Early Calimus Butte Lookout

Two views of the first lookout structure, the tent was for additional housing and the pickup truck delivering supplies. All these photos were taken during the 1926 fire season. The other cupola structure is an early undated photo of the present lookout house.

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The first half of December I spent almost two weeks at the National Archives in Seattle digging through box after box of documents, searching for early lookout history. In one of those boxes I found some rare photos of Calimus Butte lookout from 1926. Also I gathered bits and pieces from other boxes to put together a short history of the lookout.

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In 1919 the Klamath Indian Agency constructed a telephone line to the summit of Calimus Butte, late in the season, in preparation of placing a lookout building at that point. The following year a 16x16 lookout house was constructed with a 12x12 cupola that was set off to one corner of the building instead of the standard centered cupola. The reasoning behind this strange design was that it was easier to construct and offered a larger area for lookout activities. At the same time a 14x20 cabin was built "at good grass and water" two and a half miles south of the lookout for the living quarters of the lookout. These building weren't constructed until about the end of the fire season. Prior to these structures the lookout had no shelter for at least two fire seasons.

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In 1922 a 14x20 foot building was constructed on the summit for a guard cabin, this building being only a couple hundred feet below the lookout house. Also in 1922, the lookout was a married woman with two children that lived in the lookout house, so the larger dimensions made life a little more comfortable.

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An Osborne fire finder was purchased and installed during the 1923 fire season, which was a major improvement over the old method of using a compass. The lookout person for this season was an interesting individual by the name of Charles Brophy. Mr. Brophy was an older gentleman in his mid-sixties and had a disability, missing one leg. Apparently, he may have been diabetic for his symptoms indicates that may be the case. In 1925, his bosses argued with the powers that were, that Brophy, passing his 65th birthday and with all his health issues, liked his job at the lookout and wasn't looking forward to being dependent on relatives, besides he was a very good lookout.

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In 1930 this spacious lookout structure was torn down and replaced with the current structure, a 16x16 building with an 8x8 cupola centered on the roof. The first cabin was poorly constructed and failed quickly, the builder was criticized as being a scoundrel!

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Calimus Butte was the first lookout on the Reservation, the second coming in 1929 at the north end on Yamsay Mountain. In 1925 the Indian Agency teamed up with the Crater National Forest and the Crater Lake National Park, and established the lookout on Mt. Scott, which was put to good use by the Indian Agency. In May and June, before Mt. Scott could be staffed and during low visibility days the Agency used Steiger Butte as a secondary lookout site, this was used until a permanent lookout was established on Agency Butte in 1930. North of Calimus Butte is a tract of timber land carved out of one corner of the Reservation that was owned by the Long Bell Lumber Company. During the 1920's, Long Bell maintained their own lookout in connection with the Klamath Forest Protective Association, on a point that later became known as Hambleton Butte. This lookout was connected by telephone to Calimus.