Board Notes

Happy Fall everyone! We are just days out from participating in our last volunteer project of the year. A team of Forest Service historic preservation carpenters will begin work on the Snyder Guard Station residence roof on Monday, October 19, and we will join them on Tuesday, October 20. Fortunately, our primary duties will be "go-fer" and clean-up. As weather permits we will also do some station winterizing, painting, amenities inventories etc. The Forest Service has a cre

Good cheer and happy summer. Despite the heat, smoke, fires, road closures etc., the Friends of Boundary County Historic Places has had a really successful year.

Hi everyone. I just wanted you to have a quick up-date as to what the Friends group is doing. We had a very successful clean-up day at Snyder Guard Station.

Almost 30 years ago West Fork cabin burned. The cabin sat in a Selkirk high elevation meadow, facing Joe Peak. It had been built in 1931 as a “smoke chaser” cabin. Over the years it had been used to house Forest Service trail crews, snow survey crews, and wildlife surveyors as well as fire fighters. It had always been open to a respectful public. Hikers, horsemen, skiers and snowmobilers all used the cabin.

It started with a smoke break. Saws shut down. Packs or pouches came out. Hardened hands tapped packs on a knee or delicately rolled slender tubes. Hands cupped against a breeze and the first long drag. Silence. Silence until one old boy started. “Hey, you guys hear about…?” or “Do you guys remember…?” And then the stories began.