History of the Fremont National Forest

PERSONNEL 1911 — 1919

Personnel Sketches

Walt L. Dutton. Walt L Dutton was born in 1889, came to Oregon in a covered wagon, and was raised on a ranch at Lakeview. He started his forestry career on the Fremont in 1911 by working during the summers while attending Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University. He worked on the Willamette and Whitman National Forests. He became forest supervisor of the Malheur in 1925 and later of the Whitman at Baker, Oregon. He was promoted to chief of the Division of Grazing in the Washington office in 1936 where he served until his retirement in 1953. He was a special advisor in Japan with the Army of Occupation, with the British Colonial Service and Forestry Consultant in Africa, and later served as a member of a United Nations team in Argentina. He was one of the founders of American Society of Range Management and had been a member of the Society of American Foresters since 1918.

[Walt Dutton recorded, some 50 years later, his experiences on the Fremont from 1911 to 1915. His accounts are disbursed throughout this chapter. Below are his concluding remarks about those years.]¹

What influenced me to take up forestry as a career? When Scott Leavitt was principal of the Lakeview High School, before he became a forest ranger, he spent a good deal of time describing the Roosevelt-Pinchot forestry movement to any of the boys who would listen. He predicted that someday all the major colleges and universities would carry courses leading to degrees in forestry. I guess he was thinking about taking the forest ranger examination then. Two of us — Lynn Cronemiller and I — took his advice and entered the School of Forestry at Oregon Agricultural College in the fall of 1909. Many years later when Scott was a congressman from Montana, I visited with him in Washington and we talked of those earlier days in Lakeview High School and on the Fremont Forest.

In the early days of national forest administration the college man was persona non grata on many forests. I know because I had opportunity to observe this antagonism in full play on several forests in Region 6. Even as late as the mid twenties the conflict between the technical and practical broke out anew in a series of pro and con articles published in the Washington bulletin under the heading "Technicians and Others." But not so on the Fremont. There the old-timers welcomed us warmly from the beginning and made us feel that we were part of the Forest Service family. I doubt that we fully appreciated this at the time. But on looking back in later years from the vantage point of more experience, we concluded that the old-timers on the Fremont — both field and office — had been men with educated hearts!

Daniel F. Brennan. Daniel F. Brennan was born December 28, 1887, in Massachusetts. He transferred from the Department of Interior General Land Office at Lakeview to the Fremont as clerk January 10, 1911. In 1918 he was detailed to the Deschutes and Ochoco forests for short periods to train new clerks and to assist them in straightening out their records. He was very active in the Liberty Loan campaigns and other war work during 1918 and 1919. On July 1, 1919, he was promoted from clerk to deputy supervisor with an increase in salary.

Daniel F. Brennan was an efficient and capable forest officer. His official duties brought him into contact with many stockmen, ranchers, farmers, timber operators of both Lake and Klamath counties, and he has warranted the esteem and confidence of all. He resigned March 9, 1920, to be assistant cashier and bookkeeper of the Bank of Lakeview. He remained a loyal friend and advisor to the Forest Service. He died December 5, 1936.

Scott McComb. Scott McComb was appointed guard on the Silver Lake District April 11 to September 20, 1911. He received a probational appointment to assistant ranger June 1, 1912, at $1100; from assistant forest ranger to forest ranger August 11, 1916, at $1100. Mr. McComb built the first lookout house on Hager Mountain. On January 5, 1917, he was promoted to forest ranger at $1200, and transferred to Paisley.

Ranger McComb died at Paisley October 25, 1917, at the age of forty-five. He was survived by his wife and three small children — a daughter Virginia, and two sons, Fremont and Denver. He was very capable and a hard worker. It was said that he had done a lifetime's work by age forty-five. Supervisor Brown reported that many times Ranger McComb had ridden horseback all night to meet a permittee at 7 a.m. the next day.

Fremont McComb was named for the Fremont National Forest at the suggestion of Walt L. Dutton and Lynn F. Cronemiller. The following is quoted from an article in the Bend Bulletin of September 27, 1956, supplied by Phil F. Brogan and Walt L Dutton:

In all the Northwest, so far as is known, there is only one forester who was named after a forest. He is genial Fremont McComb of Eugene, Willamette National Forest staff officer.

Fremont McComb was born in August, 1913, at Silver Lake at a ranger station on the edge of the Fremont National Forest. But Forester McComb was not named after Captain John C. Fremont, the explorer. He was named for the forest.

[Similarly in Walt Dutton's memoirs:]

It was in August, I believe, that Fremont McComb, third child in the McComb family, was born at Silver Lake Ranger Station. Since their two older children, Virginia and Denver, had been given geographical names, they thought it would be appropriate to follow the same procedure with the new arrival. That was when Cronemiller and I suggested, and the McCombs accepted, the name of Fremont after the Fremont National Forest.

Both Fremont and Denver McComb are forestry graduates of Oregon State University. Fremont entered the Forest Service on the Wenatchee, served on the Siuslaw and Malheur and Willamette, and then in the regional office in timber management. Denver worked for a short time on the Fremont and for several years on the Wenatchee. He then went to work for the Oregon State Board of Forestry.

It is interesting and commendable that Scott McComb's two sons followed their father's profession.

Fred P. Cronemiller. Fred P. Cronemiller worked on the Fremont during the summers of 1914, 1915, and 1916 while attending Oregon State College. In 1914 he was a forest guard at Dog Lake, in 1915 he worked on telephone line construction, and in 1916 on homestead entry surveys. He graduated from college in 1917 and received an appointment as grazing assistant on the Modoc National Forest, August 1, 1917. However, he joined the army and served with the 20th Engineers in France in World War I. He returned to the Forest Service in 1919 as range examiner. He became forest supervisor of the Modoc, and then assistant regional forester of Region 5 in charge of wildlife and range management. He retired as chief of the Division of Wildlife Management in California January 31, 1958, after forty-one years with the Forest Service. His entire professional career was devoted largely to the supervision and betterment of range and wildlife conditions in California. Single and joint authorship of technical articles, handbooks, and popular stories about range and wildlife has established him as one of the best informed leaders in his field. (Lake County Examiner, February 6, 1958)

Forest Officers

Forest officers are looked upon many times as human encyclopedias. Why not live up to our reputation in this respect?

With this end in view, I would suggest that every forest officer from supervisor to clerk have a few forms 874-13 in the back of his notebook (Form 874-C) especially for the purpose of keeping such general information as: rules for measuring hay, amount of seed to sow per acre for various crops, common remedies for diseases and afflictions of stock, names of companies which loan money on stock or ranches, postal rates, size and weight of nails, poison antidotes, etc. Only such data as will prove beneficial to a majority of those with whom a forest officer comes in daily contact (ranchers, stockmen, campers, timber sale contractors) need be kept, and it should by all means be accurate. (Daniel F. Brennan, "Six-Twenty-Six," 2 January, 1917)

TIMBER MANAGEMENT

Free Use

In a sense stimulated by the district forester's "ST" letter of October 19, we got busy last month to get more data and, if possible, systematize the work on each free use area in some way so as to handle this charity end of the Forest Service work in a more economical and satisfactory manner. The free use business at Paisley, Silver Lake, and New Pine Creek has been handled under the block system ever since this forest was created. Experience has taught us that this is the only way to handle this work, but we cannot slack up very much on our supervision. Where we are dealing with a few ranchers on some outlying portions of the forest, no further supervision except an annual visit to mark a few trees is necessary; but where we have as many as fifty permittees cutting on the same area, personal supervision is necessary. It makes no difference whether the regulations are given orally or in writing, some happy-go-lucky fellow is bound to do things that his conscience tells him not to do. Others disregard the regulations the same as game laws because they consider it no crime unless they get caught. The others will follow suit immediately unless a forest officer drops in and holds the wood until the work is done satisfactorily.

The free use areas on the Fremont are always located in the most accessible places so that to the majority of the small ranchers and homesteaders that's it — the only part of the forest they see or know anything about. Consequently the Forest Service is rated by the condition of the free use area, and if we are to keep what little prestige we have gained through five years' struggle in this locality, it behooves us to make the permittees live up to the regulations and make the free use area a model of neatness.

