Early Days in the Forest Service, Vol. 1

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

FOREST SERVICE

NORTHERN REGION

FEDERAL BUILDING MISSOULA, MONTANA

ADDRESS REPLY TO REGIONAL FORESTER

AND REFER TO

October 15, 1944

To the People of Region One:

A few of us were talking one day of the yarns we had heard told around campfires by the older men in the Service - some of them hair-raising, some tragic, some ludicrous, some sad. And we agreed that steps should be taken to preserve these stories of the early days. Our historical records were made up mainly of dusty odds and ends from old files - unpeopled, factual writings and statistics. We felt that these records, to be of lasting value, should be humanized, and that the stories of the oldtimers were what we needed to provide life and interest.

And so I sent out a letter to the folks who had watched over Region One through its early growing pains, and asked them to set down on paper some of their reminiscences. We have bound into this book the replies they sent in.

Reading their stories, no one can fail to be impressed by the special brand of loyalty these man gave to the Service. Their pay was poor, but in spite of that they put their best into the job, for they loved their work and had faith in it. They endured physical discomfort and hardships as a matter of course. Too often they had to face injustice end to battle discouragement, but they were never quitters.

These man and others like them laid the solid foundation of the Forest Service. The greatest honor we can pay them is to build upon that foundation a sound and enduring structure.

Sincerely,

/s/ EVAN W. KELLEY

Regional Forester

JOHN S. BAIRD

Senior Ranger Kootenai National Forest

(Retired 1934)

W. 530 Gordon Ave. Spokane 12, Wash.

March 13, 1944

I received an appointment as forest agent effective December 15, 1903. The appointment was from the Bureau of Forestry. Mr. Gifford Pinchot was Forester, and he instructed me to report at Cass Lake, Minnesota, for work on the Minnesota National Forest Reserve, which I did. Eugene

S. Bruce, whom I had known for a long time, was in charge. He was succeeded in 1905 by G. E. Marshall, who was designated Forest Supervisor. Before going further, I must explain that the areas now known as National Forests were then known as the Western Reserves, and were under the Department of the Interior. In 1905 the Reserves were transferred to the Department of Agriculture, and the name of the Bureau of Forestry was changed to Forest Service. The Forest Reserves were designated National Forests.

The work on the Minnesota was purely timber sale work. The timber belonged to the Chippewa Indians, and was sold for their benefit by sealed bids to lumber companies, and was scaled by Department of the Interior scalers. We were required to mark and retain five percent of the timber and oversee brush disposal. It so happened that all of the crew were familiar with timber estimate work, which fact proved of great value on the job.

The Minnesota Forest was in District One at that time, and Civil Service ratings were required. I took the examination for lumberman, and passed.

In March 1909, as instructed by District Forester Greeley, I went to Ely, Minnesota, made some examinations, reported to the District Forester by letter, and as directed by him, formally put the Superior National Forest under administration. I requisitioned office supplies and equipment, also field equipment, rented office rooms and employed a small crew of forest guards. I was on the Superior four months when Scott Leavitt took over. He was succeeded in April 1910 by Joe Fitzwater.

In July 1909, I reported at the District Office, Missoula, was assigned to the Deerlodge National Forest, and organized a reconnaissance crew. The timber on the Deerlodge was being killed by smelter fumes and the D.O. cruised and sold everything affected. We made a timber estimate by forties, and made a topographic and type map. Most of the Forest was unsurveyed, and we had to make a skeleton survey in each drainage, setting up some temporary section corners. In June 1910, I was transferred to the Helena, leaving the Deerlodge crew in charge of R. P. Richard. On the Helena, I organized a crew similar to that on the Deerlodge, and worked there till July 25, on which date, in response to a wire from the District Office I reported at Missoula.

The big 1910 fire was going strong then. Both Lolo and the Coeur d'Alene had crews at intervals along the front. I was given a crew of forty men, and located near Borax on the Wallace branch of the Northern Pacific. We honestly did our best, but it was not good enough on that fire.

