History of the Bighorn National Forest

The Bighorn National Forest, created on February 22, 1897, is one of the oldest national forests in the United States. The Bighorn River’s headwaters lay inside the forest boundary, and the river was named by the Native Americans because of the bighorn sheep that were native to the area. Today, in Bighorn Canyon and the surrounding area, bighorn sheep can still be seen. When Lewis and Clark came to the area, they transferred the name to the mountain range.

The Bighorn National Forest was first called the Big Horn Forest Reserve, and was created by President Grover Cleveland, as seen in this article from the The Buffalo Bulletin, in April 1897.

PROCLAMATION The Big Horn Forest Reserve. Whereas, it is provided by section twenty-four of the Act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled,”An act to repeal timber culture-laws, and for other purposes”, “That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any state or territory having public land bearing forests in any part of the public land wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservation, and the President shall, by public proclamation, declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits there of;

And, whereas, the public lands in the State of Wyoming, within the limits hereinafter described, are in part covered with timber, and it appears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reserving said lands as a public reservations. Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section twenty-four of the afore said act of Congress, do hereby make and proclaim that there is hereby reserved from entry and set apart as a public reservation all those certain tracts, pieces or parcels of land lying and being situate in the State of Wyoming, and within the boundaries particularly described as follows…(There is a lengthy description of the sections and ranges and townships that the forest boundaries enclose)…

Done in the City of Washington this twenty-second day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-first. [SEAL]Grover Cleveland, By the President Richard Olney, Secretary of State.

For years, harvesting the timber has been a lucrative part of the Big Horn National Forest. Cutting timber is regulated and bids are taken by companies to cut the trees.

The most common trees for lumber in the forest are lodgepole pine and Engelmann Spruce. As was noted in the Natrona County Tribune in July of 1905. Lodgepole is found in “..merchantable quantity and dimensions in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.”

In the Sheridan Post, July of 1905 there is an article about one timber sale.

Big Timber Sale. Washington, July 3. The forestry service has received an offer of $12.60 a thousand feet for 50,000,000 feet of lodgepole pine and Engleman spruce in the Big Horn forest reserve of Wyoming. The timber will be advertised for sale and this bid accepted if none higher is made. This means at least $125,000 for this timber, which will be used largely for railroad ties and mine props… These 50,000,000 feet will be cut strictly under the new regulations of the forest service, which means in such a way that only dead and mature timber will be used, that the forest will be protected from fire, and seed trees and young growth guarded so that in the future the productivity of the forest will be assured. Unless this sale were made, much of this timber would die and disappear without benefit to the government or anyone else.

Although some people felt that domestic stock should not graze on the national forest, in this article in the Basin Republic in December of 1905 it gives one reason for it. Another argument for the stockman is this: The grass on the reserve, if not eaten off is a constant menace to the forests by reason of its fire-carrying capacity. With grass knee-high, it does not take long for a forest fire to spread over the area, and the matter of fighting it more of a problem with all the vegetation left on the ground.

The next year, livestock was allowed in the reserve. The Worland Grit on MARCH 1906: W.E. Jackson, superintendent of the Big Horn Forest Reserve is authority for the statement that under the ruling of the interior department 40,000 head of horses and cattle will be received on the on the Big Horn forest reserve… forty thousand sheep will also be allowed to range on the reserve on the same territory allotted to them last year.

The Big Horn national forest needed people to build and maintain trails and roads, to mark trees for cutting, watch for forest fires, and generally take care of the forest lands.

Cheyenne Daily Leader, in May of 1908, it mentions Sheridan area artist who was once a forest ranger.

Wyoming Forestry Appointments Announced. Special to The Leader. Washington, May 26. — The forest service has just announced the following appointments of forest guards on Wyoming national forests…. Herman E. Anderson and Hans N. Kleiber on the Big Horn national forest.

The people who became forest rangers needed places to live, and in the Sheridan Semi-Weekly Enterprise in October of 1907 it talks about building housing for the workers.

Making Improvements On The Reservation: Supervisor W. E. Jackson of the Big Horn national forest reservation in Wyoming has been authorized to expend $2,175 for work of permanent improvements on that reservation. This amount covers the construction of three cabins for rangers at a cost of $650 and pasture for each cabin at a cost of $300. This gives the rangers a place in which to live during the winter months and also a place in which to keep their horses. The country in the Big Horn forest reservation will be made more accessible by the construction of a wagon road and a number of miles of trail work. The wagon road will be built in cooperation with the county at a cost of about $6oo. This road will run from Big Horn to the McShane lumber camp, a distance of about twenty-four miles.

