Years this material was created: 1960-199-
Quantity: 5.5 linear shelf feet (in 4 record storage boxes and 2.5 document cases)
 © 1998 by Fort Lewis College Foundation, Center of Southwest Studies account

Links to contents

Introduction/ Scope and contents

This collection consists of historically significant records and printed materials pertaining to the U.S. Forest Service in southwestern Colorado -- especially the San Juan National Forest.

Historical note

The San Juan National Forest is located in southwestern Colorado on the western slope of the Continental Divide, covering an area across five counties, more than 120 miles wide, 60 miles long, and making up 1,869,931 acres of public-owned land.

On June 5, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Proclamation that created the San Juan and Montezuma Forest Reserves.  In 1918 the Durango and San Juan Forests were consolidated administratively and in 1920, President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Order officially combining the two Forests into the San Juan National Forest. In 1947, a Land Order was issued that officially consolidated the Montezuma and San Juan Forests, and the present San Juan National Forest is the result.

Map courtesy of http://www.sangres.com/forest/forestsj.htm

Works cited (both websites last accessed on 12/16/2004)
http://www.sangres.com/forest/forestsj.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/sanjuan/about/

Click here to read a report entitled: Living in the San Juan Mountains: Prospectus on Traditional Cultural Properties on the San Juan National Forest and adjacent public lands, San Juan Traditional Cultural Properties Team Scoping Document / Working Paper, edited by Andrew Gulliford, March 2003.

See also this history and its accompanying (large!) index: Forest history (San Juan & Montezuma National Forests): Volume I, 1905-1971 [Durango, Colo.]:  [197-?], call number SW oversize SD428.C6 S6 .  The following is the table of contents of that history:

Administrative information

Arrangement note:  Series are numbered consecutively.  Box numbers start with 1; folder numbers start with 1 in each box.  The series are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest; from most general to most specific.  Items within each series are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise.  The boxes are numbered in one single numbering scheme starting with 1.

Acquisition information:  This collection was begun with the Center of Southwest Studies' accession 2002:11002, donated by the Society on November 4, 2002.

Processing information:  This collection was arranged and described by Todd Ellison, Archivist (revised September 1998; appended March 2003).  This inventory was prepared by Todd Ellison, last edited December 17, 2004.  Initial html conversion was done by student archival assistant Jesse Davila, September 21, 1998.

Records deaccessioned: Two boxes of Pagosa Ranger District contracts and other housekeeping records in accession 1994:0302 that had lost their administrative usefulness.

Note:Record groups (RGs), shown in boldface, are numbered consecutively. The lower levels of organization, following the RG number, are subgroups (SGs) and series. Box numbers start with 1 in each sub-group or (if there is no subgroup) in each series.

Most record groups are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest, or from most general to most specific. Items within each series (e.g., data sheets, payrolls, memoranda and correspondence, and reports) and within each box and folder are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise.

Record Group 1:  San Juan National Forest records
Series 1.1     Timber sales, contracts and permits, 1960-1990.  Records of commercial sales by the U.S. Forest Service. These are Pagosa Ranger District records, unless otherwise specified; a few of the cases pertain to the Piedra Ranger District. Arrangement is alphabetical.

Series 1.2     Collection officer's registers for FYs 1988, 1990-1992. Lists of bills payable at the Pagosa Ranger District. Arrangement is chronological.

Series 1.3     Trails and structures contracts, 1988-1991.  Records of contracts for work on the Pagosa Ranger District. Arrangement is alphabetical.

Series 1.4     Pagosa Ranger District rangers' journals, 1917, 1921, 1924-1925, 1928.  Archival photocopies of 15 small diaries or journals of U.S. Forest Service employee Glenn Dalton, Paul D. Irwin, and other forest service rangers stationed in the area just northwest of Pagosa Springs.  All were transcribed during the years 2003 and 2004 by San Juan Mountains Association volunteer Marilyn Brown. 

Authorship of these journals: Eight of the journals do not mention the name of the ranger(s) who produced them.  Five of the journals were written by a ranger named Glenn Dalton, and one by Paul D. Irwin.  Theirs are the only rangers' names found in the logbooks, but it is evident that several people were involved (the handwriting is different in the different logbooks).  Some of the rangers' supervisors signed in various places, but those signatures are difficult or impossible to read, and they weren't the journal authors at any rate. 

