History of the Cache National Forest / prepared by Supervisor's Office, Dec. 1940

              HISTORY OF THE: CACHE NATIONAL FOREST
Pepared by Supervisor's
Office
Dec. 1940
H I S T O R Y OF T E E C-..ACHE
N A T I O N A L F O R E S T
This history has been prepared by the f o r e s t o f f i c e r s of
the Cache National E'orest for the purpose of building up a t r a i n
of events and conditions leading t o the present Cache National
Forest,
We have gone i n t o the early history of Utah in some of
our references i n order t o give t o the foundation of t h i s history
some of the f i r s t roots into the growth of the 6omrnunities and
settlements surrounding the Forest.
As ne8.r as was practical i n working out the individual
history of t h i s f o r e s t , we have followed t h e o u t l i n e f o r h i s t o r i e s
of National Eorests i n Region Four as prepared by the Regional
o f f i c e i n Ogden, Utuh.
"The need for such a compilation of h i s t o r i c a l data is
quite obvious," Vie have on meny occasions suffered from the leek
of r e l i a b l e and complete information for each f o r e s t which the
present h i s t o r i c a l project would attempt to provide. As the
years Dass, f o r e s t o f f i c e r s are seperated from the Service by
retirement and dee.th, or records are l o s t or destroyed. K i t h the
passing of time it will become i n c r e ~ s i n g l y d i f f i c u l t to compile r :7 ,'
records from the past yeus." The above statement was made i n i"? '" .' I ( . *
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ e ~ oXf A~pr i-l 2l 3,. 1e940t , tande trhu s we see t h e '
purpose of such a history as is prepared here i n the History of
the Cache National Forest.
IN THE EARLY DAYS
History of the arec prior to the establishment of the
f o r e s t reserve or nstionul f o r e s t takes in a wide range of events
. scattered over much of northern Utah and southern Idaho.
Bf course being in the early days a f t e r Brigham Young enter-ed
S a l t Lake Val ley, Cache ,':M&lud, Cfgden,a nd Ba$dolph%Va Llies and
surrounding comxunities were nearly a l l s e t t l e d by ~ormons,arr&
t-h e i r- - H'CI~TV~
There were however, the Eonneville bxpedition i n 1632-, %he
Stansbury Expedition of 1849-50 which were not made for the bene-f
i t of religion. The Bonneville Expedition headed by E. L. g.
Bonneville sent out Joseph vhlker @%& with t h i r t y - s i x men, amow
to trap on the strea-ns felling into Great Srlt
Lake. Captain Stunsbury conducted h i s expedition t o locate a new
/
t h e region and a l so t o d emo n s t r ~ t et h e e n t i r e p r e c t i c a b i l i t y of , , , . I isr. $4
obteining an excellent p q o n road from Fort Hall to thc Mormon a r
Settlement a t Salt Lake City. (See excerpts from stansburyfs q -
report, included within t h i s report.)
1 \
&-/' ' .' "
I * The t ? S e -t o Oregon and Ca l i forni a i n 1841 c m e to-gether
by the usual route up
'hater, and through the jouth
;; -9 B--
/I-Soda
~ ~ r i n ~ s , k h+o s e d regon
4
the P l u t t e Wiver aldng the Sweet
b Pass t o Beer River Valley. When nem pI, ti, T:? .
wont n o r t h t o Fo r t Ea l l , h h i l e -thme +d 1
/*
liivcr. southward u n t i l wiFhin ten ,
4 & . .>
/,& * [ ,;.,, tdk c / 2 f"
*
miles of Great Salt Lake when they turned toward the 43gtkn Kiver. i. . '
Early trappers were probably some of the first white men to
make cay stay i n this v i c i n i t y of longer than t o rest up or tEke
on suppl ies . Then 4o nnons began t o s e t t l e i n Ogden, Ogden Valley,
Huntsville, I~lalaS Valley (Malude i n early days), Cache Valley and
*
other places with no p a r t i c u l a r object i n view except t o r a i s e .
t h e i r stock and get along on what they could raise and procure
from the woods.
The greater portion of the early m a l l settlements and
communities were s e t t l e d i n the y e u s 1859 to 65' %bus meaning f
that many people began t o venture into the pioneering of the
area cur round in^ the Cache while Stansbury wes making h i s Ex-pedition
end soon the&r.fter. (See derivation of iqames and
s e t t l t n g of northern Utuh which folloTt;s i n t h i s report). In
years previous t o this time, there was but one settlement in
Bache V:.lley, t h a t of belksville,
In view of the f a c t that much'good information is contained
i n a portion of Stansbury's report of his expedition, a s h b r t part
of t h e r e p o r t is qubated verbaturn as follows:
"The rsnge which here sinks quite suddenly, for a short
distance t o the south of the canon or gatethrough which the river
has forced its passage, (Ne believe he was speaking of the Cutler
Canyon and bear fiiver) eonsists of low, rounded h i l l s , which pre-sent
no &race of rock on the surface."
If we take a look a t t h i s section now-a-days and see the
rocks on the surface, t h i s would lead one t o believe that much
erosion has taken place since $tansbury came through here.
f f f-7
" The -v&l.e;yX of the Malsde is extremely level, free from under-
I
brush, with very l i t t l e artemisia, and affords grouM for an excellent
wagon road,
Viater to-day was found i n quantities s u f f i c i e n t f o r t h e animals,
at points conveniently d i s t r i b u t e d , and grass was abundant. Encamped i i b
on the l e f t bank of the Malad, here s i x f e e t wide and two feet deep." *! t"
t
X $
He v~ent on t o the devide between the Jdalnd and Portncuf d r ~ i n -
la %t
f
age and going down into the Port h t f drainage he said, "On descend- 2 . .,
,.A"' /jk &$> [ g , , 44:
ing,,.d viding ridge i n whichJ'V heads, the rocks were hidden by a
black, r i c h s o i l
The Port Neuf, where we forded it, is a f i n e , clear, bold
stream one hundred yards wide end 3 f e e t deep!'
Mr. Stansbury went on up to Fort H a l l and then returned. The
following was taken from h i s report of h i s return and we believe it
has an important place in the history of the Cache Forest.
"Following the same route which I had taken when coming up 1 * f a
I '
we a r r ived a t B e ~ rg iver on t h e evening of 1 * the 11th of October and I
, l' 'i < a
*
encamped. The exaxination of Cache Valley occupied several days , I I r
> "I r,f
( ,Ib s l
5 J40ssinz over the range of low, rounded h i l l s through which Bear 'J * , ,< ' * I f b
:. J i" A *
Iiiver h: s cut a pmsage, we entered t h i s beautiful and picturesque :' . ,. i
' I'
,, E
valley, which was then covered with 8 profusion of r i c h green grass, 3 ,
~ n dad orned and d i v e r s i f i e d by numerous cluplps of willows, Our a t -
tempt to cross it d i r e c t l y was frustrated by meeting with a deep
quiet stream, called the aiuddy, which r i s e s i n the h i l l s dividing 6H
the southern end of t h e v a l l e y from Ogden's hole, and winds through
the t a l l grass without banks, u n t i l it discharges i t s waters into
Bear Kiver, just before that stream enters the valley of the Salt
Lake, Vie were i n consequence driven some eight miles to t h e south,
and effected our crossing where the valley is f u l l of swE,mpy springs
affording abundance of good sweet wEtexS, and excellent grass. Spec-kled
trout of large size abounded i n the stream. After crossing the
Muddy, we s k i r t e d t h e eastern side of the valley for thirty-five miles
i n a northerly d i r e c t i o n , crossing successively Blacksmith's Fork,
Logan's Fork, High Fork, -, and Rush Creek, a l l t r i b u t a r i e s
of t h e Bear flivcr, which l a t t e r stream traverses the valley from the
n o r t h , u n t i l i t breaks t h r o u ~ ht h e r a g e running t o t h e nor th m d con-s
t i t u t i n g the eastern l i m i t of t h e v a l l e y , whjch hEs m cverage width
of about ten miles,
The
ns which they form before leaving the :.
mountains abound i n timber, consisting principally of cotton-wood,
with some rnmle, They nf'ford desirable f a c i l i t i e s f o r i r r i g e t i o n ,
prezenting a t the same time udvuntageous s i t e s f o r the erection of
ni11s. These ravines abound in f i n e timber in q u a n t i t i e s s u f f i c i e n t
for fuel and building purposes.
As the object of the reconnaissance was p r i n c i p ~ i l l y to ascer-t
a i n what were the c a p a b i l i t i e s of t h i s valley to afford sustenance
for a m i l i t a r y post if established i n its v i c i n i t y , the examination
was a general one, and w ~ nsot di r e c t ed t o the s e l e c t i o n of m y part
t i c u l o r portion of it f o r such a purpose. A t the time the reconnois-smce
WEIS made, a l l the information t h a t could be obtained from the
oldest mountain-men, induced both Colonel Porter and myself to be-l
i e v e t h a t it was one of the most e l i g i b l e spots i n the whole country
for wintering stock, It had been a rendezvous f o r the American Fur
Compny for mny yews, and stock had been wintered there by them with
great advantage, The snow was seldom deep, and the c c t t l e not only
retained t h e i r flesh, but grew f a t during the winter. So r l a t t e r i n g
were the appearances, and so g r e : t the advantages offered by this
lovely valley, that nearly the whole number of c a t t l e and mules be-bonging
t o the cantonment were, upon the return of Colonel Poter
to that post, driven down here under the care of a proper guard, to
be wintered, The season, however, proved unusually severe; the snow
fell i n the valley t o a depth unprecedented; and more than one-half
of' the herd, in which were included some of my own animals, perished
i n consequence, The f a c t of the l i a b i l i t y of t h e valley t o a sim-i
l a r occurrence in Puture.wi3J doubtless have its due influence i n
f i n e l l y deciding upon its e l i $ i b i l i t y as t h e b e s t s i t e for a post
i n the v i c i n i t y of Salt Lake.
The sogl of the valley i s very rich, being principally alluvi-a
l , with a great &a1 of vegetable mould. F a c i l i t i e s for irrigation
are very grer:t, and water could be commanded t o a large extent for
farming purposes, h y blrrpount of hay might be cut without i n the least
interfering with the range f o r c a t t l e . The only objection t o t h i s ,
as a most desireable spot for settlement, i s the danger from snow; .
and even t h i s might be in a great degree obviated, by the erection c
of suitable sheds for protection of t h e stock during the more severe
portions of the seasons. These seldom last beyond a few weeks,
Should the road to which I have already adverted be established
from Fort Bridger, through the vtllley of Blacksmith's Fork, it would
a t once a t t r a c t to it the trove1 t o Oregon and California; a fact wBich
would have its due weight i n the selection of a s i t e f o r a military
post f o r t h e protection of t h i s pert of the country.
The advance of the season precluded the msking of much geolog-i
c a l examination beyond the immediate v i c i n i t y of the route travelled
which led through the valley a t the base of the ranges. The only rocks
met with were those composing the lower h i l l s , which consisted princi-pally
of conglomePates overlEying some argillmeous sandstones ~ n d
beds of white and red clby. The conglomerates on the lower h i l l s were
fomed principally of dark limestones much worn. On the higher benches,
I
large boulders of ieldspar were found. J i l b i t e and serpentine also I
occurred, and metamorphic sandstones, some of which were very beauti-fulkg~
veined, as if the s t r a t a had been disturbed before they had har-d
en od .
Returning t o the southern end of the v ~ l l e y , we again struck
the Muddy, and followed it up t o where it forks, amid the h i l l s form-ing
the divide from Bgden's Hole. The eastern fork makes an irnpase-able
canyon but we followed up the west fork about four miles whence
we crossed the Wahsatch range, and descended into a b e n u t i f u l , , l e v e l ,
c i r c u l a r valley, about a mile i n diameter, hemed i n by an amphitheatre
of l o f t y and steep mountains. Several fine aprings head in this singu-l
a r l i t t l e hollow, which uniting and emerging on the south-west side,
fom t h e h e ~ do f Boxeldes Creek, a t r i b u t a r y of the S a l t Lake, The : 1
. * f
L .:gc
pass or gorge through which this l i t t l e stream rushes down the noune ; tl ,
1 ?.
t a i n t o t h plains below i s steep rugged, and very narrow, being i n
4 - " "
\
places scarcely passable for mules. I had hoped it would afford a
passage over the range for wagons but t h i s I soon
ticable. Descending t h i s wild pass for about two
Lm+;-" 2 /
L
1: the lake valley, and pepa4-P-ed t o our cmp on Bear
found to be irnprac-miles,
we reached
River. '
I n crossing the hahsatch range a t t h i s point, the lower h i l l s
on the eastern side were composed of broken conglomerate, Large
boulders of serpentine were met with on the surface, tnd also altered
sandstones mdlimestones. Ascending from Cache Valley the dtirk lime-stones
were found cropping out, but the surface was so comnletely cov-
-e--r-e-- d -wi t h vegetable s o i l t h a t no s e c t i o n could be obtained. The lime- --," .
N
stones seemed t o form the sur.runits of the highest elemtion of the rage,
but as we passed through the deep gorge of Box-elder Creek, whis could
not be positively ascertained. No t r a p was observed, but large bould-ders
of granite were seen i n the sides of the pass. The rocks. had
been so much worn, and the surface was so covered by f a l l e n messes,
that no section of the s t r a t i f i c a t i o n was visible."
Peopls in the Bear River Vdlley (Randolph, Vioodruff , Laketown)
we3r.e cut off from the people in k c h e h l l e without traveling to -2
Soda Springs or south and coning through tueber Canyon, u n t i l about
1872, vrhen the f i r s t white men made t h e i r way through Logqcanybn
from Bear Lake t o Cache Valley. P a r t ' o f t h e company l o s t t h e i r way
. and came out at Srnithfield t h e o t h e r s came out a t Logan.
Other i n t e r e s t i n g travel and history of the Early days i n
and n e a the Cache Forest area, can be found i n reading the
i e s of men such as: Peter Skien Ogden, Lorin
Seth Langton and fiobert and John Thornley of
8
ahong with many others, In the Biography of M r
C".
s e t t l e r s o f Logan, R--*"*FLk"----" we find many i n t e r e s t i n g
tales.
