

The first use of smokejumpers on the Clearwater was in 1944.

The first delivery of men on a fire by helicopter was in 1959 on a fire in Old Man Creek.

The first supply drop from an airplane was in 1933. It was a free fall drop. Parachutes were used

beginning in 1938.

The Lochsa Lodge was built in 1931 by Andrew Erickson.

The last grizzly bear killed on the forest was in the 1950's at Colt Creek Camp.

The Dworshak Dam was completed in 1972.

The Wild Rivers Act passed in 1968.

Appendix A

Forest Personnel

In the first "Clearwater Story", I attempted to list all the appointed

employees of the Clearwater National Forest by years. This list would

now be so long that I will give only the names of the Forest Supervisors

and Rangers and the best information I can gather on the dates they served.

It is difficult to trace the history of the Clearwater National Forest personnel. There are a number

of reasons for this. The first administrative units which correspond closest to the National Forest

of today were called Divisions, over which there was a Superintendent. Later these Divisions

were regrouped into National Forests, but the boundaries were not the same. Then after the

National Forests were created their boundaries have been changed several times.

Ranger Districts have also changed greatly. They have been split apart, combined and rearranged

many, many times. So many, in fact, that it is not possible to trace the personnel of any one

district from its inception down to the present day.

Let us start with the Forest Supervisor or Superintendents.

The Idaho Division of the Bitterroot Reserve was established in 1897.

Warren D. Robbins was the first Superintendent and he served during 1897 and 1898. Actually

he was not just Superintendent of the Idaho Division of the Bitterroot Reserve. His area included

all of North Idaho. I do not know where his office was located but it appears it was at

Grangeville.

James Glendenning was Superintendent of all the Forest Reserves in North Idaho from 1899 to

1901. His headquarters was at Kooskia. Appointees in those days were political. Glendenning

was a brother-in-law of Senator Shoup of Idaho.

From 1902 to 1903 Major Frank A. Fenn served as Superintendent of all the Forest Reserves in

North Idaho. He was also a political appointee being a great friend of ex-Governor McConnell

having been his personal secretary. However, he had much to merit his appointment besides his

political affiliations. He was from a pioneer family. He was well educated and had served in the

Nez Perce war and attained the rank of Major in the Spanish-American War. He was the first

speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives. He served in various capacities in the Forest

Service and was Assistant Regional Forester when he retired in 1920.

According to Major Fenn the next Superintendent, 1904, was John B. Leiberg, but at that time

there was a reorganization of the Forest Reserves. The officer in charge of several Forest

Reserves became a Forest Inspector and the man in charge of a Reserve became a Forest

Supervisor. This accounts for the short time Leiberg was in direct charge of the Western Division

of the Bitterroot Forest Reserve.

From 1904 to 1906, Cassius M. (Cash) Day was Forest Supervisor of the Western Division of the

Bitterroot Forest Reserve which included almost all of the present Clearwater and Nezperce

National Forest. It was during his term of office that the Forest Reserves were transferred in

1905 from the General Land Office in the Department of Interior to the Forest Service in the

Department of Agriculture. The officers were given Civil Service appointments. Cash Day was a

close friend of Frank Fenn. They had been in the Indian War of 1877 together.

In 1907 Cash Day retired and Major Fenn became Supervisor from 1907 to 1910 of the Idaho

Division of the Bitterroot Reserve. It was also in 1907 that the name of the Reserves was

changed to National Forests to get away from the inference that timber in the Reserves was not

to be harvested.

In 1908 the National Forests were reorganized with a District Office, later changed to Regional

Office, at Missoula with W.B. Greeley as District Forester. The old Idaho Division of the

Bitterroot National Forest ceased with the creation of the Nezperce National Forest with

headquarters at Grangeville and George Ring as Supervisor, and a Clearwater National Forest

with headquarters at Kooskia. The Clearwater at that time included the National Forest land in

the Selway, Lochsa, and Middle Fork, and most of the North Fork drainages.

After the disastrous fires of 1910 it was decided to further divide some of the forest so in 1911

the Clearwater National Forest was split into the Selway National Forest with headquarters at

Kooskia with Major Fenn in charge and a Clearwater National Forest with headquarters at

Orofino with Charles Fisher as Supervisor. The Clearwater National Forest at that time included

all the National Forest land in the North Fork except the Little North Fork.

From 1911 to 1914 Charles A. Fisher was Supervisor. He resigned to become Fire Warden for

the Clearwater Timber Protective Association.

From 1914 to 1917, W.B. Willey, a banker by training and a son-in-law of Major Fenn, was

supervisor. He transferred to a forest east of the Continental Divide in Montana. He served as a

Forest Supervisor until he retired.

From 1918 to 1920, Richard A. Hamilton was Supervisor. He resigned and went into the

newspaper business in Orofino.

Lloyd Hornby was Supervisor from 1921 to 1922. He was a Civil Engineer by training. He was

transferred to the Flathead National Forest and later did fire research work. He had a fatal heart

attack while making an examination of a fire on Toboggan Ridge in 1935.

From 1923 to 1931 Paul A. Wohlen was Supervisor. He was born and educated in Norway. He

worked as a temporary employee on the Clearwater National Forest then as a Ranger and

Supervisor. He transferred to the St. Joe Forest as Supervisor and then to the Lake States where

he was a Supervisor until he retired.

Eldon H. Myrick was Supervisor from 1932 to 1935. He had previously been Supervisor of the

Lewis and Clark and the St. Joe. He transferred to the Lolo where he was a Supervisor until he

retired. It was during his administration that the Selway Forest was split and the Lochsa District

added to the Clearwater.

William W. Coleman was Supervisor for the year 1936. His health forced him to resign.

Raymond A. Coster was Supervisor from 1937 to 1939. He was promoted to a position in the

Regional Office.

D.F. (Duff) Jefferson was Supervisor from 1940 to 1941. He was a brilliant man with a long

career before coming to the Clearwater.

From 1942 to 1944 Percy E. Melis was Supervisor. He came to the Forest Service from the

Indian Service. He was transferred to the Kaniksu and back to the Indian Service.

From 1945 to 1951 Edward F. Barry was Supervisor. He was injured in an accident. He was

transferred to the Regional Office as an Assistant Regional Forester. He recovered from his

injury.

Fred I. Stillings was Supervisor during 1952 and 1953. He was an engineer by education and

experience. He transferred back into engineering work.

Ralph S. Space, Supervisor from 1954 to 1963, and the author of this book, was raised at Weippe

and was a forester by training and education. He was Supervisor of the Cabinet when it was split

apart. During his administration the Lewis and Clark Highway was completed and the

boundaries of the Lochsa District adjusted so that a large area in the Middlefork and Lochsa

Rivers were transferred to the Clearwater Forest. The Powell District also became a part of the

Clearwater. He retired in 1963.

From 1963 to 1969 Keith M. Thompson was Supervisor. He transferred to the Regional Office.

He retired from the Forest Service in 1977.

Richard Pfilf was Supervisor from 1970 to 1972. He transferred to a forest in California.

Kenneth Norman was Supervisor from 1973 until August 1980 when he retired. The Palouse

District was transferred from the St. Joe to the Clearwater in 1973.

John Hossack was named Supervisor in 1980. He had previously been Fire and Range Staff

Officer on the forest and after leaving the Clearwater had worked on the Idaho Panhandle and

Bitterroot National Forests.

FOREST RANGERS

It is almost impossible to trace the history of Rangers and Ranger Districts. I will give the most

accurate and complete record I can put together but I strongly suspect that it contains errors and I

know it is not complete. A large part of this difficulty is due to inadequate records but that is not

the whole problem. For a number of years there were no clear-cut boundaries between districts.

At that time the title of Forest Ranger was, and is now, often misused. To some people every

man who worked for the Forest Service in the field was a Forest Ranger. Also I find that some

men who carried the title of Assistant Ranger actually performed the work of a Ranger. As an

example the appointment papers of Adolph Weholt show that he passed the Ranger examination

in 1908 but was appointed as an Assistant Forest Ranger. He served the seasons of 1909-10—11

under this title although he lists himself as a Ranger in 1911. I find no records to show when this

title was officially changed to Forest Ranger. Actually the practice of appointing officers under

one title and working them in some other capacity was continued until about 1935 when auditors

from Washington put an end to the practice.

The Bitterroot Forest Reserve was proclaimed in 1897 and in 1898 John Leiberg made an

examination of the Reserve. He was struck by the enormous area of burns and recognized a need

for fire protection. He failed to recognize the nature of the problem, believing that all fires were

man caused. This caused him to underestimate the number of men, amount of equipment, etc. it

would take to reduce the fires losses to an acceptable area. However, he did recommend a fire

control organization. He visioned that these men would be primarily engaged in enforcing the

fire laws.

The first follow-up on his recommendation was in 1899 when the first Forest Rangers were

appointed. They were few and far between. George Ring was at the Musselshell and there was

another Ranger at Elk City.

The first Forest Supervisors and Rangers were political appointees, that is, they were

recommended to the Department of Interior by a Senator, Representative, Governor, or some

high official of the party in office, at that time the Republican Party. No written examination or

submission of qualifications was required. Many of these appointees did very good work but

some of them took the job as an opportunity to go prospecting on a salary. G.I. Porter wrote that

a gold pan was part of a Ranger's equipment in those days and Ray Fitting wrote that Rangers

Parry and McConnel prospected every nook and cranny for Isaac's lost mine.

