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Wednesday, July 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
With its expansive overview of Sis
Black Butte remains a perfect spot f
and a destination for thousands o
On the lookout
By Maret Pajutee | Correspondent
PHOTO BY MARET PAJUTEE
L
mountains where summer
lightning fires have a ten-
dency to sweep towards town,
driven by evening downslope
winds.
In 1915 a delimbed pine
tree over 100 feet tall was
fitted with iron steps made
by blacksmith Hardy Allen
to provide a perch to watch
for wildfires. An early photo
taken from the tower was
hand labelled to show the
Hotel Sisters (still stand-
ing today) as well as such
long-gone places as Allen9s
Blacksmith Shop and George
Aitkens Drugstore. Few struc-
tures escaped the fires which
devastated Sisters in 1923 and
1924.
Black Butte had a sweep-
ing vista of Sisters Country.
So, in 1910 Ranger Harve
Vincent constructed 2 lookout
trees on the summit and some-
one would climb
up to scan the
forest. By 1912,
phone wires were
strung to the top
on ceramic insu-
lators attached
to trees and a
<crow9s nest=
platform sup-
ported by four
trees provided
a view towards
town.
As interest
in fire detection
increased, more
lookouts were
built. There was a
time when nearly
every butte had
a lookout. The
lonely watchers
would compete to
see who turned a
smoke in first and
would chat after
hours on their
radios. In 1938,
the Deschutes
National Forest
had a high of
32 lookouts,
many built by
the Civilian
Conservation
Corps. As tech-
PHOTO PROVIDED
nology improved,
The Black Butte Lookout Tower in 1919.
most
were
iving among the pine
forests of Sisters,
many of us enjoy a feeling of
solitude with only trees, birds,
and wind for company. But
sometimes there9s been some-
one watching over us.
For over 100 years there
have been people climbing
swaying trees, scaling towers,
and living on mountain tops
scanning the sky. I was lucky
to be one of the sentinels.
Most of the time nothing hap-
pens as you watch the moun-
tains and they watch you.
Then in an instant the work
begins, scanning and mapping
the wisp of smoke that could
quickly darken to a black col-
umn that blocks the sun.
Wildfires are an important
part of our forests, and it9s
complicated, but they pose
a threat to buildings made of
wood. Sisters is close to the
dismantled or abandoned. By
1991, only nine were active.
But human eyes in the sky are
often less expensive and more
discerning than cameras or
planes and there are still active
lookouts on prominent peaks,
including Black Butte, Henkle
Butte, and Green Ridge.
As a kid I fell in love
with the idea of lookout life.
In 1964, my father built a
summer cabin on a hill fac-
ing Henkle Butte. We visited
the lookout often and, for an
introvert, it seemed like the
perfect job. Endless time to
be alone, read, draw, watch
clouds, and learn how to
play the harmonica. I went
to college, got a degree, then
became a ski bum for a few
years working at Hoodoo. I
asked a Forest Service guy I
met if they had any jobs for
an entomologist. He said <No,
but they always need a look-
out for Black Butte.=
I jumped at the chance of a
lookout job and was hired for
the summer in 1984. The pre-
vious lookout, Gail, escorted
me up to show me the ropes. It
was a brutal environment for
old buildings and she warned
me the old 1934 tower would
shake in a high wind like a
train. Sometimes I had to kick
off layers of rime ice to ascend
and gloves were required to
avoid nasty splinters from the
railing.
You entered through a
heavy trapdoor in the floor.
The 7-by-7-foot cab had lay-
ers of every color paint with
a final coat of deep blue. The
catwalk boards were so old
and dry and you could pull
the nails out with your fin-
gers. Old chairs and a wood
box provided three places to
sit as the day heated up, but
the best place to sit was in the
window frame which opened
to the catwalk on the east-
side. It was a warm spot in the
early morning sun, and in the
evening you could watch the
triangular shadow of Black
Butte move eastward, know-
ing you were riding on the top
of the shadow where it glowed
bright.
The 1922 cupola was in
bad shape as well, and was
used to store piles of five-
gallon water containers, tools,
and garbage which was hung
from rafters to foil the pack-
rats. I lived in the log ground
house built in 1979. It was
cozy with a propane stove and
fridge, wood stove for heat,
and a sleeping loft where I
would watch the lights of cars
coming down from Santiam
Pass. The 1934 outhouse
was rickety, but had inter-
esting graffiti left from the
CCC guys living at Riverside
Campground below (then
Camp White).
It could be brutally hot
in the tower and the flying
ants that lived in the roof and
yellow jackets were a torment,
so windows had to stay closed.
But after my shift ended at 6
or 7 p.m., I would wander the
butte for long hours search-
ing for mariposa lilies, talking
back to the crows, and com-
muning with the ghosts of
lookouts past.
Lookout Lynn Wilson
carved a rock by his ground
cabin below the crow9s nest
marking his tenure in 1919
June-September. Rusty metal
shards and a piece of purple
glass were all that remained.
The many women who
worked on the Butte over the
years had left no trace. Earliest
was Gertrude Merrill, a ste-
nographer from the Portland
District Foresters Office who
worked the fire season of
1921. Hazel McKinney, her
two daughters, and their black
collie Snip enjoyed living and
working in the new Lookout
Cupola in 1922-1927. Hazel
was often mentioned in The
Bend Bulletin and famously
demonstrated the advantages
of the cupola by turning in a
wildfire from bed at 1 a.m.
Ed Park, who became
a well-known writer, left
another rock message pro-
claiming he was <The Bearded
Bachelor of Black Butte 1948-
49= as well as a gravestone for
a lynx he killed there.
The Law Offi ce of
JOHN H. MYERS, LLC
— Downtown Sisters —
WILLS & TRUSTS
Make it easy for you and your loved ones.
Call for a free 30-minute consultation.
Protect what you’ve
worked for.
541-588-2414
204 W. Adams Ave., Ste 203
www.centraloregonattorney.com