4P The experience of a young man, since prosperous and prorniqfent,
i n h i s e f f o r t s t o secure a peir of shoes may not be uninteresting bb
showing past conditions. Eaving f a i l e d t o find, a t any price, a pair
of shoes i n the growing and then considerable town of Logan, our friend
after much e f f o r t , f i n a l l y ma&'trade f o r a dogskin f r e s h l y taken
/Tt"." w
from the body of' a large fiewfoundland. That valuable a r t i c l e consign-ed
t o the cure of the tanner with an urgent request f o r a speedy tan.
4
kt the end of' three months the skin was ready f o r the kn4fe of the shoe-maker
who was unable to make the shoes because he had n e i t h e r s o l e l e a t h e r
pegs or thread. These d i f f i c u l t i e s being f i n a l l y overcome by our deter-mined
and persistent friend who, finding i n the possession of one a
piece of old California saddle machiera, i n thcttof another an ox-bow, and
i n t h a t of a t h i r d a b s l l of shoe-thread, secured them and, after a
delay of nearly four months, encased his cracked and sunburnd f e e t in
shoes as s o f t a s s i l k , e l a s t i c as rubber and, when wet, as expansive
as buckskin. The boy was very proud of his first shoes.
Another i n t e r e s t i n g experience by one of the early s e t t l e r s
when but a boy, v:as t h a t of tending his fathers small flock of sheep.
He would take his lunch out with him t o his daily work and vlhile he
was tending t h.e sheep t h e indi ans would come and k i l l lambs and for c e
the boy t o give them h i s corn cake lunches for t h e i r cricket pies.
It was not uncomon f o r the older or mature men t o take a
wagon and tern with a load of grain 90 miles t o Salt Lake City and
trade it for a small bpundle of almost unssl4able merchandise.
R. A. Perks of Hyde Park i;o'ld th8.t the f i r s t ' time he rode
p&" ,i $sh
into Eagan Basin in 1897 %hby were logging there. Also that a t one
time, about 1900, 7 mills were operating from 62ring to Fall and
sawing about 6e ach. He s a i d t h a t i t w ~ ses t imated .';. ''.A
that 3 million feet of white pine had been teken out of Vihite Pine
Canyon and logging proceeded f o r 2 years after t h a t , taking out +
probably another mil.lion f e e t .
Mr. Perks s t a t e d t h a t a large f i r e burned in. Corral Hollow
and v i c i n i t y i n 1901 end that loggers i n 8hum.p Hollow started a brush
f i r e that burned a l l Summer up through Bearer and north into Idaho.
In 1903 a rather large f i r e burned up through Bony Grove Creek and
Cottonwood.
J. W. Perks of Hyde Park said that he ran Cattle i n Logan Can,
for five years between 1895 and 1900, then he operated between 5 and
6 thousand sheep u n t i l the Forest was set up. He said that some
o u t f i t s had 25,000 h e ~ dof sheep and they would t r a i l i n t o Idaho i n
the Fall each year. Idaho a t that time inspected a l l sheep before
they entered and many times they were held up a t the s t a t e liQg for
4 or 5 days waiting f o r inspection.
Early S g t t l b r s and Their Friends Enjoy
Telling Their Own Story
During, the past swnmer months, we have gaghered through the
e f f o r t s of the f o r e s t o f f i c e r s on the Cache various information from
mcny individuals still l i v i n g i n t h i s v i c i n i t y who were e i t h e r here
i n the early days or who's purents were here then.
N i l l i a m Evans, who cane to t h i s country from vlules, worked
I
in .,.' Logan C~nyon fro3 1883 t o 1890, str.ted t h a t he and many other
young men made t h e i r living by hauling logs to the m i l l s and lumber
and wood to town. It was quite an up h i l l business as the roads
were so bad and they were charged a t o l l by companies who were sup-posed
t o have permi$sion t o build ro'ads. Toll of 85 cents was
charged a t & differenct gates located as follows: Mouth of
Logan Canyon, st Card Canyon, Preston V&l.ley, and just below Temgle
Fork, These were l a t e r abandoned.
Gottlieb h i t h claims that Michakl J. hdrews, deceased, told
him that he could remember when most of the area i n Logan Canyon above
Temple Fork was solid coniferous timber. Ih-. Smith a l s o s t a t e d that
he used t o log i n Logan Canyon before the t u m of the century and
t h a t over a per iod of about 10- y a r s t h e r e were m i l l s o p e r ~ l t i n gi n
the following places: stock's iWl at Bearer Landing, Cole's Mill a t
Vvillow Springs, Csothers Bros. a t the mouth of Nhite Pine Creek, Jim
Hoggest M i l l i n Steam M i l l , ~ n dPe ter son Hollow, U. 0. Lunber Co.
at Boss Canyon and a t Canteen Spring i n the Sinks, John Montrose in
Blind I-lollow and Beaver, L. D. S. Church M i l l in Temple Fork, Brig-hm
City i d i l l in Cowley Canyon, and Beirdnesu's I d J i l l in Light Fork.
I n s e r t in cache history with write-up on Preston d i s t r i c t .
M r , hlmer S, Merrill has been very cooperative wibh us i n submitting
the following date about the early s e t t l i n g of the country near and including
Mink Creek Idaho and Franklin,Idaho.
------- -... .- The first s e t t l e r of impleton was Joseph Pe rkins , who moved from Frank- . . -- ' ,. 1 i n , *&iho, i n d 7 6 and b u i l t a home about Ohere Henry Bennett is now located.
Others t h a t came i n were Harrison A, Thomas of Smithfield, Utah, Orrin J.
Merrill, i&rk Porter, Abraham Foster, George G i l b s , Loric Corbin, James Sweet,
Owen Roberts, Samenia Taylor, iiathan iiawkes, Dave Davis, Calvin Wheeler,
irrchihnld, Stephenson, Edward h'hittle, Benry Day, Christisn h f f e r , Fred
Nuffer, George Kent, sr., Genrge Kent, Jr,, J. I. Naef, and Samuel A. Merrill.
When the f i r s t s e t t l e r s arrived i n t h i s . area, they neticed a w e l l beaten
t r a i l along Cub hiver up through the canyon, t h i s was the old Indiah t r e i l
where bmds of them journeyed from the Liuffalo hunting grounds i n Wyominp, also
made frequent t r i p s to Franklin and p a r t s of Cache Valley,
, 1877, Harrison A, Thomas took a company of men up Cub
River where)'% e ranger s t a t i o n was located. They used broad axes t o cut r a i l -
road t i e s horn t h e t i ~ b e ri n t h e pine @;roves. These t i e s were f loa t ed down
Cub River into Bear liiver and t o Corinne, Utah. Idany of the t i e s were hauled
by teems and oxen. /#f'/$)ld/d,#r(/Z~~ Leter in the year a sawmill was b u i l t
on the s i t e l a t e r used for the Cub hiver ranger station, About f i f t y men were
employed a t t h i s sawmill and thousands of t i e s wereK sawed and floated dovm
t h e r i v e r ,
The early s e t t l e r s b u i l t ditches from 8ub hWer t o t h e i r homes f o r
i r r i g a t i o n d and domestic use,
The feed on the range was plelhtiful @or the livestock and the sett&ers
cut lnuch wild hay for winter use,
About the year 1881 a branch of Frsnk1in.hx-l was organized i n
Mapleton.
I n these days wild meat and f i s h as well as timber products were
p l e n t i f u l , but by ruthless destnrction the people soon made t h i s p l e n t i f u l
s i t u a t i o n dismpear,
From 1677 to 1890 there was not much need t o r a i s e crsoDs other than
for small sugplies of garden vegetables. The greater portion of food was
purchased w i t k t h e money mbde f~*ornc u t t i n g wood and t aking i t t o t h e more
heavily populated arehs for sake. The wagon road used to go down the rJ ver
botcorn t o E'fanklin, fordiug the river i n threc p l ~ c e s .
In these early days the people had t o make t h e i r own good times, by
joining to-getter with t h e i r neighbors for a good #f$$ old house party which
would sornetims l a s t for days, The raspecb and regard for one's neighbor was
t h e t h i n g t h a t realy held the people of these early dzys to-gether in a
happy community l i f e .
Kap pertaining to History of Cache W?. -ha is f i l e d in
Basement map f i l e , section 0-2
'Ihe tollowing information has been gathered Prom the Ogden
.Eiiver D i s t r i c t ;
The area of t h i s d i s t r i c t centers very l a r g e l y i n Ogden
Valley around Auntsville where the f i r s t s e t t l e r s moved from Ogden i n
the Fall and fi'inter of 1860 and 61. Captain Jefferson Hunt and his
two sons, Joseph and Wyrum wi th t h e i r f ami l i e s moved i n a t t h i s t i n2e
accompanied by Joseph and Charles Noods, Edward Rushton and Abigale
Coffin, a widow, and t h e i r families. z a r l i e r i n the summer of 1860
Issaac and David ikDey went into Ogden Valley and mowed and put up
a pstch of hay i n the South Fork above where the prtsent town is
located. When they came back that f a l l they found the lndiuns had
burned it. I n the F a l l of 1862 the Garner family moved from Ogden,
One member of t h a t family, a l b e r t , age 82 of 3740 Xushington Avenue,
s t s i tes t h a t i t was i n t h e l ~ t t p~a rrt of l h y when they moved and due
t o the high water in Ogden Cmyon they could not go t h a t wey over
the old t o l l road, meking it necessary to go over North Ogden Canyon.
They l e f t by ox t e m a t 3 o'clock i n the morning, arriving i n Hunts-v
i l l e considerably a f t e r dark. S. V. Grow, 2064 Ogden Avenue, with
h i s f a t h e r ' s fa::ily, moved into t h e v a l l e y i n 1873. From Mr. Grow
and luir. Garner considerable information has been obtained r e l a t i v e to
the valley and idonte Cristo areas. TWO sons of Stephen Nye, Victor
end 0. L. Nye of Ogden, also have given conriderable information regar-ding
the ldonte Cristo area.
In Ogden Lorin Farr was one of the outstanding s e t t l e r s and
from his son John Farr of Ogden has come some information concerning
Ogden Canyon.
Through discussion whith the above men it has been'found that
two s t o r i e s exist as to the derivation of the Name ;?donte Cristo".
It appears that Levi &heeler, wishing t o get into the dense
stand of timber east of ivionte Peak, constructed a road up Wheeler's
Fork from beaver Creek into Dry Bre: d Hollow and thence up a steep
dugway and onto ivionte Cristo about where the present road is located,
The story is told of one man on the crew u7ho ~ l w a y s c t r r i e d a book in
his pock& and whenever time was taken for a rest or i n the evenings
and early mornings he would b!.:.come intensely interested i n his book,
A t the time the duway was being constructec?, imrnedicitely under Nonte
b o t h e r story which seem8 more l i k e l y t o nany people is told
of Gold Miners returning from the Gold rush i n California i n the
l a t e 1850's. l'hey hrtd h e a d of' a gold s t r i k e on lower Sugar Pine
Creek, There are numerous old diggings i n this: section. Since the
country resembles the h n t e C r i sto ~Lountains of Dorthern California
the mountains were n~med for that mountain\range. This l a t t e r story
was given by 0. 'A. Kennedy, 2910 Washington Avenue, who s t a t e s that
again i n 1897 a man narned Pitcock made E small gold s t r i k e i n lower
woodruff Creek which did not amount to anything lhter on,
The origin of Dry Bread Hollow is substsntiated by several,
The story goes that a t the time the rotid was being constructed over
the hekd of 2kheeler Fork and the Zower part of the Monte Cristo
dugway the workers r&n out of s u p ~ l i e s cnd rather then leave t h e i r
work which w m about completed they lived on bread since they bed
s u f f i c i e n t amount of f 1 . o ' ~t o c a r ry them through.
Sugar Pine Creek originated from the spruce there i n which
shingle mille were operated. The early s e t t l e r s called t h i s spruce
Sugar Pine.
The origin of Vuheeler Creek; Weeler Fork and Wheeler Basin
came from t h e f ~ c tth a t two brothe r s , Levi and Simon &heeler
both operated sawmills a t various times i n the e a r l y history of
these areas.
Causey Creek was named for Thomas Cbusey who operated a saw-m
i l l F i r s t i n Bew Gulch znd l a t e r a t a s i t e on Piheelex. Creek where
the present Boy Scout Camp Kiesel is located. Th,e story is told of
Mr. and Uirs. Ckusey being routed out one night by a grizzlg bear
ripping: open the tent f o r supplies which @hey had inside. They both
went out the other end of the t e n t and then hiked about throe miles
up the canyon t o a m i l l operated by Stephen Nye. The location of
these two m i l l s was then known as Bear.Gulc8,
Goodale Canyon, running north from just above the tkmn&tage
of ogden Canycn was named for ivlr. Goodale who in company with Lorin
Farr b u i l t the f i r s t road through Ogden Canyon i n 1859. This was
the road on which a t o l l one d o l l a r per charged for
pas s ing through. The rood w ~ lsa t e r bought by bbe r County f o r
t112,000a nd thrown open t o t h e publ ic.
Lost Creek was so named because the water would sink into
the gravel bed some distance up the canyon and did not reEppear
aghbn since the underground s t r a t a took the water into the bed of
the heber River.
S, V, Grow stated t o the &anger recently t h a t the e n t i r e ares
a t the head of Beaver was a t one time t a l l grass and that he spent .
severhl seasons herding more than 1200 head of c a t t l e i n that area.
There wc:s very l i t t l e sage brush a t that time and the grass reached
the stirups. lie s t a t e s that the deer and sage hens i n t h i s l o c a l i t y
were so abundcnt that they l i t e r a l l y shot wagon loads of b o b and
brought then down to s e l l . The elk were p l e n t i f u l and the coyotes
unhe~rd of. It was not u n t i l the sheep men began opera%ing extensive-
1.y t h s t the coyotes and wolves entered the country. Gross and red
foxes were p l e n t i f u l and wolverines 2nd marten abundant. .