One of the Rangers appointed in 1899 was George V. Ring who made his headquarters during

the summer at Musselshell Meadows. It appears, though I am not positive, that Warren Cook of

Elk City was appointed Ranger at the same time. These two men were to patrol the forest and

suppress fires on what is roughly the present Nezperce and Clearwater National Forests.

I can find no records to show who the rangers were from 1900 to 1903 although George Ring

was one of them and likely Homer Fenn. The force was increased. Almost all Rangers at that

time were summer employees. Most of them were trappers, homesteaders or prospectors.

In the front of James Stuart's diary of 1904 he lists the following personnel on the Bitterroot

Reserve:

Cassius M. Day

Supervisor

E.N. Clark

Ranger

Dan Dunham

Ranger

Henry Bimerick

Ranger

Fred Boller

Ranger

Ben McConnell

Ranger

Joe Ebberly

Ranger

James Stuart

Ranger

James Stuart was a well known Nez Perce Indian from the Kooskia area. Bimerick was a trapper.

Ben McConnell was a son of Governor McConnell and a prospector looking for Isaac's mine.

Stuart's list of the officers on the Bitterroot is not complete. He did not list George Ring. Stuart

worked along the Coolwater Divide and Ring out of Musselshell. They were so far apart that

they never saw each other so as far as Stuart knew Ring did not exist. There were likely others in

the same category in the Elk City area.

Stuart does not give the area in which the Rangers worked. During the summer he and Clark

worked together. They traveled from Pete King to Warm Springs and Moose Creeks. They

teamed up with Dunham on a fire in Warm Springs Creek. Later he met Ranger McConnell, Fred

Boller, and Joe Ebberly at a place called Butterfield's Camp which was 10 miles north of Pete

King. He also worked with Joe Ebberly and Henry Bimerick on the No. 1 Cabin.

From all this I conclude that Rangers in 1904 did not have definite areas of responsibility, but

were assigned localities. Apparently Stuart, Clark, Dunham and Boller were in the area between

the Lochsa and Selway Rivers while Ebberly, McConnell and Bimerick worked north of the

Lochsa. Ring had the North Fork country.

In 1905 Stuart expanded the list to include:

Cassius M. Day

Forest Supervisor

E.N. Clark

Ranger

George V. Ring

Ranger

Fred Boller

Ranger

Sumner Rackliff

Ranger north of Lochsa

W.E. (Bill) Parry

Ranger south of Lochsa

Ed Thenon

Ranger

James Stuart

Ranger

He also listed seven Guards including Henry Bimerick whom he listed as a Ranger in 1904.

Homer Fenn is also listed, but his position is not given. The records are not clear, but apparently

he had served as Ranger in the Elk City area so I assume he was Assistant Supervisor. He soon

became Supervisor of the Targhee Forest in Southeast Idaho and later was Assistant Regional

Forester in Ogden.

Stuart listed Rackliff as Ranger north of the Lochsa and W. Parry south of the Lochsa. Rangers

north of the Lochsa in 1905 appear to have been Rackliff and Thenon. South of the Lochsa

Stuart, Clark, Parry and Boller. McConnell and Ebberly are not listed. Ring was Ranger on the

North Fork.

In 1905 the Forest Reserves were placed under the Department of Agriculture and any new

appointees were required to take an examination and were appointed in order of the grade they

received. The "Use Book" of 1907 has the following statement. "Rangers are appointed only

after civil service examinations. They must be residents of the state or territory in which the

National Forest is situated and between the ages of 21 to 40. The examinations are usually held

once a year. They are very practical examinations. The life a man has led, what is his actual

training and experience in rough outdoor work in the West, counts far more than anything else.

Lumbermen, stockmen, cowboys, miners and the like are the kind wanted." In another place it is

stated, "It is the hardest kind of physical work from beginning to end. It is not a job for those

seeking health or light outdoor work. Rangers are paid from $900 to $1500 a year. They have to

furnish and feed their own horses."

I have been loaned the ratings of Adolph Weholt who took the ranger examination. It was in

three parts; practical questions, field tests were each given a weight of three and experience a

weight of four.

The field test included the every day things a Ranger was expected to be proficient in such as

cargoing camp equipment and supplies, packing a mule (which included throwing the diamond

hitch), chopping, sawing, riding, etc. This part of the test was discontinued in 1917. The

experience part covered a listing of all the work the person had ever done, the jobs he had held,

where raised, etc.

The practical questions were designed to test the individual's ability to solve problems he might

encounter in the field. When Lloyd Fenn was taking the Ranger's examination one of the

questions asked was "What would you do in case of a crown fire". A crown fire, of course, being

one that advance through the tops of the trees. In answer Lloyd wrote, "Run like hell and pray for

rain". Now, anyone who has fought forest fires knows that you cannot fight a crown fire. It's a

matter of getting out of the way until the fire stops crowning. No one knows what the man who

wrote the question thought he would get for an answer by Lloyd's answer was correct. Few

people could express their thoughts quite so vividly. Lloyd passed the test.

I had difficulty in getting the organization for 1906. The following list is likely incomplete.

Cassius Day

Forest Supervisor

William (Bill) Parry

Ranger south of the Lochsa

Sumner Rackliff

Ranger north of the Lochsa

John Durant

Musselshell

R.C.W. Friday

Chamberlain Meadows

Edward Thenon

Ranger

In 1907 Ranger Districts were created and each Ranger assigned an area of responsibility. This

may not have been done on all forests in 1907, but by 1909 all were on this basis.

1907 - The Clearwater Forest was organized with headquarters at Kooskia.

1907 - Rangers

John Durant

Musselshell

R.C.W. Friday

Chamberlain Meadows

Bert Cressler

Fish Lake (Lochsa)

Sumner Rackliff

Middlefork

A.E. Harris

Palouse District on St. Joe

1908 - Rangers

John Durant

Musselshell

R.C.W. Friday

Chamberlain Meadows

Bert Cressler

Fish Lake (Lochsa)

Sumner Rackliff

Middlefork

A.E. Harris

Palouse (On St. Joe)

1909 - Rangers

John Durant

Musselshell

R.C.W. Friday

Chamberlain Meadows

Adolph Weholt

Elk Summit

Ray Fitting

Fish Lake (Lochsa)

Frank Smith

Powell

A.E. Harris

Palouse (on St. Joe)

Joseph McGhee

Middlefork

1910 - Rangers

John Durant

Musselshell

R.C.W. Friday

Chamberlain Meadows

Adolph Weholt

Elk Summit

Ray Fitting

Fish Lake (Lochsa)

Frank Smith

Powell

Joseph McGhee

Middlefork

A.E. Harris

Palouse (St. Joe - office at Princeton)

Forest reorganized in 1911 with Clearwater Forest Headquarters at Orofino and Selway at

Kooskia.

1911 - Rangers

John Durant

Musselshell

R.C.W. Friday

Chamberlain Meadows

Lloyd Fenn

Goat Lake

Adolph Weholt

Elk Summit (Selway Forest)

Ray Fitting

Fish Lake (Lochsa) (Selway Forest)

Joseph McGhee

Middlefork (Selway Forest)

Frank Smith

Powell (Selway Forest)

A.E. Harris

Palouse (on St. Joe)

1912 - Rangers

John Durant

Musselshell

R.C.W. Friday

Chamberlain Meadows

Lloyd Fenn

Goat Lake

Roy Monroe

Cook Mountain (Headquarters Bald Mt.)

Adolph Weholt

Elk Summit (Selway Forest)

Frank Smith

Powell (Selway)

Ray Fitting

Fish Lake (Selway)

Joseph McGhee

Middlefork (Selway)

1913 - Rangers

H.R. (Bob) Snider

Musselshell

John Durant

Bungalow

John W. Long

Chamberlain Meadows

Lloyd Fenn

Goat Lake

Roy Monroe

Cook Mountain (Headquarters, Bald Mt.)

