Holland Lake Guard Station
The Holland Lake Ranger Station, built in 1909, was the first national forest ranger station in the upper Swan Valley. It was located on the west shore of Holland Lake where the swimming beach is now.
Ben Holland and his son Charles were the first to settle in the Swan Valley, near Holland Lake, in the 1890s. They proved up on their homesteads in 1904-05. Ben was the district forest ranger (1899-1913) for the Condon Ranger District, which later became part of the Swan Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest.
Page S. Bunker was the Flathead National Forest supervisor from 1905 to 1913. He wrote to Ben in 1906: “…begin cutting new trail, either on the Elbow Lake trail or the Gordon Pass trail, according to which may have the least snow. No brush will be piled in trail work. Cut new trail from 6 to 7 feet wide…. Post fire warnings wherever you go. A supply will be sent you for this purpose. Report the number you post each day in your service report.”
The Holland Lake Ranger Station became a guard station around 1913-15 after the headquarters of the ranger district were moved further north in the Swan Valley (now the Old Condon Ranger Station).
Bob Martin worked in 1937-38 for the Condon Ranger District as a teenager and young man. He helped finish the trail going up the canyon from the north side of Holland Lake into the South Fork (now Bob Marshall Wilderness). Bob cut timber in the right of way and cared for the mules that pulled a compressor.
“They had a gasoline compressor to drill and blast the rock. So I packed the dynamite and groceries.” Bob kept the mules and his saddle horse at the Holland Guard Station corrals and barn where the livestock feed was stored. He slept at the guard station and apparently got little sleep. “Course all the dudes [were] around and [had] swimming parties every night.” Montana Voices of the Swan.
The work was much the same in the mid-1940s. Clarence Stillwell was the district forest ranger (1946-48): The work was “focused on fire protection, fire prevention and fire management—and the maintenance of miles and miles of trails.”
The guard station was used to stage trail work. “We used it as a headquarters for packing mules from this side over to the Bob Marshall….This country, about the only way you could get around was on trails,” Clarence said. Voices.
Leita and Tuffy Anderson lived at the Guard Station complex in 1959. Tuffy was the Forest Service guard. Leita remembers there were three buildings at that time. The couple cooked in the smaller building. A mid-sized building was a warehouse kept locked. They slept in a larger open building, which might have served as a bunkhouse in the past. It had steps going up to it and a floor. Tuffy’s responsibilities included cutting and delivering firewood to the campers and packing their garbage over to the Forest Service dump near Barber Creek.
Leita and Tuffy felt the August 17, 1959 earthquake that killed 25 people and created Earthquake Lake near Yellowstone National Park. The quake was so strong it tipped over a small camper trailer belonging to an older couple camping at Holland Lake. Tuffy had to use the pickup to tip the camper back up, Leita said.
