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Show Volume XIX Issue XXI The Ogden Valley news Page 9 December 1, 2011 Historical Information on the Ogden Ranger District Part II Note: Blaine A. Gardner compiled and transcribed the following information during 2010 while trying to learn about the road to Monte Cristo. Much of the initial history below was gathered by Clark Anderson and LeRoy Stoker around 1940. This is the second of a three-part series. Through the Ogden Canyon - The most outstanding difficulty of the early settlers of this region was the passage through Ogden Canyon. With heavy snowfalls of three to five feet in Ogden Valley, the spring runoff annually washed out the road and it had to be rebuilt. The road followed Ogden River and at one point where Shanghai Creek came into the river, a high bridge was built. One story is told of a man by the name of Sam Bittle who was coming down the canyon with his oxen; it was snowing and the ox on the right side was blind in his right eye. The oxen became excited upon passing over this bridge and both went over the side of the bridge, pulling the wagon with them into the Ogden River. The river was so high that these oxen swam a distance of three-quarters of a mile to a point where they emerged from the water at Wheeler’s Mill, and the men from the mill headed up the road looking for Mr. Bittle. They found him clinging onto one log of this high bridge, not daring to let go and fall into the river, and not being able to grasp back onto the bridge because it was too slippery to get a handhold above. This happened in the early 1870’s. The story was told by Mr. Garner. A story is told by Mr. Grow that the snow was so heavy in early days that in early May the men used to shovel the snow off the public square in Huntsville in order to play baseball. First Trail - The first wagon trail onto Monte Cristo passed through South Fork, Beaver Creek, and onto the ridge by Elk pond and Dry Bread Hollow, and up Skunk Creek and over the pass into Woodruff Park. Later Levi Wheeler built the road up Wheeler Fork following the bottom of Dry Bread Hollow and onto the Monte dugway. The other road leading to the summit of Monte Cristo passed up Magpie Canyon going onto Knighton Ridge and thence onto Horse Ridge near Monument Spring, and onto what is now known as the Wasatch Ridge. One leg of this road extended down Horse Ridge into Guildersleeve Canyon and Lost Creek. It is apparent that formerly, as now, a large amount of the activity of the region centered around Monte Cristo and the drainages leading from that mountain area. Sawmills were numerous and an attempt is made here to list the locations and dates of sawmills in the area. Saw Mill Locations - It appears that Levi Wheeler constructed the first sawmill in the vicinity. It was an old type flutter mill and stood immediately below the mouth of Wheeler creek in Ogden Canyon. This was apparently operating in the early 1870’s. At that time, a considerable amount of timber was brought from Wheeler’s Basin to that mill. This mill was washed out and not reestablished. Steam mills then came into being and Wheeler then took his mill into the Wheeler Creek on Monte Cristo. In the late 1870’s Thomas Bingham began a shingle mill in Sugar Pine Creek. David Eccles operated a sawmill at the head of Sugar Pine at about the same time. In 1881, ’82, and ‘83, Stephen and Ephraim Nye ran Bingham’s Shingle Mill and Bingham moved to the head of Bear Wallow. O. L. Nye tells the story that the Indians from the Bear Lake Valley used to come into the Monte Cristo area to hunt and it was mandatory that the sawmill men furnish meals for fifteen Indians once a week. Barney White, who had a sawmill just north of Skunk Creek didn’t take kindly to this hotel business and as a result the Indians were blamed for a large fire which spread through the Skunk Creek and Blake Hollow areas in the early 1880’s. Mr. Nye remembers one Indian Chief coming for dinner with a band of braves and it was necessary to accommodate them. This Indian Chief was evidently very religious and blessed the food for about ten minutes at one table and then moved to the other table and proceeded to do the same. All this was done in his native tongue and the highly frightened Nye boys did not enjoy the long procedure very much. Other mills in the locality were operated as follows: In 1873 a steam mill was installed by Thomas Yeaman just below Wheeler Creek in Ogden Canyon. It was later operated by Simon Wheeler who also had a mill in Ogden Canyon a little later than this, above where the Hermitage now stands. Capitan Silvia and Lewis J. Holther operated a mill in Wheeler Creek on Monte in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Silvia Hollow gets its name from this man. John Trocutt had a mill in Dry Bread Hollow in 1893. William Moyes operated a mill in what is now Burnt Fork on South Fork. John Gibson operated a mill on Dairy Ridge in 1893. William Wilson had a small mill in operation in Ogden Canyon between the mouths of Warm and Cold Water Canyons. This was about 1885 and apparently this mill cut all of the timber which was removed from the head of Warm Water and Cold water canyons just below Ogden Peak. Mr. Grow states that, even with the horses which they had in those days, three sixteenhour days were required to go to Wheeler Creek on Monte Cristo and return with a load of lumber, and that 1200 feet of lumber was a big load. $18.00 per thousand was a good price for first quality lumber. Horses were used to haul the lumber from the