George B. Kniert: Active Trail Blazer Member for 53 Years
by Mike Swayne
George was born in Upper Preston Washington where is dad worked in the sawmill. The family moved to the Rose Hill area of Kirkland in the early 20’s. As a kid he liked to fish Kirkland (Forbes) Lake, catching cutthroat, crappy, sunfish, perch and bass. The cutthroat in those days could still get up the creek from Lake Washington. George left school during the depression to join the National Youth Administration, one of the Roosevelt New Deal programs to counter the massive unemployment of that time.
As he got older George and other friends would bicycle out to Ames and other nearby lakes and streams to fish. Sometimes a parent would give them a lift up to the North Fork where they would hike up and fish Hancock and Calligan Lakes, staying overnight at one of the cabins. Sometimes they could get a lift up to the bottom of Mason Ridge where they would hike into Kulla Kulla, Pratt, Tuscohatchie and Denny Lakes.
When Boeing started expanding just before the war, he got a job as riveter and then was drafted in 1942 trained for the 26th Air Service Squadron George served in North Africa and Italy where their motto was “We Kept Them Flying”.
After the war George got a job with Western Electric repairing equipment and started going into the hills again with his boyhood friend Jack Mathewson. One time they were at Derrick lake and met Hank Hoff and Paul Butler who invited them to come to the Trail Blazer meetings.
George joined the Trail Blazers in 1948 because he liked the people and going out into the mountains seeing new country and finding new lakes to plant. George does not have any children but took many young guys out and showed them how plant fish and travel in the mountains.
George is much too modest with his history and accomplishments, so further information is included from the Trail Blazer archives. It is interesting that “Quiet” George was in the 26th, which received little notoriety during or after the war. They never lost a person to an enemy bullet, nor were awarded any medals for bravery. They simply did their jobs as they were trained to do and made a large contribution to the war by making equipment available for other trained people to carry the attack to the enemy. Quiet George’s record with the Trail Blazers is a similar story. He did an incredible job behind the scenes so that thousands of people would have a quality alpine fishing experience.
George’s first plant was July 16, 1948 with “Swede” Carlson to a beaver pond near Drunken Charlie. His first plant as a sponsor was on June 6, 1949 to Marten Lake up the Taylor River with 5000 rainbow. It was a typical early Trail Blazer plant with several people to carry the fish in cans. Other plants that George made or helped out on in the 40’s and 50’s read like a litany of traditional Trail Blazer activities. Lakes planted during this period included:
- 1949 Summit by Pilchuck with Hoff
- 1949 Lost Horse with Mack
- 1951 Mowitch with Butler
- 1951 Nordrum with Yadon
- 1952 Edds, Alaska and Ridge with Mattson
- 1953 Dream with Engle
- 1953 Denny and Kendall Peak with Don Barrie
- 1954 Mt Fernow area with Don Barrie and Ihlenfeldt
- 1954 Blethens with Schmidt, Mathewson, Lewis and Kilbourn
- 1954 Phillipa and Isabella with Pfister, Mathewson, Fohn and Ihlenfeldt
- 1954 Jakes with Doug Barrie and Ihlenfeldt (Memorial trip for Keith Jacobson who died in an avalanche)
- 1954 Anderson Gap with Ihlenfeldt
- 1954 Airplane (Chelan) with Ihlenfeldt and DeSanto
