DOUGLAS COUNTY
RATTLESNAKE MOUNTAIN
Umpqua National Forest
28S-3E-26
28S-3E-26
July 20, 1932: "Nine new lookout houses are to be built at an estimated cost of $5,300. [One of] these lookouts will be built on Rattlesnake mountain in the Diamond lake region." (Roseburg News-Review)
September 14, 1933: "A 14 x 14 lookout is to be constructed by the CCC before the snow flies. The 14 x 14 is the standard size for a primary lookout." (Roseburg Chieftain)
1933: A 30-foot round Hemlock timber tower with a 14 x 14 hip roof L-4 cab constructed by the CCC
1938: A three wire pasture fence constructed at a cost of $50.85. (Umpqua National Forest Files)
September 1937: "For a new ranger, I have a conviction that Ranger Harold Bowerman, of the Diamond Lake District, is second to none so far as nasal "observations" are concerned. Why do I think so? Listen! During a recent electrical storm, the Umpqua suffered many "strikes". So much rain followed the storm that sleeper fires have been considerably in evidence, so noses as well as eyes have been brought into use to detect any possible hangovers. Specifically, Ranger Bowerman and the writer were following along one of the Umpqua trails directly down a steep slope and possibly 1000 feet, or more, lower than Rattlesnake Lookout Point, when Bowerman, who was pulling the pack mule (with all four feet dragging) yelled to me (riding in the lead), "Do you smell anything unusual?" I had to admit that I did. We reasoned that it might be the Lookout (or his smoke) and it might be something alive from a "strike".
When the Lookout was reached, we questioned him and he said that lightning evidently came down in the suspicious locality but no smoke had ever shown up. Anyway, the lookout made an investigation upon our departure from his station, and later in the day advised that he had found fire in an old stump in the heavy timber below the lookout point. Some nose! V.V. Harpham" (Six Twenty-Six)
1939: An additional $78.34 invested in pasture fencing. (Umpqua National Forest files)
October 12, 1962: The lookout destroyed by the severe winds of the Columbus Day storm.
Removed