Returned to the Deerlodge September 1, and worked on that Forest until March 15, 1911, at which time I resigned from the Service.

I then spent almost eight years in southeast Missouri working for a lumber company, and when they finished cutting their holdings there I did not go to Louisiana with them. I wanted to get back to the Northwest. Was able to get a Forest Service appointment as lumberman, and was assigned to the Kaniksu January 1, 1919.

Resigned from the Service again in June 1920 to work for Lindsley Brothers, Spokane. Worked for them about a year and a half, was out of a job for a while. Took Forest Service examination for scaler, and was appointed to the Kootenai April 10, 1923, and worked on the Kootenai until November 1934, at which time I was retired on account of having reached the age limit.

It may seem peculiar that I resigned from the Service twice, and came back both times, but my record must have been clear, or I could not have done so.

The foregoing is a true and chronological account of my work from 1903 to 1934. Reading it over, it seems ordinary and uninteresting, but in reality, it was far from being so. You ask for some of the crowning incidents of my career. I suppose you mean the things that affected my later life, but really there were none or hardly any. I suppose the 1910 fire was the nearest. That was the first job I had ever tackled and I fell down on - and it hurt.

There was a lot of hostility on the part of residents of Cass Lake, Minnesota, to the establishing of the Minnesota National Forest. They had expected that the Chippewa Indian Reservation would be opened to settlement, and when it was made a Forest Reserve their disappointment was keen. The newspapers of the Twin Cities and of Duluth lambasted the Bureau of Forestry and its representatives pretty hard. Mr. Pinchot came in for a lot of adverse criticism; so did Mr. Bruce and Ed Marshall; but they got tired of fighting us after a while. I have been told that Cass Lake now regards the Forest as its greatest asset and that it is going to be the finest summer resort in that region. It should be, for the Minnesota (or Chippewa, as they call it now) is the most beautiful thing in America - anyway, I think so.

I understand that the Superior moved its headquarters from Ely to Duluth. I heard they were putting on a lot of style, using planes to make field trips, and that they have fine surfaced roads to go where we traveled by canoe and portage. I wonder what they would say if someone told them that the first Acting Supervisor on the Forest was an ugly, cranky little Scotsman by the name of Baird. Better not tell them.

In 1908 when I was on the Minnesota the Supervisor held a Civil Service examination for the position of ranger. I assisted him in giving the field test on the second day. Among the candidates that fell to me was a young man who gave his name as Howard Flint. I did not see him again until June 1919, when I was transferred to the Kaniksu as lumberman. He had been

Supervisor of the Kaniksu for a year, and he knew me at once. We had a long talk, and he gave me all the news from the old Minnesota.

In 1909 and 1910 I had a nice lot of boys and young men in my reconnaissance crew, some of whom later became well known. One was L. C. Stockdale, who later became Chief of Operation in District One. I believe he is now in Washington, D. C. Another was R. T. Ferguson, now Supervisor of the Beartooth. Another was C. N. Whitney, now in Products in your office.

Another was C. Lee Billings, now general manager of Potlatch Forest, Inc.

The differences between conditions in the Forest Service of 1905 - 10 and those of the present day are too numerous to mention. There were no roads to speak of, not every ranger district had a station, and what stations there were, were log cabins. Just look at them now, though. The pay of a Forest ranger averaged $900 a year, and no allotment was made for expenses. Besides, he was required to furnish his own saddle horse. The astonishing thing about it was the fact that in spite of all this the Service got such a high type of men. The rangers' wives may be given a lot of credit for this. They kept the stations spotless, and took good care of their men. I met a lot of rangers and their wives in my work, and I know. My hat is off to the old ranger and his wife. I truly believe that they laid the foundation of the Service.

I could go on for a long time relating incidents that were very interesting to me, but they might not interest others. You know how it is with us old fellows - once we start to gab we never know when to quit.

If I have touched on any points that interest you, and you want more information, please let me know.

/s/ JOHN S. BAIRD

Lumberman