Wood sales to individuals who desire to make a business of furnishing towns with wood should be encouraged whenever possible so that the people will establish a custom of buying their wood outright. Then only can we safely relax on supervision for then we will be dealing with one man and not a "mob." (Norman G. Jacobson, "Fremont Tidings," December, 1911)

Sales and Free Use

(Forester's Report F.Y. 1911, 7/1/10-6/30/11, Daniel F. Brennan, "Fremont Tidings," February, 1912)

Sales and Timber Companies

In 1910-1911, Bill Massingill operated a sawmill on Upper Camp Creek. Motive power used in logging was by means of oxen and they had some excellent animals. (Lynn Cronemiller, 1911)

Fire destroyed the sawmill, shingle mill, and planing mill of A. W. Bryan in Clover Flat early Sunday morning. (Lake County Examiner, November 9, 1911)

Supervisor Brown and Forest Assistant Jacobson returned the fore part of the month after a week's visit to the Crater Forest. While there they obtained considerable information about methods of handling the big timber sales, and are loud in their praise of the courtesy accorded them by officials in charge. (1911)

Messrs. Young and Bernard of this city are now contemplating the purchase of the Oregon Valley Land Company's sawmill, located inside of the national forest. Final arrangements have not as yet been completed, but it is understood that if the deal goes through the new company will operate the mill and market their timber and cord wood in and about Lakeview. This mill has been operated by the Berney Construction Company, which has purchased national forest timber, and it is expected that the new owners may also contract with us for a few sales.

From the number of people who have called at this office during the past month or so inquiring about timber close to Lakeview as well as in other parts of the forest, it would seem that the coming summer will witness considerable activity in the timber sale business all through this section of the country. The local newspapers report that several wood yards are to be started here in the near future, and we may see some new sawmills soon in operation on this forest — both in this end and in the Chewaucan country. These latter are greatly needed to supply the increased demand for timber caused by the erection of many new residences in the towns as well as buildings being constructed by homesteaders on lands adjacent to the forest. If the present activity along this line is to be considered permanent — and we have every reason to believe it is now that the railroad is here and many new settlers are arriving daily — then we may expect to see the timber industry a close rival to our present grazing business in a very few years. We've got the timber and the market is coming. ("Fremont Tidings," February, 1912)

The Lakeview Lumber Company with yards in this city, has sold practically its entire output to the Heryford Brothers of this place, who are to use the lumber for the construction of their new three-story brick building. This leaves no available lumber for the construction of the many new residences planned for this summer, and local carpenters and contractors are now endeavoring to make arrangements to have some shipped in from either California or Nevada points. Surely here is a chance for a man with sufficient capital to go into the sawmill business locally and establish a yard in town. The market is the best we have yet seen.

The Heryford building is being constructed for the Heryford Brothers and will contain all modern conveniences such as steam heat, elevator, hot and cold water, electric lights. The cost is estimated at $100,000. The new building will be devoted to stores on the first floor, business offices on the second, and a large hall with lobby on the third floor. (1912)

C.S. Benefiel has installed a sawmill on the Chewaucan River, about five miles from the town of Paisley. He has made application for a sale of 600 MBF of live yellow pine, to be cut from national forest land. He states that he will be able to handle a million feet a year when his mill is in first-class running order and when he is otherwise established. At present he is having a log chute constructed to slide the logs down off the forest to the mill site. (1919)

Pine Beetles

Another phase of protection which stares the field officer in the face at the present day on this forest is curtailment of the western pine beetle.

This beetle (Dendroctonous brevicomis) is by no means a foreigner in this locality, but it is coming into prominence very rapidly, especially on some of our free use and sale areas in the northern part of the forest.

A peculiarity about the habits of the whole genus of Dendroctonous is that they usually attack mature and otherwise defective trees and are attracted by timber cutting operations. Undoubtedly the reason for these peculiarities is that the pitch and resin odor resulting from the logging operations or injured trees will attract the adult beetles in the summer months before they deposit their eggs, in the same way that a highly-colored and sweetly-scented flower attracts the honey bee. This, however, gives us a cue that we must watch our cutting areas and try to prevent summer logging and wood cutting as much as is found practical and have the slashing cleared up before the opening of the breeding season.

The adult western pine beetle is about 3/8" long and has a brownish, practically smooth or shell-like coat. The adults begin to attack the trees by boring out egg galleries under the bark, in which they deposit their eggs about the first of July. They continue this work of destruction until about the middle of September. These eggs hatch out in about six days and, after going through several more stages of development and boring out laterals to the tunnels already dug out by their parents, they are fully grown and begin their flight between August and September.

The presence of pitch tubes and reddish powdery boring on the bark of healthy trees whose foliage is fading or turning yellow is positive evidence of beetle work, and if found in large numbers in any locality the matter should be reported and receive attention.

Similar to nearly all forms of life these beetles have their own pests and enemies to keep them in check, and if average conditions can be maintained in the forest there is little or no danger of a serious epidemic except in certain parts of the forest where there is a large quantity of mature and more or less defective timber. Such areas will bear watching so that as soon as it is evident that the beetles are gaining ground, we can be ready to put a damper on their progress and give their enemies a chance to catch up. (Norman G. Jacobson, February, 1912)

FIRE MANAGEMENT

Fire Cooperation

It is a pleasure to all of us to know that a majority of people locally have come to understand just what the Forest Service is doing and are willing in every way to cooperate with us. Especially is this so when it comes to a matter of reporting fires.

An instance of this kindly feeling toward the Service was brought home to us recently when J. F. Hanson, a rancher on the west side, came a distance of twenty miles to report a fire and brought back with him in his auto men to fight the flames. Surely we are to be thankful that there are men of this kind about us. ("Fremont Tidings," October, 1911)

Fire Reports

1911. The Fremont had a total of sixteen fires during this season, seven of which originated on national forest and nine on private lands outside. Thirteen of these were caused by lightning, one through the carelessness of campers, and two from causes unknown. A total of fifty-five acres of national forest land was burned over, aggregating a timber loss of 12 MBF, valued at $30.00. The cost of fighting the fire was $328.41. Reproduction was valued at $22.00, and forage at $7.00, or grand total of $59.00. ("Fremont Tidings," December 1, 1911)

1912. The foreman of the ZX ranch at Paisley was arrested March 20 by Deputy State Game Warden William A. LaSater for burning tules in the Chewaucan marshes. It was asserted by Mr. LaSater that many duck and goose eggs were being destroyed. On being tried before a Justice of the Peace at Paisley, the defendant was acquitted. A fire was started several days later in the same vicinity and got beyond control before it could be extinguished, burning up 100 head of cattle and several hundred tons of hay. The total loss is estimated at $5,000. ("Fremont Tidings," May, 1912)

1915. In 1915 the Fremont had forty-eight fires, fifteen lightning and thirty-three man-caused, including one incendiary. The incendiary fire was the first recorded incendiary fire from 1907 to 1915.

(On the Thompson Valley fire) A guard was sent to the fire which he corralled at 200 acres, and then he returned to Silver Lake. The fire got away and Lawrence Frizzell went to it with four men, but his back-fire artist set the back-fire on the wrong side of the trail. By that time a week had gone by and Lawrence, tired of fooling around, put on a twenty-man crew, and after six more days corralled it at 2,100 acres. This was by far the largest fire up to that time on the forest.

Three men could handle any fire up to 250 acres in those days. Hager Mountain was the first lookout to be manned full time. This was in 1915. Elsewhere we rode up on to a peak once in a while — perhaps every day during the peak of the fire season. (Fred Cronemiller)

1916. Total Fires — fourteen (three lightning, eleven man-caused)

1917. Several incendiaries have been reported. A large fire is raging nine miles north of Round Grove. Ten men have been sent to the fire including Joe Taylor, Al Cheney, and Rangers White and Weyburn.

Of the fifty-six fires occurring this year, forty-three were from lightning and thirteen were man-caused. (Lake County Examiner, July 26, 1917)

1918. A total of sixty-seven fires occurred in 1918, fifty-four lightning and thirteen man-caused.

A violent electric storm occurred Sunday afternoon and evening, August 25, and the following day seventeen fires were reported in various parts of the southern portion of the forest. The same storm started a fire in Warner Valley (outside the forest) which resulted in the destruction of much pasture and bunched and stacked hay. The loss is estimated at about $100,000.

1919. A total of sixty fires occurred in 1919 of which twenty-nine were lightning and thirty-one were man-caused. Damage was $849, and cost of suppression was $1,599.18.

Truck Needed for Firework

[Following are portions of correspondence concerning the purchase of a Ford truck.]

