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HENRY A. KROGER, 1910 - 1917
BY ORVAL J. BERRY
ASSISTANT FOREST RANGER
March has been a bad month for disagreeable weather.
The first day of the month was spent in Missoula to secure
a few supplies. Being election day, we had several offers
to vote, but we did not wish to disappoint those who sought
our votes most. I am in favor of a dry Sunday and feel that
those needing beer and other beverages should go to Bonner.
Joined the Rifle and Pistol Club.
A few timber sales have been made this month and an effort
was made to see the brush piles, but the snow was still too
deep. Tried to get familiar with a few brands, but the hair
was too long and all that could be done was to make a note
of each brand found.
Came near getting Henry Kroger to join the Rifle and Pistol
Club after missing a coyote three times with my 45 Colt.
He offered the opinion that he could do as well with a little
practice, as practice makes perfect.
On the 13th day of April, Henry and I drove to Hall to attend
a meeting of the users on that District. We found Mr.
Rutledge Parker and F. C. Burks, of Missoula, waiting for
us. The meeting was a grand success. It could have been
larger; however, it was representative, considering the
inclemency of the weather. Burks was in no shape for a
footrace, owing to his recent accident in a run-away, but
his remarks were delivered from the shoulder and to the point.
Parker outlined the policy of the Forest Service regarding
grazing and free-use and made many friends. In building
the road to the Douglas Creek Station, the Forest Service
will appropriate $100 and ranchers will furnish teams and
labor. We will also cut short trails to open ridges and
waterholes. In all, I think a meeting of this kind once in
a while is mighty good; it brings all closer together and
so many subjects come up that can be handled as a body to
advantage. While we were unable to get Kroger to say very
much, the fact of his presence would insure a peaceable program.
Spent the night of the 26th at the Gilbert Station and had
eight fish about 6 inches long to eat. The fishing through
the ice may attract some and I was glad that Mr. Kroger was
such a good fisherman, or I would have been required to eat
ham and bacon. The ice is still 18 inches thick on the lake.
The lake is well stocked with grayling, rainbow, and red
belly trout with an absence of the fish commonly known as
"squaw" fish.
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Had a strange experience in a snowstorm on April 2. It was
snowing hard and began to thunder heavily. Lightning flashes
were just barely perceptible because of the clouds. My horse
gave me a fast ride through the snow; I was glad when the
noise stopped. The snow is slowly disappearing and the grass
is very short. The stockmen on upper Rock Creek are still
feeding and report that the hay supply is getting short.
At present, it is impossible to predict the weather conditions
for May, although it is time for warm weather and an occasional
rain.
All officers short of safety pins can be supplied by applying
to F. C. Burks.
Since I had been unable to get around as well as usual this
month, I have made considerable improvements at the Station.
Have built a good fence around the house and filled in the
yard with black dirt. Have sown lawn grass in hopes I can
get a city yard with vines, flowers, etc. Have also made a
general cleanup and the place looks pretty good again. I
have hired a man to put in what crop I can get ready for
about 10 acres of wheat and vegetables as well as some grass
seed.
I expect to do some trail work next month to open Park Gulch
to Harvey Creek. This will be an easy trail, with the
exception of about 100 years of rockwork.
I have a man here today to look over the timber in Growse
Gulch who expects to buy, if the road will not be too much
of an expense.
Philipsburg Mail - August 18, 1911 - Forest Guard Milo Hoyt,
Wednesday, sent in a big black bear which he caught in a
trap near the Hoyt Ranger Station on Ross Fork of Rock Creek.
Bear signs about the Ranger site at Little Moose Meadows
have been plentiful lately but Mr. Hoyt never came across
one while out patrolling his District, so he decided to put
out a trap.
Assisted by Leo McClellan, who is an old bear hunter, he
set the trap on Thursday evening of last week. Having no
fresh meat to use for bait, they caught a few fish and hung
them up thinking that some bear might take a liking to fishes
as a change from a straight huckleberry diet. For several
days the place remained undisturbed, and Mr. Hoyt was
beginning to think that bear were catching their own fish.
Tuesday morning, however, when Mr. Hoyt went to the trap
just before leaving the station for Mount Emerine, he found
the premises occupied by a large black bear. He was caught
by the right foot and was good and mad. The trap used is a
regular steel beartrap with about 9 feet of log chain attached.
The end of the chain was fastened to a loose pole, intended
for a drag, but the bear got the chain around a tree and
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was securely anchored to the spot. The execution had to be
delayed about half an hour until a camera was procured from
the Ranger Station and the bear photographed alive.
It was the first bear ever trapped by Mr. Hoyt and he naturally
was a bit nervous so he asked Mr. McClellan to do the shooting.
He had never shot a bear but he screwed up his courage and
brought the 30-30 carbine into action to close range and
after the smoke of the battle cleared the bear had been put
out of action. Mr. Hoyt first tried him with a club to see
if he was not playing possum and then felt his pulse and
after 10 minutes or so pronounced him dead enough to skin.
He was released from the trap and within an hour was on the
way to Appel and Royal's Meat Market in Philipsburg where
Leo McClellan keeps his bear meat on sale.
The trap was reset in the same spot and Mr. Hoyt hopes to
catch several other members of the bear family very shortly.
