History of the Medicine Bow National Forest Originally Written in 1909 by J. H. Mullison, Forest Ranger and P. S. Lovejoy, Acting Forest Supervisor Compiled by Al Walsh PUBLICATION INFORMATION The original title of the 1909 History was “History of the Cheyenne National Forest” as that was the name of the forest at the time. The information used to produce this ebook was drawn entirely from the Medicine Bow National Forest Collection. Collection Num- ber 3654. American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. Compiled and formatted as an ebook by Al Walsh Edition 1.0 ISBN: 978-0-9893423-2-2 This edition was published in 2015 by Just Trails LLC, Laramie, Wyoming. Neither Al Walsh or Just Trails asserts any copyright over the original material as placed in this ebook format or the notes added by Al Walsh. This 1909 report is part of our collective history and because of its rarity and unique character, we want as many people to read and share it with as few barriers as possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction and Notes Coughlin’s Memorandum Original Index Report for Forest Atlas Physical Features Natural Resources and Industries Forest Cover Sources of Timber Supplies Agriculture Grazing Mining Leading Industries Further Development of the Forest Derivation of Name History of the Cheyenne National Forest Prehistoric Work Early Inhabitants and Explorers Game Buffalo Big Horn or Mountain Sheep Fish INTRODUCTION AND NOTES I came across this report while going through the Medicine Bow National Forest Collection at the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center. I couldn’t put it down, especially the history that was written by John H. Mullison. I was struck by the stories told and the general turn of the 1900s perspectives on the proper role of the forest, the future of the Laramie valley, Native Americans, and wildlife, among other things. I felt that more people should read this report. Republishing the information as a free ebook seemed like the best way to accomplish this. I don’t know if the original report was ever published for the general public on its own or as part of a larger compilation of several of the National Forests. My impression is that it was an internal document for the Forest Service. Everything in this book written in italics are my words, everything else is a direct quote from the original document. Except for the publication information and the table of contents preceding this introduction. My goal was to recreate the original report as perfectly as possible including spelling imperfections that were contained in the original. However, I am sure that I’ve added my own errors along the way. For that I apologize in advance and promise to correct them if they are brought to my attention. There are several copies of this report scattered throughout the Medicine Bow National Forest Collection at the American Heritage Cen- ter. I relied on two copies that I found to be the most complete. A note on the name. You’ll notice that throughout the report the forest is referred to as the Cheyenne National Forest. This is in fact what today we call the Medicine Bow National Forest, but at the time this report was written, it was called the Cheyenne National Forest. Even so, I used the Medicine Bow National Forest in my title to avoid confusion and make it easier for people to find the book and know what to expect from it. No project like this happens without a lot of help. I would like to thank my wife Rebecca for her support while I worked on this. Also, I would like to thank the staff at the University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center. It is great to have such a resource open to the public and everyone I had the opportunity to work with was very helpful, professional, and kind. Finally, I’d like to thank Debora Person, Librarian at the University of Wyoming College of Law. She helped me to figure out what to call the worked I did in putting this book together. That may sound like a trivial thing but in fact it caused me a lot of angst until I asked her for help. Please direct any questions or comments to me, Al Walsh, at [email protected]. I’d love to hear them. COUGHLIN’S MEMORANDUM NOTE: The following memorandum was written by Forest Ranger Louis E. Coughlin on March 23, 1943. It contains some brief background information on the report itself and the Forest at the time the report was written. It is attached inside the front cov- er of one of the versions of the report in the collection at the American Heritage Center. I have quoted it in it’s entirety here. The writing “History of the Cheyenne National Forest” by P. S. Lovejoy, the third supervisor and John H. Mullison, one of the origi- nal Forest Rangers inherited from the Dept of the Interior in 1902 or when the National Forests were turned over to the Department of Agriculture, covers what is now the Medicine Bow Division of the Forest. At the time the Supervisor’s office was in Saratoga. Under its jurisdiction was also the Crow Creek Division (or originally the Crow Creek Nat’l Forest) now the Pole Mountain Division. [Signed By Louis E Coughlin] Louis E Coughlin Wildlife Specialist. Mullison died in 1911 Lovejoy died in Jan, 1942 The dates of death for Mullison and Lovejoy were written by hand on Coughlin’s Memorandum. ORIGINAL INDEX This is the index from the original report. The original page numbers were not applicable to this ebook so I removed them and added hyperlinks in their place. Agriculture Derivation of Name Fish Forest Cover Forest Fires Further Development of Forest Game: Animals originally found in and near Cheyenne National Forest and causes of their disappearance Big Horn, or Mountain Sheep Buffalo Grazing History of the Cheyenne National Forest: Early Inhabitants and Explorers History of Timber Operations and Forest Fires Prehistoric Work Leading Industries Mining Natural Resources Physical Features Sources of Timber Supplies REPORT FOR FOREST ATLAS Cheyenne National Forest Wyoming January 1, 1909. PHYSICAL FEATURES Topography. The Cheyenne National Forest includes the northern extremity of the Medicine Bow Range which is a northern prong of the rather complex mountain systems of Colorado. To the north of the Forest the Medicine Bow Range is broken and meets the semi-- desert sage brush plains of central and eastern Wyoming. To the south the range extends across the state line into Colorado. The plains are largely coal bearing and here have a general altitude of 7000 feet. Toward the foothills the plains rise with very east grades to about 8000 feet which is approximately the lower limit of the timber, and consequently the location of the Forest boundary. In general, the country rises above the 8000 foot level in every direction toward Medicine Bow Peak which has an altitude of about 12,000 feet and is located in about the center of the Forest. Within the Forest the topography, for a mountain region is very simple. Grades are easy, the streams as a rule are slow, and traverse broad basins rather than valleys. Canyons and gorges are not frequent. The main range forks off a number of lateral divides which flatten out into the plains near the limits of the Forest. Hogback and bar formations are not usual. Geologically the plains are of Quaternary formation. The mountains are of course complex but have a characteristic meta- morphic structure. The country rock is largely quartzite with schist, gneiss, serpentine and andesite appearing in places, generally below the quartzite. Granite is uncommon and appears only as occasional outcrops near the plains. While the general trend of the mountains is north and south, the topographic features radiate out from Medicine Bow Peak, except to the south, where tho main divide extends across the Colorado line. The entire Forest is a series of ridges and creeks with the exception of about two townships in the southeast corner, where a plateau like formation occurs at an elevation of about 8500 feet. This in roughly bounded on tho north by the south fork of the Little Laramie River and on the west by the Douglas Creek Watershed. It extends south into Colorado where it is said to have a much greater extent than in this Forest. Drainage. The Cheyenne has an importance, in relation to its drainage area, which under the present stage of development of the region has been underestimated but can hardly be overestimated. All waters draining out, reach either the North Platte River on the west or north or the Laramie on the east, which is itself a tributary of the North Platte. It is probable that one-half the flow of the Platte at its juncture with the Sweetwater is derived from this Forest, the remainder being contributed principally from the Hayden, Routt, or old Park Range National Forests. While there is a very considerable mileage of tributaries to the North Platte rising on tho plains and not deriving their feed from the surface run-off of the mountains, these streams really carry but little water and are generally dry during the summer. It is moreover quite probable that the inclined shale strata of the coal formations of the plains, in reality, conduct a subterranean flow from the higher elevations of the mountains to such streams. It is said that in this region springs rising on the plains are usually to be found on that bank of the receiving stream which lies toward the Medicine Bow or Sierra Madre ranges.