Supervisor Brown to District Forester. I wish at this time to call your attention to the necessity of a light truck for use on this forest. This truck is needed especially during the fire season which has just started and which from present indications promises to be an extremely bad one. We now have one fire on and adjacent to the forest which covered several hundred acres before we were able to put it under control...I have not been able to get men to do the improvement work which was contemplated for the month of June in order to have available some force to be used in case of fire. Our regular protective force, as you know, is inadequate for ordinary protection during this month.

I have found it impossible to hire a truck or suitable car to haul a few men and supplies. A few years ago teams and wagons were available for hire. The motor truck and tractor have at the present time supplanted the horse team and it is now almost impossible to hire a team. The livery stables have been replaced by garages, but they do not have sufficient trucks to assure us one in case of need. I can hire a Ford truck and hire it in reserve for $100.00 per month and we pay all operating expenses and keep it in repair. This, however, is not good business when one can be purchased with low gear transmission and body complete for less than $1,000.00. The truck chassis as sold by the Ford Company is $661.00 delivered in Lakeview. The low speed transmission would cost $135.00 installed, and a suitable body could be made locally for approximately $100.00, making a total cost of $900.00.

The Ford truck, so equipped, would answer every purpose on this forest and I am convinced would be the most practicable and economical machine for our use.

To summarize, fires are bound to occur. Labor is very scarce. A few men can be readily transported to the average fire by auto and thus save the necessity of a large crew. Teams are slow at best and at present are not available. Automobiles or trucks cannot always be secured when needed. In order to handle the situation efficiently, provision must be made to have at least one truck or auto available at once. In order to do this, it is necessary to hire one by the month or own one.

I wish, therefore, to urgently recommend that a truck be purchased at once for this forest, preferably a Ford. If this is not possible I wish authority to hire one at the stated price of $100.00 per month. The Ford people here are willing to rent us a truck under the conditions stated and deduct any payment made from the purchase price in case we are able to purchase later. This consideration would allow us the use of the machine pending any delay in securing authority to purchase, and since there is no other dealer within a reasonable distance, they would undoubtedly furnish the truck if purchased. (June 5, 1919)

District Forester's Reply. Your need for a light truck is fully appreciated in this office, and it is hoped that funds will permit furnishing one to you. We are not able to say at this time whether this can be done, but it is suggested that you do not hire one by the month until July 1. On that date, if it is not possible to purchase one for you and it is absolutely necessary in order to provide for the adequate protection of your forest, the rental of a machine to be held in reserve will be approved. (June 13, 1919)

Mr. Brown Responds. Since July 1 has passed and I have not received notice that a truck would be purchased for this forest, I feel that perhaps you have not found it possible to buy one; and since the use of a machine is absolutely necessary for the adequate protection of the forest, I secured on July 1 a new Ford truck equipped with the Moore low speed transmission, constructed a light body suitable for our use, and now have the machine on fire work.

The fire hazard is now greater than it has been at any time for several years. There has been no rain whatever since April 20 when there was only .02 of an inch. A truck was badly needed last season as several times when fires occurred I was compelled to use my Dodge to haul men, tools and supplies because it was not possible to hire a car...A touring car is not suitable for such work and for that reason I consider that during the past two years I have paid out of my own pocket for the government, above the mileage secured, at least $800.00 in using my own car for fire protection and other Forest Service work. This would be done again this season, if necessary, but it seems unnecessary since other branches of the government are supplied with cars or trucks. The Forest Service has purchased for the supervisor of the Modoc Forest a Ford roadster for his official use. The State Highway Department has four cars here for use on the road surveys. The Water Board has a Ford. Practically all ranchers and stockmen find it necessary to use cars or trucks in handling their business. The Forest Service here is as much or more in need of such transportation than most other persons so provided. (July 10, 1918)

District Forester. Your letter of July leaves little if any doubt as to the urgent need of a truck for use in connection with fire protection. You may know that we had arranged to purchase four trucks in June, one of which was to be assigned to the Fremont, but in view of the serious fire situation in District One, the Forest found it necessary to cancel all proposed purchases of equipment.

We are now starting out in the fiscal year with little if any G.E. contingent, and it does not appear that we shall be able to accomplish much in the way of the purchase of trucks and other equipment during this fiscal year. Accordingly, your action in renting a truck by the month is approved, in view of your definite statement that in case of emergency you could not rent a truck. You should not, however, plan to retain this truck for a longer period than is absolutely necessary. (July 15, 1919)

Request to Purchase. In August, 1919, the Forester requested authority from the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase the following truck:

One Ford Worm-Driven truck, equipped with windshield, Moore Four-Speed Transmission, 30"x3" pneumatic tires in front, and 32"x31-1/2" solid rubber tires in rear.

The request was approved. (Gilbert D. Brown, "Timberlines")

Personal Accounts

Fred Cronemiller. Fires did not give us much trouble in those days. Dutton and I hit a forty-acre on the lower Chewaucan and brought it under control in a very short time. With the help of Jason Elder we mopped it up the next day.

There were no tool caches and very few fire fighting tools at the headquarters. The garden rake was a favorite. Axes and shovels were used, but the hazel hoe had not come into being at the time.

Fire detection was exceedingly crude in those early days. None of the lookouts were equipped with either towers, cabins, or telephones. The man who was assigned this work would usually ride to the top of a lookout in the morning or afternoon, stay a few hours, and then return to headquarters. If a fire was discovered, he would immediately return and report.

Walt L. Dutton. July 1911: After completion of the Ingram Station assignment we returned to our summer stations — Cronemiller to Thomas Creek ranger station and I to the Gaylord place on the Chewaucan. The old ranch house at the Gaylord place was occupied by several families of wood rats and so my shelter for the summer was a 7'x9' tent pitched nearby. My job description, given verbally by Gilbert Brown before we left Lakeview, instructed me to ride daily to the top of Buck mountain, about a mile and a half to the east, and scan the surrounding country for fires. Also, in my judgment, when fire danger was low I was to ride around the country and post James Wilson cloth fire signs. There were no established fire lookouts in that area and no telephone communication nearer than Thomas Creek ranger station.

All in all, July was a dull month. The only smokes sighted were those from the camp fires of an occasional fisherman. A most welcome and enjoyable interlude was a visit from Burt Snyder who was a classmate in Lakeview High School. Burt was then working for A. L. Thornton. He was with me a week and accompanied me on all my rounds. We did some fishing with what, today, would be regarded as fabulous success. Our favorite spot was in a somewhat isolated but entrancing area up Dairy Creek. Were he so inclined, Burt could claim credit for sound judgment and foresight in selecting likely areas for it was here, some years later, that Dairy Creek guard station was constructed and became one of the important protection centers on the Fremont.

I did not see Ranger Elder that summer. He did call at camp one day when I was away and left a note written with indelible pencil on a leaf from the Forest Service note book, pinned to the tent flap, and reading in part: "Your camp premises could be improved by removal of camp debris."

August 1911: After weeks of waiting, my vigil atop Buck Mountain was finally rewarded. I sighted my first forest fire — a black billowy cloud of smoke arising out of the Parker Hills some sixles to the north. My getaway time was not recorded but when I did leave I was self-contained for I had with me my fire tools, bed, canteen of water, and enough grub to last two or three days.

Arriving at the fire I found some twenty acres of open mixed type of ponderosa pine, mountain-mahogany, and Ceanothus, already burned over. This was about 10 a.m. and the fire was advancing on one front only. But its progress was slow because only a mild breeze was blowing and there was no ground fuel except some scattered remnants of dry annual weeds and grasses. (Most of the perennial vegetation had long since been killed out through destructive grazing. And it was near here that the Forest Service many years later sought, not too successfully, to restore the original productivity through the ambitious and expensive Coffee Pot Range Revegetation Project.³)

Even though progress of the fire was slow, it continued to advance throughout the night and my efforts to trench in a 300-yard front were just short of adequate. That was the situation at 10 a.m. the next day when, greatly to my surprise, Lynn Cronemiller showed up with his camp outfit and fire tools. Within the hour we had joined trenches and they held. Cronemiller's help proved to be the extra push needed to place the project under control. He represented the difference between success and failure.

We tried, without success, to determine the origin of the fire. Apparently it had started in a small patch of dead ceanothus and then crowned momentarily in nearby mountain-mahogany. This would account for the large volume of smoke when the fire was first sighted. Tracks of a shod horse (not ours) suggested the recent presence of a lone rider in that vicinity. There had been no lightning; therefore it was man-caused. But by whom was never determined.

In those days lookout reports and other messages sometimes had to be sent by roundabout methods. The Parker Hills fire was spotted from three places — Buck Mountain (my station), Paisley by Jason Elder, and Cougar Peak by Cronemiller. Elder and Cronemiller both telephoned the Fremont office in Lakeview. The office then instructed Cronemiller to come to my assistance, assuming, of course that I had gone to the fire.

