The Clearwater Story: A History of the Clearwater National Forest

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.