FOREST RESERVES IN IDAHO. 87 



That I have trapi>eil in the mountains about the St. Joe for many winters 

 ud have had many mining ehiims in that country which, with my running a 

 ack train for miners. in\>si>ectors. surveyors, timber kx-ators. and Government 

 len. gives me a thorough i>ersonal knowledge of practically all the c-ountry in 

 le withdrawal of the proposed Shoshone Forest Reserve. 



Township 47 north, range 4 east. B. M.. lies just south of Wallace. Idaho. The 

 ortheast one-fourth of this township is drainetl by Plac-er Creek, which runs 

 ortherly into the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River : the rest of the 

 )wnship is drained by Slate Creek and is over the divide, the waters of Slate 

 reek running into the St. Joe River ; that part of 47 north, range 4 east, 

 rained by Placer Creek is mineral land and has lots of mining work. There 

 i also one settler on Placer Creek in this town — Frank Hord. alias Herd- 

 lan — who has a house, stable, and alx)ut 2 acres of ground cleared up ; his is a 

 lxhI hewed log house and is 8* miles from Wallace. Idaho : Hord raises garden 

 ■uck and hay. and also has a small water-power sawmill, and he sells wood 

 1 Wallace; his claim has alx>ut a million feet of timber on it. and if he takes 

 >ur forties up and down the creek he could get alx)ut (^10 acres that could be 

 irmed when the timber is off. There is about 1<K> acres on Placer Creek that 

 >uld be farmed if the timber was off. but it is nearly all covered by mining 

 iaims. Hord located his land as mineral claims, and it is mineral land. On 

 late Creek and its branches in the west and south half of this township there 

 re about fifty settlement claims that I know and have s€^n : these fifty are all 

 ml>er claims, and of them only two claimants make any showing toward resi- 

 euc-e on the land : these two are Fred Uhlman. on section 36. who has a log 

 ouse shingled over for siding, and a smaller log house now used as store- 

 >om. and has about 1 acre cleared and half of it in crop. Fhlman's place is 

 eadquarters for the Slate Creek Settlers' Association, and he works for the 

 >sociation in the oi>eu season, looking after the claims and cabins. The other 

 'ttler is Emil Krause. a locksmith in Wallace, who is on his claim a few days 

 rery few weeks and has a good log house and about one-fourth acre cleared 

 ad now in garden. Excepting the alwve two all the claims have no clearings 

 r improvements except a cabin in the timber, and the claimants seldom visit 

 le land. These claims in township 47 north, range 4 east, are all located where 

 le merchantable timber stands and are locally known as timber claims : some 

 f the l>est timber is on small flats along the Slate Creek, and if that timber 

 ere cut off this flat ground would do for farming. There is on the 50 claims, 

 laybe. li sections of such flat lands. 



In township 47 north, range 5 east. B. M.. there are about 100 settlement 

 aims with c;ibins on : none of these claimants live there : none of these claims 

 iive any clearings or improvements thereon. These claims are all located on 

 Old having valuable saw timl>er. and are locally known as timber claims: the 

 ibins are from 3 to 7 feet high, and few of them have any floors and many of 

 lem have brush thrown on for a roof. In this township the south 4 miles of 

 le North Fork of the St, Joe has a valley from one-fourth to one-half mile 

 ide, which could be farmed if it had the timber off : the rest of the township is 

 :eep, rocky, broken mountains, and ridges : most of the settlement claims have 

 » farming or agricultural lands. 



In township 47 north, range 6 east. B. M.. the south half is in Idaho and in 

 le withdrawal ; the fine timber in this township is in the nine sections in the 

 mthwest quarter of the township and that land is drained by Frazer Creek 

 Qd the East Fork, which empty into the North Fork of the St. Joe ; there is no 

 jriculrural land in the township in Idaho : all the timber lands are claimed 

 r settlement claims, and none of the claimants live there; there is no clearing; 

 le cabins are from 3 to 7 feet high, and few of them ctmld be lived in. 



In township 40 north, range 5 east. B. M.. the divide l>etween Slate Creek and 

 le North Fork of tile St, Joe runs north and south through the center of the 

 jwuship : there is little or no agricultural land in this township : no one lives 

 I the township, although there are about 25 settlers' cabins where the saw 

 mber stands. 



The snow comes in the river bottoms about December and stays about four 

 lonthS. In the bottoms the snow gets from 4 to 5 feet deep and on the ridges 

 x>m S to 12 feet. 



Chas. E. Hoyt. 



Sul^scribed and sworn to l»efore me June 27. lfM»5. in Fhlman's claim, town- 

 tiip 47 north, range 4 east. B. M. 



H. H. Schwartz. 

 Special Afjcnt. GovernmciU Land Office. 