A.E. Harris

Palouse (St. Joe)

Adolph Weholt

Elk Summit (Selway)

Ray Fitting

Fish Lake (Selway)

Joseph McGhee

Middle Fork (Selway)

Frank Smith

Powell (Selway)

1914 - Rangers

H.R. (Bob) Snider

Musselshell

John W. Long

Chamberlain Meadows

A.J. Devon

Cook Mountain

Clyde D. Blake

Fish Lake

John Durant

Bungalow

A.E. Harris

Palouse (St. Joe)

Adolph Weholt

Elk Summit (Selway)

Ray Fitting

Fish Lake (Selway)

Joseph McGhee

Middlefork

Frank Smith

Powell (Selway)

1915 - Rangers

H.R. (Bob) Snider

Musselshell

John Durant

Chamberlain Meadows

A.J. Devon

Cook Mountain

Clyde D. Blake

Fish Lake

John Long

Bungalow

A.E. Harris

Palouse (St. Joe)

Louis Fitting

Elk Summit (Bitterroot)

Fitz Eagen

Fish Lake (Selway)

Joseph McGhee

Middlefork (Selway)

Jones

Lolo (Lolo)

1916 - Rangers

H.R. (Bob) Snider

Musselshell

A.J. Devon

Chamberlain Meadows

Paul Wohlen

Cook Mountain

Clyde Blade

Fish Lake

John Long

Bungalow

A.E. Harris

Palouse (St. Joe)

Fitz Eagen

Fish Lake (Selway)

Louis Fitting

Elk Summit (Bitterroot)

Ed Yeomans

Lolo (Lolo)

1917 - Rangers

H.R. (Bob) Snider

Musselshell

Clyde Blake

Fish Lake

A.J. Devon

Chamberlain Meadows

Paul Wohlen

Cook Mountain

John Long

Bungalow

William Bell

Elk Summit (Bitterroot)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

Fitz Eagen

Castle Butte (Moved from Fish Lake)

Ed Yeomans

Lolo (Lolo)

1918 - Rangers

H.R. (Bob) Snider

Musselshell

Paul Wohlen

Oxford, Bungalow

moved to Oxford

McCarthy

Fish Lake (Acting)

James C. Urquhart

Cook Mountain

Henry Knight

Chamberlain Meadows

William H. Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Bitterroot)

Charles McGregor

Canyon (Selway)

Fitz Eagen

Castle Butte (Selway)

Adolph Weholt

Pete King (Selway) No. 1 not used.

Forest Sherrill

Lolo (Lolo)

1919 - Rangers

H.R. (Bob) Snider

Musselshell

Albert N. Cochrell

Oxford

James C. Urquhart

Chamberlain Meadows

McCarthy

Fish Lake (Acting)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Bitterroot)

Frank Pitt

Canyon (Selway)

Fitz Eagen

Castle Butte (Selway)

Charles McGregor

Pete King (Selway)

Forest Sherrill

Lolo (Lolo)

1920 - Rangers

Albert N. Cochrell

Oxford

Paul A. Gerrard

Musselshell

James C. Urquhart

Chamberlain Meadows

W.E. Buckingham

Fish Lake

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Bitterroot)

Ed McKay

Lolo (Lolo)

Henry Nicol

Fish Lake (Selway)

C.A. McGregor

Pete King (Selway)

1921 - Rangers

James C. Urquhart

Oxford

Albert Cochrell

Cook Mountain

Lester Vanairsdale

Chamberlain Meadows

Paul A. Gerrard

Musselshell

W.E. Buckingham

Fish Lake

William H. Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Bitterroot)

Ed McKay

Lolo (Lolo)

Elmer Walde

Fish Lake (Selway)

C.A. McGregor

Pete King (Selway)

1922 - Rangers

William E. Buckingham

Musselshell

James C. Urquhart

Oxford

Lester Vanairsdale

Chamberlain Meadows

John P. Gaffney

Fish Lake

A.N. Cochrell

Cook Mountain

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe

William Bell

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Ed McKay

Lolo (Lolo)

C.A. McGregor

Pete King (Selway)

Elmer Walde

Fish Lake (Selway)

1923 - Rangers

James C. Urquhart

Oxford

William E. Buckingham

Musselshell

Robert Johanson

Cook Mountain

John P. Gaffney

Fish Lake

Lester Vanairsdale

Chamberlain Meadows

Lawton Miller

Canyon

Ralph L. Hand

Boulder Creek (Moved from Fish Lake)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Ed McKay

Lolo (Lolo)

Jack Parsell

Pete King (Selway)

John (Cap) Rice

Pete King (Selway - in charge of supplies)

1924 - Rangers

W.E. Buckingham

Musselshell

Lester Vanairsdale

Oxford

Lawton Miller

Canyon

Robert Johanson

Chamberlain Meadows

John P. Gaffney

Fish Lake - moved to Kelly Creek

Edward T. Nero

Cook Mountain

William Bell

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Ed McKay

Lolo (Lolo)

Ralph L. Hand

Boulder Creek (Selway)

Jack Parsell

Pete King (Selway)

John (Cap) Rice

Pete King (Selway)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

1925 - Rangers

William E. Buckingham

Musselshell

Lester Vanairsdale

Oxford

Edward T. Nero

Canyon

Robert Johanson

Chamberlain Meadows

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

O.A. Knapp

Cook Mountain

Ralph L. Hand

Lochsa (Selway - moved from Boulder)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Jack Parsell

Pete King (Selway)

John (Cap) Rice

Pete King (Selway)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

1926 and 1927

James Kauffman

Musselshell

Lester Vanairsdale

Oxford

O.A. Knapp

Canyon

Robert Johanson

Chamberlain Meadows

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

Lloyd Kerr

Cook Mountain

Ralph L. Hand

Lochsa (Selway)

John (Cap) Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway - at No. 1)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

1928 - Rangers

James Kauffman

Musselshell

W.L. (Roy) Clover

Oxford

O.A. Knapp

Canyon

Robert Johanson

Chamberlain Meadows

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

Lloyd Kerr

Cook Mountain - Headquarters,

Ralph L. Hand

Lochsa (Selway)

John (Cap) Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway)

William Bell

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

1929 - Rangers

James Kauffman

Chamberlain Meadows

W.L. Clover

Oxford

O.A. Knapp

Canyon

Robert Johanson

Musselshell

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

James N. Diehl

Weitas

William Bell

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Ralph L. Hand

Lochsa (Selway)

John Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

A photo taken in Orofino in 1927 at a joint meeting of personnel from the Selway National

Forest. Back row (left to right): Ray Ferguson, A.N. Cockrell, James Kauffman, Roy Clover.

Front row: Leroy Lewis, Miles Marsh, Charles McGregor, Jack Parsell, Bob Sneider,

Clayton Crocker, Ralph Hand, Frank Jefferson (Supervisor of the Selway), Paul Wohlen

(Supervisor of the Clearwater), Loretta Hagan, Paul Gerard, Robert Johanson, John Gaffney,

Floyd Cassett, Francis Carol, J.C. Urquhart. Dr. Brittan is standing in the doorway of the

building which still stands at the corner of Michigan and Johnson. (click on image for a PDF

version)

1930 - Rangers

Robert Johanson

Musselshell

W.L. Clover

Oxford

O.A. Knapp

Canyon

James A. Kauffman

Chamberlain Meadows

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

James N. Diehl

Weitas

Fred Shaner

Lochsa (Selway)

John Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway)

L.D. Robinson

Elk Summit (Lolo)

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

1931 - Rangers

O.A. Knapp

Musselshell

W.L. Clover

Oxford

R.L. Space

Canyon

J.O. Thompson

Chamberlain Meadows

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

J.N. Diehl

Weitas

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo - Elk Summit added to Powell)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

Fred Shaner

Lochsa (Selway)

John Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway)

1932 - Rangers

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

W.L. Clover

Bungalow

O.A. Knapp

Canyon

Hugh Redding

Musselshell

James Kauffman

Weitas

Ray E. Tennant

Chamberlain Meadows

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

Leroy Lewis

Lochsa (Selway)

John Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway)

1933 - Rangers

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

Hugh Redding

Musselshell

O.A. Knapp

Canyon

Roy Clover

Bungalow

Ray E. Tennant

Chamberlain Meadows

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

Leroy Lewis

Lochsa (Selway)

John Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway)

1934 - Rangers

John P. Gaffney

Kelly Creek

W.L. Clover

Bungalow

O.A. Knapp

Canyon

Edwin J. (Jack) Yost

Musselshell

Chamberlain Meadows district discontinued.

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

Leroy W. Lewis

Lochsa (Selway)

John Rice

Pete King (Selway)

Ray Ferguson

Middlefork (Selway)

Selway Forest discontinued in fall of 1934.

1935 - Rangers

Virgil A. Eastman

Canyon

W.L. Clover

Bungalow

E.J. Jost

Musselshell

O.A. Knapp

Kelly Creek

Leroy Lewis

Lochsa

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

John Rice

Pete King (Nezperce)

Charles McGregor

Middlefork (Nezperce)

1936 - Rangers

Virgil A. Eastman

Canyon

Leroy Lewis

Lochsa

E.J. Jost

Musselshell

O.A. Knapp

Kelly Creek

John P. Gaffney

Bungalow

William Daughs

Palouse (St. Joe)

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

John Rice

Pete King (Nezperce)

Charles McGregor

Middlefork (Nezperce)

1937 - Rangers

E.J. Jost

Musselshell

John P. Gaffney

Bungalow

Leroy W. Lewis

Canyon

Frank Meneely

Kelly Creek

Millard Evenson

Lochsa

Edd Helmers

Palouse (St. Joe)

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

John Rice

Pete King (Nezperce)

Charles McGregor

Middlefork (Nezperce)

1938 - Rangers

E.J. Jost

Musselshell

Millard Evenson

Bungalow

Leroy Lewis

Canyon

Hans Roeffler

Lochsa

Earl McConnell

Kelly Creek

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

John Rice

Pete King (Nezperce)

Charles McGregor

Middlefork (Nezperce)

1939 - Rangers

E.J. Jost

Musselshell

Millard Evenson

Bungalow

Earl McConnell

Kelly Creek

Leroy Lewis

Canyon

Hans Roeffler

Lochsa

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

Edd Helmers

Palouse (St. Joe)

Pete King and Middlefork discontinued.