Not only was housing needed, but also a fast way to communicate.

From The Guernsey Gazette, September, 1905: For better protection of the forest reserves the forest service, in cooperation with the weather bureau, will install system of telephone lines and stations on them as rapidly as possible. The first system will be installed on the Big Horn forest reserve, Wyoming. This telephone service will enable forest rangers to notify one another without delay when forest fires break out. In so large an area as the Big Horn reserve, which comprises 1,151,680 acres, the value of rapid communication is obvious and there can be no doubt that elimination of delay will result in striking improvement in the control of forest fires.

In July 1908 the name was changed from the Big Horn Forest Reserve to the Bighorn National Forest through an executive order by President Theodore Roosevelt. A year later the headquarters of the forest was changed from Big Horn to Sheridan. In a Sheridan Post article in May of 1909, it tells of the change and gives a lot of information about the forest itself.

The Headquarters of the Big Horn National Forest, (the old name forest reserve has been abandoned) for many years past located at Big Horn, Wyoming, has recently been moved to Sheridan…..Members of the forest service permanently stationed in the city are Supervisor W. E. Jackson, Deputy Supervisor Herbert Graff, Forest Assistant William C Latane, and Charles P. Juckum, clerk. The supervisor and deputy supervisor alternate with each other in the discharge of their duties, the one assuming charge in the office while the other superintendents the work in the field, and vice versa.

The forest assistant spends most of his time in the field, looks after and submits reports on all the technical forest business, such as the conservation of timber on the mountain slopes for the regulation of the water supply in the valley; the advisability of making sales from a silvicultural viewpoint; the marking of timber, cutting operations, disposal of refuse resulting from logging, reproduction and growth studies, forest planting and fire protecting.

The Big Horn National Forest is about 75 miles long and 50 miles wide and comprises an ares of 1,151,680 acres, in order to administer this vast expanse of territory properly, Supervisor Jackson is assisted by a very able force of rangers….the time of the field force is largely taken up in looking after the timber sales and grazing.

The Big Horn National Forest has the honor of having the largest timber sale in whole United States. This sale calls for 100 million feet of timber. It was advertised during the month of March and April and has just been awarded to the Big Horn Timber company, they being the highest bidders. From six to eight men will be required on the sale to do the scaling and oversee the cutting operations.

The proper administration of the of the grazing on the Big Horn forest reserve entails a vast amount of work, both in the office, and in the field. Up to this date, applications have been received by Superintendent Jackson for 35,000 cattle and horses, and 150,000 sheep. No stock can be grazed without a permit, and all stock must be counted before entering the forest. The laws of the state of Wyoming also require that all sheep must be dipped before they can be allowed to enter the forest reserve. The inspection of stock, the assignment of ranges to all stock owners, building permits and preventing of grazing trespass; fire patrol and timber sale work takes up much of the field officers time during the summer months.

Twenty-five percent of the gross receipts from the Big Horn National Forest are turned to the treasuries of Big Horn, Sheridan and Johnson counties every year, to be expended for roads and schools.

No money in payment for grazing or timber can be received by the local office, but all remittances must be sent directly by the purchaser to the U.S. depository for this district which is the Western Montana National bank at Missoula, Montana.

Today, the Bighorn National Forest consists of over 1.1 million acres. It has a wide variety of landscapes, from lush grasslands to alpine meadows, from rolling hills to sheer mountain walls. The elevation ranges from 5,500 feet to an impressive 13,167 at the top Cloud Peak.

The Bighorn National Forest has numerous campgrounds, picnic areas, opportunities for cross-county and downhill skiing, mountain lodges and over 1,200 miles of trails. There are also snowmobile trails and ATV roads. The Medicine Wheel Passage, U.S. 14A; The Cloud Peak Skyway U.S. 16; and the Bighorn Scenic Byway U.S. 14, are well maintained highways through the mountain scenery.

There are multiple clear mountain lakes and reservoirs for fishing and boating. Wildlife, for hunting and watching, include deer, elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, pronghorn antelope, moose, mountain lion, coyote, black bear, wild turkey and many other small birds and mammals.

Wyoming residents are indeed fortunate to have such a bounty of wildlife, scenery, and recreational opportunities offered by the Bighorn National Forest.