The bear caught was a very powerful animal. In attempting
to free himself from the trap, his shoulder was broken and
with the use of only one paw and his teeth, he climbed a
tree with the agility of a cat, as high as the heavy chain
would let him, tearing off the bark and cutting holes into
the tree like those made with a cant hook used in rolling
logs. He took the bark off the tree for about 10 feet from
the ground up, chewed up dry poles, and performed other stunts
which proved convincing that a man would stand a poor chance
in a hand-to-hand encounter with even a smaller bear than
this one, and had he been able to get his foot loose from
the trap there would have been a different story to relate.
Even Mr. Hoyt's dog seemed to realize this and kept at a
safe distance until the bear was dead. At this time of the
year, bear are subsisting almost entirely on berries,
huckleberries being their favorite, and as these are scarce
this year, one is almost certain to find bear wherever there
are huckleberries.
Mr. McClellan decided to camp a few days with Mr. Hoyt at
the Ranger Station and will endeavor to rid that locality
of a few more bears. There are some big ones left according
to their tracks which are as large as a man's hat.
Philipsburg Mail - January 1913 - Forest Ranger Henry A. Kroger,
who came in from Georgetown Lake Wednesday, tells of the
terrible experience of a 10-year-old boy who spent Saturday
night up a tree when he thought a wildcat was after him.
It was -35 F. and but few youngsters could have endured
what this little fellow did. But he was brave, and while
he was nearly frozen to death, he said that he "never cried
a bit."
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This little hero is a son of Frank Engstrom who lives at a
small dairy farm on Upper Flint Creek about midway between
Georgetown and Echo Lake. He had been visiting at Georgetown
on Saturday afternoon and left for home about 5:30 o'clock.
While going through the woods about a mile from home, he
was frightened by a wild animal he thought was following
him. He climbed a tree and remained there all night, afraid
to come down until daylight when he could see that the animal
was gone. Frozen and cramped by the bitter cold, he was
unable to walk. Young Engstrom crawled on his hands and
knees to his home. His father had not been uneasy on account
of Frank's failure to come home in the evening, thinking
that because of the intense cold the folks at Georgetown
had prevailed upon him to stay there overnight. He was hurried
to Georgetown and on the noon train was taken to the hospital
at Anaconda. Both hands and feet and the legs for nearly 8
inches up from the ankle were found badly frozen. According
to latest reports, the little fellow is getting along as
well as could be expected, but it is feared he will lose
the left foot and probably one finger.
Mr. Kroger is much saddened by the misfortune of this little
boy. He states that last summer the boy frequently came
over to the Ranger Station to play with the children while
Mr. Kroger's family were up there during vacation.
Philipsburg Mail - March 1913 - "I was living down near Garnet
and one day as I drove through a heavily timbered area, I
met a man who had a tarp-covered load of something in the
back of his sled. The man at once began boasting of the
luck he had enjoyed in that day's hunting. He named the
number of deer he had killed. I said, "Do you know who I
am? I am a game warden."
Instantly the answer came, "Mr. do you know who I am?
the biggest liar in Granite County."
I am
With that he gave his startled team a lashing with his willow
whip and they took off at a gallop down the rough wood road.
He was not pursued, for it was known that in his shack, on
a poor homestead, nine children were mostly dependent upon
the bounties of nature for their livelihood. (Reported by
F. C. Burks, Deputy Game Warden, under Henry Kroger)
Philipsburg Mail - April 23, 1915 - Forest Ranger H. A. Kroger
and his young son Charlie were caught in the thunderstorm
last Friday night. They had been to town and were riding
out to the Ranger Station in a buckboard leading Charlie's
old saddle horse behind the rig. When about halfway up
Georgetown Hill, the old saddle horse refused to be led any
further, so Mr. Kroger tied him to a tree in a sheltered
place and left him. He returned early Saturday morning to
get the horse but found him dead. Lightning had killed the
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old horse and from all appearances, he was struck soon after
Mr. Kroger left. They feel very sad over it, as the horse
had been given to Charlie.
Philipsburg Mail - March 10, 1916 - Forest Ranger H. A. Kroger
from the Georgetown Ranger Station reports that the Forest
Service this week shipped in a carload of 25 head of elk
from Yellowstone Park and liberated them on Georgetown Flats.
The elk are quite tame and are being fed on hay until the
snow disappears somewhat from the mountains. This is the
second lot of elk brought to the Georgetown District during
the past several years.
HAROLD TOWNSEND
1915 -
In 1915, while I was on the Deerlodge National Forest,
Philipsburg Ranger District, there was considerable interest
in firearms. Forest personnel had many discussions about
the best caliber of rifle for general use. One day several
of us were having a pro and con session on the merits of
the 30-30 Winchester. The argument became heated when a
ranger, an ex-cowpuncher, was taking a firm stand against
the size of shooting iron.
"Why," he said "when I was killing beef for the P&O Outfit,
I shot a steer in the head 27 times with a 30-30 and never
knocked him down." Here his voice became a yell, "Why, I
shot both his eyes out and then by God he chased me out of
the corral."
"If you shot his eyes out," we yelled in a bunch "how could
he see to chase you out of the corral?"
The ex-cowpuncher looked slightly disconcerted for an instant
and then replied, "He smelled the blood on my clothes."
Northern Region News - 1915