1940 - Rangers

E.J. Jost

Musselshell

Millard Evenson

Bungalow

Leroy Lewis

Canyon

Hans Roeffler

Lochsa

Ed McKay

Powell (Lolo)

Edd Helmers

Palouse (St. Joe)

1941 - Rangers

John McDonnel

Pierce (Musselshell headquarters moved)

Millard Evenson

Bungalow

Earl McConnell

Kelly Creek

Leroy Lewis

Canyon

Hans Roeffler

Lochsa

Ray S. Ferguson

Powell (Lolo)

Edd Helmers

Palouse (St. Joe)

1942 - Rangers

John McDonnel

Pierce

Millard Evenson

Bungalow

Earl McConnell

Kelly Creek

Leroy Lewis

Canyon

Herb Flodberg

Lochsa

Ray S. Ferguson

Powell (Lolo)

Edd Helmers

Palouse (St. Joe)

1943 - Rangers

Herb Flodberg

Kelly Creek

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John McDonnel

Pierce

Leroy Lewis

Canyon

J. Frank Meneely

Bungalow

Henry Viche

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe - headquarters moved to Moscow)

1944 - Rangers

Herb Flodberg

Kelly Creek

J. Frank Meneely

Bungalow

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John McDonnel

Pierce

Leroy Lewis

Canyon

Henry Viche

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1945 - Rangers

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

Herb Flodberg

Pierce

Rance Oglesby

Canyon (Acting Ranger)

Frank Meneely

Bungalow

Ferman Wolf

Kelly Creek (Acting Ranger)

Henry Viche

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1946-47 - Rangers

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

Frank Meneely

Bungalow

Bernie Glaus

Kelly Creek

Herb Flodberg

Pierce

A.O. Nousianen

Canyon

Henry Viche

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1948 - Rangers

Herb Flodberg

Pierce

Vern L. Erickson

Bungalow

Bernie Glaus

Kelly Creek

Arnie Nousianen

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

Harris A. Streed

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1949 - Rangers

Herb Flodberg

Pierce

Vern L. Erickson

Bungalow

Bernie Glaus

Kelly Creek

A.O. Nousianen

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

William R. (Bud) Moore

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1950 - Rangers

Herb Flodberg

Pierce

Vern L. Erickson

Bungalow

A.O. Nousianen

Kelly Creek

O.J. Esterol

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

William R. (Bud) Moore

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1951 - Rangers

Byron C. Amsbaugh

Pierce

Vern L. Erickson

Bungalow

A.O. Nousianen

Kelly Creek

William Enke

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

William R. (Bud) Moore

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1952 - Rangers

Byron C. Amsbaugh

Pierce

Chalmer Gustafson

Bungalow

William Hatch

Kelly Creek

William Enke

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

William R. (Bud) Moore

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1953 - Rangers

Byron C. Amsbaugh

Pierce

Chalmer Gustafson

Bungalow

William Enke

Canyon

William Hatch

Kelly Creek

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

William R. (Bud) Moore

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1954 - Rangers

Byron C. Amsbaugh

Pierce

Delbert Cox

Bungalow

William Hatch

Kelly Creek

Homer Stratton

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

William R. (Bud) Moore

Powell (Lolo)

Charles Powell

Palouse (St. Joe)

1955 - Rangers

Byron C. Amsbaugh

Pierce

Delbert Cox

Bungalow

Homer Stratton

Canyon

William Hatch

Kelly Creek

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John V. Puckett

Powell (Lolo)

Robert Morgan

Palouse (St. Joe)

1956 - Rangers

Jack Alley

Pierce

Robert Gorsuch

Bungalow

Homer Stratton

Kelly Creek

Floyd Cowles

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa (Headquarters moved to Kooskia)

Jack Puckett

Powell (Lolo)

Robert Morgan

Palouse (St. Joe)

1957 - Rangers

Jack Alley

Pierce

Robert Gorsuch

Bungalow

Floyd Cowles

Kelly Creek

Theodore Hay

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John Puckett

Powell (Lolo)

Dale Arnold

Palouse (St. Joe)

1958 - Rangers

Theodore Hay

Pierce

Robert Gorsuch

Bungalow

Donald V. Williams

Kelly Creek

Delmar Radtke

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John Puckett

Powell (Lolo)

Dale Arnold

Palouse (St. Joe)

1959-1960 - Rangers

Theodore Hay

Pierce

Robert Gorsuch

Bungalow

Donald V. Williams

Kelly Creek

Delmar Radtke

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John Puckett

Powell (Lolo)

Thomas L. Finch

Palouse (St. Joe)

1961 - Rangers

Theodore Hay

Pierce

Kenneth Larson

Kelly Creek

Delmar Radtke

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John Puckett

Powell (Transferred to Clearwater)

E Del Mar Jaquish

Palouse (St. Joe)

1962 - Rangers

Theodore Hay

Pierce (headquarters moved to Kamiah)

Robert Gorsuch

Bungalow

Kenneth Larson

Kelly Creek

Delmar Radtke

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

John Puckett

Powell

E Del Mar Jaquish

Palouse (St. Joe)

1963 - Rangers

Theodore Hay

Pierce

Thomas Schenartz

Bungalow

Walter Edinger

Canyon

Kenneth Larson

Kelly Creek

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

E Del Mar Jaquish

Palouse (St. Joe)

1964 - Rangers

Theodore Hay

Pierce

Thomas N. Schenarts

Bungalow

John A. Leasure

Kelly Creek

Walter Edinger

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

Frank A. Fowler

Powell

E Del Mar Jaquish

Palouse (St. Joe)

1965 - Rangers

Theodore Hay

Pierce

Thomas N. Schenartz

Bungalow

John A. Leasure

Kelly Creek

James Jordan

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

Frank Fowler

Powell

Charles P. Kern

Palouse (St. Joe)

1966 - Rangers

Walter Edinger

Pierce

Thomas N. Schenartz

Bungalow

John A. Leasure

Kelly Creek

James R. Jordan

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

Frank A. Fowler

Powell

Charles P. Kern

Palouse (St. Joe)

1967 - Rangers

Walter Edinger

Pierce

Thomas N. Schnartz

Bungalow

John A. Leasure

Kelly Creek

James R. Jordan

Canyon

Louis Hartig

Lochsa

Frank Fowler

Powell

Charles P. Kern

Palouse (St. Joe)

1968 - Rangers

Walter Edinger

Pierce

Floyd G. Hulse

Bungalow

Don Ziwisky

Kelly Creek

James R. Jordan

Canyon

John Leasure

Lochsa

John Johnson

Palouse (St. Joe)

1969 - Rangers

Walter Edinger

Pierce

Floyd Hulse

Bungalow

Don Ziwisky

Kelly Creek

Henry Schlueter

Canyon

John Leasure

Lochsa

Frank A. Fowler

Powell

John Johnson

Palouse (St. Joe)

1970 - Rangers

Walter Edinger

Pierce

Floyd G. Hulse

Bungalow

Don Ziwisky

Kelly Creek

Henry Schleuter

Canyon

Joseph F. Higgins

Lochsa

James Jordan

Powell

John Johnson

Palouse (St. Joe)

1971 - Rangers

Thomas Blunn

Pierce

Don Ziwisky

Kelly Creek

Henry Schleuter

Canyon

Joseph L. Higgins

Lochsa

James Jordan

Powell (St. Joe)

John Johnson

Palouse (St. Joe)

Bungalow District discontinued.

1972 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Earl Reinsel

Kelly Creek

James Dewey

Canyon

Joseph L. Higgins

Lochsa

James Jordan

Powell

John Galea

Palouse (St. Joe)

1973 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Edward L. Shultz

Kelly Creek

James Dewey

Canyon

Joseph L. Higgins

Lochsa

Lawrence Cron

Powell

John Galea

Palouse (St. Joe)

1974 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Edward L. Shultz

Kelly Creek

James Dewey

Canyon

Joseph F. Higgins

Lochsa

Lawrence Cron

Powell

John Galea

Palouse (District added to Clearwater)

1975 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Edward L. Shultz

Kelly Creek

Charles W. Mosier

Canyon

Jon A. Bledsoe

Lochsa

Lawrence Cron

Powell

John Galea

Palouse

1976 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Richard J. Call

Kelly Creek

Charley W. Mosier

Canyon

Jon Bledsoe

Lochsa

Lawrence Cron

Powell

David Colclough

Palouse

1977 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Richard J. Call

Kelly Creek

Charles W. Mosier

Canyon

Jon A. Bledsoe

Lochsa

Dale Bosworth

Powell

David Colclough

Palouse

1978 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Eugene Norby

Kelly Creek

Charles W. Mosier

Canyon

Jon A Bledsoe

Lochsa

Dale Bosworth

Powell

David Colclough

Palouse

1979 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Eugene Norby

Kelly Creek

Charles W. Mosier

Canyon

Jon A. Bledsoe

Lochsa

Dale Bosworth

Powell

David Colclough

Palouse

1980 - Rangers

Thomas G. Blunn

Pierce

Eugene Norby

Kelly Creek

Charles W. Mosier

Canyon

Jon A. Bledsoe

Lochsa

Richard Farrar

Powell

David Colclough

Palouse

Appendix B

Geographic Names

Almost every geographic feature on the Clearwater Forest has a name.