About the same statement regarding fange conditions were re-por
ted by &?G.a rner who s t a t e d t h a t the q u a l i t y of the timber found
i n t h i s region i n the early days was unsurpassed.
The most outstanding d i f f i c u l t i e s of the early s e t t l e r s of
t h i s region was the passage through Ogden Canyon. 'dith heavy snow-ftblls
of three to five feet i n Ugden Valley, the spring runoff an-nually
washed out the road m d it had to be r e b u i l t . The road fol-lowed
Ogden hiver and a t one point where shanghai Creek came into
Ogden Hiver a high bridge was b u i l t ,
h e story is told of a men by the nane of Sam B i t t l e who was
coxing down the cayon w i t h his oxen; it was snowing and the ozcinn
the r i g h t side was blind in h i s right eye. The oxtn became excited
upon passing over t h i s bridge and both went over the side of the
bridge, pulling the wagon with them into the ugj t:n '1.iver. The r i v e r
was so high thbt these oxen sv~m a distance of three-querters of a
mile to a point where they emerged fron the water at fuheeler's
Iviill. Men from the m i l 1 headed up the road looking for I&?. B i t t l e
and found h i 3 clinging onto one log of this hich bridge, not dar-ing
t o l e t go and f a l l i n t o the river and not being able t o grasp
back onto the bridge because it was too slippery t o get a hand hold
above, This happeneci i n the early 1870's. The story was told by
Mr. Garner.
A story is t o l d by &. Grow t h a t the snow wzs so heavy i n i
early days t h a t i n early May t h men used to shovel the snow off 7-
the public square i n nuntsville i n order to play baseball,
The first wagon t r a i l onto Idonte Cristo passed through South
Fork, Beaver Creek and onto the ridge by the slk pond and 9ry Breird
hollow, and up 8kunk Creek and over the pass into Mioodruff Park.
Later Levi vlheeler b u i l t the road up Wheeler Fork following the bo
bottoln of 3ry Bread h l l o w and onto the idonte dugway. The othar A
roads le:.ding to the summit of h n t e Cristo passed up Magpie Can.
going onto h i g h t o n Ridge and thence onto horse Hidge near vbnumenb
Spring, and onto whet is now known as the piasatch Riggee One leg
of t h i s road extended down 'lorse Ridge into Guildersleeve Canyon
and Lost Creek,
It appears that Levi Wheeler constructed the f i r s t sawnil1
i n the v i c i n i t y of Huntsville. It was an old type " f l u t t e r " m i l l
and stood immediately below the mouth of bdheeler Creek in Ogden,
Canyon. This was appar\.-ntly operating i n the early 1870's. A t that
tirne a considerable mount of timber whs brought from Itheeler's
Basin t o that hill, This m i l l was'washcd out and not re-established.
It probably wo.uld not appeal strongly t o the present genera-tion
as a good method in which t o make a living, but about 1861
Thomas Bingham put up a hand-driven shingle m i l l on the North Fork
just west of where the county road now crosses that s t r e c m between
Xden and Liberty. It was operated there f o r some time and'ffhen was
moved over t h e Basin. About t h i s time ------ Ferrin put ug the
first power driven stw m i l l ne:r the place where the shingle m i l l
).
had stood. he owned ind operated the f i r s t " g r i s t " m i l l (and
probably the only one) on the old hitPa'son place just north of town.
The m i l l with i t s pen stock and race, a l l harboring a luxuriant
growth of moss, remained for years after t h e i r labors had ceased,
as a s o r t of monument t o t h t enterprise of' earlier days.
&team m i l l s then came into being and wheeler then took his
m i l l i n t o SR viheeler Creek on Monte Cristo. In the l a t e 1870's
!lQhviduEccles operated a s a v n i l l a t the head of Sugar Pine @ In
1081, 2 tad 3, Stephen and bphriam Nye ran Bingham's shingle m i l l
and Binghm moved to the head of Bear Gulch.
0. L. Nye t e l l s t h e s t o r y that the Indians from tho Bear Lake
Valley used t o cone into t h e ~ ~ ~ o n t e C r i asrteoE t o hunt and i t was
mandatory that the sawmill men furnish meaBs for f i f t e e n Indians once
a week. Barney White, who had a sawmill just north of Skunk Creek
didn't take kindly t o t h i s hotel business and as a r e s u l t the Indi-ans
were blamed for a large f i r e which spread through the Skunk C r .
and Blake Hollow a r e i ~ si n the e a r l y 1880's. Mr. Nye remembers one
Indian Chief coming for dinner with a band of braves and it was
necessary t o accommodate them. This Indian Chief was evidently
very religious and blessed the food for about ten minutes a t one
table and then moved t o the other table and proceeded to do the
saqe. A l l t h i s was done i n h i s native tongue ~ n dth e highly f r i g h t -
ened Nye boys did not enjoy the long proceedure very much. .
Other m i l l s in the l o c a l i t y were operated #is follows: I n 18-
a steam m i l l was i n s t a l l e d by Thmas Yeaman just below Wheeler
Creek i n Ugden Canyon. It was l a t e r operated by Simon vvheeler who
also had a m i l l i n Ogden Canyon a l i t t l e l a t e r .than t h i s , above where
the Herinitage now stands. Captain S i l v i a and Lewis J. Holther oper-ated
a m i l l i n %heeler Creek on Monte i n the 1880's and 90's. Sil-via
Iiollow gets its name from t h i s man. John Trocutt had a m i l l i n .
Dry Bread 8ollow i n 1893. William Moyes operated a m i l l in what is
now Burnt Fork on South Fork. John Gibson operated tl m i l l on Dairy
Ridge i n 1893. Viillim kilson had a small m i l l in operation i n
Ogden Canyon between t h e mouths of vvarmrl and Cold Water Canyons.
'Lhis was about 1885 and apparently t h i s m i l l cut a l l of the timber
which h&s been removed fro.:^ the head of %arm vbater and Cold Water
Canyons just below Ogden Peak.
Mr. Grow s t a t e s that even with the horses which they had in
those days that three sixteen hour days were required to go to
%heeler Creek on ldonte Cristo and return6with a load of lumber and
that 1200 f e e t of lumber was a big load. $18.00 per M. was a good
price for first quality lumber, liorsea were used t o haul the lumber
From t h e hills but oxen. were used i n t h e logging camps due t o t h e i r
i
strength and manuverat@L&ty about and over the logs.
About the only mining a c t i v i t y conducted i n the early days
were the old diggings for gold i n lower Sugar Pine and woodruff
Creeks. These were l a t e r given up although several men went broke
i n prospecting them.
A small industry which was quite important i n the early days
was the lime kiln operation. The f i r s t kiln was b u i l t just on the
west of the mouth 01' vihceler Cmyon i n 1865, by James M. Thomas.
Later on it was moved t o the mouth of cold water Canyon where it was
operated by Lorin Farr and his family for a number of years. About
k885 there was also a small powder m i l l i n operation just opposite
the lime kians near 601d Water. black powder was manufactured i n
this location but the operations were l a t e r discontinued.
Charles Grow i n 1861 l a i d out the f i r s t i r r i g a t i o n ditch
"The Town Ditch" i n Iiuntsville. The instruments he used were not
expensive or adapted t o vevg technical work, but they served the
purpose. They were two s t i c k s , a, square and a plumb. The ditch
did not run its present length a t 'first, but was extended as de-
Perhaps very few of the present population of the valley
know thzt a tannery once thrived here. But such is the case. A man
by the name of Fairbress manufactured leather i n a l i t t l e plant b u i l t
on the spring i n the South Lane, where Nrs. Anderson now Plives.
I n general t h e h i s t o r y of the early settlements in and near
/- a l l the d i s t r i c t s of t h e Cache run about t h e same, m n this
,-, Reynolds a Forest Assistant in 1909 made a report as to what had
i
taken place i n t h e years previous to t h e e s t a b l i s k ~ e n to f the
1.
ed at the head of Curtis Creek, Neponset & Deserel Live Stock Com-panies
i n the Curtis Creek area hold small areas on wate~ believed
For the purpose of controling many acres of grazing," This condi-tion
has probably been going on f o r many yeers.
"There have been two or three srnall stlwrnills operating i n
t h e v i c i n i t y o f Bu r t i s Greek yeers ~ $ 0 ,bu t these have moved out."
Next in order of discussion is ^the Paris D i s t r i c t eerP.rL. 4
'killian b. noge, located in Paria and a member of the Cache
For e s t o r g a n i z a t i o : ~r e c a l l e d wel l t h e e t r l y resehtment of t h e people
of t h i s valley towards the 'tfieserves". This was i n 1906 and it
seems that the feeling centered about the payment of fees for the
use of the rmge by livestock and the payment required for timber
taken from tht! Forest. Mr. Hoge still resides i n P a r i s , Idaho. He
s t a t e s there were no p a r t i c u l a r incidents of excitement or adventure
t o mark the period of time he was connected with the Forest hervice.
Early f i r e s on the area of t h i s d i s t r i c t were numerous attested /
by the mmy areas of immature stands of timber of .apparently f i r e
origin. k Mr. Price whose father wcs one(:of the chief timber oper-qtors
of this v i c i n i t y between 1880 and 1900 told me t h a t in the
early 1880's f i r e s bdned nearly continuously all smqer in Paris
Canyon. Lvidence on the ground indicate this must hove con~med 2/3
of a l l t h e s tanding timber i n t h i s area. Then i n 1905 o r a f u y~ea rs
e a r l i e r another t e r r i f i c f i r e occurred that bured over an area adja-cent
to the earlier f i r e bu* came with such suddenness t h z t it de-stroyed
large fuel and log supplies cut and piled f o r winter haul-ing.
Thi s f i r e destroyed a sawmill. '21 : ::+.' $,: ,).~r
Tvhile no one man contacted seemed t o r e c a l l s p e c i f i c4 f a c t s
regarding the ecrly use of the range by livestock the foll.owing
se$ms t o be a f a i r l y r e l i a b l e account of what actually took place4
'Irilliam fieney Jones a native of Whles s e t t l e d i n iialiid Valley with
his parents i n 1878.
There was quite a settlement i n &dad velley then and farsling,
was just beginning t o get a good s t a r t , while i r r i g a t i o n w s just i n
the experimental stuge. ltative grasses su-qlied winter feed f o r the :
cattleand horses and the mules were wintered out on the range i n the .
hest liills. There were quite a few c a t t l e o u t f i t s in the valley then
running from 20 t o as many as 200 head of c a t t l e . Some of these $acly
stockmen and companies were: wars-Cohen, Xdward %vans, LIorgan & Mor-gan,
6, S. smith, James Hones, and Bate Ireland. The early c a t t l e
men ran long horned durhams end roans end the &ereferde cane i n at a
l a t e r date. Mr. Jones says ha believes t h a t the wjater were more
severe i n the ezrly days than at the present time and that the rain
f a l l was about the same.
Freight ing between Cor t inNe , Utah an!; va r ious points in Montana
4
with oxen and mule teams w : s the principal occugation for most of the
laborers.
There were hens ~ n dp r a i r i e chickens i n t h e
country.No one
4
D r . Howard Peck of Mblad, Idaho: Born i n Sew York s t a t e in 1855
Came to Malad with h i s parents, ( I h b !drlrs. lienry peck) i n 1864. His
f a t h e r was a f a i r l e y well-to-do merchant, and a convert t o the &mon
f a i t h , both of which attracted him t o &lad Valley. He and J i m McJMis-ter
were the f i r s t s e t t l e r s in Xmlud Valley.
Henry Peck took up a homestead which i s now the business sec-tion
of lwlod. Eis f i r s t dwelling consisted dr Aspen Logs, d i r t floor
€nu roof. In 1866 he installed the f i r s t saw m i l l whi.ch uvtjs run by
water power , The first s6.w timber was cut from new Chnyon. Logging was
d ~ n ew i th ox t r a i n s dur ing wint e r months, Tom Parry was one of t h e
first loggers to cut logs for t h i s m i l l . ,
There was a mail route established a t the t i m e the Pecks settled
in i ~ l a d or soon thereafter by- I-ioutte Conner. The route went throuch
t o hoss Fer ry, through I';:ulad and over Babock I h u n t c i a , k ~ e l l sF argo
established 8 line into idontun& through iklad during the folloviing spring
A l l the early s e t t l e ! s were Mormons and most of then just d r i f t e d
into the valley with no p a r t i c u l a r object i n view, some took up small
of land.
From the f i r s t , oats and wheat were grown with more or less sucu.
cess on dry farms.
There were not may lndians in thc valley a t the time of s e t t l e -
ment, Chief Pocrtello hed a can? a short distance above Idialad, Mr, ..
Eich says he traded horses with the chief and wzs otherwise on friendly
terms wi t h him.
vj i l l iun J. uVi1,liorn of ~ ~ e l l s v i 7 l eU,t ah was interviewed and from
t h i s interview the following WELS learned:
Me came to Salad Vtilley 6s a boy of 8 years o l d viith his father
Jenkins ~ i 1 l i m . nf rom tooe l e , Utah i n the yet r of 1870 l o c ~ t i n ga t Cherry
Crbek, ni s f ~ t h e rw as looking f o r E r ; n r e country f o r r h i s ing c a t t l e .
(The chttle prior t o t h i s were u s u t l l y used for work) He brought with
him c a t t l e and horses and sheep. Sheep weye not allowed i n Malad valley
d a t the tine and he was forced to take his smtll herd down to orf fine,
Utah. The c t i t t l e brought i n were durhams,and were unknown at
that t i a e i n ikalad ,Valley.
The range was wonderful. a i l d hay could be cut with sythe along
Maled iiiver. There were several c a t t h o u t f i t s operating in the vicini-t
y of Cherry Creek, using the' valley ranges l a t e r . The h i l l s t o the
west were used before tbe ranges east of the valley. Mrs. Morgan Morgan
Bowered or Howell M, Mifflin, David H. Jones, Jas. T. Chivers and Daniel
Tovey were c a t t l e owners operating 25 t o 75 head of c a t t l e i n the early
, . * 1870's. , .I*, :A 1 i .:.+ 7 (;<?.I j.;., T t.?, + y' hr .s.
