History of Beartooth Ranger District

In 1891, the U.S. Department of Interior was granted the authority to set aside land from the public domain as "forest reserves". That same year the Yellowstone Park Timber Land Reserve was created. In 1902, the name changed to the Yellowstone Forest Reserve. This was an immense area of land that encompassed land that is now the Caribou-Targhee, Bridger-Teton, Shoshone, and Custer Gallatin National Forests.

The Transfer Act of 1905 gave management of forest reserves to the Department of Agriculture, in its newly created agency, the U.S. Forest Service. Many more Forest Reserves were created in the next few years, including the Pryor Mountain Forest Reserve, in 1906. Over the next couple of years, the name "forest reserve" was replaced with "national forest". During this time, in 1908, the decision was made to break up the immense Yellowstone Forest Reserve, creating seven new national forests. One of these was the Beartooth National Forest, which combined the Beartooth Mountains with the Pryor Mountain Forest Reserve under one forest.

In 1932, the Beartooth National Forest was split between the Custer National Forest and the Absaroka National Forest. Much of the Beartooth Mountains and the Pryor Mountains were given to the Custer National Forest, but due to winter accessibility issues, the section of the Beartooth Mountains outside of Cooke City, MT was given to the Absaroka National Forest. The same year, the supervisors office, for the now larger Custer NF, moved from Miles City, MT to Billings, MT. The Custer National Forest, at this point, comprised of what is now the Beartooth, Sioux (joined the Custer NF in 1920), and the Ashland Ranger Districts (the original Custer National Forest, created in 1908 from the Otter Forest Reserve).

To better understand the chronology and history, please see the Custer Gallatin Family Tree diagram.

A national forest is broken up into smaller units called ranger districts. In the past, ranger districts boundaries were much smaller. It took a lot of time in those days to travel from one area to another, so more administrative units were needed. In 1911, there was one ranger district in the Pryor Mountains and three in the Beartooth Mountains: Rock Creek, Stillwater, and Rosebud. By 1931, there were two ranger districts in the Beartooth Mountains: Rock Creek and Stillwater. In 1943, the Pryor district joined the Rock Creek district. The Rock Creek and Stillwater districts existed until 1966, when they combined to form what is the current Beartooth Ranger District, headquartered out of Red Lodge.

At one point, there were 10 ranger cabins in the Beartooths and 5 in the Pryors. Some of these are still used today, though others are no longer standing. One of the cabins, Meyers Creek Cabin, is available to rent between May 1 and July 31 each year. This cabin, among a larger complex of buildings at Meyers Creek, dates back to at least 1908 and was the headquarters of the Stillwater District until 1966. The current district office, on the south side of Red Lodge, was built in 1963 to replace the Rock Creek Ranger Station (built in 1908).

• For a detailed book on historic ranger stations in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, we recommend Vicky MacLean's Home On The Range, Montana's Eastside Ranger Stations.

Timeline of important events on the Beartooth RD:

• 1908- Beartooth National Forest is formed
• 1923- The first documented climb of Granite Peak, the highest point in MT (12,799ft). The three men who climbed it were Elers Koch (Asst. District Forester), Robert T. Ferguson (Supervisor of the Beartooth National Forest), and J.C. Whitham (Supervisor of the Custer-Sioux National Forest).
• 1925- The first survey of the Beartooth Highway is made; Mystic Lake Dam and Power Plant is built.
• 1932- Construction of the Beartooth Highway begins; Beartooth National Forest is added to the Custer National Forest; The Beartooth Primitive Area is established (precursor to wilderness).
• 1936- Beartooth Highway is completed and opens on June 14.
• 1937- Glacier Lake Dam is constructed.
• 1960- Grizzly Peak, Inc opens a ski resort outside of Red Lodge.
• 1968- The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range is established.
• 1973- Platinum and Palladium are discovered in the Stillwater geologic complex. Today, the Stillwater Mine is the only platinum and palladium mine in the United States.
• 1978- President Jimmy Carter signs a bill establishing the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.
• 1988- The Storm Creek Fire, which was part of the 1988 Yellowstone Fires, burns 60,000 acres in the Stillwater River drainage and threatens the town of Cooke City.
• 1998- The grassland units in North Dakota leave the Custer National Forest and become the Dakota Prairie Grasslands.
• 2014- The Custer and Gallatin National Forests combine to form the Custer Gallatin NF. The forest now covers land from Bozeman, MT to Camp Crook, SD.