The origin of many of these names in unknown. There are also many

names that were arbitrarily given to a feature without a historical

reason.

The first people to name geographic features were, of course, the Indians. Generally the white

men chose their own names and disregarded those of the Indians. Few Indian names, or even

their translations, exist today. When they do, they are usually misspelled or mispronounced.

Lewis and Clark named a number of rivers and creeks, but their names are not used today except

for Hungery Creek which was renamed in 1959. Next came the miners following the discovery

of gold at Pierce in 1860. They spread out across the country and most of the major streams and

many of the mountains have names given them by the prospectors. Settlers named a great many

of the features especially on the edge of the forest and almost all of the features on the Palouse

District.

Finally the Forest Service took over and members of that organization are responsible for a great

majority of the names. Survey crews, Rangers, cruisers and others all had a hand in the naming

process. They are continuing to add names.

Names originate in a number of ways. Some come from things that can be seen on the ground

such as bald, flat, cliff, greenside, castle, barren, avalanche, etc. Names of trees, shrubs or other

plants growing in the area are used such as pine, cedar, willow, alder, tamarack, syringa, spruce,

hemlock, etc. Many features are named for people both in and out of the Forest Service.

Frequently some feature is named and then others in the same locality have a variation of it, such

as Liz Point, Liz Creek, and Liz Cabin. When more than one feature has the same name I will

give the origin of the first one named.

Animal names are common. Almost every animal that's found on Clearwater has its name on the

map at least once. I will omit these names as they are obvious.

There are a large number of names placed on the map without any reason except to give it a

name. I ran a survey crew in the Lochsa country in 1924. Charles Fox was the draftsman and

when we put a creek on the map that wasn't named he thought one up. He had no idea that these

names would become permanent but many of them were adopted. Then there was Ranger O.A.

Knapp who supplied many names. There was to be a new map printed in 1931. It was urged that

unnamed features be named. O.A. Knapp was placed at the head of the project and he really went

to work. He put a lot of names on the map. Few of them had any historical background. Any

name he could think of was used. Girl names were his favorites. Some say he used the names of

the sporting gals of Pierce, but with all the girl names he used and the number of girls in Pierce

at that time there was bound to be some duplication.

In listing geographic names I have omitted names of animals, trees, shrubs, those of no historical

background and those named for obvious reasons. There are quite a large number for which the

origin is unknown.

Here are the names with a historical background that I could trace:

Andy's Lake - Named for "Andy" Hjort.

Apgar Creek - Named for Bill Apgar by Adolph Weholt. Bill was a fire man on the Lochsa

District and was helping Weholt map the bar at the mouth of the creek.

Aquarius - Named by an army officer in the CCC days when a campground was being built here.

Armstrong Gulch - Named for John Armstrong who mined it in the placer mining days.

Army Mule Saddle - An expedition headed by Ranger William Bell was enroute to Bear

Mountain to attack the flank of the Bald Mountain Fire in 1929. A string of army mules was in

the outfit. The string rolled at this saddle and one mule was killed.

Ashpile Peak - Named by Charles Fox while on a timber survey in 1924. Named this because

from the west the top of the peak looks like a pile of ash.

Austin - Named for John Austin, a trapper and Forest Service employee for many years.

Bald Mountain - The Indians also used this name. It appears on early maps. Because of its grass

it was a favorite place to camp.

Barnard Creek - Named by Lunde for one of his map makers.

Bear Creek - A branch of Kelly Creek was in a burn when the first miners came to the Moose

City country. The hunters would go there in the early spring to hunt bear, according to Ernest

Hansen. The branches of Bear Creek having names of Kodiak, Cub, and Polar are arbitrary

names given to these streams by Ranger Gaffney.

Bear Mountain - The one which overlooks the Lochsa River was called Bear Grass Mountain.

The name was changed to avoid conflict with another Bear Grass Mountain at the head of O'Hara

Creek.

Big Sand Lake - This lake was originally White Sand Lake. A lake near Grave Peak was called

Big Sand Lake. Somehow the names became confused.

Bimerick Creek - Named for George Bimerick, a ranger and trapper who had a cabin at Bimerick

Meadows.

Black Mountain - This mountain is forested with mountain hemlock, giving it a darker green

color than the surrounding mountains.

Boundary Peak - This peak was on the boundary between the Lochsa and Pierce Ranger Districts

when named.

Bowl Mountain - A glacial cirque hollows the top of this mountain into a bowl.

Bradford - Named for a prospector who had a cabin on Lolo Creek.

Brady Creek - Mr. Brady homesteaded Crane Meadows. The name is sometimes erroneously

spelled Brody.

Broken Nose Creek - When installing a culvert here there was an accident in which Ranger

Bernie Glaus received a broken nose.

Browns Creek - Named for Jim Brown, an early-day prospector.

Buck Ridge - Named for Buck Davis, a sheep permittee.

Buckner Creek - An engineer for the Forest Service on the timber survey of the Musselshell

country in 1913-14.

Buckingham Peak - Named for Ranger Bill Buckingham.

Bungalow - In 1906 Nat Brown, when employed by the Weyerhaeuser interests, built a

bungalow-type cabin here. The site became known as the bungalow. The cabin burned August

19, 1919. There was a Ranger Station and supply base here for many years.

Burn Creek - A large part of the Weitas drainage was green before the 1910 and 1919 fires.

However, this drainage had been burned about 1896.

Cabin Creek - A branch of the Weitas. Deadshot Smith had a cabin at the head of this creek

called the Hunch Cabin. Hunch was the name of a mining prospector. Cabin Creek on the Powell

was given this name by the early mappers because there was a cabin near its mouth.

Cache Creek - Named for Frank Cash, a helper on Adamson's survey crew which located the

road to the Bungalow in 1919. It was called Cash Creek for a number of years before Ranger

Diehl put the name on the map in 1929. Not knowing the origin of the name, he spelled it

"Cache" Creek.

California Lake - Two men from California working for Ranger Parry named this lake for their

home state.

Camp Creek - This name comes from Camp Marten at its head.

Camp George - George Engelhorn had a trapper's cabin near the head of this creek.

Camp Martin - Bill Martin, who did some trapping, had a cabin here and a homestead at

Musselshell Meadows.

Cantaloupe Creek - This is one of the names Charles Fox put on the map. He did it in fun

believing it would never be adopted.

Castle Butte - First called Castle Rocks. Before the top was flattened for a building, the rocks

were said to resemble a castle.

Castle Rock - On the east side of the North Fork of the Clearwater River, and about one half mile

downstream from Pack Creek, is a bluff which was first known as Eagle Rock because of a

supposed eagle's nest on top of it. Walter Sewell told me that it was actually an osprey nest. In

the 1919 fire which burned the Bungalow the nest was burned and was never rebuilt. Later this

rock became known as Castle Rock. Many people assume that this name came from the shape of

the rock. Actually it was named for Ralph Castle, a trail foreman who carved his name and the

date in the rock when a trail was blasted through it. This rock went straight down into the water

so the trail was carved into its face.

During the CCC days when there was a CCC camp across the river from the mouth of Orogrande

Creek, a narrow road was started down the river. When it neared Castle Rock work was halted

because of the hard work and expense involved in drilling and shooting a road through this hard,

quartzite rock. The road ended there until I came to the forest in 1954.

In 1955 it was decided to build a road downriver from the Bungalow at the mouth of Orogrande

Creek. The engineers soon ran into the problem of what to do about Castle Rock. There were two

choices; either blast a road through the face of the rock or go around it by filling out into the

river. Both were expensive, but it was slightly costlier to fill into the river. There were also

objections to putting a fill in the river. The engineers asked me for a decision. Bernie Glaus,

Forest Engineer, Norman Allison, Road Locator, and I went to the rock. I studied the engineers

plans and the rock formation. I found that at the back of this huge mass of rock there is a fault or

line of cleavage. It was possible that blasting a road through its face might cause it to break off

and fall into the river. I therefore, decided that the rock should not be disturbed. It is there today

and if you will look closely at the edge of the road a part of Ralph Castle's name can be seen.

Cave Creek - There is a rock cavern on this creek.

Cayuse Creek - When Crane and Altmiller left the Blacklead country in the spring of 1887 to

work their way to Pierce, they dropped down into what is now known as Cayuse Creek. There

they found a pony or cayuse that had spent the winter there. They called the stream Cayuse.

Chamberlain Meadows - Named for a trapper, prospector, and miner.

Chamook Creek - Chamook is Nez Perce for black.

Chauteau - Jimmy Clarke named this point. From Clarke Mountain the top of this rocky point

reminded him of a chateau.

Chimney Butte - This point is topped with some loose slabs of flat rock. Years ago several rock

cairns were built here. One looks like a chimney. Why they were built is unknown but I surmise

they were trail markers to assist in crossing Sherman Saddle from the west.

China Creek - Named for the Chinese miners.

Clarke Mountain - Named by Ranger Clover for Jimmy Clarke, fireman and lookout on this

point for several years. It was first called East Elk.

Clayton Creek - Named for Clayton Shoecraft, one of the men who died of scurvy at Cayuse

Landing Field.

Cole Creek - Named for Frank (Daddy) Cole who had mining claims on Gold and Musselshell

Creeks.