I&. Nillium spent several years with freight t earns freighting into
Nontuna before the railroads came in,
Sheep were introduced into %lad Valley by J, N. Ireland and other
men about 1880. along about 1900 larger numbers of sheep came into the
valley t o lamb and returned again i n the Fell. The sheep were takicg
all the feed away from the c a t t l e a f t e r a few years,
C A C H E N A T I O N A L F O E E S T
B E G I N S
/
I n 1891 Congress authorized the President to set aside ''forest
reserves", ts national f o r e s t s were then called, in order to protect
the remaining timber. on the public domin f r o n d e s t r u c t i o n and t o in-sure
L rsgu1e.r flow of wcter i n the streams,
The r u t h l e s s c u t t i n g of tirnber, burning of timber and grass and
brouse lands, and too heavy grazing of sheep had made conditions that
needed immediate correction. The small owners were being run out by
the l a r g e r o u t f i t s cnd many troubles were arrising,
Then came the Logan Forest Reserve on May 29, 1903, consisting of
about 182,080 acres of land und was devided into four d i s t r i c s ,
From operating a barber chair f o r 35 yews t o serving as a f o r e s t
supervisor would be considered e long leap for any man, but fin F. Squires
of Logan, Utah msds it in one jump bcck i n 1903 when the reserve was cre-ated.
For ten years from t h a t date he wes either supervisor or a s s i s t a n t
,sapervisor of the Cache with he:.dquarters a t Logan. For another 5 years
he served in the Eegionsl Office a t Ogden, quitting the Gov. service i n
1918.
kuite a difference is seen between t h e 1903 area and toQdayts
are& of 1,304,489 acres enclosed i n . t h e boundary of the forest 702,562
of vihich are actually Nationhl Forest land (Dec. 1939). This shows an
increase of 502,460 acres during the years of the cache Forest.
Once when brigham foung set out for northern Utah and eouthern
Idaho country t o make a t r e a t y with the Indian t r i b e s , Squires went
along ts the barber for Young. The t r e a t y was f i n a l l y made at Soda
Springs, Idaho 100 miles north of Logan.
As h i s assistant ranger 1Jlr Squires hired James Leatham of Wells-v
i l l e Idr. Leatham was pilhced i n charge of a l l the range betwen Blacksmithl
E'ork and Logan Canyons. Mr. Squires took everything in the reserve north
of Lehtharn's t e r i t o r y .
Leathan met an untimely death soon a f t e r h i s connection with the
service began. Some old buildings hcd been dimatlied i n Blacksmith Fork
end Supervisor Squires suggested to Laatham that he might as well tbke jd
the timber doxn to gbell.sviJ le. As '9, Leathnm was loading the lumber on
his wagon nis team started t o run. He climbed on the back of the viagon,
f ,
i n an e f f o r t t o stop the team. The horses i n t h e i r run crashed the wagon
over a rock and the load ana a l l f e l l to pieces burying Hhnger Leathtim i n
the -meckcge, He was rushed t o hellsvil-le but died on the way.
Successively u. 0. Theurer and E. I. hice became rengeis under Mr.
Squires,
7githin two months a f t e r he assumed charge of the Logan reserve, jvir.
Squixes.was called on to fight a f o r e s t f i r e . Nl he knew about f i r e
fighting then was what was written i n a forest serviee manual which he
had been given as part oP his equipment for handling the job of ranger i n
charge. It said he couldn't spend ovel 00 i n getting equipment t o put
out iCifels~.and was t o hire extra men as needcd. Some men were engaged from
the Logan b'ifth whrd d i s t r i c t and set out t o do some I'ire fighting. 'Ihey
hadn't been a t the job long before a rainstorm csms up and put out the f i r e ,
1; l o t of red tape and correspondence was necerssary then between Logan
and the lltlshington o f f i c e befor 1Kr. Squires could getthe necessary money t$
pay the men he hired.
Sheep and c a t t l e men, wood haulers, loggers, and others making use
m
of the f o r e s t a t t h i s time were e b i t hard t o manage a t f i r s t , but soon
they began t o l i v e up to Uncle Sam's rules. Eefore the forest ser1:ice was
Zvn*.-
,/, !. ,* ";<'$;$. +&&-: qfl! . dC ' I
Jr thesel',%en had p r a c t i c a l l y t h e i r own way and they still wanted it.
We didn't push them much though.," said Mr. Squires in 1930, "but
tried to be easy on the3 a d get them gradually t o see what Unc1.e Sam wanted
thea to do."
fl /+;tr
About 1905, the 18fquare rd&ee of Logan Reserve aere extended to
,j&& f / $ p22 ;I'
, Soda spr ings , Idaho on soda Point . stil.1. l a t e r , a reserve was c r e ~ t e dwe &
of l k l n d , then the Pocatello d i s t r i c t . k i l l of these are now a part of the
%tiche except :he l o c a t $ l l o d i s t r i c t which was token i n t o the Ceribou i n
1938, see the r e s t OF t h i s report for conditions of the successive reserves
as they were set up and repor ted on f o r q ~ q u i s i t i o nt o the Forest Service.
in 1907 Vd. k L Clark came to take over the Cache, but died not long
s f t e r of pneumonia on the p&rch of the Bard h. s. i n Logan Canyon. Mr.
I\!. G. Vboodruff and C. G. Smith were successive supervisors and Squires broke
them i n for the job. In 1913 Squires went to 11. 0. and L. c.' Shepard suc+
ceeded Clinton G. smith and he relinquished his post t o Carl B. Arentsen i n
1922; then i.. G. Nord bncume Supervisor i n Dec. 1936.. See report on person-
~1l.i
The pb.oh.eers+o f:dhel.Cache Nat ional For e s t , a s we may c e l l them, had
many i n t e r e s t i n g experiences.
Mr, Eomero one of the early rangers on the Nlt. She] man d i s t r i c t
told J.R.L. Brewer i n October of 1940 the following account,
It seams t h a t Iir. irornero and one of the other men of the Forest
Service not on formal appointment a t the time, were discussing the pur-chase
of various guns. l&. Homero mentioned that he was going t o buy
a rifle. The other gentleman told Homero t o wait u n t i l he received the
gun he had ordered and see i f it would be s a t i s f a c t o r y to meet Romero's
needs. PPhen the gun f i n a l l y came the two men went out t o t r y it out
and through courtesy the owner had homcro t r y it f i r s t . He prepared
the gun for f i r i n g and then aimed a t a l r r g e rock due west of the
Eight Mile h, S. on the side of the canyon. He pulled the trigger and
found himself lying on the ground with the gun about s i x f e e t away from
him, O f course he did not care t o buyi" gun l i k e t h a t one.
One day homer0 came home to the 86Kile h. S. and found t h a t his
wits had dammed off the l i t t l e creek which runs from the east of the
s t a t i o n down through the s t a t i o n yard and into the main creek. The young-sters
were gathering up trout by the dish pan f u l l , homer0 chastised them
for the act and warned them never to do it again. Now the stream goes
dry early i n each year,
i n t e r e s t i n g @~c ,&owt hich i s r e l a t e d by b p i i i c e a s ! / i
a sheepherder i n the early,t &lrs of the,* &rest is' as / I
follows
As time went on and the Forest Reserve "Policy" was being sold
to the p u b l i q t h c : Borest service sent out Field Assistants f o r t h e pur-pose
of examining land wbich contained p o s s i b i l i t i e s of becoming forest
lands. These Fi e l d k ~ s s i s t a n t sm ade r e p o r t s which a r e considered of
value i n the history of the Cache F'orest as a menas of comparison of the
various aress before the acquisition and in comparing the method of
examinations to-day and then, ; . .. . ,: - , l ! . ~
A few of these reports have been.used as follows:
REPCRT OX PROPOSED HALMI ZDBXST
RRSERVX ,
BY. SMITE RILEY. ~904
The main streams rising wi-thin the area are: CIarkston;
Weston, Deep, Cherry, and Aspen Creeks,
The valleys t o the east and west of these mountains, l i k e all
of Oneida County, are semi-arid. The greatest annual precipitaion in
t h i s region, 14 inches, is given at the Weston Station. Wines are
stribng and blow the major portion of the year.
The Malad Momtins are very poorly timbered. O f the 94, Z ~ O
acres within the reserve, but 5,069 acres a r e covered by co~mercial
t irnb ere
The cultivable acreage of the Malad and Cache valleys f a r
exceed that cultivated, and every effort is being made to increase
the available water supply and, correspondingly, the irrigated area.
Xrithin the last four years the m0i7-11t of l i v e stock owned i2
t h i s region has greatly increased, and the demand for smner range
has increased accordingly, with the result that the available grazing
lands have been greatly iniured by overstocking. M r . Jones, of Malad,
Idaho, vho h6s been in the sheep business for the 18st six years, stated
that the range upan the Malad Mountains w i l l not supgort to-day more than
half of the stock run on the area four years ago. The range is in very
poor condition now, and the d-ecrease in the water supply from the i mpor
tant streams rising within the proposed reserve is undoubtedly due to
the decrease in the cover.
The chief industry of Cache, Malad, and Marsh valleys is agricul.
The larger portion of stock of tne ,regton i s sheep owned in the
MaJad V:Uey. Many of th&se+ sheep are driven i n t o t h e Soda ~priniys
country f o r swrmer range and onto the Salt Lake Desert for the winter.
A sufficient number remain in the valley and in the monntains here
to greatly decrease the land's grazing value,
Tne grazing lands of the Kalad Moundlahs h ~ beeen overstocked
with sheep to such an extent that the lands w i l l not support c a t t l e at all.
Tnere i s one wagon road crossing the area from Malad to Weston.
There were two small steam m i l l s cutting in the patch of commer-c
i a l timber on the heads ot' Cherry aad Aspen Creeks, where they h: ve
been operating f o r the past ten years. The mills nm about 3 md*a
- mbihbhs of the year.
The supply of saw timber in the reserve is nearly exhausted, and
the m i l l onners say they will discontinue oneration hn a year or two.
Excessive stocking of the range has all but destroyed the grass
growth upon the proposed reserve.
The excWsion of' sheep will work no hardship on the sheep owners
as tilere is ample range in the Blue Spring Bills, on the west side of
Malad Valley, to supply their wants.
There has been but one f i r e within the reserve recently or
within the l a s t six y e a s , and there are nof indications of there
ever having been severe f i r e s in these mountains. Tile f i r e mentioned
burned only the ground on the head of Aspen Creek in the timber.and
did but l i t t l e damage. Nothing could be learned of i t s origin.
The macjority of the s e t t l e r s contiguous to the a r e a are in f--v o r
of its creation. Tilere are a few shekpmen opposed to it because they
will be excluded.
Tne necessity of this reserve cannot be urged too strongly.
EXCERPTS FROM REPORT OIT THX BIG
CRJJEK WATERSEED
by
A. E. Oman.
B i g Creek i s due east, across the mountains, from Cub Creek.
Big Creek i s about equal to Cub and Mink Creeks in the volume
of water carried.
B i g Creek more tnan mpplies the local demand for irrigation pur-poses.
The excess water gets into Bex River for use i n d i s t a n t projects
The f o r e s t i s in patches, orb in fringes along ridges, The approx-imate
area i s & to 10 Sq-nare miles.
Near the reserve line, the north slope of B i g Creek Cayn has
ggod red fir reproduction for half a mile in extent. Fazther up the
cayn young growth is in small patches.
Colsiderable cuttine was done in this canvon in the early
settlement of the country. Fires followhd and large areas were laid
waste without seed trees to reproduce the ope& land. Chaparral has
taken over the gro?u)d, fully.
Denuded land, on B i g Creek, mvst approximate three square miles.
' ~ l t o g e t h e rt h i s includes about 91 square miles of reserve t e r i tory
Cub and maple valleys are well settled up to and probably short
dl stance within the reserve.
A light and power company i s erecting a plant on Cub Creek,
near Ma2leton post ofrice.
A g r i s t rail1 a t Franklin uses water power when enough water comes
t k t way,
Approximately 12 of the 91 sg.uare miles have f a i r l y good forest
cover while half' as many more have broken or patchy stands.
April and May are the months of greatest rainfall. It follows
tha t spring rains hasten the d i 9p &&+of the winter I s snows.
A pzboneer of Franklin spoke of the fact that years ago frosts
occurred later in spring than has been the case in recent years and
attributdd the difference t o the fact that the. snow melts earlier in
the mountains now on accouht of the denudation of forest land.
Bbpxd&uctTbn~dsf a i r on the "Big Spring" fork of the C u b River
and good on high north slopes of Maple, Crooked, and Higb creeks.
Fires have baed over all cutover areas. At the head of Maple
Creek are two areas of 80 to 160 acres of' burned stand. see also below.
Probably three-fourths of' a l l cut-over land has l i t t l e or no
reproduction,
There i s not much danger from f i r e except in slashing after
logging operations. Under reserve administration the suppression of
f i r e s ought to work out witho~lt any difficulty.
Xxcerpts from'(lieport on iviink Creek Water Shedw, by k,E. Oman, 1906,
Birch and strawberry Creeks being small streams are f u l l y
u t i l i z e d l o c a l l y ,
dink Creek i t s e l f , running a stream ten t o twelve feet wide,
is similarly used, but in addition it feeds two large i r r i g a t i o n
ditches for the 'lieston and Yreston settlements, respectively,
After diverting t h i s quantity, large amounts flow into bear iliver.
The fieston Canal, established in 1906 i s t o weter 30,000
acres between bear hiver and Xalad ~~lountains.
The f o r e s t area is very l i n i t e d as most of this country is
f o o t h i l l s o r low, rounded rnountE1i.n~~co vered wi t h grass and sage
brush,
(toshow t h e d i f f e r e n c e i n the 1906 way of lobking a t
f o r e s t cover and the way a forester now looks a t it)
. Approximate area of Forest Cover as o f t h i s rcport.