And that is all for my first and last forest fire on the Fremont.

WILDLIFE

Game Laws and Wardens

The first game laws were promulgated in the state of Oregon some time previous to 1894. Ed Hodson was the first game warden appointed (I believe in the early days) by the governor in Douglas County. He was a very efficient warden and at one time fined his own son for a violation. He arrested Lee Thornton's father for holding the sack for illegal fish taken at a dam after night. He had a hard deal in the Umpqua and Elk Creek country where one day an angered bushwacker shot off the horn of his saddle. Thus, in the early days it was a hard game to quell the game violators, who had little respect for the law or anyone having to do with enforcement work.

In our county here, Harry Utley was the first game warden and served 1910-1911. According to Harry's story, he was criticized and almost canned for the first arrest he made, but he slowly educated the public until his duties were taken over by warden number two, William LaSater of Silver Lake, a very efficient game warden who brought a number of deer hunters to justice. Then following it rotation were McKimmons, an outside man, Frank Light, Dan Godsill, and Hugh Leyva, the last three local men.

The game law enforcement improved slowly through the years 1905 to 1915. Public sentiment was not so strong for fish and game protection. (Pearl V. Ingram, 1931)

Game Population

The deer and duck hunting seasons are now on, and if any of you should happen to "bag" a specimen of the former or a few specimens of the latter, don't forget the office force when you "divvy" up. Like everybody else, we're human and find it necessary to eat once in a while when the work isn't too pressing. (1911)

In answer to circular G-Cooperation of November 22, 1911, which called for a report on the number of big game animals killed during the year 1911, the following was submitted for this forest:

This report was based on individual statements received from each ranger district. It was further ascertained from the County Clerk's records that bounty on the scalps of 2201 coyotes and 406 wild cats was paid Lake County hunters during the period from January 1 to December 31, 1911. ("Fremont Tidings")

The quail season opened Sunday, and it is now lawful to kill not more than five on one day or ten in one week. The open season ends November 15. (Lake County Examiner, October 19, 1911)

Predatory Animals Killed

In view of the above figures and facts, it can readily be seen that the Fremont is doing its share in all lines of the national forest work, although essentially considered a "grazing" forest. (Forester's Report F.Y. 1911, 7/1/10-6/30/11, Daniel F. Brennan, "Fremont Tidings," February, 1912)

That interest in shooting and fishing in Lake County is forging ahead at a rapid pace is evident from the report of County Clerk F. W. Payne that over 1,000 game licenses have been sold in the county in 1912, eighty-three of which were sold since September 1. This shows a marked increase over the number sold last year, the total for 1911 being 863. (Lake County Examiner, September 12, 1912)

Revised game laws are as follows:

Deer with horn — August 1 to October 1; bag limit — 3 (changed from 5) during each season.

Game birds — ducks, geese, rails, coots, shore birds — September 15 to February 15 of following year. Bag limit — 30 of such birds in any seven consecutive days.

Sagehens — August 1 to 30. Bag limit — 5 in any one day, or 10 in any consecutive days.

Blue or sooty grouse, ruffed grouse, California or valley quail — October 1 to 31. Bag limit — 10 in any consecutive days.

Trout — April 1 to October 1. Bag limit — 75 fish or 50 pounds in any one day.

Trout over 10 inches long, open season all of the year with hook and line only. Bag limit — 50 trout or 50 pounds in any one day.

It is unlawful to burn tule between February 15 and September 15, or during the nesting season. (Lake County Examiner, April 3, 1913)

William LaSater received a letter this week from the State Game Department in which he was informed that the state would soon make an additional bounty on cougars and bobcats. The bounty in total will be cougars $25, wolves $25, and bobcats $4. (Lake County Examiner, July 10, 1913)

LIVESTOCK

Allowances

Livestock Grazing Fees Per Head

Cattle and Horses

Season — April 15 to November 15
Yearlong available, beginning April 15

Swine

Season — April 15 to November 15
Yearlong available beginning April 15

Sheep

Season — Short season, June 15 to October 15
Regular season, April 15 to October 15
Yearlong season available until 1917, beginning April 15

Stock and Wool Sales

[Cattle and lamb brought higher prices as the teen years drew to a close. In 1911, steers went for $.04-.0475 per pound, ewes for $3.50 a head, and lambs for $2.00 a head. In 1913, mutton ranged from $2.25-$4.00 a head and steer sold for $.0625 per pound. 1913 lamb prices were about one-third what they became in 1918, and in 1919, a sale of mixed lambs brought $8.50 a head.]⁵

[1910, 1911, and 1913 figures for wool show 1910 to be the strongest year at $.15 per pound, lowering to $.13 and $.1325 respectively in 1911 and 1913.] (Bach, 102-3, 133)

The first shipment of fat stock from this section during the wintertime was made yesterday by C. D. Arthur, and consisted of 1,600 lambs. They were purchased from S. B. and Dan Chandler and were consigned to the San Francisco market. Last year there was no satisfactory market for these lambs, and they were held by their owners and prepared for the winter market. The price paid was $.055 per pound, weighing being made at the feed yards.

The average weight was about 75 pounds, thus netting the owners something over $4.00 per head. Late last fall their lambs were placed on feed and for ten weeks they were given a ration of grain and hay. An accurate account of the feed was kept, and it averaged $.80 per head for the entire time. Since the price for lambs last fall did not exceed $3.00 per head, the experiment netted a very handsome profit. (Lake County Examiner, February 13, 1913)

Grazing Seasons

Grazing Season of 1911. The season of 1911 was a good one for sheep and cattle, and the range was left in good condition.

At this early date the ranges were overstocked and reductions were recommended for next year. Cattle were selling at higher prices than at any time in the history of the country.

Grazing Assistant Billings did much valuable reconnaissance work this summer and will do more in 1912. (Grazing report, 1911)

Fred Stanley, a stockman of the Fort Bidwell country, passed through the Warner District the fore part of November with 800 goats. ("Fremont Tidings," February, 1911)

Within the past week grass seeding reports on the Roggers, Foster, Wooley Creek, Currier, Elder, and Ingram Experimental areas have been mailed to the district office. ("Fremont Tidings," October, 1911)

Forester's Report

(Forester's Report F.Y. 1911, 7/1/10-6/30/11, Daniel F. Brennan, "Fremont Tidings," February, 1912)

The following figures may be interesting in that they show to what extent the ranchers of Lake County are dependent upon the use of the National Forest for summer range for their stock. The total number of stock in this county is as follows:

This is the assessed valuation, and as a fixed valuation is used on each class of stock, it is lower than the present market price.

This list shows a decrease from last year of 200 horses, 1,000 cattle, 4,000 sheep, and 100 hogs. No figures are shown for dogs last year. The above figures show that the average value of the dogs is $31.00.

Of the above tabulation the following numbers grazed under permit on the Fremont National Forest in 1911:

During the season of 1910, one and one quarter million (1,250,000) pounds of wool were shipped from Lake County, at an average price of $.15 per pound. During 1911, only 800,000 pounds were sold and at an average price of $.13 per pound. The shearing records show that the average yield for 1910 was seven pounds per head and for 1911 was six pounds per head. The cause of this decrease is attributed to the hard winter of 1910-1911, from which 25 percent of all sheep in the county were lost, and to the poor condition of those surviving. The feed dried up early, and they came off the range in poor condition. The shearing count, which is very nearly correct, shows a total number of 178,571 sheep sheared for 1910, and 146,666 in 1911. The discrepancy between the numbers assessed and the numbers sheared is partially on account of the sale of mutton sheep and the fact that lambs under one year of age are not assessed. (Jay Billings, November 1, 1911)

Grazing Season of 1912. Stockmen who have come in from the "desert" during the past few days and who have called on us to hand in their grazing applications state that their flocks are fattening up and will be in fine shape to go on the forest next June or July, provided no bad storms occur. A little more snow will be necessary, however, in order to have good summer forage. (Grazing report, 1912)

The price of mutton in Lake County ranged form $2.25 to $4.00, and the price of the clip was $.1325 per pound.

