The Human Story

Legislative History

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area was formally established December 31, 1975, after a lengthy debate between those supporting additional dam construction in Hells Canyon and those promoting preservation of the area's natural qualities.

In 1964, the Federal Power Commission granted a license to the Pacific Northwest Power Company (a consortium of privately-owned utilities) to construct the High Mountain Sheep Dam on the Middle Snake River. Other companies also interested in power development appealed this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Court returned the case to the Federal Power Commission in 1967, asking them to give further consideration to the area's natural qualities as well as its potential for production of hydroelectric power. Years of deliberation followed. Ultimately, legislation creating Hells Canyon National Recreation Area was passed, emphasizing preservation of the area's natural beauty, historical, and archaeological values. Management of the NRA,which includes portions of three National Forests in three Forest Service Regions, was assigned to the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in the Pacific Northwest Region.

Stabilization and Restoration

To preserve and protect historic sites, a stabilization program has been started to prevent deterioration of important Hells Canyon NRA historical buildings.

General cleanup, and repair or replacement of roofing materials, windows, and doors with similar materials is part of the stabilization process.

Restoration of some buildings, most notably Jordan Ranch House and Sterling Cabin on Kirkwood Creek, is also underway. Restoration techniques are used to return a structure to a form it held at a particular date or period in time. A good example of restoration would be the replacement of decayed log cabin foundations with logs rather than concrete. Work on the two Kirkwood Creek buildings focuses on their depression-era (early 1930s) forms.

Protection

Historic sites are part of your national heritage. Now protected by law, they are a non-renewable cultural resource, which, once lost, cannot be replaced.

You can help preserve America's past by leaving archaeological and historic sites undisturbed, by encouraging others to do the same, and by reporting any cases of vandalism you observe to National Forest personnel. Remember enjoy, but do not destroy your Nation's cultural heritage.

For More Information

A series of brochures, available from various Hells Canyon National Recreation Area offices, provide additional information about the area. They include the 'Nee-Me-Poo Recreation Trail' pamphlet describing the forced removal of Chief Joseph's band of Nez Perce Indians from their ancestral homelands to an Oklahoma reservation.

Several excellent books are also available (through bookstores) about various aspects of life in the Hells Canyon area.

Legislation establishing Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA), places special emphasis on management of cultural resources for the enjoyment of this and future generations. NRA managers are actively involved in protecting, preserving, and interpreting historic and archaeological sites. This brochure gives a brief account of the area's rich history and the preservation practices underway.

Early Settlement

Far earlier than the keeping of records, the Nez Perce Indians lived in Hells Canyon. They and the Shoshone-Bannock, Northern Paiute and Cayuse Indians, who were frequent visitors to the area, were drawn by relatively mild winters, lush forage and plentiful wildlife.

Today, walls of the canyon are like a museum displaying pictographs and petroglyphs, evidence of the Indians' early settlement.

Explorers

May 27, 1806 - three members of the Lewis and Clark expedition penetrated Hells Canyon by following the Salmon River while looking for a route to the Pacific Ocean. Unaware they were near an awe-inspiring canyon more than 7500 feet deep, the party turned back and rejoined the expedition near today's Kamiah, Idaho.

The first real exploration of Hells Canyon area was in 1811 when the Wilson Price Hunt expedition tried to find a shortcut through Hells Canyon to the Columbia River. They reached a point three miles upstream from the present site of Hells Canyon Dam, but hunger and freezing cold forced them to turn back.

Other explorers soon followed with similar aspirations to search out new territories and find new passages, but most experienced similar results because of the canyon's legendary inaccessibility. Expedition journals reflect their attempts; however, little or no evidence of their endeavors remain in the canyon today.

Early Mining

In the 1860's gold was discovered in river bars near either end of what today is the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Placer mining activities soon spread into Hells Canyon itself. Though never highly successful, placer miners left considerable evidence of their activities: hundreds of low-lying rock piles are still visible along the Snake River corridor.

By the late 1800's and early 1900's, mining efforts shifted away from placer mining. More complex hard-rock operations, sometimes characterized by mazes of tunnels, large buildings to house machinery, and supporting facilities such as stores post offices and saloons, took its place especially in the Jackley Mountain area (in Idaho's Seven Devils Mountains) and the Eureka Bar area near the mouth of Imnaha River, in Oregon.

There are excellent examples of these historic developments within Hells Canyon NRA, including the Rankin Mill site (Seven Devils Mountains, Idaho) and the Eureka Bar/Mountain Chief complex, near the mouth of lmnaha River.

Ranchers and Homesteaders

During the late l800's, the Hells Canyon area experienced development of another type: the entrance of homesteaders with cattle and sheep.

Homesteads developed on the more gentle slopes along the river, with livestock depending almost entirely on public lands for grazing. By 1910, over 100 families lived on the 62-mile stretch of the Snake River between Battle Creek and the Imnaha River. As homesteaders increased, so did competition for range lands.

The homestead boom was short-lived, however, as weather ill-suited to farming and ranching, coupled with a depression of livestock prices, were too much for most homesteaders to bear. By 1918, fewer than five percent of the homesteaders remained on their claims. As one early resident explained, 'The government bet you 160 acres that you couldn't live there three years without starving to death."

Some of the 160-acre homesteads reverted to Federal ownership. Most of them, however, were purchased by larger livestock operators. Johnson Ranch on Temperance Creek, for example, was once a group of 18 separate homesteads. Van Pool Ranch (downstream from Pittsburg Landing) controlled over 10,000 acres in its heyday.

Through the years, ranchers used many of the original outlying homestead buildings as part of their operations. Largely because of this continued use, numerous well-preserved examples of homestead buildings are found throughout the Hells Canyon NRA. Some better known examples along the Snake River corridor include Sluice Creek Cabin, Salt Creek Cabin, and Carter Mansion on Kirkwood Creek.

Today sheep and cattle ranches still operate within the boundaries of the NRA. Most are located along Imnaha River, though a few ranches still exist along the Snake River; among these are Johnson Ranch and Dug Bar Ranch.

Also on the Snake River, near the mouth of Kirkwood Creek, is historic Kirkwood Ranch, restored by the Forest Service. Though no longer a working ranch, it is open to the public and includes several buildings which help visitors understand the evolution of ranching in Hells Canyon. One building, the Sterling Cabin, is a small visitor center with displays of Hells Canyon artifacts and photographs reflecting the history of the area both before and after the coming of western Europeans.