The Clearwater Story: A History of the Clearwater National Forest

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.