Colgate Warm Springs - Was originally called Jerry Johnson Hot Spring. It was renamed after

George Colegate was buried here (see chapter on Carlin Party).

Collins Creek - Named for John (Jack) Collins a well-known woodsman who was packer and

guide for Lunde's mapping crew.

Colt Creek - There is some disagreement on the origin of this name but I accept Koch's version.

He says the creek was named for Mr. Cott who was head of a cruising party of the Northern

Pacific Railroad Company when it was examining lands in this area for acquisition. The mappers

erroneously changed the name to Colt.

Comet Creek - The Clearwater Forest once had a saddle horse called Comet that was particularly

good at getting through country where there were no trails. Paul Gerrard rode Comet from

Moose Mountain to the river down this creek. It was a remarkable feat, and the stream was

named Comet.

Cook Mountain - In 1907 a G.L.O. survey party was surveying in this locality. Their cook

became ill and died. He was buried in the mountains. For many years it was thought that he was

buried on Cook Mountain, hence the name. Actually he was buried on Junction Mountain.

Coolwater - This is an Indian name and was originally Cold Water.

Cooperation Mountain - To cooperate with the Clearwater Forest the Lolo Forest built a lookout

on this point for detection of fires in the Warm Springs Area.

Crater Meadows - These meadows are in a basin formed by glacial action. Many people with

little or no training in geology assumed that the glacial cirques were craters caused by volcanic

action.

Crystal Creek - Named for the crystals found at the headwaters of this stream.

Dan Lee - A prospector and homesteader at a meadow on this creek.

Davis Creek - Named for Buck Davis, a sheepman who ran sheep in the Cook Mountain area.

Deadhorse Mountain - John Swanson's horse died near this point.

Deadman Creek - A dead man was found in a cabin at the forks of this creek in 1908. No one

knew who he was.

Dead Mule - A hunter shot a buckskinned mule out of a packstring going up the trail near this

creek.

Death Creek - It was at the head of this creek that Jack Sprague found a man who had died of

exposure in 1908. He could not be identified and was buried near where he was found.

Deception Creek - Starts out running south as if to flow into Independence Creek then ten makes

a U turn and runs into the North Fork.

Dee Dee Creek - Named for D.D. Oud. The Ouds had a summer home on state land near its

mouth.

Dennison Creek - Named for Walter Dennison of Pierce. It was formerly called Hay Creek.

Devils Chair - There is a large column of rock along the Lolo Trail. One part is separate from the

main column and a little lower. It is not difficult to jump down to this rock, but to get back up

isn't so easy. The top of the lower column is shaped like a huge easy chair, hence the name.

Dog Creek - The dog salmon once spawned in this creek in great numbers.

Dollar Creek - Named by the early miners for an unknown reason. The names Sixbit, Fourbit,

and Twobit are takeoffs of this original name applied to them by the cruising party of 1913.

Dolph Creek - Named for Adolph Weholt an early-day Ranger.

Doubt Creek - The Lewis and Clark Party was in great difficulty when it arrived at this place.

Some people seem to think they were lost even though they were following an old Indian trail.

The creek gets its name from the doubts about their status.

Elbow Creek - Named for a sharp switchback in the old road.

Eldorado Creek - Lewis and Clark called this stream Fish Creek for the large fish they saw there

and which they tried to catch with little success. Eldorado is a place of great riches in mining

lore. The miners gave it the name, but it produced little gold.

Felix Creek - Named for Felix Ranta, a smokechaser, by Ranger Knapp.

Fenn - A number of features are named for Major Frank Fenn, pioneer, soldier and Forest

Supervisor.

Fire Creek - One of 1910's very bad fires started in Fire Creek.

Fisher Creek - Named for Charles Fisher, the first Supervisor at Orofino, Idaho.

Five Islands - This was named by members of the railroad survey crew. There were five islands

in the Lochsa River here before the highway was built.

Fix Creek - Named for Joe Fix, a trapper and Forest Service employee.

Freezeout Creek - Named by Ranger Hand. He and Madison in 1929 were camped in the deep

saddle between Bear and McConnell Mountains in the late fall. George Case was doing the

packing. Their stock ran away to the Lochsa Station and George went after them. A snow storm

set in and Hand and Madison finally froze out. They hung their camp in a tree and walked out.

They encountered six feet of snow on Lathe Creek Saddle.

Friday Pass - There is some disagreement as to how this name originated. I will take Elers

Koch's statement that it was named for R.C.W. Friday an early day employee in that area and

later a Ranger on the Clearwater.

Florence Lake - Named for Mrs. Frank Fenn.

Fourth of July Creek - It was considered unsafe to ford the North Fork at the old crossing at the

mouth of this creek before the Fourth of July.

Fox Butte - The Cook Mountain District had a bell horse called Fox. This horse was very clever

at hiding out in places where he was hard to find. He would also stand perfectly still so that his

bell would not ring. Fox Butte was one of his hideouts.

French Creek - In 1861 a group of Frenchmen had claims in the head of French Creek.

Gass Creek - Named by Ranger Hartig for Sargeant Gass of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

George Creek - Named for George Gorman, one of the men who died of scurvy at Cayuse

Landing.

Ginger Creek - While on a land use planning trip in 1924 Ralph Hand and Fred McKibbin found

considerable wild ginger near their camp at the mouth of this creek.

Glover Creek and Saddle - Henry C. Glover built a cabin a short distance east of the bottom of

the saddle in about 1900.

Gold Meadows - Indians camped here had some gold. It was commonly believed this was

connected with Isaac's mine.

Gorman Creek - George Gorman was one of the men who died of scurvy at Cayuse Landing

Field.

Gospel Mountain - When the Ranger Station was located at Chamberlain Meadows the supply

base was at Superior, Montana. One man at the station was quite religious and the excesses the

men indulged in when in town bothered him so much that he put up a sign along side of the trail

that read "Prepare to meet thy God". Hence the name Gospel.

Governor Rapids - Governor Brady went with one of Nat Brown's parties from the Bungalow to

Ahsahka by raft. He was washed off the raft at the rapids, but was quickly rescued.

Greer Creek - Named for miner Henry Greer.

Grave Peak - This peak was named for the grave of Isaac Hill who was buried by Jerry Johnson.

The grave is between Tom Beall Park and Grave Peak.

Gravey Creek - Originally the name was Grave Creek for the Indian grave along the Lolo Trail.

Since there is an Indian Grave Creek and this creek does not arise near the grave, Lunde's

mappers changed the name by adding a Y.

Hanson Creek and Ridge - Named for the Hansen Brothers who prospected and trapped around

Kelly Creek from about 1902 to 1914. (Note the correct way to spell Hansen.).

High Creek- Has the appearance of running down a ridge at its mouth.

Hjort Lake - Named for Deputy State Game Warden "Andy" Hjort. He planted the first fish in

many of the back country lakes starting about 1920.

Hoodoo Lake - First called Summit Lake. The name was changed by Albert Hammond, a guide

and hunter who lived at Darby. He was a very successful and popular guide into the Clearwater

country in the 1890's. In his first trips to Elk Summit he had good success. His luck finally failed

him and after taking several parties to the lake without success he became disgusted and called it

Hoodoo Lake.

Hornby Creek - Named for Lloyd Hornby, Forest Supervisor.

Horseshoe Lake - Named because its shaped like a horseshoe. The mountain and Lake were

named by Ranger Cochrell.

Hungery Creek - Named by Captain Clark. The name became Obia Creek, but was changed back

to Hungery at my request in 1959. Clark was a notoriously poor speller.

Idaho Point - So named because its top has the shape of the map of Idaho.

Independence Creek - Gold was first discovered along this creek Independence Day, 1861 or

1862.

Indian Grave Peak - A Parsons family of Kamiah was camped here in about 1892. The whole

family became ill and a son Albert, died. He is buried near the Lolo Trail.

Indian Post Office - There are two cairns a few yards south of the Lolo Trail about one half mile

northeast of where the road branches off to go to the old Indian Post Office Lookout. These

cairns are called the Indian Post Office. They received their name from the supposition that the

Indians transmitted messages to each other by piling these stones in various arrangements. Just

when this name was first applied or how the story originated is unknown. However, it is quite an

old name. The mountain is named Indian Post Office on a map of the Bitter Root Reserve, dated

1898.

Why were these stones placed at this location? Let us examine the reason given on the signboard

erected by the Forest Service. This sign states that these mounds, established by the Indians

before Lewis and Clark, mark the route to hunting grounds. The mounds may be that old but

Lewis and Clark do not mention them in their journals. They do mention a rock mound, but it

was near Indian Grave.

Lewis and Clark turned off the main divide, down into Moon Creek, either at or close to these

mounds. Just west of them there are two lakes, in the head of Indian Post Office Creek. One of

the lakes is plainly visible from the ridge where the road now runs. Lewis and Clark do not

mention this lake.

Had they seen it, these men who described the country in great detail would, in all probability

have entered it in their log. The Indian trail to the hunting grounds was about two miles further

east, unless the sign is alluding to the Lolo Trail itself. This Indian trail left the Lolo Trail near

where the present road turns off the Jerry Johnson Lookout and descended the same ridge. It

came to the Lochsa River near the old Jerry Johnson cabin. When I first traveled this trail (1924),

it was commonly referred to as the Corkscrew Trail because of its crookedness. This is the same

trail the Carlin party took to the Lochsa in 1893.