Grazing Season of 1919. An inspection of grazing conditions within the tributary to the Fremont National Forest was made during the latter part of September by E. N. Kavanaugh from the district office. A rather difficult situation exits in this vicinity due to the large amount of privately owned timber lands both within and outside the forest which have been leased at what seems like prohibitive rental prices. Much of this land has been used by cattle owners. The past two years, however, sheep men have secured leases on these lands at rates varying from $.12 to $.20 per acre. As these prices are extremely high, the sheep men have tried to get the greatest use from them, which has resulted in the sheep getting all or practically all of the forage crop. Accordingly, the cattle have been forced on other ranges and the owners have been besieging Fremont forest officials for grazing privileges or increases, in the event they already held permits. The fact that the Service has been unable to accommodate many of them has served to accentuate the situation and has brought about a very strong feeling on the part of cattle men, which is largely subscribed to even by the sheep men, for government control of the range. The cattle men feel that without government control, their business cannot long endure and the sheepmen see in the keen competition, which results in a constant increase in rental charges for leases, that a situation will soon develop which will make grazing too costly to be profitable. The cattle seem in very good flesh, but comparatively few bands of sheep were in a marketable condition. It is probable that within another year the situation will become so acute as to demand some remedial measure or financial disaster will result. ("Six-Twenty-Six," October, 1919)

Stock Organizations

The two stock associations on the forest are the Chewaucan and Sycan Woolgrowers Association, representing the wool growers of the northern part of the forest, and the Central Fremont Cattle and Horse Association, representing the cattle and horse men of the same area. (1911)

At a meeting of the Central Fremont Cattle and Horse Association held at Paisley April 1, the following motions were passed:

"Moved that this Association protest against the raising of the National Forest grazing fees on cattle and horses, as well as the reduction of the fees on sheep." ("Fremont Tidings," May, 1912)

A committee of Dr. J. L. Lyons, C. D. Arthur, and others organized the Lake County Wool Growers Association. The objectives and purposes of the organization are to advance the interests of the wool producing and sheep raising industry, and to that end to take proper steps to guard against unreasonable or restrictive national or state legislation; take steps as may be necessary to bring about an equitable and proper use of the public range and to prevent restrictions thereof. They will work for mutual protection and cooperation of those engaged in the sheep and wool business. A fee of $2.50 will be assessed per year. About thirty members joined and it is expected the number will increase to 100 by the next annual meeting. (Lake County Examiner, April 10, 1913)⁶

The Fremont is starting the 1918 grazing season with cooperation from all three stock associations (Warner Stockgrowers Association, Dog Lake Cattle and Horse Association, and the Central Fremont Cattle and Horse Association) as well as one "infant" (Silver Lake Cattle and Horse Raisers Association). This new organization is being nursed along by Supervisor Brown and Ranger Frizzell and in time will be extending full cooperation.

The Warner Association is composed of cattle, horse, and sheep owners; the other three associations are cattle and horse owners exclusively.

The Central Fremont Cattle and Horse Association was organized in 1910, and comprises the largest owners of stock on the forest. The Dog Lake and Warner associations were formed in 1916. The Silver Lake Association did not come into existence until April 1917. ("Six-Twenty-Six," May, 1918)

Meetings of the Dog Lake Cattle and Horse Association and the Warner Stockgrowers Association, comprising permittees of this forest, were held October 15 and 20 respectively in the office of the forest supervisor, Lakeview. Both associations are recognized by the district forester.

Among resolutions passed by each association and sent to U.S. Senators Chamberlain and McNary, and to U.S. Congressman Sinnott was the following:

Whereas, many of the best informed and most competent officers of the Forest Service are leaving the Department by reason of their salaries being wholly inadequate to the present high cost of living, and entirely inconsistent with the service rendered;

Therefore, Be it Resolved that this Association recommends an increase of salaries which will retain experienced men in positions in the Forest Service. ("Six-Twenty-Six," November 1919)

Predators and Other Nuisances

The Forest Service cooperated with the Biological Survey in efforts to eliminate coyotes. The Forest Service distributed poison, ammunition, and traps to forest officers and settlers living within the boundaries of the forest. (Grazing report, 1915)

The Biological Survey has taken over predatory animal control. Forest officers should continue to destroy coyotes. (1916)

A movement is on foot now to thoroughly organize the work of destroying coyotes by combined effort on the part of most of the western states. The field organization will work in much the same way as the state health officers, the Forest Service, and the U.S. Biological Survey handle the coyote situation in Modoc County, California. To render the work effective it is proposed that the different states and federal departments work together under the supervision of the U.S. Public Health Service. It is expected that the organization will be working this coming season.

The work of gophers should be carefully watched. Experimental work in 1914 showed that the carrying capacity of the badly infested areas was easily reduced 50 percent by the workings of these rodents. (Grazing report, 1916)

The grasshopper plague is quite serious in the extreme southern portion of Lake County, and ranchers and farmers are using every means available to eradicate the pest. The Forest Service has expended $100 for poison and other ingredients required by the formula, in an effort to head off the grasshoppers on forest range, particularly in the Dog Lake district. ("Six-Twenty-Six," June, 1919)

Diseases

Several prominent government and state officials have been visitors to this section during the past two weeks. Among the list were Doctor Pinkerton, government stock inspector for Washington, Oregon, and Idaho (with headquarters at Pendleton); Doctor Morrell, veterinarian for the State of Oregon (with headquarters at Portland); and Doctor Rosenberger, government inspector for California (with headquarters at Sacramento.) All came to inquire into the scab disease which broke out last fall among the cattle of Lake and Klamath counties, particularly those belonging to the ZX outfit of Paisley. Government Inspector William Proudfoot, whose headquarters are in this city, expects to leave in a few days for the north end of the county, where he will supervise the dipping of affected cattle in Paisley, Summer Lake, Silver Lake, and Bly. After all the cattle have been dipped in the prescribed manner, Mr. Proudfoot will make a tour throughout his district examining all herds, and if they are all found to be cured the quarantine which now affects Lake and Klamath County cattle will probably be raised about next February. (Grazing report, 1911)

In the fall of 1911 many cattle in the vicinity of Silver Lake died from blackleg. The Forest Service aided the stockmen in obtaining vaccine and instructions as to how to use it. (1911)

Local Inspector William Proudfoot of the Bureau of Animal Industry, is authority for the statement that all cattle in both Klamath and Lake Counties are now free from scabies. "Clean" certificates have been issued for all those cattle for which grazing permits have been granted on this forest. (Grazing report, 1912)

Salting

A considerable quantity of salt from the marshes in Warner Valley, north of Plush, is now being "freighted" into town and stored in the Bailey Massingill warehouse. The salt is used for stock although we have been informed that it is also suitable for domestic purposes when put through a refining process. Dr. Marsh, physiologist of the Bureau of Animal Industry, who had a sample of the salt analyzed, reported that "it proves to be very pure salt with nothing in it which is likely to harm stock." (1911)

Cattle and horse permittees are required to put out, from May 20 to September 20, at least three pounds of salt for each head of stock under permit. On or before December 1, the district ranger or supervisor should be furnished with a properly executed statement, blank enclosed for the purpose. Failure to comply with this ruling will result in a 5 percent reduction in the number of stock permitted. (Gilbert D. Brown, "Notice to Stockmen," February 15, 1914)

Supervisor suggested that stockmen employ riders through associations to assist in even distribution of stock over the various ranges, and possible prevention of thefts on the forest ranges. Salt should be correctly placed on ranges. (Grazing report, 1915)

The progress you are making in securing the cooperation of the stockmen is noted. All of the cattlemen of the Forest should belong to a community association working under an established salting rule for each range.

The salting rule is quite important as you readily realize. It binds the members of each association closely together, particularly when all are required to pay to the secretary of the association their prorata share of salting. When the salting rules are established the Forest Service is in a position to enforce payment. If all the associations will render the active assistance given by the Dog Lake Association, the authorization for cattle can no doubt rapidly increase. (Correspondence, December 21, 1918)⁷

Personal Accounts

Lynn Cronemiler. My first hitch on the Fremont started in June 1910 as a forest guard at $75.00 per month. Of course, out of this I had to provide my own board and horses. I was assigned to the Thomas Creek district under Bradley. After being there for a week, a fire broke out on Quartz Mountain, and Bradley and I went over. Charles Weyburn arrived about that time, and he and I were left to patrol the fire. After it was out, the two of us were assigned to the Barnes Valley area and spent most of the summer there.

Silas Lapham had a grazing allotment in the area and ran a large number of cattle. Creed McKendree ran sheep around Horsefly, and Dan Malloy was down in the vicinity of Strawberry Valley with his band. Dave Elder was the big sheepman of the time and ran some 25,000 head in various bands. He had a considerable area of grazing land west of Horsefly.