Research value of these journals: These are field notes and daily record of work accomplishments at the Pagosa Springs office.  They depict the daily duties of rangers in the young United States Forest Service system.  These unpublished journals provide a glimpse, not only into the daily activities of a ranger out in the field, but also to their interactions with the individuals who had grazing permits for sheep on the national forest.  One of the important aspects of these journals is that they provide the names of sheepherders and on occasion the allotment that they have a permit.  This is especially useful for research, because we are aware of no published documents that recount the story of sheep grazing in this national forest and that also provide names of the individuals on specific allotments were found.  These journals provide a base upon which further research can be conducted into the personal lives of the sheepherders and more can be discovered about their families and how long they grazed sheep on their allotments.

RG 1: San Juan National Forest records

Series 1.1     Timber sales, contracts and permits, 1960-1990.  Information shown in the folder header includes the timber site name, purchaser's name, and the date the permit or contract was awarded. These are Pagosa Ranger District records, unless otherwise specified.

Box 1:     B-- through C-- timber sales, contracts and permits

Folder 1     B-C salvage, San Juan Lumber Company, 1977 Mar. 24

Folder 2     B-C salvage, Wolf Creek Industries, 1980 June 23

Folder 3     BC blowdown, Wellyn Inc., 1988 June 7

Folder 4     BC blowdown, Alfred Redwine, 1990 June 25

Folder 5     Benson Creek, Neff Mountain Lumber Company, 1989 July 9

Folder 6     Block 14, Alfred Redwine, 1982 July 15

Folder 7     Block 20, Wolf Creek Industries, 1974 Feb. 25

Folder 8     Blue Creek, San Juan Lumber Company, terminated 1970 Dec. 31. Includes sale area map, 1967 Nov.

Folder 9     C Block salvage, Wolf Creek Industries, 1976 Feb. 9

Folder 10     Cade Mountain (Piedra Ranger District) timber sale (proposed), ca. 1968-1969. Includes numerous maps and cruise plot tally sheets.

Folder 11     Camp Creek salvage, Wolf Creek Industries, 1985 Apr. 17

Folder 12     Castle Creek sale unit, terminated 1971 Dec. 31. Includes appraisal report and sale area map, 1967 Dec.

Folder 13     Coal Creek salvage no. 2, Snow's Wrecker Service, 1979 June 25.

Folder 14     Confar Hill, Western Pine Industries, 1977 Sept. 27
 

Box 2:     D- through H- timber sales, contracts and permits
Folder 1     Deadman Canyon, Wolf Creek Industries, 1974 July 15

Folder 2     Dunagan, Evergreen Lumber Company, 1977 Jan. 20

Folder 3     Fall Creek road salvage, Snow's Wrecker Service, 1974 Aug. 26

Folder 4     Fall Creek road salvage, closed 1977 Sept. 30

Folder 5     Fall Creek, Southwest Forest Ind., 1984 Oct. 9

Folder 6     Fish Creek numbers 1 and 2 (Fish Lake; proposed), 1968 Sept.

Folder 7     Four Mile, San Juan Lumber Company, 1981 Mar. 30

Folder 8     Four Mile timber sale, Evergreen Lumber Company, 1981 Dec. 7

Folder 9     Four Mile log loads accountability record, ca. 1985

Folder 10     Four Mile aspen, Sevedeo Martinez, 1988 Nov. 10 and 1990 July 5

Folder 11     H Block salvage, San Juan Lumber Company, 1973 Nov. 19

Folder 12     Horse [Mountain] I, G .W. Smith Timber, 1978 Sept. 18

Folder 13     Horse [Mountain] II, San Juan Lumber Company, 1967 June 26. Includes map.

Folder 14     Horse [Mountain] II, G .W. Smith Timber, 1979 June 25
 

Box 3:     I- through Little Pagosa Creek timber sales, contracts and permits
Folder 1     I Block snags, Richard L. Snow, 1971 Oct. 8

Folder 2     Jackson Creek, San Juan Lumber Company, 1973 Aug. 30

Folder 3     Jackson Mountain, San Juan Lumber Company, 1970 June 23

Folder 4     Jenny (Piedra District), San Juan Lumber Company, 1975 Sept. 17

Folder 5     J.P.R.D. right-of-way, 1973 July 20

Folder 6     Laughlin Park, San Juan Lumber Company, 1974 Dec. 10

Folder 7     Laughlin Park, San Juan Lumber Company, 1974 Dec. 11

Folder 8     Laughlin Park salvage, Guy Garretson, 1980 June 10

Folder 9     Lefthand Canyon, San Juan Lumber Company, 1972 Feb. 14. Includes two field books.

Folder 10     Little Blanco sale, San Juan Lumber Company, 1960 Sept. 12. Includes sale area map, 1967 Nov.

Folder 11     Little Blanco sale unit, San Juan Lumber Company, 1960 Sept. 12. Field folder.