That the Indians used stones to convey messages of more than the simplest kind is doubtful. Nez

Perce Indians state that they had no such form of communication. They do say that, in addition to

giving directional signs and numbers in the party, they would place a flower in bloom under a

rock. This would give those following a rough idea of when they passed since they would have a

knowledge of the time the flower blossomed.

Charles Adams, grandson of Twistedhair, once told Walter Sewell that the Indians built the

mounds to mark the place where the Lolo Trail turned off the divide. He also stated that the

Indians had no means of conveying messages by stones other than pure direction. O.R. Wheeler

in 1902 also stated that these mounds were trail markers. He obtained his information from

James Stuart, an Indian at Kooskia. Since Adams' story ties in with the travels of Lewis and

Clark and is further confirmed by Wheeler, it appears the most logical explanation is that these

mounds were trail markers. Someone exercised a lively imagination in naming them "Indian Post

Office". Just who is not known, but since Major Truax and party named other features along this

trail, it may be that they also named this one.

Isabella Creek - During the early days of mining at Pierce a man staked some mining claims,

called the Isabella Group on this creek. He tried without success to sell shares in his claims.

Jazz Creek - Named for the way this creek flows into the Orogrande in the spring runoff.

Jeanne and Joan Creeks - Named for Ranger Glaus' daughters.

Jerry Johnson - Was a prospector who looked for Isaac's mine. He built a cabin on the Lochsa in

1893.

Johnny Creek - Named for Ranger John Durant.

Johnagan Creek - Johnagan was either a packer or a foreman for the Forest Service.

Jug Creek - Smith and Larkin had a trappers shelter at the mouth of this creek. There were some

jugs at the cabin from which the creek got its name.

Kelly Creek - Named for a prospector in the area about the time Moose City was in its glory.

Kelly's Thumb - A shaft of rock extending high into the air. It was named for the prospector

Kelly.

Kerr Creek - Named for the Kerr Cedar Co. which cut poles here.

Kid Lake - The Hansen Brothers prospected in the Blacklead and Kelly Creek areas. There were

five brothers the youngest of which they called kid. They named the lake for him.

Kinnikinnick Creek - Named in 1923 for Charles Kinnick who was a carpenter and lookout at

Bear Mountain. Charley was highly respected by everyone and it was generally desired that a

feature be named in his honor. The policy however, was not to name features for living people,

consequently the name was modified to Kinnikinnick.

Kooskooskia Meadows - This name was placed on the meadows a long time ago. Somehow the

people around Kooskia believed that the term Kooskoosthia meant clear water in NezPerce.

Lewis and Clark used the word when they attempted to spell Kluteskluteskia, meaning "little

river".

Kube Park - Franz Kube was a trapper in the Powell Country.

Larkin - A homesteader on the North Fork. His homestead is now under water.

Larson - A riverman, woodsman, and homesteader on the North Forth. His place was later a

landing field but it is now under water.

Leanto - Eugene (Deadshot) Smith built a leanto shelter on a small branch of Hemlock Creek.

The leanto burned in 1919.

Little Cabin Meadows - John Englehorn had a stop-over cabin at these meadows.

Liz Butte - Liz was a pack mule.

Lloyd Lake - Named for Lloyd Fenn, a son of Frank Fenn, and at one time a Ranger.

Lolo Creek - Called Nawah by the Nezperce Indians. It had no meaning. Lewis and Clark called

it Collins Creek for a member of their party. It takes its name indirectly from the Lolo Trail. It

was named by the early miners.

Long Creek - Named for Ranger John Long.

Lost Creek - It was near the mouth of Lost Creek that the Carlin Party abandoned their cook,

George Colegate. Actually the Carlin Party was not lost.

Lost Pete - Named for Pete Olson, a trail laborer who got lost there.

Lost Knife Meadows - Kalitee told Sister Alfreda that Bill Parry lost a jackknife here in 1910

when surrounded by the big fire. It is likely that Parry did lose a knife here and the meadows got

their name that way, but the meadows were named before 1910. In his diary of 1905, Ranger

Stuart used the name Knife Meadows. Mrs. Walde, Bill Parry's daughter, in a letter to Louis

Hartig tells about her and her parents being surrounded by fire at a little lake in the Elk Summit

locality.

Lottie Lake - Named for a daughter of Bill Parry, Mrs. Walde.

Lowell - A man by this name had a homestead and ran the post office at the junction of the

Lochsa and Selway Rivers.

Lunde Peak - Lunde was the head of a party that mapped a large part of the Clearwater Forest.

Macaroni Creek - I have heard two stories of how this creek got its name and they are the same

except for the people involved. Tim Edwards, who worked on the railroad survey, said that there

was a survey camp at the mouth of this creek. The members of this camp accused other camps

through which the supplies went of taking everything but the macaroni. Ranger Hand tells

practically the same story about the crews who built the trail through the Black Canyon.

Magary or McGerry - The latter is correct. Jack McGerry was a trapper in the Cook Mountain

country. He sold out to George Englehorn in 1906.

Maggie Creek - Named for Margaret Hill who was part Delaware, white and Nez Perce. She was

the wife of Joe Ebberly, trapper, prospector and Forest Ranger.

Marquette Creek - Named for Frank Marquette who had a mining claim and a cabin ere.

Maud and Maude Creeks and Lake - Maude was the wife of Ranger Bill Parry.

McConnell Peak - Named for Benjamin (Ben) McConnell, a ranger and prospector. The son of

Governor McConnell.

McLendon Mt. - McLendon was a trail foreman.

Milk Creek - During the spring runoff the water in this creek has a milky color.

Mill Creek - The Forest Service had a small sawmill here that sawed lumber and timbers to build

the Bungalow Ranger Station.

Mocus Point - Mocus is a word the mountain men used for an ardent desire for sex. A common

statement about a mountain man who was lonesome for female companionship was "He'd better

go to town. He's got the mocus."

Monroe Creek - Roy Monroe was a Forest Ranger.

Morgan Creek - Morgan had a timber claim in the head of this creek.

Moscow Bar - So called because some people from Moscow, Idaho formed a company and

started to placer here. They soon found it unprofitable.

Mush Saddle - A small trail crew was camped here in 1913. They ran short of food and were

eating mostly corn meal mush. Albert Cochrell, a member of the crew, put up a sign, "Mush

Camp".

Musselshell Creek - This is a translation of the Indian name for this creek.

Mystery Creek - From almost anywhere you look at this drainage you would think that it empties

into Fourbit Creek, but it makes a turn and goes into Canyon Creek.

Noe - A bulldozer operator for the Forest Service.

North Creek - Gets its name from being north of the Bungalow.

Noseeum Meadows - This place was called "many springs" by the Nez Perce. Small springs and

a swampy meadow here make a good breeding area for mosquitoes and midges (noseeums).

The Nub - The top of this mountain is a sharp rocky point called The Nub.

Obia Creek - There are two stories about this name. Mr. Kalitee told Sister Alfreda that "two

hunters, one of them a Russian, came upon some elk here. The Russian called out 'I got obia',

meaning I got two." The other story, given to me by Ed Gaffney, is that it was named for an early

prospector in the area. Since there were no elk in that locality until about 1924 and since the

name is much older, I go along with Ed Gaffney's story. The early miners named almost all the

larger streams in that locality.

Old Man - There are three stories about this name which originated with the Nez Perce Indians.

Harry Wheeler told me that it was so named because the old men, women and children were left

here because of the rough going when hunting parties went further east. Another story is that a

grizzly, known as the "old man", once frequented the area. Still another story is that there is a

rock in the locality that has the appearance of an old man. James Stuart, early day Ranger and an

Indian, called the lake Old Mans Lake. I believe it is logical to assume that he used the correct

interpretation of the Indian name. Since he used the word "mans" instead of "mens" it appears

that either the story of the grizzly bear or the rock image is correct. Most Indians give the rock

story. I have never seen this rock formation, but when I was there I had not heard about it so

never looked for it. If anyone should look for it they should look at both the lake and the

meadows as both were used as camps by the Indians.

Orofino Creek - Lewis and Clark called it Rock Dam Creek for a small rock dam built at its

mouth by the Indians. The early miners gave it the name of Oro Fino which is Spanish for "fine

gold". Much of the placer gold found at Pierce was dust.

Orogrande Creek - Named by Pierce miners. The gold was supposed to be more coarse grained

than that found on Oro Fino Creek, but actually it was no different.

Osier Mountain and Ridge - Named for a group from the Hoosier State, Indiana.

Packer Meadows - Lewis and Clark called them Quamash Meadows for the camas that grows

there. It gets its name from a man named Packer who once planned to homestead the meadows

and built a cabin there.

Parachute Hill - Clyde Harrison, who worked on the railroad survey in 1909, told me that the old

trail down the Lochsa left the river at the mouth of Cold Storage Creek and wound up over the

hills coming back to the river near the mouth of Badger Creek. The trail was so steep that

packers said you needed a parachute to get down the grades. The hill became known as

Parachute Hill. The name is misplaced.

Pass Creek - This creek gets its name for the low pass between it and Boulder Creek.