Walt L. Button. June 1911: Appointed forest guard at $900.00 per annum and assigned to the Paisley District under Ranger Jason Elder. Late in the month Lynn Cronemiller and I, with our pack and saddle horses, left Lakeview under instructions from Gilbert Brown to proceed to Ingram Station and repair the pasture fence.

In my career I have handled many pieces of Forest Service equipment but none stands out in memory with greater clarity than those items issued us on the day of our departure for Ingram Station. Considering the shortage of equipment funds in those days, we fared rather well. Each was equipped with the following: double-bitted ax with scabbard, Forest Service marking hatchet, hammer and tacks, long handled shovel, standard Forest Service compass with Jacob staff, tally register, 7' x 9' tent, Dutch oven, two canvas saddle bags (only the ranger could have leather saddle bags), a good supply of variously worded James Wilson cloth posters, Forest Service green-backed note book, two pencils (one #3 and one indelible), and finally, a large brass Forest Service badge, proudly displayed. Oh yes, and the national flag which was to be flown even in temporary camps.

We had to furnish our own horses, saddles, and horse feed, and board ourselves — all on $75.00 per month. There was no uniform allowance but we were nattily outfitted (so we thought) in khaki-colored shirt and trousers, green tie, stiff-brimmed Stets, and laced boots with trousers tucked inside. The left shirt pocket sagged a bit with the weight of the big brass badge.

Someone had taught us how to throw a squaw hitch — the most inefficient method known to packers — and we used it this season. We also used it later in the fall when we took the packing test during the ranger examination in Albany, and I am sure the examiner, Supervisor McDuff, graded us down because we didn't know how to use the diamond hitch. Later, of course we became adept at throwing all hitches.

Mounted and ready to ride, the doubled-bitted ax was slung under the left saddle fender and a 30-30 carbine under the right fender. The two canvas bags hung from the saddle horn and a rolled mackinaw was tied behind the cantle. Just why the carbine I don't recall; perhaps just because it was being done.

The first night out from Lakeview we camped at Jack and Jenny Buttes, on the Chewaucan just south of the Gaylord place. We had read somewhere that forest rangers began their day with a cold dip in a mountain stream. Accordingly, next morning before breakfast, we did just that — plunged right into the Chewaucan which, at the time, was running high and cold from melting snows off Gearhart Mountain. That was the last of such tomfoolery.

Next day about midafternoon we reached Ingram Station but were not sure of our location until late evening. In those days the road from the Chewaucan to Ingram Station was barely a trail with little use by wheeled vehicles. It was delineated on our map; so was Ingram Station but, with the exception of the remnants of a pasture fence, there was nothing on the ground to identify the site.

Here was a real poser. Other pastures in the vicinity needed repair and our problem was to find out which was located on the Ingram Station administrative site. Somehow we seemed to feel that a wrong decision here would jeopardize our future Forest Service careers. Besides, we just didn't want to put in a lot of hard work fixing the other fellow's fence! It was there and then that we made our first practical use of some of the technical knowledge gained from two years in the School of Forestry at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University).

It was as simple as finding a section line in a stand of lodgepole pine, following the blazes until we came upon a section corner, reading the inscriptions on the corner stone and witness trees, and, from notes made at the time, learning that we stood at the SW corner of Section 19, T.34S., R.17E., WM. Only then were we sure that we had located the Ingram Station pasture. That was fifty one years ago as of this writing and few, if any accomplishments since have produced a greater degree of inner satisfaction.

Repairing the pasture fence at Ingram Station turned out to be quite a formidable task. Most of the barbed wire lay flat on the ground where it had been pulled away from the posts by the weight of winter snows. Any wire which escaped the snows was later trampled and tangled by the crowding of permitted cattle on the Chewaucan Cattle Range.

Apparently the cattle in the vicinity of Ingram Station had been there from some weeks. All of the spring growth of grass had been grazed off, so closely in fact that little was left for our horses while camped at the site. Little did we realize at the time that this kind of range abuse — too early use by too many cattle — had been going on for many years over much of the Chewaucan Cattle Range as well as on the adjacent grazing lands outside the Forest boundary. Nor could we know that many more years would pass before the Fremont administration could overcome the organized resistance of cattle permittees to adoption of sensible range practices.

June 1912: Reappointed forest guard and assigned to Bull Prairie guard station, Warner Ranger District, under Ranger Pearl Ingram. Before going to Bull Prairie I was sent to Roger station where I joined a crew of men grubbing false hellebore (locally called skunk cabbage) from the station pasture. There I first met Jay Billings. He and Norm Jacobson were camped in a tent nearby and Jay, as I recall, was working with Jake on an extensive timber reconnaissance. Those who knew Jay Billings will always think of him as an "unforgettable character." He was doubly impressive that first meeting since he had gone without a shave for days on end.

Bull Prairie had no cabin so that meant another summer in my 7'x9' tent. Nor was there a pasture fence and that meant many hours looking for strayed horses. Bull Prairie and Drake Peak had no telephone connections.

My main job that summer was to ride each day to the top of Drake Peak and look for fires. No fires were sighted and I had no calls for fire fighting work.

July 1912: Assistant Ranger Combs (brother of Attorney Charley Combs, I believe) joined me and together we cut lodgepole pine poles and started construction of a "John Day" type pasture fence. This type of fence didn't seem to take well on the Fremont although it was used extensively in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. We also cut and peeled lodgepole pine logs which later went into construction of the first cabin at Bull Prairie.

Herders and camptenders from adjacent sheep allotments kept me well supplied with fresh mutton.

Except for the time Combs was with me, the summer at Bull Prairie was lonely and dull. Few people came there and those who did were mostly on the way to some other locality. I did form one rather refreshing friendship with Jere Egan who had a band of sheep in that area. Jere was my most frequent and most welcome visitor. He had a fine Irish wit, liked people, and liked to talk. He helped find my strayed horses and schooled me in the fine art of sour dough bread making. Truly, his visits were cheerful interludes in a cheerless environment.

It was Jere Egan who invited me to attend the annual Irish picnic held that year in Summit Prairie. Some two hundred people attended. Food was plentiful and drinks flowed freely. Just about all the prominent Irish names in Lake County were represented at this gathering.

IMPROVEMENTS AND OTHER FOREST SERVICE OPERATIONS

Roads

The Currier Wagon Road. Approximately six miles of wagon road have been built by Mr. F. A. Fitzpatrick, superintendent of the Chewaucan Land and Cattle Company, in compliance with an agreement made between him and the Forest Service. This road begins at the crossing of Long Creek in Section 4, Twp. 33S., R15E., W.M. and runs west across the forest to the ZX ranch in Section 21, T.33S., R.14E., W.M. The cost of this road was $175.00. The Forest Service was to build a similar piece of road east of Long Creek, crossing along the Currier Trail past the Currier Camp ranger station, a distance of about eight miles. During the fall of 1910 about three miles of this part of the road was built by range labor. When completed, this road will be about fifteen miles in length and will give opportunity to reach the Sycan country or will be suitable for sheep men to haul wool over. At present loaded wagons consume three days in making the trip from Paisley to Sycan via Silver Lake. The greatest benefit, however, of this new road is the advantage it will give in transporting supplies to fires west of the Summer Lake Rim, which rises 2,000 feet within three miles. It is now up to the Service to make good its promise. (Jason S. Elder, "Fremont Tidings," December, 1911)

Paisley-Chewaucan Road and Forest Wagon Roads. The work of widening the Paisley-Chewaucan Road, for which an allotment of $2,000 was received recently, has been started. A crew of about fifteen men is also employed at present on the first section (seventeen miles) of the Forest Wagon Road, which when completed will permit travel by auto through the forest from Lakeview to Silver Lake.