1906
in, lhink Creek square mile
Birch Creek 1 square mile
Strawberry Creek 2.6 square miles
ho d i r e c t r e l a t i o n is discernable between cover and stream
flow, heproduction is very sparse on Iilihk Creek slopes, the denuded
land being heavily clothed with ceanothus c h ~ p a r r a l .
i r e here are old cuttings on a l l t h e creeks and f i r e s
heve invariably followed, u?nudntion and f i r e s have wasted the
original stands and chaparral has taken over,
One m i l l was logging dea& timber a t the head of Zink Creek
Ref, t o Reynolds', Forest & s i s t s n t , report on proposed addition
to the Cache LAational Forest, 1909,
. Xxterrsively culled & cut over as far 2s timber is concerned at
the head of Curtis Creek. Neponset and Ueseret Live Stock Cos, i n the
Curtis Creek are;: hold small areas on water believed f o r purpose of
controling many acres of grazing.
Aspen, billow, and brush cover the slopes with a density found
i n no o t h e r p a r t of the near by areas.
The Fast Slope is rather sparsely timbered, except on north
exposures of the ridges (speaking of the '4a:atch range devide).
Occasional ereus of grass land are found. The top of the wasatch devide
here is e n t i r e l y grEJss lznd forming a narrow s t r i p about 300 yards wide
and 15 miles long,
Reproduction of the more valuable species of timber is excellent in
most of the hollows. FirL and spruce coming i n under the aspen i n a
s t r a g g l i n g manner, fieynolds s ~ y st h e g r a s s and other forage hare a t t h i s
Xany Woodruff residents say grbzing is serious due to the controle
/ h &i" ~?~f&4@&: A, a P c && U* 2 f
by two companies ad above mentioned. Regulation by U. SA?. 3. proposed
by the stockmen of woodruff, who f e l t that they would soon be forced out
of business by the conditions existing,
Two o r t h r e e small saw m i l l s few years prior t o 1309 were operating
in T.8 N , fi. 4 E. %I% but these moved out now that the timber is nearly
a l l cut out.
Fires very prevelent and land in need of fine protection.
Not considered that grazing problems are as numbrous and hard to get
at on the west slopes as on the east slopes of the range. Unde~ the aspen
cover themcis plenty of grws land and while some l a d is held by the live-stock
companies, they cannot control the range ~s completely as the less
well watered east slope,
90,000 acres are recommended for acquisition by the F. S. because
of being so important cis watershed for few small communities and Ogden,
Utah,
The following diacussion,taken from a heport on %end Elimination
Proposels of the old r o c a t e l l o National Forest whkch included part of
which is the Cache now, shows some of the reasons for these boundary
changes and what sentiment was toward these cha'nges a t the time,
The boundary has been revised t o exclude lands chiefly valuable
for agriculture and grtzing purposes and l i t t l e or no timber or wood-l
a i d of any consequence has been excluded, The l i n e h~ been drawn thus
i r r e g u l a r l y t o r e t h i n he&& of important streEas. Up u n t i l t h e c r e a t i o n of
the Foreat these l o c a l ranchrnen were harassed by indiscriminate sheep grez-ing
to t h e i r very serious detriment, as feed f o r t h e i r horses and few stock
c a t t l e was ttken from them by the sheep i n t h e i r annual spring f a l l move-ments.
The open lands here proposed for exluQion are very valuable f o r
lambing grounds,
Since the present f o r e s t boundary serves the purpose of regulating
the grazing i n t h i s ~ i s t r i c tr z t h e r than t h e prot e c t ion of Porest cover
and conservation of water flow, it is recommended t h a t t h i s elimination
as shown be xnade,
~ o s ot f t h e people a r e not i n favor of e l i d n a t i o n of these lands
and n r e a t present c i r c u l a t i n g a p e t i t i o n t o hold t h i s l ~ n das wel l as t o
add some more lmd to the Forest,
I n the e a r l i e s t days the timber was taken out by the mrn who used
it and l a t e r on sawmills came into existence when there was enough popu-l
a t i o n t o enable a m m t o get timber out for sale,
At 1ail.lville the f i r s t sawmill of Cache Valley was begun back i n
~ 5 9 ,
Levi llheeler constructed the f i r s t sawmill i n $\heeler Bmin an
old ty$e . " f l u t t e r m i l l " which was flooded out and never r e b u i l t . Then
steam m i l l s came into being, see discussions of D-1 at f o r e part of t h i s
report,
A few exc e rpt s f r om' s o ~ eo f the e a r l y h i s t o r y of t h e f o r e s t a f t e r
it b e c a e a Reserve, between 1908 and 1917, may bring out for comparison
some of the main diferonces i n the management o f . t h e tixber to-day and
i n the e e r l i e s t d ~ y sof t h e Cache,
Cache Valley t o t h e west and Bear Lake V ~ l l e yt o t h e e a s t of t h e
Ckche National Forest are extremely f e r t i l e farming regions. Have been
quite t ickly s e t t l e d for ubcsut forty yems. Practically a l l the build-ing
timber and fuel used i n this region has been taken from the Bern
hiver Eange, Only i n the nost inaccessible pZaces are t i s b e r tracts i n
which no cutting has been done,
Xvery portion of the tinbered area has been burnt over s i n c e t h e
settlement of the region.
In a l l the large t h b e r e d canyons small m i l l s , usua1l.y of the
waterpower variety, have been operated.
Logged areas were almost invarj. ably burned over by the stockmen
i n ordm to dispose of the slash which hindered animals in grazing.
,
Repented f i r e s on many of these acres have almost completely
annihilated the f o r e s t cover,
I n the primeval, f o r e s t f i r e s have often destroyed the younger
cge c l a s s e s and opened the stands causing an under story of brush. I n
these plcces balsam fir alone succeeds in regenerating. The old t r e e s
i n t ese badly burned t r a c t s h&ve often been so we?:.ken&d through the
change of site conditions t h a t they have readily succumbed to fungus
attack. The most prevalent and contageous fungus d8sease Es thut caus-ing
$itches broom. Stands of t h i s caracter are urgently i n need of im- ;
Scattered over the Forest are many large burns containing merch-
*Mm cf:'f,ea d * 6. , -<
antable dead ti-nber i n eq&s-i-%tftfW amounts. The timber sales have not
on the whole tended to b e t t e r the s i l v i c u l t u r u l condition of the Forest
i n f a c t i n a few instances t h e Forest has been considerably injured by
destructive lumbering,
The o l d w s t l e s hav6 e u h b ~ e ni n charge of 5 i f f e r m t f o r e s t o f f i c e r s
for varying period$.- 'These men have not as u rule understood timber work
nor have they r e ~ l i z e di t s iinportance, hiost of them h ~ v elo oked upon mark-ing
as superfluous $ince they have thought thet the object of timber sales
was t o furnish purchasers with the best t r e e s f o r lumber. Broadly speak-i
n g t h e Forest o f f i c e r s i n charge do not know well what t r e e s a r e u n f i t f o r
timber.
on most sales I find (says C. E. Dunston who is makin2 t h i s report
i n 1908) thut the stumpheight regulation had been well observed, but the
clause regarding the u t i l i z a t i o n of the the tops has been widely
disregarded. In the majority of cases the brush has hot been piled and very
o f t e n i t hss not even been p r o ~ e r l ylo pped and s c a t t e r e d , As a r u l e t h e brush
piling has been very carelessly done.
The above report by 'v. Dunston as compared with the timber manage*
mcnt r e p o r t s and f i r e r e p o r t s o f.t o -. d a y will give us an idea of what a
great change has taken place durinp the 1903 t o 1959 period.
and follows a b e t t e r plan of Arkink f&m 8 s i l v i c u l t u r a l standgoint. V V
%, 6
+-*%" f4
-do--fiBFs e-p&>ney - J-u.n&.$p.ez,s-pk.~~ 3 ~ ~ b7% eT~ tE#it -+Th e-s ~ O T ~ H F@L - Thes eWlju n&pe x,k.@x,e--.-- nb
o$ bfmber prior t o saley' By t h i s method of management \we can now avoid
A" 9, \
many of the undesirea)de condi t ions which htve come &bout* int h e pe s t .
/ . 1-
Fire proteption, s a n i t a t i o n , slash disposal and other revprictions
have been stepped up to the point where we are now "getting some place"
i n timber mtmagement.
T H E N U R S E R Y
Nursery work began on the old Pocatello heserve. During 1908
the Pocatello Nursery was stakted on the PocateL10 beserve near Pocatello,
Idaho, up Mink Creek and i n the v i c i n i t y of Scout Mountain. The nursery
was i n operation u n t i l about 1918.
k t the peak of the work of t h i s nursery, the area sova t o Douglas
f i r production consisted of 9 beds, 5 feet wide and 70 f e e t long. Seed
froa the Payctte and Pocetello Forests were sown i n the Pocatel1.0 Nursery.
Payette seed was successful but the seed from the Pocatello Reserve was
un~uccessful.
T'here were 6 beds, 5 f e e t wide and 30 f e e t long of yellow pine,
For research purposes there were 180,000 douglas fir and 13,000
yellow pine besides the stock mentioned above,
No cultivation was done nn the seed beds due t o the f a c t t h a t the
seeding was done by broadcasting,
The worst enemies of t h e young seedlings and seeds were: damping
off , chlorosi s, birds and rodents.
Trees were distributed to the Psyette, Szlmm, and viyoming forest
from the PocatelZo Nursery,
Plans were made i n 1917 t o discontinue the nursery a f t e r complete
disposal of a l l stock on hand could be made,
Lifter t h e abandonment of the ~ o c e t g l l l oN ursery, l i t t l e o r no work
was done i n t h i s l i n e u n t i l t h e e'stablishing of the Tony Grove Nursery
on the Cache fiational Forest i n 1336.
The tony Grove nursery. was s t a r t e d with tbe plan of producing
2 million conifer seedlings annually for planting in Utah and Idaho. The
first seed was secured in the Spring of 1938. Up to the present time
no trees have been shi>ped from the Nursery, 1939.
kt the present time t h e r e are approximately 1$ million seedlings
i n the nursery,
There are 7 acres within fence a t the presbnt time.
The bulk of the seed so f a r has come from t h e Targhee (lodgepole),
Powell (blue bpruce, Ponderosa @inei),.ldaho, Payette and heiser (Ponderosa
Mr. James k, kugenstein is in charge of the Nursery, ?'his is the
.---- - - -
only nursery i n Region 4 and has a branch nursery on the Idaho Forest a t
McCall, Idaho.
EARLY GRAZING HISTORY
As nre, come t o summing up the general history of the grazing before
creation of the Forest Reserve, we can say it i n a few words: I n the
early days when most of the smll communities were g e t t i n g a foothold,
1860 t o 1880 them was no thought about overgrazing or crowded ranges,
Lrter i n 1900 few large stock holders began t o get control of c e r t a i n
streams and sprin,:s thus controling much of the grazing land, The
smaller owners began to uprise against t h i s prucedure and a gradual
feeling, that the Governnent should take over, came i n t o being, As
time went on t h i s f e e l i n g was spread over much of northern Utah and
southern Idaho, and in 1903 the Government began i n northern Utah t o
manage the grazing but on a small scsle a t first.
The Logan Reserve was created on k y 29, 1902 Consisting of
about 182,080 a c r e s of land ~ n dwa s devided into four grazing d i s t r i c t s ,
D-1. A l l t h a t portion of the reserve north and east of southeast
corner of Sec, 8. T, 11 N, He 4 E, bXIk running west across Saddle t o the
divide between Saddle Creek and the Logan hiver, thence following said
divide i n a westerly direction to the r i d g e east of Hicks Cunyon, thence
northwester-ly hlong t h i s lmt named ridge to the Right Hand Fork of the
Logan Eciver, thence following the hcad of said stream i n a westerly di-r
e c t i o n t o where i t joins t h e r n ~ ~ isntr etim of t h e Logan k i v e r , thence
northwesterly along the ridge southwest of Kood Canyon t o the top of
the main divide between the Logan River and Green Cayon, Thence north-e
r l y along s a i d divide t o t h e nor th bound~r y bin@ of(*..ther eser& *
D-2 4 1 that portion of the reeerve south of a l i n e running
through the reserve as follows: Commencing a t the southeast corner of
Skc. 8. T. 11 N. fi. 4 a. running northwesterly elong the south boundary
of D i s t . No. 1, as above described t o the forks of the Logan Iiiver,
thence southwesterly along the ridge to the top of the divide b e t ~ e e n
the Logan Eiver and Blacksmith $'ark, thence westerly along said divide and
the divide between Spring Creek Canyon cnd Providence Canyon to the top
of Providence Peak, thence northwestei-~lya long t h e divide between Dry
Canyon and the Logan hiver t o the west boundary l i n e of the Forest Reserve.
D-3. A11 t h a t portion of the reserve lying south of the divide be-tween
Green Canyon and the Logan Eivar, and north and west of D i s t . 1 and
2.
D-4. A l l that portion of the reserve lying north and west of D-1
and D-3.
The stock to be distributed in these d i s t r i c t s as nearly as may
be, as follows:
Dihtrict No. 1, 25,000 sheep and 2,000 c a t t l e and horses
tt
" 2 10,000 sheep end 2,000 c a t t l e and horses
1f " 3 no sheep "300 c a t t l e and horses
tt tl 4 11 1) 700 catlile and horses
Sheep were therefore, excluded from D. 3 and 4, but a driveway
was established through d i s t r i c t 4 i n Green Canyon t o allow sheep be-longing
to ranchers on the west side of thc reserve to cross said dis-t
r i c t i n going to and from D-1, and not to exceed three days i n crossing.
The c a t t l e and horses that were t o range i n the main canyon of the
,& &Jy, F'
Logan f i v e r between i t s mouth and t h e f o r k s sf t h e r i v e r ~ b~e dc lo s e ly
k . , rg-r+.Lf{-
r e s t r i c t e d so that they U l r l . not polute the water supply of the town of
J. F. Squirest annual grazing report of 1904.
The c a t t l e were turned into the d i s t r i c t s according to the instruc-
,d,A& t\ h b p(4i. ,j&p fP..-JL- -
tions received from the Codm of GeFP. L; 0,' w . . A - : - ~ ~ ' ~ ~ ~ * 'I Reports no overgrazing on any portion of the Cache.
