The Clearwater Story: A History of the Clearwater National Forest

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:

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:

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.

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

1908 - Rangers

1909 - Rangers

1910 - Rangers

Forest reorganized in 1911 with Clearwater Forest Headquarters at Orofino and Selway at Kooskia.

1911 - Rangers

1912 - Rangers

1913 - Rangers

1914 - Rangers

1915 - Rangers

1916 - Rangers

1917 - Rangers

1918 - Rangers

1919 - Rangers

1920 - Rangers

1921 - Rangers

1922 - Rangers

1923 - Rangers

1924 - Rangers

1925 - Rangers

1926 and 1927

1928 - Rangers

1929 - Rangers

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

1931 - Rangers

1932 - Rangers

1933 - Rangers

1934 - Rangers

1935 - Rangers

1936 - Rangers

1937 - Rangers

1938 - Rangers

1939 - Rangers

1940 - Rangers

1941 - Rangers

1942 - Rangers

1943 - Rangers

1944 - Rangers

1945 - Rangers

1946-47 - Rangers

1948 - Rangers

1949 - Rangers

1950 - Rangers

1951 - Rangers

1952 - Rangers

1953 - Rangers

1954 - Rangers

1955 - Rangers

1956 - Rangers

1957 - Rangers

1958 - Rangers

1959-1960 - Rangers

1961 - Rangers

1962 - Rangers

1963 - Rangers

1964 - Rangers

1965 - Rangers

1966 - Rangers

1967 - Rangers

1968 - Rangers

1969 - Rangers

1970 - Rangers

1971 - Rangers

Bungalow District discontinued.

1972 - Rangers

1973 - Rangers

1974 - Rangers

1975 - Rangers

1976 - Rangers

1977 - Rangers

1978 - Rangers

1979 - Rangers

1980 - Rangers