OOPS!!!

"The lookout cabin at Whiskey Peak was destroyed by fire Sunday, caused by fire starting near the flue. Cal Winningham, lookout man, tried hard to put out the fire but wood, which is stored inside caught on fire, making it impossible. The government loss was $1,000 and Mr. Winningham lost his clothing and bedding. Whiskey Peak is about eight miles from the Steamboat Road."

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This story appeared in the October 11, 1929 issue of the "Medford Mail Tribune". The actual cause of the fire was that Cal was on the roof, cleaning out the chimney, when a gust of wind came out of nowhere and hot ashes where blown out of the stove, through the open stove door. Whiskey Peak is on the old Star Ranger District of the Rogue River National Forest.

Never leave the kid in the car.

In the summer of 2005, I spent about a week searching the treasures at the Bowman Museum in Prineville. I came across a transcribed copy of an oral history of Fred Houston,Sr. The interview was dated October 28, 1984, a portion of which follows:

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"At East Wolf, there was a telephone line up the tree, so you could use the phone. I don't know whether that tree is still standing, or not... but it leans just a little bit, and you'd think the ladder would go right up he back side, but it goes up here and you've got to really hang on to climb it. And Barry's were up there. And their boy was less than three years old. They left him in the car... Barry and his wife did...and they both went up the tower. The tower had a floor around the top of the tree. And right on top of this was the fire finder. And then there was a two by four 'round it, to keep from falling out. And it was double around it. But they'd been up there awhile, and they heard a voice. They heard that boy of theirs, "Daddy, let me in." You can imagine how they felt when they realized their boy was hanging onto the ladder rungs. And they were wooden rungs. And here it was underneath, instead of sloping the other way. Barry crawled down, opened the lid, saw the boy, and went down to him. When he got to him, he stuck that boy to him to get him in. When they took him down, they put him into a backpack and packed him down. Florence said she never went into the tower again. That gave her a scare... enough that she wouldn't do it."

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

From the "Medford Mail Tribune", August 24, 1932:

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"Lee Smith, forest lookout on Wanoga Butte, doesn't enjoy the converse role of Goldilocks and having all his porridge eaten by the three bears.

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A mother bruin and her three cubs raided his tent, destroyed all his food and scattered a kettle full of beans over the summit. Smith is looking forward eagerly to the completion of the lookout house being built atop a 30-foot tower. He is going to keep his beans as well as his binoculars up there."

A Better Mouse Trap

This article was found in the December 1930 issue of the "Six Twenty-Six", the Forest Service's monthly newsletter covering Region Six.

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"Last summer the Odell Butte Emergency Lookout, Jack Benson, was confronted with a very unpleasant situation. Pack rats were attempting to carry off bodily both him and his camp. After many nights of ferocious battling and loss of sleep, he decided something must be done to rid the mountain of these unwelcome visitors. He tried many hand-fashioned traps, but the rats ignored them completely.

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When about to give up in despair, a tin can gave him an idea. He took a can and cut the bottom crosswise, dividing it into quarters. These sharp-pointed quarters he pushed in, leaving an opening just large enough for the head of a rat. The principal of the trap was that a rat, upon sticking its head through the opening, would be securely held by the sharp points.

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Jack fixed one can, baited it, and then went to bed, hoping the trap would work. During the night he was awakened by the sound by the sound of a tin can being thumped on rocks. Investigation proved a rat was in his trap. Right then and there, Jack added six more traps to his list, baited them, and returned to bed in much better spirits. The next morning seven rats were found running around with tin can bells. It was not long until Jack could sleep peacefully all night." Contributor: C.H. Overbay

"DAYS OF A LONELY LOOKOUT"

Sitting on a mountain top-

.....What a lovely sight!-

Watching for a smoke to rise,

.....Morning, noon and night.

Pine-clad mountains, sunny plains,-

.....Heralds of delight-

Guarded from the fiend of fire,

.....Morning, noon and night.

Mystic, snow-crowned mountain peaks

.....Call from height to height,

Welcoming the lookout guard

.....Morning, noon and night.