Sheep were controled as near as possible and c a t t l e were turned on
i n designated places and allowed to roam a t large l a t e r on.
I n 1904 the range was grazed by 18,000 and 7,000 sheep on D-1 and
D-2 instead of as above shown for 1903.
hecomends that stock companies or associations be formed for the
stock grazed on the Cache Eeserve,
3'ollowing is a grazing report as of 11-2846 for the Pocatello
Forest Eeserve. ( l a t e r included i n the Cache Sotional Forest).
The feed was good throughout the sewon of 1906, Stock l e f t the
reserve i n good condition,
fiecornmended that the duration of the p a z i n g season for 1907 be
from May 1 t o Qct. 31, as it was i n 1306 and that the combined nurnber of
stock and horses shall not exceed 500 head.
* h. H. Charlton, Forest hxaniner 1903-4 estimated 100,000 sheep
and 7,000 c a t t l e on the reserve. Sheep has injured water supply, forced
the c a t t l e out of thekr range. Liost of h sheep come from b b e r and
Boxelder Counties. hecomends 25,000 sheep and 7,000 W. locally owned,
~ f l In view of the fact t h a t the nuznber of hedd allowed to range is
releitively more productive (being largely dairy stock) than Sange cyittle.
I recommend that the fees for summer grazing on c a t t l e be raised from
20 to 35 cents per head. by supervisor.
BUR RIVXH FOREST RESERVE :
A l e t t e r from the U.S.D,k, 12-28-1905 s t a t e s :
T'he Secretary of Agriculture hss authorized the grrzing of 17,000
head of c a t t l e and horses end 113,500 head of sheep on the Bear hiver For-e
s t keserve during the season of 1907, and therfore, i n accordance with
the rcgulstions you (~r. J. F. Squires) :lay reeeive applications and issue
permits f o r t h t grazing of t h i s number of stock,
CUi w i l l graze from 5-1 to 10-15 and ScG w i l l graze from 6-15 t o
hef. J, 3, Squires l e t t e r of 11-1-06 to Forester,
The amount of r a i n f a l l t h i s season largely exceeds any previous
'yezr since the establishment of t h i s reserve, it has been s u f f i c i e n t to
keep vegetation, and the range i n good condition, and there is no portions
of the range injured by over-grazing, however I believe t h e range has
carried 211 the stock that should be allowed without being injurious to it,
The condition of' the stock a t the time of entering the reserve was moderate-l
y good considering the long winter, and the cold and backward spring. The
stock look f a t and fine as they are driven from the renge, and t h e i r ov,iners
seem well s a t i s f i e d with the r e s u l t s obtained from t h i s sezsons grazing.
I am not prepaired t o say what the grazing fee for sheep should be
on u f l a t basis, but believe it should be s u f f i c i e n t t o cover the lambs as
they consune and tramp down nearly as quch as old sheep during the season.
FORT NEW NATIONAL
Ref. l e t t e r
FOREST : P,T.hrensrt;ed F.S.
on 3-13-07. Authorized use of t h i s reserve without
permit or payment of my fees pendibg the t11orou.gh examination of the
range.
k i s netr as can be seen from our f i l e s , the Beer River Reserve
consumed the old Logrn Forest kese:-ve i n about 1905 or 1906.
kf. l e t t e r of 3-29-07, From t h e Yorester t o \i,W.Clark
In accordance with your recolamendation the number of c a t t l e and
horses allowed t o graze on the sear hiver National $'orest during the
season of 1907 has been increased from 17,000 t o 23,400 h e ~ d .
hef, 7 i . k Clark ann, c r a b p o r t of 1907.
Late cold spring held c a t t l e and sheep off t ' t e range about lmonth
1 l a t e r than the usual date of entry,
As a r u l e , the condition of the stock a t the time of entering wss
good, Those that ranged during the spring i n the Cottonwood l4ountains
were i n fhir condition in s p i t e of the f a c t t h a t these mountains were
very much ovsrcrowded. hepe6ted s t o r m i n Xay and June aided the growth
of the forage i n the low h i l l s . From a l l t h c t 1 can l e a r n both from the
inspection of the heras and from the report^ of the rangers and sheep men,
there has been an abundance of feed i n nearly every portion of the f o r e s t ,
and the stock have l e f t the rcnge i n f i r s t class condition. Lnck of proper
location or d i s t r i b u t i o n has resulted i n many overgrazed spots, but there
are just as many undergrazed arers as overgrazed areas.
Salting wes good on the Idaho section, but poor dufe to road condi-
Lioga on the Logan section of the forest.
I have heard no complaints from any of the users of the range about
pbison. 'lhe chief losses have been caused by predatory animals. The
sheepmen continually complain of the coyotes bnd bear getting in t h e i r
hettrds. The bear, especielly, have been troublesome i n the high mountains
of Utah, and a t l e a s t four have been k i l l e 5 by the herders t h i s summer.
The rLngers have been so busy with permanent improvern(snts work that we
have been unable to indulge i n any beclr hunts t h i s season.
At t h i s time t h i s f o r e s t included 683,280 acrec, divided into 11
d i s t r i c t s and the t o t a l containing 20,614 c a t t l e and 117,017 head of
sheep. Above figures include private land within f o r e s t boundary in the
case of c t t t l e and where fences do not e x i s t ,
Now-a-days we have a hard tix making the necessary reductions as i n
comparison with the following:
Forestel., hashington, U.C. 3- 20-9 7
heco-mended increase allotment horses and c a t t l e on d i s t r i c t ten
and eleven from three thousand to seven thousand five hundred and seventy.
lncrease d i s t r i c t . t w e l v e f i f t e e n huzldred t o t h i r t y three hundred and seventy
five. i a l l ap9licants are ranchers and old grazers. Over hundred head cut
f i ~ et o twenty percent . Over seven hundred appl i c a t ions .
Included i n t h i s report is a map,following, of the Bear giver Re-serve
i n 1907.
Secretary of ibgriculture authorized the erezing 6f 25,500 head of
c a t t l e and 118,000 head of sheep on the bear i1i.i-er National Forest during:
the season of 1908. See map of the reserve.
The following table gives us the actual numbers grazed on the 11 districts
a t this time, (1907).
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
t o t a l
It is considered that the above figures w i l l be valuable i n aiding
one t o make a comparison i f he so desired of the numbers rur in 1907 on
various sections of the forest with that of 1939.
During the l a t t e r part of 1907 and early part of 1908 the
Bear Liver i$ational Eorest was changed t o the Cache National Forest end
it renbins as such t o - d ~ y .
Following is a table prepared from closed f i l e s which should be
self explanitory and of much value i n the history of the Cache.
Year Gov. o~ned.~;land.l,;~nLBllowance ;
Ce31 - >. Sheep
1903 182,080 5,000: - 35,000
1908 657,920 25,500 118,000
1918 769,971 32,500 136,000
1928 278,092 23,500 102,000
1938 836,762 24,250 100,000
Yhen the pocatel.10 Dist. was tt~ken
1939 702,687 21,100 83,875
. ''C \ _ Grazed . ., . ,
C8cH Sheep
5,000. 35,000
10,038 104,633
32,500 136,000 ayprox.
23,508 l O O , 5 O l
20,551 99,1&8
ilnto the Car$. hou
17,964 75,101
Following is a discussion of General Conditions of The hange.
This material is taken from the grazing reports i n the pmt i n 5 year
periods,
Yhen the yokest w&s created i n 1903, the renge was considered
to be i n excellent condition t.nd it was believsd by the eerly forest
o f f i c e r s that there was no overgrazing. After studying the conditions
and numbers of stock throughout the p u t 50 yefirs, we can see thut there
was probably overgrazing, but t h a t the range had not beeome so used that
the overgrazing was evident to any great degree in 1903,
by, Vie Clark i n his r-nnuel Grazing fieport of 1908 s t a t e s :
"I have neither observed nor heard of &.ny watersheds on this forest
that have been dmsged by the grazing of c a t t l e and horses.
m i t e a number of Utah c a t < l e viere caught in e\ big snow storm i n
the f i r s t part of October.
The market price of c a t t l e is a t present b e t t e r than it has been
for several years but is not. consid.ered as remunerative as the sheep
business is at present.
The general condition of the range on t h i s Forest during the
past season was good, 'he r a i n f a l l during the Fall of 1907 and snow
f a l l dur ing t h e pas t winter were smal ler than usua, Ya nd t h e r e was some
fear on my part that the water supply and consequ&.My the accessible
supply of forage would not be s u f f i c i e n t t o met the demands of the
/'J
number of livestock a l l o t t e d to t h i s f o r e s t for the past season,
J. Vi. Humphrey states i n his report of 1913,
"During the grazing sebson just past the p r e c i p i t a t i o n as recorded
a t the Sxperiment Station here a t Logan for the months from ;day to October
i n c l u s i v e mounts t o 10 inches,
The forage crop has been much b e t t e r than usual. The range was
i n poor condition a t the beginning of the grazing mason, owing to the
lateness of the season. fbwever, by reason of the frequent storns favor-able
conditions were soon brought at;out, and a t the end of the grazing
sesson a l l the Forest Officers report that the season just pas$ was an
exceptionally good one.
The condition of the range a t the end of the grazing season showed
t h a t n e ~ r l ya ll t h e feed had been taken, and t h a t t h e renge, general ly
*
speaking, was in very good condition.
ht the time of entering the Forest c a t t l e and sheep were in poor
condition owing to the ,-ong, cold winter and the bmkward spring. Bay
became very scarce i n the spring,
The market conditions t h i s season have been exceptionally good
as the prices are higher for both c a t t l e and sheep than evcr before,
and the l a t e shippers of lambs have not suffered to the extent that
thby have in former years by the heavy decline i n prices that invariably
followed hewy shipments t o the eastern markets.
The market for horses is dull t h i s yesr due to an overproduction, J?
9. 0. Shepard says in his 1919 Grazing rsport,
'~n average 6dcr the whole f o r e s t indicates that the t o t a l amount
of precipitation during the 4-1/9-15 period was l e s s than 40% normal.
k t the beginning of the season and during April and lmy, the
forage was only a t r i f l e , i f any, below normal, in quantity 2nd development,
,
The k i l l i n g f r o s t s which occurred idsy 31 and June 1, caused quite a loss
in weed forage a t the elevations above 6500 f e e t . Forage plants matured
from 4 t o 6 w'eeks e a r l i e r than usual,
The condition of stock on entering the Forest was normal to 15$
above normal,
The generhl condition of the range a t the close of the secson wss
a t l e a s t 257; below average. The extreme dryness of t h e s o i l caused more
than ordinary dmqi= from trampling. Increased t r a i l i n g to water over
longzr stretches of country contributed more %ban usual t o t h i s .
\
The lamb market showed early signs of being overloaded with under-weitht
lambs, l w k d n g finish. Lambs generally speaking, were about 10
pounds under sverage weight. The prices for 6 a t t l e wame $15 to $18 lower
71
than in 1928.
C. B, Urentsen s t a t e s i n his 1923 grazing report.
he mount of' snowfall for the past winter was even grobtor than a
yeE1r ago although it was exceptionally heavy for the winter of 1921-1922.
Due to l o w temperstures and cold storms forage w w very slow i n
s t a r t i n g , Only a smell percent of the spring range was i n a s t a t e of
vegetative readiness b o f o r e w l 5 . After thc. middle of iky the weather
was much more f a v o r ~ ~ b fl eo r growth and i t ks believed t h a t t h e develop-ment
of forage on c a t t l e ranges was up to normal by J'une 15.
The sheep ranges we1 e i n proper condition for gmzing on June 16 @
and July 1.
vvith the exception of the Pochtello division the stock ccme on the
Xorest i n f a i r flesh.
Generally speaking, the ranges were in very good condition a t the $
close of thc grazing season, Cn mapy of the sheep ranges 25% of the grasses
bere allowed t o seed, ho~iever, oa some qukb large areas of c a t t l e range
not more than 105'of seed plsnts were l e f t .
Lambs sold off the Cache ranges during the past season a t From
10 t o 11 cents a t shipping poiht, the average being about 10$ cents.
They ranged i n weight from 71 to 80 pounds. The merket for sheep has
Nlr, Arentsen' s 1929 report s t a t e s :
*'?'he r a i n f a l l during the pest grazing
L4'e hhve checked the weather records for four
i n ldaho and f i n d t h e r a i n f a l l from April to
The weight of lambs and beef stock i n
been excellent. The c a t t l a market has been poor."
The wild horse situation appears t o be about normal and the Indian
season was much below normal.
stations aljout the Forest
Sept. was $8$ of normal.
the fall was about normal,
department is making an e f f o r t t o dispose of the wild horses on the Fort
H a l l Reservation and t h i s action is oS general benefit to us."
Ek. hrentsen's 1934 report s t r t e s :
"Esnge forage the pest season was below normal about 20% due t o
the almost t o t a l luck of rain durin3 the growing season,
Lambs were somewhat l i g h t e r than l a s t yew. Cattle did exception-a
l l y u e l l the fore part of the season, but f e l l away a f t e r the 1st. of
kug. so that when they came off the f o r e s t they were l i g h t e r than average.
The demand for range is being cared f o r only to the extent of
Mr. A. G. Nord's report of 1939:
"Forage production was below normal and much below the production
of 1938 b ~ c a u s e of the drouth, The ranges were o f f t o a good s t a r t i n the
early p a r t of the grazing season, but the deficiency of precipitation i n
June spik July, August and Sept. reduced the nornal production of grass
I
leafage aqd.the height of seed stocks. The production of weed species
was also lowered and the maturity was advanced ahead of normal,
There was o shortage of water on accomt of the drou;tht., which
togeth6r w i t h the early maturity of forage was cause for rnuch movement
of livestock t o and from water,
Field s t u d i e s showed that on a number of our c a t t l e allotments
we have been losing ground i n the good condition of our range on account
of too early grazing of the forage,.
The demand for range is not as heavy as it has been i n times @ast.
There are 22 active c a t t l e associations and 2 sheep associations
on the Utah and ldaho divisions of the Forest, )I
Moses Christiansen: Formerly Ranger i n Charge of the Malad D i s t .
t e k l s us a few i n t e r e s t i n g f a c t s .
