National Forests surrounds Fremont County, playing an important role in the life in the Upper Wind River country. Grazing and timber resources support the livestock and timber industries of the area, while wildlife and wilderness continue to provide the basis for recreation and tourism businesses.
President Harrison established the first federal forest lands in 1891, officially designated as “Forest Reserves”. At that time, the forests were understood to be available to everyone, and in 1907, they were officially renamed as the National Forests. This also distinguished between state and federal forests. The Shoshone Forest was established in 1891 as part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, making it the oldest federal forest in the nation. The Wapiti Ranger Station between Cody and Yellowstone is the oldest continuously used U.S. Forest Service station in the United States, starting in 1905. Later, the area was renamed Bonneville National Forest
As the surrounding populations increased due to settlement, additional demand was put on forest personnel. Larger forests were broken down to adjust to the increased staffing demands. On July 1, 1911, the Washakie National Forest was formed from the southern part of the Bonneville National Forest. Its name honored the Shoshone leader, Chief Washakie. By 1916, the western part of the Washakie was added to another forest, while the remaining Bonneville was added to the Washakie National Forest. This allowed all the Wind River drainage to be in the Washakie National Forest. In 1923, Fremont County had four apportionments of the U.S. Forest Reserve Fund which included the Bridger Forest Reserve, Shoshone Forest Reserve, The Teton Forest Reserve and the Washakie Forest Reserve.
The headquarters for the Wind River District of the Shoshone National Forest were first located at the Sheridan Creek Ranger Sation near where Sheridan Creek joins the Wind River 18 miles west of Dubois. The Sheridan District is sixty miles long, and it contains over 375,000 acres. This district was considered prime for railroad tie timber; Jim Stewart and a crew from the Wind River Reservation attempted the first tie drive from Sheridan Creek in 1906. That same year, the first forest ranger arrived in the Dubois area. The Sheridan Ranger Station had a fire lookout station seven miles from the ranger station, with both a tower and a cabin. In 1911, telephone lines connected the ranger station and fire lookout. The cabin pictured was used as a bunkhouse at the site and now sits at the Dubois Museum. It measures seventeen and a half by fifteen and a half feet.
Early forest rangers or guards were charged with protecting vital resources, young men hired by the Forest Service to work the forests out of ranger stations. Life was not easy at these stations. According to A History of the Architecture of the USDA Forest Service written in 1999 for the United States Department of Agriculture, “early Forest Service employees had to rent rooms in town, use abandoned homesteads or camp in tents in the field. The few Government-owned buildings that existed were small, poorly designed by the employees on the ground, and inadequate for conducting day-to-day business.” During the early years, the ranger’s living conditions were described as “primitive,” and the ranger had to pay for their own expenses. In the early years, there was no formal fire detection system and the only training programs for rangers were in Europe.
After 1911, the Forest Service began building lookout towers and fire tool caches. The Dubois Museum features one such fire tool cache. The small steel structure held firefighting tools and were placed in various locations throughout the forests. The general Operations Handbook specified items to be kept in the caches: most usefully, an axe, saw, and shovel. Over time, the number of caches were reduced as tools were kept at the ranger sites, and caches were left at sites where they may not have ever been used. Today, it is unknown how many caches remain.
Next up for the Fremont County Museum
July 31, 9am with the Dubois Museum, “Tie Hack Camp of Union Pass” Wind River Visitor’s Council Adventure Trek Series
August 2, 11am at the Riverton Museum, “Archeology Day” Bailey tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
August 6, 7pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Eagle Spirit Dancers”
August 7, 6pm at the Dubois Museum, “Bighorn Sheep Bow Making with Tom Lucas” Wyoming Community Bank Discovery Speakers Series
August 10, 6pm at the Dubois Museum, “Music at the Museum: Allan Morton & the Hired Guns”
August 13, 6:30pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Eagle Spirit Dancers”
Now thru December, 9-5 at the Riverton Museum, “History Day Exhibits” Shoshone Schools
Oct 4, TBA at the Lander Community Center, “Rare Relics Roadshow” Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation
Call the Dubois Museum 1-307-455-2284, the Pioneer Museum 1-307-332-3339 or the Riverton Museum 1-307-856-2665 for detail regarding their programs.
The Dubois Museum, the Pioneer Museum in Lander and the Riverton Museum need your financial support. In the current economic environment, the museums are more reliant than ever on donations from the private sector to continue to provide the quality programs, collections management, exhibits and services that have become their hallmark over the last four years. Please make your tax deductible contribution through the Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation www.windriverccf.com or by sending a check to Fremont County Museums 450 N 2nd Rm 320 or taking it directly to the museum you choose to support.