The advantages of these two roads are many. They will attract to the forest auto camping parties and travelers desiring to fish and hunt while en route through the county; stockmen will be greatly benefited in that it will be possible for them to haul supplies by auto to their summer ranges, and from the standpoint of fire protection the roads will be of much value to the Service. Says the Lake County Examiner in a recent issue:

"An appropriation for the construction of the Forest Wagon Road has been sought for several years by Forest Supervisor Brown, and it is largely through his efforts that the first step in the construction of the project is being brought to a realization." ("Six-Twenty-Six," October, 1919)

Buildings

A fine new barn was constructed recently at Dog Lake Ranger Station. The building is made of logs, with shingled roof, and is 17' wide and 22' long. Attached to it is a shed 16' wide and 22' long built of rough boards. The work was done by Grazing Assistant Billings, Forest Assistant Jacobson and Assistant Rangers Abbott, Bradley, and Ingram, under the direction of Supervisor Brown. (November 1, 1911)

Assistant Rangers Bradley and Ingram are now making a much needed addition to the barn at the Salt Creek ranger station, which was built in the fall of 1909. When the work is completed the barn will contain room for eight tons of hay, as well as stable quarters for at least four horses. (Pearl V. Ingram, "Fremont Tidings," December, 1911)

Telephone Lines

Paisley. After ten days of hard work Assistant Ranger Bradley with Guards Cronemiller, Dutton, LaSater, and Culbertson, finished about ten miles of the telephone line being erected from the Thomas Creek ranger station to the Chewaucan River, the objective point being Paisley. The line is completed as far as the Grasshopper ranger station. With the use of the telephone test set the workers managed to get into communication with this office and the line was found to be clear and in fine working condition. The balance of the distance, about seventeen miles, will probably be completed next summer.

This line was built at a cost of $35.50 per mile. Eight and one-quarter miles of this line was stretched on trees. The remainder of the distance poles and posts were used, which of course adds very much to the cost. For the most part the line ran through yellow pine timber that was fairly open and free from brush. White fir and lodgepole were encountered. Number nine wire was used in the construction of this line. (Reginald A. Bradley, 1911)

Bald Mountain. Supervisor Brown left for Silver Lake to supervise construction of the government telephone line from Oatman Flat ranger station to Bald Mountain via Embody Mill, a distance of sixteen miles. The line is to be constructed by ranger and guard labor. When completed, it will be a continuous stretch of telephone line from the supervisor's office in Lakeview through the forest. The route is via Cottonwood Sawmill, Thomas Creek station, Ingram Station, Currier Camp, Silver Lake, and Oatman station to Bald Mountain, a distance of about 126 miles. (Lake County Examiner, September 13, 1917)

Boundaries

It will probably interest many of our readers to know that there are approximately 1,000 miles of exterior boundary lines, and about 670 miles of interior boundary in and about the Fremont National Forest. One can readily imagine what an immense amount of work is required each year to post and re-post those lines, much of which will be curtailed with the advent of the new metal boundary notice. (1912)

Land Classification

The Land Classification work in 1915 by Will J. Sproat is described by him as follows:

My work came out of the Portland office and my headquarters were at Bend. The work in the Chewaucan was in September and came at the end of a long field season when I had completed the Deschutes high desert (timber-desert edge) project, some 40,000 acres extending from near Bend into the Fort Rock region.

To start with at Bend, I was given a crew of college men — Moffet, Beals, Bond, and Wendover, and a cook who had a light wagon and two horses.

All our camps were dry and water was hauled up to 21 miles, from a drilled well and water holes. At Evans Well, near the twenty-one-mile post out of Bend, we had to pay $.05 for two horses to drink. I had the great distinction of being the first in the U.S.F.S. to buy water and we didn't waste any of it.

Supervisor Gilbert Brown and District Ranger Jason Elder met us at Paisley and the next day showed us our first camping place, near where the river was running between Doe and Buck mountains. Later we had camps on down the river towards Paisley.

There was a large number of scattered areas averaging about 160 acres, lying high above the river on the east side, wanted by homesteaders and possibly wheat growers. It was necessary for us to locate these described legal subdivisions and map them to show availability, etc. Jason Elder, who had been on his district 8 years helped us for he knew where the section corners were.

Our meeting with Gilbert and Jason was a happy one and we were all close friends in minutes. I have worked with many supervisors and rangers and these two were superior personalities of all — in their lines of work.

When the field work was finished I went to Lakeview to look up land status at the G.L.O. Then I went back to Bend to work up the high desert and Chewaucan projects. (Will J. Sproat, 1915)

Water Development

Whenever it is possible to extend the use of the range or render the forage more accessible by water development, the work of opening up and improving springs should continue. This is a class of range improvement work in which it is always possible to obtain the cooperation of the stockmen. (1915)

Personal Accounts

Lynn Cronemiller. Spent the winter of 1910-1911 as a forestry student at Oregon State College and came back to the Fremont in the spring. Again was assigned to the Thomas Creek district in 1911, and Walt Dutton was stationed at the Jones ranch in the Chewaucan Valley. I later moved over into Cottonwood Meadows at the head of Cottonwood Creek and remained there for a month or more. Came out in the fall, and the extension of the telephone line from Thomas Creek was started under Ranger Bradley. Dutton, Bill Lasater, and I worked on the line and pushed it through into the Chewaucan country.

Continued the work of 1912 with Jason Elder in charge. Scott McComb appeared in the picture about that time and helped on the line. We got it through to the Ingram ranger station that fall.

The work continued in 1913 but with an enlarged crew. There was no road between Ingram ranger station and the Sycan along the route of the telephone line, and the extra men were put to work pushing this through. The object was to have a road and telephone line parallel each other from Lakeview to Silver Lake. We put the line into Currier Camp and then moved on to Silver Lake and started south. Carl Ewing joined the crew about this time. It consisted of Dutton, Ewing, and myself. Scott McComb directed the work but was not on the job a great deal of the time.

Late that fall the final connection of what was designated as the Fremont Trunk Telephone Line was made in the vicinity of Currier Camp with Supervisor Brown, Dutton, Ewing, Charles Weyburn and myself present. Brown stated that since I was the only man who had worked on every mile of the telephone line between Thomas Creek and Silver Lake, I was to have the honor of making the last splice. This solemn ceremony was completed, and Brown rushed to the telephone at Currier to call his Lakeview office and announce the completion of the line.

In 1914 I worked with Pearl Ingram on the telephone line extension from Bulls Prairie to the Sale Creek ranger station. This line was brought straight over the mountains with the major portion of the line being packed in on horses. That same year a crew of us removed the old number twelve wire that connected Thomas Creek with Lakeview and put in number nine. This was an eighteen-mile job.

The route of the old Thomas Creek telephone line from Lakeview to Thomas Creek ranger station might be of interest to some. It followed out to the end of Slash and then turned north to the Hammersly place. From there, it went west to Cottonwood and followed Cottonwood to Mesman Creek. From there it went over the hill to Thomas Creek.

Walt L. Dutton. (June 1913) Graduated from Oregon Agricultural College with B.S. Degree in Professional Forestry. Appointed to the position of assistant forest ranger on the miscellaneous roll of the Forest Service, at a salary of $1100.00 per annum, and reported in person to the supervisor of the Fremont National Forest.

During late June, all of July and August, and early September, I was with the Trunk Telephone construction crew working northward from Cox Flat to Silver Lake. We worked in four ranger districts and under three district rangers as follows: Thomas Creek and Paisley, Norman White; Summer Lake, Charley Weyburn; and Silver Lake, Scott McComb. Ranger White was in charge of the work through the Paisley District since Ranger Elder was in poor health that summer.

Supervisor Gilbert Brown spent a great deal of time on the project and played a prominent part in planning and directing the work. Common labor was not above him and frequently he could be found with ax or shovel helping clear right of way, digging post holes, and other such menial tasks. Gilbert was also the crew mechanic; perhaps "fixer" or "trouble-shooter" would be more descriptive because we had no automotive equipment or machinery of any kind.

Among others who worked on the telephone line project most of the summer were Carl Ewing, Bill LaSater, Lynn Cronemiller, K. C. Langfield and his brother Ray, and Mr. and Mrs. Helgessen. A team and wagon, rented from Langfield, provided our chief means of transportation. Mrs. Helgessen was camp cook.

Well-remembered base camps include Cox Flat, South Flat, Taylor Place, Ingram Station, Currier Camp, Klippel 40, Pole Creek, Mud Spring, and Egli Mill. Work horses rented from Langfield, and pack and saddle animal belonging to crew members, made up a sizeable herd of livestock. Grass was in short supply at most camps. As always, the cattle had been there first. Our horses had some grain every day but despite this they just didn't like the environment and strayed away at every opportunity. Sometimes work on the telephone line would be held up for several hours while the entire crew went looking for lost horses.

Neither Cronemiller nor I had had much experience as linemen. From the outset, however, the other crew members seemed more than willing to have us handle that phase of the work — especially the climbing. By the end of the season, if we were not linemen, we had at least learned how to make fairly good use of linemen's equipment-pliers, connectors, safety belt, and climbing spurs. It is recalled that Gilbert Brown gave us credit for doing all the climbing and hanging all the wire between Thomas Creek ranger station and Silver Lake.

