Remember When?

80 YEARS AGO

FEBRUARY 24, 1943

FRED BROWN RECOUNTS EXPERIENCES

The Cabinet Forest was placed under administration April 1, 1907 with headquarters at Thompson Falls, Montana.

The first supervisor was Ferdinand A. Silcox, who later became Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C.

Eight months after the Cabinet Forest was placed under administration, Ranger Brown was employed by the second supervisor, Roy Headley, who had just recently retired at Washington, D.C. He was in charge of Fire Control for the entire U.S. at the time of his retirement. He employed Mr. Brown as Forest Guard, January 9, 1908 and he has been steadily employed since that time - 35 years and nearly 2 months to March 1.

Ranger Brown says that the conditions were somewhat different then from now. There were some rather tough hombres in the country then, and many opposed to the Forest Service, not knowing what the Forest Service was all about. It took a great deal of time, effort, education and patience to win over the people and get them to see that Forestry was for the real good of the people. If the wasteful destruction of timber by cutting and fire had been permitted to continue at the same rate, there would be little need for the sawmill now at Thompson Falls that is being constructed just east of here. This sawmill, logging crew and payroll will be a great benefit to Thompson Falls and vicinity.

In 1908 fire fighting was much tougher than now, because there was very little equipment available to fight fire. There were few roads and trails, and even fewer lookouts. Even in 1910, the year of the big fires, Ranger Brown recalls, he had just returned from establishing a big fire crew on Clear Creek in the latter part of August when a fire started on Cherry Creek. There was not a fire tool available in town. All the Forest Service tools were out on fire. Every available tool had been purchased from the Thompson Falls Mercantile Co. It was two days before tools and men could be secured from Missoula to fight the fire.

Ranger Brown states that he is the last one of the original personnel of the Cabinet Forest. There were very few roads at the start of the Forest Service and they were poorly constructed, being only trapper and miner trails.

The first two lookout stations to be established were Squaw Peak and Mount Silcox, the latter named after the first supervisor, F.A. Silcox. The first telephone line to be constructed was the main line telephone from Thompson Falls to Hope, Idaho. The Bull River telephone line was the next one and then the Mt. Silcox line. At the present time (1943) there are approximately 500 miles of trails, 120 miles of roads, over 141 miles of telephone lines, five lookout houses, seven lookout towers from 10 to 50 feet in height with lookout houses on them, and numerous other improvements on the Thompson Falls District. The other four districts have been similarly improved.

When F.A. Silcox put the Cabinet Forest under administration, the first headquarters was located in the Chas. Weber building in one room (now the laundromat). Later as the force was built up, headquarters was established in the small square building east of the old Woodman Hall (on Preston Avenue by Spruce Street). Further expansion moved the ranger’s office to two rooms in the old Modern Woodman building. Later the supervisor’s office and ranger’s office were moved to the First State Bank building with a warehouse in the rear (now Big Bull Sports). The next move was to the D.V. Harriott building where it is now located (now the Baptist Church).

The personnel on the Cabinet will be completely changed when Ranager Brown leaves. It has had 12 supervisors, eleven of which Ranger Brown has served under. There have been approximately 18 staff officers, and over 43 clerks and stenographers. There have been 3 rangers on the Thompson Falls district, 10 rangers on the Plains district, 16 rangers on the Trout Creek district, and 10 rangers on the Noxon district. Since St. Regis district was annexed to the Cabinet, there will have been two rangers on the district by March 1, 1943.

The Cabinet Forest has been a training school for men, for only one supervisor on the Cabinet had been a supervisor previously. All the others were promoted either with the forest or from other forests.

Supervisor W.E. Fry says that Ranger Brown’s 35 years on one Ranger District on one forest is a record for Region 1 and probably for the entire Forest Service.

After 35 years in the community Fred retires without a single enemy, and with the respect and friendship of the entire community. This is a record of which he can be justly proud.

The Cabinet National Forest which included part of Idaho and western Montana was divided among Kaniksu, Kootenai and Lolo National Forests July 1, 1954.