John Grasser was born Oct. 1, 1885. He was a short, stocky man with black hair, brown eyes and dark complexion.

He and his wife, Catherine Farrell Grasser, lived on Bobbitt Bench prior to moving to property on Upper Fords Creek Rd. They had four sons, Lester, Melvin, Albert and Harvey. Catherine grew a beautiful garden.

Early on, John was a mechanic at Clearwater Garage. Ranching was his life and he raised horses and mules. He started an outfitting camp in the early 1930s on Bear Creek. He had a 1931 Model A truck that they could drive to the trailhead at the old Kelly Creek Work Station. From there they packed in eight miles to the camp. His grandson, Gene Grasser, tells of them hauling a wood cookstove in those eight miles on a travois behind a mule. The stove was used to cook for the elk hunters that John guided. He was well liked by his local hunting clients.

John died Sept. 27, 1954. Some of his descendants still live in this area. His son, Harvey, raised money to purchase his father's saddle bak from a person in Montana so it could be placed in the Clearwater Historical Museum. Harvey also had wooden historical signs placed around the area.

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