(Summer 1914) During the summer I counted sheep and posted sheep allotment boundaries in the general area of Gearhart Mountain and Coleman Rim. Another project was a compass and chain traverse of a possible water grade road from Thomas Creek ranger station down Thomas Creek to the forest boundary near the old George Wright place. It must have been more than thirty years before this road was constructed. By that time my survey, even had it been preserved, probably would not have helped much.

Manuel Schwartz, originally from Portugal and a cooper by trade in that country, had a small sawmill about three miles below Thomas Creek station. He was keenly interested in our road survey and followed along with us throughout most of the job. In the late nineties Manuel did a lucrative business making and selling butter firkins. His best customers were sheepmen who used the vessels for packing butter to their winter camps on the desert east and north of Lakeview. Best cooperage material was the wood from sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana). The Fremont is distinctly outside the natural range of this species, yet a few fine trees could be found scatteringly in the Thomas Creek and Augur Creek areas.

We did some work that summer in widening the road up Mesman Creek. The rock work was all by hand — our first experience with sledge hammer and hand drill. It is doubtful whether many who now drive the fine road up Thomas Creek realize that for more than forty years Thomas Creek station was accessible from the south only by a narrow winding road up Cottonwood and Mesman Creeks, over a divide, and down to the station.

LOCAL NEWS

Discoveries

While digging gravel in Bullard Canyon, Bill McCulley, a former guard, discovered a large body of glacial ice several feet below the surface. This same body of ice was discovered in 1898 but became covered. Several specimens of the ice were brought into Lakeview, but because of being full of pebbles were unfit for use. (1910)

Several weeks ago while digging about the foundation of the Round Pass lookout tower, Jason S. Elder found at a depth of 18" underground, imbedded in shell rock, a tin receptacle 4' long and 3/4" in diameter. On taking off the cap he found a form, evidently torn from a book, on which had been written:

Corps of Engineers U.S. Army. Expedition of 1878. Approximate Altitude — 7300 feet above sea level. Party No. I, California Section. Executive Officer — Lieut. Thos. Symons. Topographical Ass't. — Kahler. Meteorological Ass't. Robt. Goad, F.R.G.S. Enroute from Camp Bidwell to Fort Klamath. Date — August 17, 1878. Very hazy.

Several of the entries, written with indelible pencil, could not be deciphered because of one of the forms having been rotted by water which had undoubtedly seeped into the tin under the cap.

(Round Pass is the highest point on the chain of mountains south of the town of Paisley.) ("Six-Twenty-Six," November, 1919)

Firsts

The first passenger train to reach Lakeview over the narrow gauge Nevada, California & Oregon Railroad arrived on Sunday, December 11, 1911. The roadbed had not been completed at that time, but was completed several weeks later with regular passenger and freight service established. (1910)

The first automobile used on the Fremont Forest was a second-hand 1910 Buick which Gilbert Brown bought in 1912. Since there were very few forest roads on which an automobile could travel, it was used mostly for traveling between Lakeview, Silver Lake, and Bly. (Picture caption, 1912)

On July 7, 1912, the first ore from High Grade Mine was shipped out of New Pine Creek on freight wagons belonging to Payne Brothers. "Fremont Tidings," 1912)

Fires

New Pine Creek. Nearly the whole business section at New Pine Creek burned October 22, 1911. The loss was estimated at $40,000. Outside of several wells and ditches scattered throughout the town, there was practically no water supply of any kind so that the fire could not in any way be controlled with the methods available. (1911)

Opera House. A fire which started in the Opera House here on the evening of February 5, 1912, did property damage to the amount of fully $11,000. The Opera House, Barton's Lodging House, the Willis Furniture Company's store, and the A. L. Thornton residence were burned to the ground, and property in the immediate neighborhood was badly scorched and flooded with water. The scene of the conflagration is just one block south of this office, the court house intervening. Our extinguishers were put into use at an early stage of the fire and did good work in putting out blazes which started in the wooden buildings directly east of the Opera House. The Forest Service water buckets were also of much use in the bucket brigade. The cause of the fire has not been determined. ("Fremont Tidings," February, 1912)

Miscellaneous

Lake County Road Signs. Judge Bernard Daly of the Lake County Court has lately been making a study of the signs used throughout this forest for denoting distances and locations of towns, rivers, creeks, etc. As a result he has had a number of similar signs made for the public roads in the country. (1910)

Highways Approved. The Oregon State Highway Commission has approved the following highways for the state program:

The Dalles to Klamath Falls
Bend to Lakeview

(December 1, 1916)

Liberty Loans. Lake County holds the county record for the state of Oregon and, so far as known, for the entire United States, in the matter of over-subscribing its allotment to the Third Liberty Loan — which it did to the tune of about 400 percent, with subscriptions still coming in. (1918)

Lake County's quota for the Fourth Liberty Loan was $131,414.92. A total of approximately $240,850 was subscribed, an over-subscription of 83 percent. (November, 1918)

Forest Service

The Forest Service has been well represented this fall at various fairs and expositions held in different parts of the district. The Fremont Forest exhibit at the Paisley Fair attracted a good deal of favorable attention and resulted in the winning of a prize for "the most attractive and instructive exhibit." At the Paisley Fair, Forest Service motion pictures were shown. The general comment, both from the newspapers and the public, was very favorable and demonstrated not only the need for this kind of publicity, but also the good results from it. (November 1, 1916)

Under the direction of the War Department, the U.S.F.S. is organizing a regiment of men for immediate service in France. The regiment will be comprised of foresters, logging engineers, experienced woodsmen, loggers, and men of similar experience and training. This body of men will form a unit of the Engineers' Corps of which the railroad workers are a part. This regiment is planned to assist in forest work in France, and will also conduct logging and milling operations. Portable mills probably will be used as they can be quickly taken from place to place as need develops or supply of logs requires. ("Six-Twenty-Six," June, 1917)

The 20th Engineers reached France early in October, 1917. They operated a sawmill in France in 1918. Ralph Elder was with this company in France.

The U.S.F.S. paid for two ambulances and kitchen trailers. District 6 contributed $1,419.78. The Forest Service shield was placed on the Red Cross ambulance and trailer given by the North Pacific District, to accompany the 20th Engineers to France. The design is in black, except for the crosses, which are red, and stands out strikingly on the polished brass place. ("Six-Twenty-Six," November 1, 1917)⁸

Not to be outdone by any of the other forests, the Fremont has a woman who is not only a lookout but also a fireman. Mrs. Bertha Covert is her name, and she is stationed on Dog Mountain. She has demonstrated her ability in fighting forest fires on three different occasions, and when not otherwise engaged is not averse to using the pick and shovel with good effect on roads and trails. ("Six-Twenty-Six," 1918)

Supervisor Brown left March 5 for a thirty-day detail in the district office. He was accompanied by Mrs. Brown. For a distance of sixteen miles from Lakeview his Dodge was towed by a team of horses and bobsled through the deep snow, the remainder of the trip to Bend being made by the auto under its own power over very bad roads. The journey from Bend to Portland was completed by train. ("Six-Twenty-Six," 1919)

NOTES

1. Most of Dutton's accounts are included in this chapter. For a complete reading, see Bach pages 108-115.

2. "Six-Twenty-Six" was an in-house publication started in 1916. An explanation of its purpose appears in the first publication:

The Six-Twenty is not, as its name might imply, the number of a railroad train nor the type of an automobile. Instead it is the initial number of a District 6 publication designed to bring all units and members of District 6 into close association and better understanding of what is being done. The "Six" comes from the number of our district, and the "Twenty-Six" from our number of supervisor's offices and also from a well-known form designed to show what the individual worker has done. Nothing contained on the pages of "Six-Twenty-Six" is to be construed as official instructions.

3. See the 1940s chapter of this text for details of the Coffee Pot Project.

4. Five-year permits were approved in 1919 and issued for the following number of livestock: sheep, none; cattle, 7,323; horses, 441. Bach, page 181.

5. For further details, see Bach pages 102, 133, 171, and 183.

6. For names of officers, see Bach, page 136.

7. Though the reference is not clear, this passage appears to be part of a correspondence from the district office to Gilbert Brown.

8. Bach calls it the "10th" Engineers but probably means the "20th" in accordance with other references.

XL Ranch cattle being treated for scabies near Silver Lake. Photo dated 1911 or 1912.

The first automobile used on the Fremont was Gilbert Brown's 1910 Buick, purchased in 1912. Gilbert Brown appears on uniform.