Carbon County news., 1937-12-03

rugged and beautiful country adj
jacent to Red Lodge, may be pub
lieized by forest officials next year
is the information contained in a
Billings Gazette story written by
Wayne Farley.
Mr.. Farley stated that although
there is a wealth of early history
associated with the region, and
although it is rich in geological
interest, comparatively little is
known of it by the general public" !"
The story then continues as fol-
lows:
In an effort to remedy this con-
dition and to make it even more
attractive to visitors than it is. at
present, the forest service is con-
templating issuing handbook tel
ling of the areas early history and
pointing out it's points of interest.
Data for the proposed handbook,
which would serve as a guide to
picnickers, campers, fishermen and
tourists, was collected and prepar-
ed during the last summer by Ken
meth E. Chriswell, who served as a
recreational guard in the area for
the Custer forest this year.
The pamphlet would point out
the early history of the section,
briefly, describe the geology, de-
scribe the various canyons and
mountain peaks and suggest routes
by which they can be reached; tell
of the many lakes which are fish
erman's paradise, tell of the glac-
iers to be found within it's borders
and describe the many paleontolo-
gical discoveries that have been
made.
Captain Clark of the Lewis and
Clark expedition probably was the
first white man to visit the area.
He came down the Yellowstone RI
yer in 1906, two years after the
start of the exploration of the
Louisiana Purchase and, at a point
a little west of Laurel, built dug
outs with which to descend the ri
yer.
Some 60 years later, in 1870, the
early-day prospectors discovered
gold at the present site of Cooke
City, high in the heart of the Bear
tooth mountains, and only short
distance from the northeast en-
trance to Yellowstone National
park.
Much Activity at Nye
This discovery resulted in con-
siderable mining activity during the
next few years, particularly at the
old town of Nye, from 1885 to
1890.
Nye was located on the Stillwat-
er just inside the Custer forest
boundary. 1t is now not even a
ghost town, since none of the old
buildings are left. But during it's
boom days it boasted a population
of 1,70O persons.
The owners of the mine, the
Minneapolis Mining company, built
the road up the Saltwater river
from Columbus to old Nye, in the
early days when Columbus was
known as Saltwater City.
At present, according to the for
est service data, some work is be-
ing done on the mining claims in
an effort to determine the size of
the copper ore body as well as it's
grade.
The Custer national forest is
combination of the Beartooth for
est and the Custer forest. The
main division of Absaroka forest
reserve was proclaimed on Sept.
4, 1902. Two years later, Feb. IL,
1904, the Crazy Mountain division
was proclaimed and, on Nov. 6,
1906, the Pryor Mountain division
of the Beartooth reserve was set
aside.
The Beartooth national forest
was created on July 1, 1908, as a
separate forest from the Absaroka.
To facilitate administration this
forest was combined with the Gus
ter forest in 1881, and the latter
name retained.
Rich in Indian Lore
"The country is rich in Indian
lore," Chriswell's Investigations re-
vealed. "The buffalo roamed up
from the plains into the foothills
of the Beartooths. Numerous other
animals ranged in the locality.
Among these were elk, deer, big
horn sheep and antelope. These
animals were the main source of
food supply for the Indians.
"It is common knowledge that
their usual mode of hunting was
on horseback" he continued in his
report. However, in days before
they had horses they sometimes
drove the buffalo over cliffs, into
brush and log pens in large num-
bers. Some of the hunters would
await at the base of the cliff to
kill those beasts surviving the fall. |
These buffalo Jumps falls or
traps, as they are called can be
identified today by the presence of !
buffalo skeletons in great quanti-
ties as we'll as numerous arrow
heads