1904 t o 1908 with the Department of the I n t e r i o r and came to
Lialad D i s t r i c t i n 1908 and was there u n t i l 1922. During t h i s time he
exomined over 20 cleimes under. the Act of ?;we 11, 1906.
During the f i r s t three years of his work on t h i s d i s t r i c t &&nger
Christiansen was i n charge of' 10,000 CBJf and 6,000 sheep onithe d i s t r i c t .
At t h i s t me there were 6 saw mills on the d i s t r i c t m t t i n g about 100,
/i,,fl-$ [,< &
$@j'e$ac@h, an. nual ly.
There were only 2 ranches above Elkhorn Reservoir i n 1908, that
of Verl Dives and Ernest Mosert s.
Z'here were many sheep in the country a t t h i s time. Swift and Co.
ran 50,000 between the Utah Desert and Soda Springs country.
There were no elk here a t this early date. Deer have increased
t o quite an extent, A few bear &To be found on the d i s t r i c t .
Just as a matter of i n t e r e s t t o the readers of t h i s history,
we have inclucleu the fol.lowing;
You w i l l r e c a l l the note, e a r l i e r i n t h i s reprot, of how the
f i r s t white men made there way from Bear Lake to Logan. Then in 1919
f i n b l cooperative agreement between the Forest Service and t t e State
Load Commission was signed by Sinon Barnburger State Road Commissioner,
This ttgreement was t o survey, construct and maintain the Logan-Garden
City Hiway.
In 1922 A. J. b n s e n s t a t e d that he counted 13 autos going by
his camp in l e s s then -$ hour., (Just imagin the emphasis t h a t Mr. Hansen
put on t h i s story when he told i t ) . lad novc-a-days it is not uncommon
t o pick days when the t r a f f i c count has noted 60 cars per hour @Qx@ling
this h&ghway. And why should'nt the t r a f f i c increase when i n 1930 along
Cache County voted favorably for $75,000 for improvement of t h i s road.
5-17-30 Ogden C.of C. meet t o discuss proposed 1;lonte Cristo road. .
dthte hoad Commission to complete preliiniriary road survEy i n about 2 weeks.
9-11-30 W.S. Averil, 3.R. reports that the contract wss l e t for 3.79
grsding i n Laketown Cbnyon. And thus has been the rood development work
as the yeaBs r o l l on for the Cache.
A And to-day we bavu a paved highway from Logan, Utah t o Garden City
without a break i n it,
Early h i s t o r y of t h i s region indicates that from the time
of settlement u n t i l 1880 livestock turned out t o graze from the
ranches in the valley did not roam f a r from t h e v a l l e y floor,
They were able t o find the necessary forage i n the lower f o o t h i l l
range. The higher range including the large f l a t s near the summit
of t h e range was used only by gaxe animals,
Between 1880 rnd 1900 numbers of livestock i n t h i s v i c i n i t y
increased greatly the class stock being chiefly c a t t l e and horses
Complicating t h e s i t u a t i o n was the habit of t r a n s i e n t sheep herds
coming into the higher country and using it as summer range, There
seem t o be no adgquat@record of just what t h i s amounted t o i n num-u
bers but it $s con&ded by xany that at its peak the range carried
a t P e a s t three times as rnany livestock of both c l a s s e s as it is
carrying now, The r e s u l t s of t h i s are still apparent. Contrasting
the early use of the range when a stock owner might ride four o r
five miles i n rounding up stock in the f a l l , with the present day
conditions the owners interchsnge stock with Cache Valley owners
50 and 60 miles away from *where the stock were turned out i n
* the spring, , : , I
Y .
The f i r s t transcontinental telegraph wires were strung from
Cache Valley e ~ s atn d aros sed t h e d i s t r i c t a t t h e bead of Blooming
ton Canyon and then down t o Paris by way of the lower portion of
, , e ~ n t g Paris C~nyon, as is a t t e s t e d by t h e names, telegraph Flat and Tel- -*.
t i ,\ i
s g r ~ p hH ollow, Pn t h e e a r l y days mai l was c a r r i e d along t h i s rout e
i n the winter by men snowshoeing over the mountains and many are
the t a l e s of hardship endured by these hardy pboneers who carried
the mail and maintained the telegraph l i n e s across t h i s district,c
"z-.
-P r;# 8 r c ' t6 p 1;. ?+ :I,,$1 . ;,
P
mitted t o us by the the Franklin County Daughters of Pioneers:
lghere has been s ~ o n s o r e da placement of' a marker s i x t e e n
miles up Cub hiver Canyon for the purpose of permanently pointing
out the f i r s t postal route i n the State of ~ d a h o and also marking
the t r a i l over which the f i r s t Deseret Telegrtph Company b u i l t its
line. The route is known as the Shoshone Indian T r a i l ,
The Shoshone. Indians with t h e i r kindred t r i b e s who lived on
f - 1 b 1 g
the south side of the Snake or Shoshone hiver, brobably from %he lm-menorial,
visited i n Cache Vklley for hunting, trupping and fishing,
Bear Lake Valley was v i s i t e d for the same purpose, anl: t h i s i$ the
t r a i l they t r a v e l l e d ,
A t the time it was used as a mail route it was very e a s i l y
followed ks it was worn down deep i n some ~ l a c e s . Now (1940), it
is d i f f i c u l t at soma points to t r a s e the old t r a i l .
I n 1863 the f i r s t mail was carried over this t r a i l from Frank-l
i n t o Bear Luke, a distance of about 25 miles. Brigham Young, the
Mormon lecder, had selected a number of people to s e t t l e the Bear
Lake Valley, Over t h i s route the Bear Lzke s e t t l e r s received t h e i r
f i r s t mai l . The m ~ i cl ~ i r r i e r st r ~ v e l e do ver t h e s t e e p , rugged t r a i l
on snow shoes,
I n December, 1869, the Deseret Telegrcph l i n e was extended
north as f a r as Franklin, Idaho. I n 1871 an o f f i c e was opened in
P a r i s , Bear Lake County, and the l i n e was further extended t o con-nect
Franklin to P e r i s , The l i n e follow&d near t h i s route,
The xonument stands on the s i t e where originally stood 8
cabin a t which the messengers rested over night, It was celled
t h e hal f way house, i t being about h ~ l fwa y on t h e t r a i l .
The t r a i l up the mountain has been marked with white rocks
painted by the CCC.
By brousing through some of the early history and talking
with some of' the early s e t t l e r s i n t h e v i c i n i t y of tlalad, Idaho
the following material has been gathered and added to the History
of the Cache.
The f i r s t s e t t l e r s just merely d r i f t e d into t h i s Val-ley a f t e r
StansburytB expedition. The l a t e r population were attracted here
by the oppertunities for carrying on a livestock business or ernyloym
ment in the transportation of freight. The livestock business flour-ished
u n t i l along about '1900 when it seemed to have reached its peak.
Transcient sheep herds took i n p r a c t i c d l y a l l of the national forest
area in the sprint? and again i n the f a l l and in addition t o t h i s aere
large numbers of c a t t l e which were forced t o summer and winter here,
Following are some quotations from various people contacted
on the History of t h i s country.
-WILD -LIFE:
Jcci 2 a There has w ; t z s d a great change in the conditions of the
big game on the Cache National Forest s i n c e t h e old timers came into
the Cache Valley. I n order t o show this with the l e a s t discussion of
prolonged nature, it is probably best t o merely list a few successive
f a c t s Bnd estimates s i n c e t h e beginning,
kt first (1900) very few people shot the big game animals.
In 1917 it was estimated t h a t there were 525 head of deer and
sp\
75 head of elk on the Cache ~ ' o r e s t % h there was po k i l l record due
probably t o the f a c t that people did not care to hunt and l i t t l e of
it was done. I n 1927 there was an estimate of 620 deer and 380 elk,
i The k i l l record was 21 deer for 98 hunters, In 1930 there were 100
I
bucks killed i n season on D-1, k i n g the 1929 season one more eEk
than deer were k i l l e d , Out of 785 hunters 68 deer and 69 elk were
taken, I n 1937 a special Big Game Investigation eas made by LL.Tunpin
of the Utah Fish and Game Dept., Orange Olsen US. 3. S., D. I. Rass-mussen
bild Life Xxp. Sts. 7J.S.k.C. Logan, Utah, H. J. Costley U.S.F.S.
and l o c s l Cache o f f i c e r s , This special investigation being made because
of the f a c t t h a t the deer have become so numerous t h a t a big problem is
confronting the State and Federal Government i n holding these animels
t o the numbers that they w i l l not damage private property to the extent
of heavy l o s s t o the formers and that they w i l l not be detrimental t o
t h e i r own herds.
I
Coming down t o 1938and 9, we are faced with an even greater prob-lem
than in 1937..
I n January and early zebruhry sex ratior-studies were made upon
i
the local deer herds. 'lhe findings ran about 1 buck to 3.75 does. During
Lhe l e t t e r half of February a tots1 of 165 man days, at a cost of $700.00
JSA money, W ~ Ssp ent i n making an i n t e n s i v e survey and sunsus, t o t a l of
8750 of deer were counted i n Blacksmith Fork and Logan Canyons and the
Cache face h i l l s , of these 7620 ware on D-1.
D-3
This years k i l l (1939) on D-I about 1504
areas checked by 13 checking s t a t i o n s . 41 Bull elk
bucks and 837 does on
and 58 cow elk wore
k i l l e d during the season on elk i n tho above v i c i n i t y .
Increased numbers of hunters and proper mansgement of k i l l as t o 7
sex and numbers may solve the detrimental problem t h a t e x i s t s here. /
PLACE Nkh,US IN ?'HIS VICINITY
Before going into the e a r l y history any f a r t h e r , it is thought
t h a t here is a place t o give the derivations of the names of the
principal settlements and vu1lk.e~ surrounding the Cache,
First of course should come the name of the Forest. The Cache
National Forest takes its name from Cache County which was named from
a french wora meaning "to 6idem, and was so named because early trap-pers
cwhed t h e i r f u r s , traps, &munition and supplies i n t h i s region.
Other counties derived t h e i r names as follows:
Rich County: First called hichland Co. Named for Chas. C.
gich, early Mormon apostle prominent leader in Besr .Lake region.
Keber: Named f o r John ikeber an early t r a p e r killed by the
k b e r Aiver. The river also took its name from John iru'eber, as did
the Ogden Hiver from Peter S. Ogden,
Some of the valley names mentioned i n t h i s report were coined
as follows:
idlalad Valley: F i r s t called Malade after the llalade River, so
~ ~ - W . ~ . ~ " " W ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ B ~ P A O named by a group of 3rench trappers camped by the r i v e r who a l l be-came
sick. Malade is french and meaning sickness.
9
Cache Valley: See Cache County, and Cache Forest.
Bear River Valley: After the Bear River.
The names of the various c i t i e s and towns along with t h e i r
derivations have been gathered as follows :
-hvon: S e t t l e d 1860. Gamed f o r stratford-on-hen, bi r thpl a c e of
Vuilliam Shkkespeare.
Bearer Dam: S e t t l e d 1868, So named because of the beaver dams along
the stream near which the settlement was established.
Brigham City: S e t t l e d in 1851. Named i n Honer of Brigham Young.
Calls Fort; S e t t l e d i n 1854. Named i n honer of or for Anson V. Call
~ h bou i l t a f o r t here i n 1854.
elarkston: Settled i n 1865. Named for I s r a e l J. Clark, its f i r s t pre-siding
ibrmon o f f i c i a l .
liden; s e t t l e d i n 1860. iuamed because of its beautiful 1-ocation i n
CgCen Valley.
Fielding: Settled i n 1892. .bmed after Joseph Fielding h i t h ,
6th. preside* of the ihrnon Church,
Garden City: Settled u 7 7 . So called bemuse its s e t t l e r s considered
i t a Garden spot i n Bear L ~ k eV cilley.
f'%iYde Park: Settled i n 1860. Nmed for b i l l i a x +de, early s e t t l e r .
i
/
j =rum: Settled i n 1860. Named f o r Iiyrum h i t h , brother of Joseph
j
\ Smith, founder of the Xormon Church.
i
\ Huntsville: Settled i n 1860. Named for Captain Jefferson Hunt of
the ~~lormoBna t t a l io n.
'fioneyville: dettled i n 1866. Two s t o r i e s are told of its name,
1st. It was named by a beekeeper libmham .tiunsaker because of his in-t
e r e s t s there i n the honey industry, 2nd, named by the Lormons
after Land of Ccnean (Land of ldilk and honey), .:
*@
8 t C
$eketown: Settled 1864. So named because of its proximity to Bear 1% 8" 1 lb
B ' , *
Lake. ,. . w pIC +" 7 + " I Jp , [ 8 7- t$
Libe r ty: Outgrowth of hden: Name( is of p a t r i o t i c o r i g i n . r h * ,:* :, L . r 8L . :
" !"
L a : Settled i n 1859. &%?&rived its name fron ~ogun's Fort, which -
i n turn received its name from the r i v e r nerr which it was b u i l t . The
river. is stlid t o hwe been named f o r Ephraim Logan, early trapper,
who explored t h i s region in the 1820's
Mantua: SettledA1863. B a e d by Lorenzo k m v , 5th. #resident of t h e
Mormon Church, for the town of his n a t i v i t y Mantun, Ohio. This
small town had quite a number of previous names,
;kndon: Settled in 1859. Nsmed for i:lendon, U'orccst,er Co., I\!aass.
Birthplace of Ezra. T. Benson. F i r s t Momon apostle t o live i n
Cache Vcilley,
Millvi].le: Settled i n 1859. So nmed because of f i r s t sawmill i n
Cache V ~ l l e yw cs operated here.
Newton: Settled i n 1869. Outgrowth of Clarkston, and so named to
distinguish it From the older settlement.
