Early Days in the Forest Service Volume 3

By Clarence Westcott
(Division of Engineering)

I had my first taste of the Forest Service in 1929 on the Some Creek and Holbrook Creek fires on the Big Prairie District of the Flathead N.F.

I was the "chief engineer" of a pack train made up of nine half-broken saddle horses furnished by Dude Heath from the Flathead Indian Reservation. We were packing out of the old Holland Lake Station and up over the old Gordon trail (trail has since been relocated).

Hartley Calkins from the Division of Engineering was the fire boss of the crew that I took in and I was hired by Tom Wiles, the Condon District Ranger. If that wasn't an introduction to an outfit that would turn back the weak ones, I'll buy you a tall cool one.

But like a lot of us not-too-late ones, as I start to reminisce about things that happened or things that didn't but could have, I have a tendency to get off the track of what I really started out to do. What I began to say was that I claim to have installed the first radio network on lookouts in Region One in connection with air detection and suppression. This was known as the Continental Area, composed of portions of the Flathead, Lewis and Clark, Helena and Lolo Forests, covering the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area.

The party was made up of two packers, Bill Bell and Lee Cahoon, a photographer, Phil Stanley, whose job was to take panorama photos from each lookout, "Hank" LaFaver, who was in charge of R-1 communications at that time, and myself. All the staple foods, bedrolls, personal belongings, tools, and 30 M-C radio equipment were packed on the mules; the SPF type radios, batteries, fresh grub and mail were to be dropped by Johnson Flying Service airplanes.

"Big Hand" was the dude on this trip, since it was to be his first extended pack trip into the back country. He came through in good shape and some of his future exploits proved him to be a very apt student.

The following data is taken from my official diary of the trip:

Tuesday, June 19. Monture Ranger Station to North Fork cabin. 21 miles. High water today. Hank's legs got sore, porcupines and pack rats in cabin.

Wednesday, June 20. Installed radios type T, model D and SPF #10009 #13 on Fall point.

Thursday, June 21. Returned to Falls point and finished panorama photos and radio operating instructions to lookout. This station is to be control point for area.

Friday, June 22. North Fork Cabin, Basin Creek. Hank and I went fishing. First fish feed of the trip.

Saturday, June 23. Installed radio SX #7 and SPF #14 on Sentinel Lookout. Radio contact with Falls point and Missoula.

Sunday, June 24. Returned to Sentinel and finished photos. Monday, June 25. Basin Creek - Big Prairie.

Tuesday, June 26. Install SXA & SX #2 and SPF #17 on Kedd Mountain. Excellent drop by Bob Johnson today. Made radio contact with all stations.

Wednesday, June 27. Bad weather, layed over at Big Prairie.

Thursday, June 28. Bad weather, layed over at Big Prairie.

Friday, June 29. Big Prairie, Salmon Forks.

Saturday, June 30. Installed radio type SJ #10 and SPF #21 on Mud Lake Lookout, made radio contact with all stations.

Sunday, July 1. Returned to Mud Lake and finished panorama photos.

Monday, July 2. Salmon Forks, Brushey Park. Hank's legs not so sore today.

Tuesday, July 3. Installed radios type SX #8 and SPF #19 on Bungalow Lookout, went on to Pentagon Cabin. Plane dropped fresh steak today.

Wednesday, July 4. Pentagon Cabin, Shaffer Ranger Station.

Thursday, July 5. Layed over, bad weather.

Friday, July 6. Installed radios type SX #9 and SPF #109 on Red Plume Lookout, radio contact with all stations.

Saturday, July 7. Shaffer Ranger Station to Grizzly Park, long day, bad trails, lots of snow.

Sunday, July 8. Grizzly Park, West Fork Cabin.

Monday, July 9. Installed radios type SV and SPF #22 on Mt. Wright.

Tuesday, July 10. West Fork Cabin, Gates Park. Long day.

Wednesday, July 11. Gates Park, Pretty Prairie.

Thursday, July 12. Pretty Prairie, Prairie Point.

Friday, July 13. Installed radios on Prairie Reef and contacted all stations. Last of installation and all stations working, job completed.

Saturday, July 14. Layed over, Pretty Prairie, awaiting trucks to arrive Benchmark.

Sunday, July 15. Layed over Pretty Prairie.

Monday, July 16. Pretty Prairie, Benchmark, trucks arrived tonight.

Tuesday, July 17. Benchmark, Missoula, arrived.

I went to the Lincoln Ranger Station on July 23 and made the radio installation on Stonewall Lookout, which finished the net.

I made approximately the same trip the next year except I went alone with a saddle horse and two mules, starting on June 20.

Western larch and western yellow pine forest reclaiming a homestead. Kootenai National Forest, September 1930.