The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a camp at Cold Springs flat on the North Fork of the Clearwater River during the 1930s. Their object was road and trail building, fighting forest fires and general conservation. These type of camps were primarily tent camps with hundres of young men from all over the country.

The camps frequently used large, loud bells to signal orders to the young men for such things as mess call, emergent needs, etc. Transportation into some of the wilderness sites was primitive and if emergencies were encountered with the transport, various things could be lost in the rivers or canyons and could not be retrieved. It is thought that his huge bell which was used for signaling the CCC was somehow lost in the river and could not be retrieved. This bell was discovered by William Chetwood's father along the edge of the North Fork at the old Cold Springs camp in the late 1940s.

It was donated to the Clearwater Historical Museum by William Chetwood and now hangs outside their new facility.

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