THE CLEARWATER STORY A History of the Clearwater National Forest By 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 This work will be a great help to the student of local history and will be a good historical reference for Forest Service land managers.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 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.