LAKE COUNTY
COUGAR PEAK
Fremont National Forest
38S-18E-6
38S-18E-6
1911: In August, the Parker Hills fire was spotted from three places--Buck Mountain, Paisley by Jason Elder and Cougar Peak by Lynn Cronemiller. (Fremont History, Walt Dutton, November 13, 1962)
1914: "As I recall, Bradley worked with us for a short period in grubbing willows from the station pasture and getting out material for the construction of a lookout tower on Cougar Peak." (Fremont History, Walt Dutton, November 13, 1962)
1914: "As to the tower on Cougar Peak, I remember getting out some pole material in 1913, 1914, or 1915, to be used in constructing a tower there. But the tower certainly was not up in 1914 because that was the year we took the picture. I remember visiting the peak in later years when there was a tower directly over the rock monument." (Letter from Walt Dutton to his brother Ed, January 20, 1963)
June 3, 1915: "The first work of the year will be that of constructing Watch Towers on Cougar Peak and Hagar Mountain. As soon as the towers are completed fire finding instruments will be placed in the." (Unidentified document on file at the Lake County Museum)
1921: "During a lightning storm on August first, the lookout had narrow escapes as the storm played about the mountain top." (Source lost)
September 1922: "Cougar Peak and Round Pass Lookouts reported a fire on August 19. Guard Langfield answered the call and found one of our local sheepmen very sick and unable to get help; he had set a large stump afire, taking due precaution that it not spread, and thereby secured assistance. The man had been sick for 3 days and was unable to walk when Langfield arrived. Help was secured and he was taken to Paisley, where he is recovering." (Six Twenty-Six)
August 1923: "The new Cougar Peak lookout house is now about complete. The work is being done by A.E. Chaney and L.A. Young under the direction of Ranger Norman White. Considerable difficulty was experienced in getting the material to the top of the Peak, but the task was accomplished after several mix-ups with the pack train." (Six Twenty-Six)
October 1923: "The new lookout tower on Cougar Peak has been completed and is receiving its coat of paint. From all reports it must be an imposing affair with its lightning arrestors an' everything. Lookout man Young says when a heavy lightning storm comes along now he knows there will be no fires because all the lightning will strike his new house." (Six Twenty-Six)
August 24, 1924: "Mr. and Mrs. Jack Glasson returned to the lookout on August 21 after enjoying a short vacation in town, made possible by recent storms. They had been at the station continuously since April 16th. Mr. Glasson talks very entertainingly of their "High Lonesome", and from what is said the life of a lookout is not all roses. Water is carried two and a half miles up the steep trail, five gallons at a time." (Lake County Examiner)
May 28, 1928: "The National Forest service will maintain a lookout on Cougar Peak in Lake County. These eyes of the fire protective program will cover all the timbered area in the Klamath Basin." (The Evening Herald - Klamath Falls)
1930: "On the tipmost top the 12x12 lookout house perches perilously, glassed on all four sides. The nearest neighbor is more than twenty miles away on Gearhart Mountain.
Surmounting the room which serves as kitchen, dining room, sleeping quarters, and office, is a cupola perhaps six feet square in which is located the detection equipment." (Lake County Examiner)
1931: "This station, being one of the primary lookouts on the forest was manned twenty-five days earlier than the previous year." (Source lost)
1931: On September 24th, this was one of four main lookouts still working. (Source lost)
1932: Lightning protection was installed on the lookout house. (Fremont National Forest files)
1933: An early season fire on Cottonwood Creek, the lookout opened for the fire season on June 15th. (Source lost)
1936: The lookout was equipped with a #4 Improved Osborne fire finder and with a Lang Bachelor stove. Water was carried from a spring one mile from the cabin. (Fremont National Forest files)
September 22, 1938: "S.F. Shonyo and Rev. Fredrick J. Moore climbed Cougar Peak last Saturday, having a first class view of the Black Cap fire from the lookout at that point, they report. Joe Frizzell, the lookout on duty, welcomed them after their nearly three hour hike from Cottonwood Meadows and explained the working of his job." (Lake County Examiner)
1954: The 14x14 hip-roof lookout house was constructed, replacing the old cupola lookout house. The new structure did not have a catwalk, and the total cost of construction was $4,171.93. (Fremont N.F. files)
1956: The air identification number for this station was F-15. (Fremont N.F. files)
1969: The 1969 lookout inventory shows this lookout used for emergency detection. (Fremont N.F. files)
1972: The lookout house burned as it were of no further use.
DESIGNATION - COUGAR PEAK LOOKOUT HOUSE
PID - NY0807
STATE/COUNTY- OR/LAKE
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - COUGAR PEAK (1980)
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY US FOREST SERVICE 1935 (NS)
THIS INTERSECTED POSITION IS CENTER OF WOOD LOOKOUT HOUSE SITTING
ON GROUND ON SUMMIT OF COUGAR PEAK, A PROMINENT MOUNTAIN ABOUT 18
MILES NW OF LAKEVIEW. FROM CENTER OF HOUSE, BUILT IN 1923, IT IS
7.92 METERS (26 FEET) SE OF U.S.C. AND G.S. STATION COUGAR OF
1920, IN AZIMUTH 322 DEG 00 MIN. TO REACH STATION, PROCEED W OF
LAKEVIEW ON KLAMATH FALLS-LAKEVIEW HIGHWAY (OREGON 66) 8 MILES
TO DAIRY CREEK ROAD, THENCE N 7 MILES TO COTTONWOOD MEADOWS
ROAD, THENCE W 7.5 MILES TO COTTONWOOD MEADOWS, THENCE BY
TRAIL, 3 MILES, 1.5 HOURS.
INTERSECTED CENTER OF HOUSE.
NOTE--OLD U.S.F.S. TIE TO C. AND G.S. STATION, MADE IN 1921, AND
REPORTED TO BE 0.36 CHAINS IN AZIMUTH N 23 DEG W, STATION TO HOUSE,
IS OBSOLETE, AS THERE IS A NEW HOUSE.