Buried deep in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, a network of forest trails connects more than a dozen primitive ranger stations, modest log relics dating back as far as 1916.

In recognition of the cultural and historical significance of these and other structures on the Flathead National Forest, the National Register of Historic Places officially designated the area a National Historic District.

A second historic district was designated for the Flathead Forest’s Big Creek Ranger Station. 

Both designations were made official at a recent event in Helena

A product of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the national register was established to help preserve “districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture.”

The wilderness administrative sites in the Middle Fork and South Fork drainages of the Flathead River include 72 log structures maintained solely with hand-operated tools and dating back, in some cases, nearly a century. 

The historic designation includes the network of connecting trails, 45 miles of functioning phone lines and seven phones, to which Flathead National Forest archaeologist Tim Light attributes particular import.

“In the old days, [the Forest Service] had thousands of miles of ground-return phone lines, up until about World War II,” Light said, referring to the style of single-wire lines that use the earth as the return circuit. “Those are the last ground-return lines still in use in the country.”

The administrative sites are spread over a large portion of the forest’s wild lands.

“It’s the biggest historical district in Montana, and probably one of the biggest in the country, since it’s over thousands of acres and hundreds of miles of trails,” Light said

Food, mail and garbage are brought to and from the stations by horses and mules, since wilderness restrictions preclude even bicycles. However, three airstrips hearken to the days before formal wilderness designation when planes would bring supplies to some of the more isolated locations. Light noted that one airfield near the Schafer Ranger Station in the Great Bear Wilderness was grandfathered in by the Congressional act and remains in use today.

The period of historic significance extends from 1906, when the Forest Service first initiated construction of the South Fork Trail, to 1965, when the forest built a new cabin at Silvertip Guard Station after a massive flood that impacted the Middle Fork in 1964.

Along the North Fork of the Flathead River, the Big Creek Ranger Station complex won a nod from the historic register for its building designs that date as far back as 1927. The historic district includes a compound of 10 buildings, most of which were built before the 1950s. 

Representative of other Western Forest Service buildings from the era, the buildings at Big Creek reflect a focus on rural self-sufficiency and Craftsman characteristics such as sloped rooflines, shingle siding, horizontally-banded windows and exposed rafters.

Light said those buildings were designed to function off the grid year-round.

“[Rangers] had to provide all their own fuel and food,” Light said. “They couldn’t just go in to town if they needed a bottle of milk.”

Aside from the plaques that will soon adorn the buildings, the historical designation is largely symbolic. 

But Light said the recognition could help those sites get “higher on the list” when competing for federal facility funds and capital improvement money.

The designations were the culmination of more than 10 years of work by the Forest Service.

“I’m quite proud of it,” he said. “The primary reason to get this designation is to give these places the honor and distinction they deserve, because they’re an important part of American history.”

Reporter Samuel Wilson may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com