- 1954 Jewels with Ihlenfeldt, Ritscher
- 1955 Duffeys and Airplane with Don Barrie
- 1956 Big Cougar with Lewis
- 1956 Tom, Dick and Harry with Seese
- 1956 Rockdale with Mathewson
- 1956 One Acre with Schmidt
- 1957 Ashlands, Evan, Beaver Plant and Twin Falls with Tanggard
- 1957 Gus and Crawford with Rollo
- 1957 Iceberg and Avalanche with Schmidt and Mathewson
- 1958 Thompson with Hobart
- 1958 Williams and LaBohn with Nitzinger
In the late 50’s and 60’s George continued traditional plants but started moving north to the Skagit, east to Kittitas, Chelan and Okanogan, and south to Yakima and Lewis. Some of theses were named by George and planted for the first time. These “Non-traditional” area plants included:
- 1957 Neori, Skaro, Snowking with Rollo & Tanggard
- 1957 Diamond and Emerald with Conroy
- 1957 Cliff and Bluff and Jug survey with Ihlenfeldt
- 1958 Cyclone, Enjar and Hamar with Ihlenfeldt and Doug Barrie
- 1958 Cliff and Cheval with Ihlenfeldt and Mathewson
- 1959 French Creek Potholes and Sauer with Mathewson, Kilbourn, Ihlenfeldt, Rollo, and Swayne
- 1959 Arrowhead and Enjar with Swayne
- 1959 Deadhead and Deers with Kilbourn, Rollo, Ihlenfeldt, Doug Barrie and Swayne
- 1959 Whale and Granite 5 with Ihlenfeldt, Messing and Swayne
- 1959 Woods with Messing and Conroy
- 1959 Lime with Swayne
- 1959 Middle Thornton with Swayne
- 1960 Jungfrau and Lower Phoebe with Swayne
- 1960 Boulder with Conroy, Tanggard, Lawson and Kilbourn
- 1961 West Box Mountain with Conroy
- 1961 Talus and Evelyn with Swayne
- 1961 Unnamed by Crag with Conroy, Messing and Swayne
- 1961 Neori with Swayne
- 1961 Green Mtn Ponds with Conroy and Swayne
- 1962 Horse with Conroy, Ihlenfeldt and Swayne
- 1962 Blankenship Pothole with Pittsenbarger
- 1964 Long Gone with Tanggard, Lawson, Sjolseth, Pearson and Swayne
- 1966 Pear (by Boulder) with Conroy
- 1966 Hidden Tarn with Conroy
- 1966 Beaner (Hans), Twisp, Crescents and Stiletto with nephew Jerry Heidel
- 1966 Die Hards with Conroy
- 1970 Cloud with Lawson
- 1972 Cub and Mule with Conroy
Lakes that George named include:
| Lake Name | Town. | Range | Section | Origin |
|---|
| Jungfrau | 24N | 14E | 05B | Named after a young lady. |
| Frank's Pond | 23N | 14E | 19K | Named for trapper Frank Abbot who had a small cabin nearby. |
| Deadhead | 24N | 13E | 36M | Named after logs that stick up in lake. |
| Frog | 22N | 11E | 20A | Named after all the frogs in the area. |
| Enjar | 34N | 12E | 19B | Scandinavian origin but he forgets what it means |
| Hamar | 34N | 12E | 19B | Scandinavian origin relating to meadows in area |
| Arrowhead | 34N | 12E | 17M | Named after shape of lake. |
| Neori (Skaro ) | 34N | 12E | 16L | Originally called Skaro by Kniert is called Neori on map |
| Skaro (Neori) | 34N | 12E | 16N | Scandinavian origin but he forgets what it means. The map makers switched Neori and Skaro. |
| Long Gone | 33N | 13E | 04C | Named after its remote location. |
| Half-Can | 33N | 13E | 03H | Named after type of fish can. |
| Duffters Puddles | 33N | 12E | 35D,M & N | Named for Ed Conroy who failed to get a grouse on trip to Horse Lake |
| Slim | 33N | 13E | 10G | Named after shape of Lake |
| Woods | 33N | 13E | 09H | Named for ranger in Darrington |
| Cecil's | 24N | 11E | 13F | Named for George’s brother who died in 1919. |
| Gus' | 24N | 11E | 13J | Named for George’s father. |
| Bertha | 26N | 12E | 10K | Named for George’s mother. |
| Jack's | 26N | 12E | 01D | Named for friend Jack Mathewson |
| George's | 24N | 12E | 34E | Named by friends for George |