Folder 12     Little Blanco snags, Alfred Redwine, 1982 Nov. 4

Folder 13 Little Pagosa Creek blowdown (Piedra District), Rocky Mountain Lumber Company, 1970 Aug. 17
 

Box 4:     Log Deck through Middle Fork timber sales, contracts and permits; also--all of Pagosa Ranger District--collection officer's registers for FYs 1988, 1990-1992; and selected contracts, 1988-1991.
Folder 1     Log Deck, Western Pine Industries, 1979 Feb. 16

Folder 2     Lower Porcupine (Turkey Springs), San Juan Lumber Company, 1975 Dec. 31. Includes sales cruises and log load receipt records in folders.

Folder 3     Lower Porcupine salvage, Rodney Ray, 1980 Oct. 2

Folder 4     Lower Turkey Creek, San Juan Lumber Company, 1973 June 25

Folder 5     Lower Turkey Creek sale cruises, marking, and volume, ca. 1972 Aug. 13. Includes field book and cruise map.

Folder 6     Mariposa aspen, Sevedeo Martinez, 1987 Oct. 21

Folder 7     McCabe Creek right-of-way, San Juan Lumber Company, 1972 Oct. 24

Folder 8     Middle Fork aspen sale number 2 (Piedra Ranger District), Lee Bartholomew, 1967 Oct. 5. Includes Impact Survey Report, 1967 Sept. 15.

Series 1.2     Collection officer's registers:
Folder 9     Collection officer's register, FY 1988. List of bills for collection.

Folder 10     Collection officer's register, FY 1990. List of bills for collection.

Folder 11     Collection officer's register, FY 1991. List of bills for collection.

Folder 12     Collection officer's register, FY 1992. List of bills for collection.

Series 1.3     Trails and structures contracts:
Folder 13     Chimney Rock Observation Tower contract, 1989

Folder 14     Corral Mountain timber sale scoping document contract, 1989 Aug. 9

Folder 15     Fourmile Trail Camp contract, 1988

Folder 16     Murray Homestead historical and archaeological work contract with James Brooks, 1989 July 11

Folder 17     Stage II inventory contracts, 1989. Inventory of several thousand acres on the Pagosa Ranger District.

Folder 18     Timber stand examination contract, 1990

Folder 19     Trail opening, clearing and erosion work contracts, 1991

Series 1.4     Pagosa Ranger District rangers' diaries, 1917, 1921, 1924-1925, 1928.  (Click on each folder title to read Marilyn Brown's transcriptions of the diaries.)
Box 8:    
Folder 1:    Ranger's logbook, 1917 July 15- Oct. 20.  (archival photocopy).

Folder 2:    Ranger's logbook, 1920 April 28 - August 31.  98 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 3:    Ranger's logbook of Paul D. Irwin, 1921 June 1- Aug. 31.  (archival photocopy).

Folder 4:    Ranger's logbook, 1921 December 1-15.  15 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 5:    Ranger's logbook, 1922 September 10-30.  31 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 6:    Ranger's logbook, 1924 June 1- 28.  14 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 7:    Ranger's logbook, 1924 July 1- 28.  14 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 8:    Ranger's logbook, 1924 Aug. 1- Sept. 30.  26 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 9:    Ranger's logbook, 1924 December 1- 31.  8 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 10:  Ranger's logbook of Glenn Dalton, 1925 January 1-31.  8 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 11:  Ranger's logbook of Glenn Dalton, 1925 March 1-31.  10 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 12:  Ranger's logbook of Glenn Dalton, 1925 May 1-31.  37 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 13:  Ranger's logbook of Glenn Dalton, 1925 June 1-30.  14 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 14:  Ranger's logbook of Glenn Dalton, 1925 July 1- 31.  12 pages (archival photocopy).

Folder 15:    Ranger's field diary and travel record of C. E. Oakley, 1928 March 17-April 4.  22 pages (archival photocopy).  Not transcribed.  Recorded in an entirely different format than the preceding diaries.  His handwriting is very clear.  Expense entries are at the top of the page.

Doing your own research: This description of a portion of the collections at the Fort Lewis College Center of Southwest Studies is provided to inform interested parties about the nature and depth of the repository's collections.  It cannot serve as a substitute for a visit to the repository for those with substantial research interests in the collections.

This collection is located at the Center of Southwest Studies on the campus of Fort Lewis College.  Researchers wanting more information about using this material at the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center may email the archivist at archives@fortlewis.edu or click here to use our E-mail Reference Request Form (or phone the archivist at 970/247-7126).  The Center does not have a budget for outgoing long-distance phone calls to answer reference requests, so please email if you wish to receive a response from the Center.  To request reproductions/copies, click here for instructions.