Pedro Creek - This creek was named by trail foreman George Bagley in 1922 just because he

liked the name.

Pete King Creek - Pete King was a miner and a homesteader at the mouth of this creek.

Pete Ott Creek - Pete Ott was a trail foreman.

Pileup Creek - Sheepman Ayres had a band of sheep pile up here when frightened by a bear.

About 200 sheep were killed.

Pollock Hill - Named by John Gaffney for Frank Pollock, fireman on the Kelly Creek District.

Post Office - There are some rock cairns which were trail markers on top of this mountain.

Someone years ago got the idea they were used by the Indians to send messages but the Indians

say this is not true. (see "Indian Post Office")

Pot Mountain - An old name given to the mountain by the miners. Originally "Piss Pot". There is

a glacial cirque on the northeast side which hollows the mountain into a pot.

Potlatch Creek - Lewis and Clark named this stream Colter for a member of their party, but like

most of their names it never became established. Old maps show the name of Yaaktoin which

Angus Wilson tells me is Nez Perce, but he knows of no translation. A map of 1876 gives the

name of Potlatch.

Potlatch is a Chinook word meaning gift or give. According to the miners, including my father,

the stream got its name in the following manner: Two men during the gold rush to Pierce came

afoot up the Clearwater River to what is now Potlatch Creek. It was spring and the water was

very high and they could not get across. They negotiated with an Indian to take them across in a

boat for fifty cents. In the attempted crossing the Indian lost control of the boat and it upset. All

of them made it to shore, the miners on the upriver side and the Indian on the opposite shore. The

Indian yelled across to them "Potlatch four bits", but under the circumstances the miners did not

believe they owed the Indian anything and went away in spite of his repeated demands for pay.

They told their story to other miners and the stream became known as Potlatch Creek.

Powell Ranger Station - Named for Charley Powell, a trapper, who built a trappers cabin there

about 1903.

Rawhide - Named for a rawhide camera case left by McCracken on the trail to lighten his pack

load.

Rhodes Creek and Mountain - Named for Billy Rhodes, a famous prospector and miner.

Rocky Ridge - An old name likely given by Truax and Bird when they worked on the Lolo Trail.

Rosebud Creek - First named the North Fork of Oro Fino Creek by the early miners. The

Rosebud Mine caused a change in the name in about 1895.

Ruby Creek - Named for the rubies found along the creek.

Rye Patch - An old Ranger stopover place. It was named for the tall grass there.

Sardine Creek - One of Charley Fox's names. He said the creek close by was Fish Creek and the

size of this small creek suggested sardine.

Savage Ridge - Named for Milt Savage who trapped in this area about 1910.

Seven Mile - The creek is seven miles form the Bungalow.

Shake Creek - The shake bolts for buildings at the Oxford Ranger Station were cut on this creek.

Shanghai Creek - It is commonly believed to be named for the Chinese, but was named in 1861

before there were any Chinese in Pierce.

Shattuck Mountain - Named for Dr. Shattuck, first Dean of the University of Idaho School of

Forestry, who visited the area in 1910.

Sherman Peak - Kalitee told Sister Alfreda that this peak was named for an early settler, but I

can't believe this. There were no settlers in this area. It is a very old name. Ed Gaffney told me it

was named by Major Truax when he worked on Lolo Trail improvements in 1866. Later the map

makers got badly mixed up and moved the name of Sherman Peak to another point about a mile

further east. They also moved Sherman and Noseeum Creeks east one drainage. They finally got

Sherman Peak where it belongs, but the creeks are still out of place.

Shoecraft Creek - Named for Clayton Shoecraft who died of scurvy at Cayuse Landing Field.

Skookum Creek - In the Chinook jargon skookum means "good or big". I do not know how the

name happened to be applied to this creek. It is a old name.

Skull Creek - This stream got its name from a human skull found in the river near its mouth.

Smith Creeks - There are three so named. One on the Middle Fork of Clearwater River for a man

who cut cedar there and rafted it down the river. There is a Smith Creek which is a branch of the

Weitas which was named for Eugene (Deadshot) Smith, a trapper. The Smith Creek on the North

Fork was named for Charley Smith who had a homestead at the mouth of Milk Creek. He was

also a trapper and had a cabin at the mouth of Isabella Creek.

Sneak Rapids - This rapids in the North Forth of the Clearwater is claimed to take boatmen going

down the river by surprise if they are not acquainted with the river.

Sneakfoot Meadow - Named by early Forest Service men because of the tundra type surface and

unstable sod.

Snoden Creek - Named for Snoden Snyder who drowned near this creek in the North Fork in

1919.

Snyder Creek - Some say this creek was named for Ranger Snider, but others say it was named

for Blayne Snyder who worked for the Forest Service for many years.

Sourdough Creek - Named for "Sourdough Jack" Pons, a lookout on Sheep Mountain for a

number of years.

Split Creek - Gets its name for its two entrances into the Lochsa River.

Sprague Creek - Named for Jack Sprague, a trapper, who drowned in the North Forth near the

Bungalow.

Spring Hill - Lewis and Clark camped here on their way east in the spring of 1806.

Star Point - The hour control map of this point resembled a star.

Storm Creek - The old name for this creek was Tenas. Than Wilkerson wrote that Abbot Silva

made a map of the Upper Selway Forest in 1915 and changed the name to Storm because a fierce

storm raged in that area while he was mapping there.

Surprise Creek - Ranger Hand in 1923 or 24 was going to locate a trail up this creek to Stanley

Butte. From the mouth of the creek it looked like it would be a difficult trail to build due to rock

outcroppings. Much to his surprise he found that the rock could be avoided and the trail was easy

to build.

Survival Island - It was on this island that two packers, two packstrings, two Indians and some

wild animals took refuge during the 1919 fire.

Sutter Creek - Named for a homesteader on the Middle Fork of the Clearwater.

Swan Creek - Named for a homesteader and miner on the Middle Fork of the Clearwater. He had

a mining claim on this creek.

Swanson Creek - John Swanson was a trail foreman and logger.

Swede Creek - Named for Pete Peterson who had a ranch on Browns Creek.

Switchback Hill - Gets its name from the switchbacks encountered going down the mountain to

Scurvy Saddle.

Tepee Creek - Named for T.P. Jones, a cruiser for the Clearwater Timber Co.

Three Devils Rapids - At one time there were three large boulders in the Middle Fork at this

rapids. The homesteaders called them "The Mormons", from the thought of a Mormon and his

two wives. However, because of the hazards these rocks posed to boating and log driving,

rivermen called them the Three Devils. The log drive of 1917 jammed on these rocks. To break

the jam the rivermen drilled and dynamited the boulders. The name has persisted although the

boulders are gone.

Toboggan Ridge - The Hansen brothers started from their mine in the Black country for the

lower country in the early spring. They put their packs on a toboggan and pulled it down the

ridge until they ran out of snow. They hung the toboggan in a tree. Ranger Cochrell found the

toboggan and named the ridge.

Tom Beal Park - Named for Tom Beall, a miner and prospector in the mining camps of Oro Fino

and Pierce. How his name became attached to this area near Powell is unknown, but it is likely

he camped there looking for Isaac's Mine.

The Irish Railroad Rapids - An irishman built a ladder-like device out of poles to take boats over

a point and past this rapids. It was built about 1900 and burned in the 1919 fire, but by then was

in bad condition.

Thompson Point - Named for Henry Thompson, a woodsman, cruiser, and fire control employee.

Van Camp - In 1920 there was an early spring fire on this ridge. Some of the fire guards

suppressed it, but since the trails were not yet opened they had difficulty in getting supplies.

They wound up with mostly pork and beans. Before they left one member of the crew took the

end of a box which read Van Camps Pork and Beans and nailed it to a tree. He struck out the

pork and beans. This sign stood until the fire of 1934.

Walde Mountain - Named for Ranger Walde.

Weir Creek - Named this because of an Indian fishing weir here in the early days.

Wallow Mountain - There was at one time, and there may still be, a bear and elk wallow near

where the lookout would go for water.

Weitas Meadows - This name was purified by the map makers from "Wet Ass". There are a

number of features carrying this name but it appears that the meadow was named first. The long

grass and swampy ground with a creek running through brought about the name.

Wendover Creek - Named for Bert Wendover, a trapper who had a cabin at its mouth.

White and Mike White Creeks - Named for a miner who had a placer mine on Lolo Creek at the

mouth of these streams.

White Sand Creek - What is now called Big Sand Lake was first called White Sand Lake because

of a white beach there. The creek through it was also called White Sand Creek. Later the name

was changed to Big Sand Lake. White Sand Lake is now a smaller lake nearer the Bitterroot

Divide.

Williams Peak - L.F. (Lafe) Williams was interested in some mining prospects in the Blacklead

country.

Windy Bill Camp - Bill Johnson and a small crew were camped in this saddle working on a

sheep driveway. Bill was doing the cooking. It was quite windy and Bill complained about it.

One member of the crew remarked that it would be less windy if the cook talked less. Bill then

took a box board on which he wrote "Windy Bill Camp".

Yackus Creek - Was once the South Fork of Lolo. To avoid the use of south, north, and other

directions in names, the Nez Perce word for south was used.

Yokum Creek - Harry Yokum was a trail foreman.