hills but oxen were used in the logging camps due to their strength and maneuverability about and over the logs. Little Mining - About the only mining activity conducted in the early days were the old diggings for gold in the lower Sugar Pine and Woodruff Creeks. These were later given up although several men went broke in prospecting them. Lime Kilns - A small industry which was quite important in the early days was the lime kilns located in Ogden Canyon. The first kiln was built just west of the mouth of Wheeler Canyon in 1865 by James M. Thomas. Later on it was moved to the mouth of Cold Water Canyon where it was operated by Lorin Farr and his family for a number of years. About 1885 there was also a small powder mill in operation just opposite the lime kilns near Cold Water. Black Powder was manufactured in this location but the operations were later discontinued. Events Leading to the Establishment of the Ogden River Ranger District are rather interesting. It was evident that the work done The Ogden Valley news is looking for Ogden Valley and Ogden Canyon historical biographies, stories, and photos to use in its publication. Please mail, email, or call Shanna at 801-745-2688 or Jeannie at 801-745-2879 if you have material you would like to share. in the Old Forest Reserves was well taken by the majority of the public and people in Weber and Box Elder Counties became convinced of the benefits they were missing without their watershed lands being under some form of control. The floods in Farmington and Willard Canyons as late as 1934 brought very forcefully to their attention the need for adequate regulation of watershed lands, and steps were taken to bring these watershed areas into the National Forest which culminated in 1935 in the Ogden River watershed being included in the Cache National Forest. Mr. H. H. Price became the first Ranger on this district, where he remained until July 1939. He tells of several experiences in locating the government land in this area and in making the necessary surveys, indicating that many of the local people resented interference on the part of the government although they realized that some sort of control was necessary. Fires had been burning promiscuously in the past and as late as 1934, two large fires burned in this area, one in Ogden Canyon and one in South Fork canyon with no agencies available that could go to and put them out. Several rather young men in Ogden have mentioned how fires have gone up the face of the mountain east of Ogden until they reached the top, without any effort being made to put them out until some rain or snow came to extinguish them. With the inclusion of this original area inside the Forest, the Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service put their efforts together to re-establish suitable ground cover in the Willard Basin area. Many miles of terraces were built, many acres of grass sown, and many thousands of trees planted and stock excluded until the progress was completed in the summer of 1940. Rather heavy storms have been handled on this watershed and thousands of dollars damage done previously will not recur. The people of Willard City are heartily in favor of the program even though it necessitated their purchasing the land and donating it to the Federal Government. All the information required for this district may be found in the Supervisor’s files, along with the history of the Ranger District. As mentioned previously, Ranger Harold H. Price was stationed in Ogden in 1935 to begin supervision of the Ogden River District. At that time, the Monte division was a part of the Laketown District. In 1936 the Monte Division was made a part of District 2 and Mark F. Jones was the first Guard stationed there from this District. He was followed by Roy Shipley in 1937 and ’38 and Ben Spencer in 1939 and ’40. In 1936 Charles W. Paxton worked as Guard on the Ogden River District supervising work in and near South Fork. He continued to and including 1940. In the spring of 1940 following the additions of Wellsville Mountain area to this district, Julian Thomas was stationed in Logan to handle matters concerning the Wellsville Mountain area and to set up a program for rehabilitation of the watersheds which have been damaged by fire and overgrazing. Fires - The large fire which was allegedly set by Indians is the first fire of record on this District. Other fires followed until the area was added to the National Forest in 1935. In 1934 there were two large fires in Ogden Canyon, each of which burned over a large area. One of these fires razed the Hermitage Lodge which was a landmark in this vicinity and took several hundred acres of timber lands lying to the north and west of this lodge. Another fire lower down was suppressed, after burning for nearly two weeks, by county fire fighters. This fire was caused by a telephone lineman setting fire to a clematis vine in which was a wasp nest. This was in the middle of the summer and of course the fire proceeded up the mountain side. Other small fires over the entire range land had been set in the past by sheep herders and by lightening with no attempt made to suppress them. As late as 1934 I have personally seen several large fires burning in the back country, in Lost Creek and Ogden River with no attempt to put them out. From The Past . . . Can anyone identify these Eden primary children, and tell us about what year the photo was taken? If so, call Shanna at 801-745-2688 or Jeannie at 801-745-2879. Jeffrey D. 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