O ye gods and sylvan nymphs-

.....Guardians of the Right-

Inspire me with thy faithfulness

.....Morning, noon and night.

S.L.H.

This little piece was published in the July 24, 1922 issue of the "Bend Bulletin", written only a few days after taking on the duties as a fire lookout. Shasta Leila Hoover, Pine Mountain Lookout, Deschutes National Forest, 1922 and 1923.

Fishing?

What they come up with when there is no news to print. I found this story last week, from the August 3, 1941 issue of the "Medford Mail Tribune":

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"George Fleishman doesn't need water or fish to go fishing. He fishes for rattlesnakes.

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George is a city boy from Fort Collins, Colo., and he doesn't like snakes. Right now, however, he is out among 'em. He's a forestry student employed this year as a lookout at Cinnabar in the Applegate district of the Rogue River National Forest, the snakiest district of the whole forest.

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Thursday noon Fleishman saw a rattlesnake go under the tool house at the lookout station. He couldn't get the snake to come back out and he was certain he wasn't going after it. While considering his dilemma, he happened to recall Ranger Lee Port's assertion that rattlesnakes ate mice. Ah,ha.

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Thursday night George set his mouse trap with more than ordinary care and put a lot of nice extra bait in it. Sure as shootin', the next morning there was a mouse in the trap.

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George fastened the dead mouse to the end of a long pole and alongside the mouse he secured a fish hook. Then stuck the end of the pole under the tool house to await developments.

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When he passed the tool house at noon on his way to lunch, George saw the pole swishing around with great turbulence. He gently but firmly pulled the pole out from under the house.

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There at the end of the pole was the big old rattler, held securely by the fish hook. Just as George had planned, the snake, in its greedy haste to swallow the mouse, also swallowed the hook. George lost no time in putting an end to the snake."

Forest "Test" Fire Set

About a year ago I ran across this little article in an August 25, 1916 edition of the "Silver Lake Leader":

"Baker-- Setting fires in the Minam National Forest to keep his lookout men in training is the unique method inaugurated by Forest Supervisor Ephraim Barnes. A brush fire was set near Sanger, at a point visible to lookouts but to none of the other fighting force. Precautions were taken to keep rangers and lookout men ignorant of the cause of the fire, and when the smoke was first sighted word flashed by the nearest lookout to the fire chaser at Eagle Forks, bringing a man to the scene within two hours."

Mt Scott

This photo is of the first lookout on Mt Scott, Crater Lake National Park, built in 1925 and replaced in 1952. The first four years the lookout didn't have a floor on the lower level, just the rock it was built on. The lookout did not stand up well under he extreme winter weather at almost 9,000 feet elevation. Officials began lobbying for a replacement in 1938 and finally by 1950 the building was no longer usable. The fire finder was old with a broken fire finder ring, broken tape, no vertical scale and the map was badly warped. The rail was loose and couldn't be tightened. The stand was made from 2"x2" legs with 1"x2" cross braces, very shaky at best. During one lightning storm the lookout faithfully plotted several fires, only to find his azimuth readings off by as much as 20 degrees. A 1950 report stated surprise that the building hadn't collapsed during the previous winter. The last year or two of its life it wasn't used as the safety risks were to great.

The replacement lookout of the basic L-4 style with modifications has stood up to the elements and is still staffed each season. The trail from the parking area to the lookout is very well maintained and about two and a quarter miles in length. The view from the lookout is spectacular! Keep in mind that the lookout is located in the National Park and no dogs are allowed on the trails unless they are official service dogs.

Photo courtesy of the Crater Lake National Park historical files.

Photo collection

One of the first things I can do is link to my Flickr photo page. These photos are from lookout visits over the last 27 years. Most everything in the last three years are my photography and the photos from the 1980's were done by my wife, La Vaughn.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/forest_lookouts_of_oregon/

On the older photos that I collected over the years I may add along the way on the blog.

Lookout Research- to share or not to share?

While sitting in front of the computer filing some of the 800 pages of documents collected at the National Archives in Seattle earlier this month, I had this idea of starting a blog to share some of the interesting stories and odds 'n ends that I have come across. May even throw in a photo and some history along the way. So lets see where this goes.