Big Creek Cabin - 1926 - Eureka, Montana - Dated Architectural Structures Multifarious on Waymarking.com

Big Creek Cabin - Remote Base Camp

In the 1920s and 1930s, cabins like this served as base camps for packers, trail crews, and "smokechasers": early-day firefighters. In those days, the Forest Service developed an extensive network of Ranger Stations, cabins and lookouts, connected by trails and primitive phone lines.

Rangers recruited men with sturdy boots, good common sense, and capable of performing severe labor under trying conditions; to protect National Forests from wildfires.

In 1926 a Rexford Ranger District trail crew built the Big Creek cabin of hand hewn logs and cedar shakes fashioned from nearby trees.

Nine miles from the nearest road, this was "home" for weeks at a time. No. 9 galvanized phone line string from the nearest convenient tree linked occupants to Ranger Stations and lookouts.

District trail and timber crews over-nighted in the cabin until the early 1960's when they declared it more suited to pack rats than people.

Most worn-out cabins were burned, but in 1973 the Forest Service donated Big Creek cabin to the Tobacco Valley Improvement Association. Volunteers took it apart log by log, numbering each piece. Students from a Lincoln County High School History class and other volunteers rebuilt the cabin here.

Excepts from sign located at the cabin.

The Historical Village in Eureka, Montana is a collection of historic buildings and artifacts from the Tobacco Valley area. The properties, which include ten structures and their contents, are maintained and administered by volunteer workers and fundraisers inspired by a concern to preserve the history of the Tobacco Valley area. This unique collection of structures and artifacts was made possible by generous donations from a number of private donors and the Lincoln Electric Cooperative.

Year built or dedicated as indicated on the structure or plaque: 1926 Full Inscription (unless noted above): BIG CREEK CABIN BUILT IN 1926 GIVEN TO TVIA BY USFS IN 1973 THIS CABIN WAS TAKEN APART, EACH LOG WAS NUMBERED AND MOVED IN BY JANET WADE AND ED REISENOUR, REBUILT BY LCHS HISTORY CLASS AND LYLE DOUGLAS. Website (if available): [Web Link]

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