Ogden: Derived its nme from Ogden River, which i n turn was nmed
for Peter Skene Ogden, ~ u d s o n ' s Eay Company brigade Leader, who was
in t h i s v i c i n i t y in the 1820's. k i l e s coodyier, about the winter of
?-84404.5, estcblished a post here which he called Fort Buenaventura,
taking the name of a mythic21 stream which was thought by early ex-p
l o r e r s (Spaniards ) t o d r a i n t h e Great Y ~ s i nr egion, emptying i n t o -
San Prhnsisco Bay. Colonization of the arec, hmever, did not be-gin
u n t i l 1848, sfter Goodyier sold his property t o the Mormon
Church. The settlement was f i r s t cellea tirownsvil-le f o r Jmes Sr?wn,
early s e t t l e r , who represented the Xorrnon Church i n purchasing
Goodyier's land and livestock. 1he ntme was changed to &den i n
1850 when the Genere1 hssembly of JJeseredl created Iieber County.
Paradise: Settled i n 1860. So nmed because of the beauty of its :
surround ings.
,. .'3d Providence: Settled i n 1859. So nwned because the early s e t t l e r s :
e
f e l t that this section of the country had besn divinely blcssed, .j'.*:
(.. F'onnerly c a l l e d s p r i n g Creek, takimg the e a r l y name of Providence I
Creek, nei-,;. which the settlement is s i t u a t e d ,
l <,
PlymoutN Settled 1869. Namcd f o r Plymouth, Kass. Formerly called
$3
" )
'\ 3
I Squaretown, because the f i r s t four families of settlczs b u i l t t h e i r
/ houses on the adjoining corners of four sections of ltnd.
I
Portage: Settled i n 1867. Named for portage county, Ohio, birthplace
of Lorenzo Snow, f i f t h president of the Mormon Church. Formerly
called Eay Town because of the lmge f i e l d s of hsy grown by the early
s e t t l e r s .
handol@: Settled i n 1870. Named for Eitlndolph H. Stewart, who super-vi
sed the founding of the communi ty ,
Richmond: s e t t l e d i n 1859. There are two theories as to t h e o r i g i n
of t h i s name: 1. That it was named for Chkles Coulson Eich, early :
s e t t l e r and Mormon Church o f f i c i ~ l . 2. that it was so named because
of t k s r i c h loamy s o i l .
.Spln%.&fiGA&: Settled in 1859. Named i n honer of Dohn G. Smith early
s e t t l e r .
-Utah: The l&mnon s e t t l e r s f i r s t c a l l ed t h e i r new home "Deseret," a
book of idomon word mehning "Honey-bee." vihen the region became a ..
t e r r i t o r y , i n 1850, the ~~~ormownerse unsuccessful i n t h e i r attempt
to have this name retained, Instead, Congress c d l e d the new t e r i -
tory, "Utqh,?.a name coined from the nickname of a tribe of Shoshone
Indians who inhabited much of this region. The Navajo and Apache
Indians called these Indians "Utes," a term meaning "the uper peoplett
or ?'the hill-dwellers." This nicknazle was used i n much the same man-ner
as the xnglish term "highlanders1' is used to designate the people
i n the .Scotch Itlountains. xarly journals spelled the nrtme a number ,
different ways, including Yute, Xutow, &a, etc. &hen the t e r r i t o r y
became a s t a t e , in 1896, the name Utah was retained.
l e l l s v i l l e : Settlsd i n 1856. Named for Daniel 3. Rells, pioneer
s e t t l e r ,
Willard: Settled i n 1876, Named for Viillard Richards, counselor to
Brighm Young in the Monnon Church,
Woodruff: Settled 1865, Nmed for Mlford vboodruff, fourth pres-ident
of the lvlorrnon Church.
Previous t o the 'Utah viar" of 1857-58 there was but one s e t t l e -
ment i n Cache County, namely t h a t of ~ ~ e l l s v i l l e T, he pioneer Peter
lhughttn, who hod been qpointed Judge of the county by the Utah
Legislature had merely organized his court and held one regular term
when t h e s e t t l ~ r sof ~ k l l s v i l l em oved south i n common wi t h a l l the
people of the northera settlements including those of vieber, Davis,
and Salt Luke Counties, But immediately a f t e r t h e i r return north
a clusimr of settlements r a p i d l y sprang up i n Cache Valley, the
original being eight i n number, namely, Logan, l'rovidence, fiyru.m,
Viellsville, i h d o n , Srni thf i e l d , Richmond and Franklin. A t a special
t ~ : r m of Judge Peter Maughan's court, a t its re-organization, an order
was made by the court that Cache County would htve certain boundaries,
thus establishing Cache County.
R E F E R E N C E S
Tullidgesl Uistories of Utah Vol. 111.
Eistory of Boxelder County 1851 t o 1937 I,, We Forsgren
Stansbury's Expedition to the Great Salt Lake by, Stansbury
EIistory of Utah by. Ehncroft.
Origin of Utah Place Names (Utah h i n t e r s ' Project @ I . P. A,) .
Old timers and t h e i r s t o r i e s ,
Forest Service Files,
Assistant Supervisors
J. F. Squires t 1907 - 1909
John F, Squires was actually the f i r s t man to have an
a~pointment as Deputy or Assistant Supervisor on the' Cache Forest.
3-16-07 he was given the appointment as assistant supervisor a f t e r
having quit the service as supervisor.
J. E. Rothery 1989 - 1910
&, Rothery was Deputy Supervisor from 7-1-09 t o 6-30-10
*
John H i i s
John Riis was appointed Deputy Supervisor sometime in
1910. The exact record of him was not found other than as l i s t e d in
the 1909 to 1910 field programs which are comparable to the present
Forest Service Directory.
J, K Humphrey 1910 - 1913
J. W. Humphrey present Forest Supervisor on the Manti
Forest came to the Csche as a Deputy Supervisor on 6-1-11 and 6 a i a e d
as such u n t i l 12-15-13.
E. C, Shepard 1913 - 1915
Shepard (see S. 19 to 22) was appointed as Deputy
Forest Supervisor on the Cdche 4-6-14 to 7-1-15. The elapsed time
between lhnphrey's departure and Shepard's appointment l%ft the Cache
without an assistant supervisor,
3. B. Spencer 1915 - 1920
E. B. Spencer was appointed t o take the Assistant Supervisor
position following Shepard's advancement to Supervisor, 7-1-15 and he
Raymond D. G~rver was Forest &anger from 2-16-19 to
3-1-19 and prior to t h i s was a Deputy Supervisor from 7-16-18 to 2-16-19
H. I. Rice 1920 - 1924
b p k i n I. Rice a man who was picked by the former Supervisor
Squires t o be i*r. Squirest ranger and assistant in charge from Blackmith
Fork to Logan Canyon back in about 1905. Could find no record of formal
appointaent at t h i s early date, except the words of J. F. Squires published
i n a news a r t i c l e in 1930, 1. Nice was appointed by the Forest Ser*ice
as Forest Ranger 7-1-15 to 11-1-20 and then became the Assistant Forest
Supe~visor u n t i l 7-1-24, when he was made Senlor Forest Ranger a.nd r e m i n d
such u n t i l his death dm to sickness i n 1938. The appointment was termi-nated
2-15-38. h?. Rice was a man from Providence Utah and was well liked
by the entire commuhity and the Forest Service. He made many friends and
was on the Cache h t i o n a l Forest longer than any other one man.
W, C, I\licCormic4k a s appointed as Assistant r v i s o r on 7-1-24 ;_) and remained as such un i1 12-21-25? /&&#t-~d..,~ .&&{ 4' @< cf as.z $* "a-b e-6.f I
r'
f f ,*P'
W. M. Mace 19535 - 1927
This man was appointed assistant supervi sor from 1-1-26 to 5-16-27.
During 1927 to 1936 there was no assistant supervisor on the Cache,
J, Thomas Mathews
Came to the Cache on
fisor u n t i l 5-1-39, when he
3-1-36 and remained here as assistsnt super-was
transfered t o the om1 .
Came to the Cache National Forest as Assistant Supervisor on 5-1-39.
He was previously a ranger on the Paris District. see under rangers,
District Rangers and Others:
In the early history of the Forest l i t t l e record, of the personnel
working under the Supervisors was kept. The Supervisors were generally
lnnm as the Hangers as well as the Supervisors. Mbny men were hired as
a s s i s t a n t s to the f i r s t supervisors who's narnes were not recorded i n the
files which are available a t the present time.
For example, l%r. James Leatharn of ~ ~ e ~ l s v iwlals eh ired by the first
Supervisor, hir. J. B. Squires, and was killed on the job i n Blacksmith Fork.
We could find no definite record of t h i s man.
Then lb. Squires hired L. 0. Theurer of which we have no record,
and Mr. H1 1. Hice who's record we have because of his being with the
Forest Service u n t i l better methods of record keeping came into practice.
*
I 1908 - 1910
See J. IT. Squires (1st. Supervisor)
1911-- 1913
E. G. Shepard whs~appointed as a Forest Assistant on 6-1-11 and
was such u n t i l 7-1-13 when he was made a Forest Examiner and he was
Forest Examiner until 4-6-14 when he was made Deputy Supervisor.
T. B. uicholes was on grazing reconnaissance as an assistant
ranger from 6-1-15 to 9-1-15 and became a Forest Ranger i n January of
1917 and remained as such u n t i l 4-1-17.
C. L. Forsling who is now i n the chiefs office was on Grazing
iieconnai ssance from 6-1-15 to 7-1-1.
L. J. Palmer was on Grazing studies from 10-5-15 to 7-1-16 and
then was made Forest htnger 7-1-16 and resigned around 4-17.
H. I. Rice see write-up under Assistant Supervisors.
Raymond D. Garver was a For(& Ranger from 2-16-19 to 3-1-19.
Moses Christensen was a ranger on the Oxford-Elkhorn District
from 7-15-14 to 9-15-22,
I n April 1921 the Forest Service directory replaced the old Forest
Service Field Program and from then on we have a much more coraplete record
of personnel.
- 6 . -
4
1920 on:
W. B, Rice Came to the Cache N, 1'. 781-21 and remained until 1-16-
22 as Forest Examiner and since then has travelled around in the Forest
Family u n t i l f inaaly arriving as Associate Regional For ester at Ogden,
Utah,
Vern A. Bird was a j'orest Ranger from 5-1-21 to 7-9-24 and came
t o the Cache from the Arxy as did many other men returngin frox World War
Service,
and was here for one yem, (3-1-24).
R. iJI, Poorman was Ftanger on the Sherman Peak d i s t r i c t from 10-16-22
to 7-31-23.
H, M. Petersen was Forest Renger on the Rich County District 11-1-
22 u n t i l 11-25-29,
Josiah k, Libby came to the @ache as a Ranger on 10-1-27 and u n t i l
12-15-35. About one year of t h i s time 10-1-31 to 7-1-32 was spen on
leave VJOP.
S. S. Hutchings was 3'. R. 7-2-28 to 5-11-29. In some records he
is shown as a n k s i s t a n t technician,
w. S. kverille took over the Paris d i s t r i c t 10-1-19 and was a
live w i r e ranger there until 6-30-32 and is now a ranger on the Minidoka,
Ode11 Juander was a Forest Ranger from &y to September 1930 and
l i s t e d as technical assistant. he was also a J. F, 7-1-31 and thereabouts,
V1'. L, Hansen was a tech, Assistant on the Cache from 18-10-33 to
10-2-34. Also F. R. on Pocatello District 11-36, and now.
S. Bryson Cook was a s s i s t a n t f o r e s t Ranger 5-20-25 to 1-2-29 and
Forest Ranger from 3-16-19 to 3-16-3y on the Cub River D i s t . Now on the
Powell as a Haoger,
H. C. Hoffman was a J, 2. on the Paris District from 5-11-32 to
6-1-35 and was a d i s t r i c t Porest Ranger 6-1-35 ko 8-16-36.
J. D. Hansen became F. h, on the Paris d i s t r i c t from 9-18-36 t o
4-7-37 and is now the Assistant Forest Supervisor.
C, 3, J'ensen Ranger on the Kink Creek D i s t . 3-1-36 to 2-16-39
and is now Ranger on the Minidoka.
S.~R. Justice was a b r e s t &anger on the Pocatello District in
1920 and u n t i l around 1936.
I Lewis C, Smith was a Forest Ranger from 6-22-28 to 5-31-24 on
the Eigh C ~ e e kD i s t r i c t ,
Charles A, Lewis was a Forest ~ s s i s t a n t1 1-20-08 t o 1-21-09,
Willard h. Clork was a Forest Inspector on the Bear Rivtr d i s t r i c t
before 19-8 and from 8-1-08 to 7-20-09 he signed l e t t e r s as being the
acting Forest supervisor.
8. A, tdnkler came to Paris District as a hanger 4-7-37 and was
transf ersd away on 4-16-38,
E. J. Costley came to the Cache from the he L. Dept. i n Re 0,
on Logan District 2-16-39 and is there a t the present time, (1939)
H. H. Price came t o the Cache as a range exkminer or J,R,E.
and then went to Ogden taking over the Ogden River d i s t r i c t 6-1-36.
Be was J. L. x. 4-16-32 u n t i l 7-24-35,
J. B. Ham came to the Paris a i s t r i c t 3-16-38 and is there now.
H, E. Clabhy came to the lualad DistPict 6-14-32 and is there now,
k, H. Campbell is on the Laketown District. Came to the Cache
8-11-16 and was ranger until 11-1-23 when he went into the Suplerjvisbrls
office as an assistant clerk u n t i l 11-16-36 when he took over a D i s t .
again. In April 1926 Campbell and Petersen traded d i s t r i c t s . Campbell
to the Raketown ana Petersen to the Oxford-glkhorn D i s t r i c t ,
Clerks :
consider ~ . Q Qm uch i3gwortancei n %t . - h is t 09--.of
7
&Gd t?)ybrBe ar-di ng mer gbygCte_f3xeoQ2? pe
4
I
ks ba'dk for a few years.
fi. P. Long came t o the Cache as a Jr. Clerk 4-1-27 and was appoint-ed
Sr. Clerk 6-27-28 and resigned on 5-3-29.
Frederick W. hich took Long's place in 29 end whs released by re-quest
in 1932,
Glen Southwick took Rich's place in 32 and held the position
until 1936.