BALD KNOB
Coos County - Siskiyou National Forest - 33S-11W-30
May 1914: "Mr. Reynolds will probably visit Bald Knob lookout for the purpose of sizing up the situation for lookout cabin and water supply before he leaves Illahe for Grants Pass coming out by way of Galice." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
June 1914: "Guard T.D. Land will assist on bridge and trail June 1 to 3. June 4 he will move supplies to his lookout on Bald Knob and repair the telephone line to Illahe. He will then proceed to erect a suitable shelter on his lookout and will install a map and sighting device. Of sighting devices are not available in the Supervisor's office I will construct one which will serve his purpose temporarily at least. If the weather will permit after this work is completed he will lay out a trail from his lookout to connect with the Coquille River Trail." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
1914: "A shake shelter was built on Bald Knob by the lookout at a cost of 25 cents for nails." (Historical Study of the Siskiyou National Forest, January 1939)
July 1914: "Guard T.D. Land has completed a lookout building on Bald Knob and is ready for the installation of the fire finder as soon as either Mr. Noble or myself get time to pack it up. He has also located and blazed a trail from his lookout to connect with the Coquille River Trail. Ranger Helm" (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
August 1914: "Bald Knob Lookout has reported 13 fires, 12 outside and 1 inside the Forest." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
1914: "A shake shelter was built on Bald Knob by the lookout at a cost of 25 cents for nails." (History of the Siskiyou National Forest - 1939)
June 1915: "On July first Guard Noble Price will be on the job and will probably be used at trail work until about the fourth, after which he will be sent to his lookout on Bald Knob." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
May 1916: "Brothers Frank and Noble Price are with us again, and will spend part of the month felling a small patch of timber which obstructs the view from Bald Knob lookout, repair their respective telephone lines and get in shape for the open season for fires." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
June 1916: "During the first part of July Noble and Frank Price will repair the Bald Knob telephone line, fall some timber which obstructs the view from Bald Knob." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
1916: A trail from Squaw Creek to Bald Knob completed.
January 1917: "While at Bald Knob lookout it was ascertained that someone had forced the lock helped himself to food and bedding inside, and carried away or misplaced the axe. This has happened each winter. It is hoped that a suitable lookout building on the lookout point, government property may be stored there, leaving the cabin open for transient hunters during the winter." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
July 26, 1917: "Curry County probably has the distinction of having the first lady lookout in the state in the forest service. Miss Martha Price of Illahe has been appointed fire lookout on Bald Knob, near Illahe, has assumed charge of the station and is now on duty. The station is on the divide between Rogue river and the Coquille, at an elevation of 3,614 feet, commanding a fine view of a large portion of the surrounding country. It is, of course, connected by phone with headquarters and the other stations, and fitted out with the usual appliances of a lookout station.
Born and raised mostly in the vicinity of the station, from which her home can be seen. Miss Price possesses the independence and indomitable spirit which characterized her parents, who were among the earliest settlers of that section. That she will make good in her unusual occupation is accepted as a fact by those who know her." (Gold Beach Reporter)
July 26, 1917: "Miss Martha Price has accepted a position as lookout for the forest service, and will be stationed at Bald Knob during the fire season. Miss Martha was one of the lady members of the fire brigade that assisted in preventing the spread of flames in the late Agness conflagration." (Gold Beach Reporter)
August 1917: "Altho the smoke has rendered the lookout useless by day it has not prevented Martha Price on Bald Knob from discovering and reporting two fires after 9 p.m. The first proved to be a brush pile on the premises of C.D. Cunningham, near Agness, which he was burning after the wind had died down; the other was a small blaze on Mt. Barklow. We had considerable trouble in locating this fire. It could not be found on the ground, but two days later a camper admitted having been on the mountain and having had a camp fire that night. This makes a good record for Miss Price. Can any of the boys on the job beat it." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
August 8, 1917: "Illahe has the distinction of having the first young lady fire lookout in this part of the state, at least Miss Martha Price, having been appointed fire lookout at Bald Knob, near Illahe. The station, where this capable young woman has charge, is on the divide between the Rogue and Coquille rivers and is at an elevation of 3,614 feet." (Morning Register)
July 4, 1918: "Miss Martha Price, of Illahe, made our city a pleasant visit last week. Miss Martha is one of the three lady lookouts of the forest service this season, Miss Genevieve Helm and Miss Hilda Muender being the other two." (Gold Beach Reporter)
September 1918: "After having had the lumber for a lookout building on Bald Knob stored at Powers for a year I finally succeeded in getting a packer to take it to the lookout, and expect to construct the building this fall.
During October I intend making a trip to Bolivar to pack in the fire finder and other equipment and then proceed to Bald Knob and put up the building. Agness District, Ranger Helm" (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
October 1918: "Mr. Kirby and myself have been working on the construction of a lookout building on Bald Knob. The word 'construction', however, covers but a portion of the work. There were two former stages; first sawing, chopping, splitting and hewing the timbers, and second, carrying it on our backs about three-eights of a mile. The work of constructing would have been boys play as compared with the first two processes but for the fact that the wind seemed to have a grudge against us. We had to either stand or sit on each board to keep it from blowing over to Powers. After spending two weeks on Bald Knob I am convinced that late October and early November is not the proper time to undertake such work on the pinnacle of a bald lookout point. On the morning of November 4 we found ourselves prowling about in four inches of snow, so we beat it for a lower clime. We are priding ourselves in having done a good job so far as it went. All the outside material is of Port Orford cedar. The four corners are anchored either to solid rock or to dead-men, so it is a cinch the thing will not blow away. It remains to be seen whether it can be made fog proof. Ranger Helm, Agness District" (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
November 1918: "Mr. Kirby and myself spent the first few days of the month working on the Bald Knob lookout building, until we got snowed out. We stored part of the equipment and tools and packed the rest to Shasta Costa for the winter. It is probable that the building will not be finished until after the spring trail and telephone maintenance work has been done. Ranger Helm" (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
June 1921: "Dan Cupid got busy a few days ago and harpooned our lady lookout, Miss Sherman. She goes by the name of Mrs. Daniel E. Ellsworth now. She says that 'Dan' (meaning Ellsworth) won't interfere with her duties as lookout, so that part should be okay." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
October 19, 1922: "Bill Reeves, forest lookout, tells an interesting yarn about a pet bear cub which he captured recently. He says in five weeks he has taught the cub to set up to the table for his meals whenever his trainer eats. The bear, he adds, has perfect table manners, and never puts his knife in his mouth or drinks out of his saucer. Bill failed to state whether or not his protegee insisted upon finger bowls or napkins." (Gold Beach Reporter) (Bill Reeves had the nickname of "Beargrease Bill')
August 1923: "Mr. Reeves of Bald Knob killed a cougar that had been caught in a trap and brought to bay by his dog. He killed the big cat by tying his sheath knife to a pole and sticking it in the heart." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
August 1926: "George Valentine, the Bald Knob Lookout is coming in today and from the language heard over the telephone this morning it is believed that he need either screw driver or hammer in taking out his telephone. He had no raincoat." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
August 1928: "We had a taste of fire last month. On the 28th in the afternoon, George Valentine was making a turn of his cabin when he discovered a smoke about four miles down Foster Creek. It was so smoky he couldn't tell much about it, and in 15 minutes he couldn't see it at all although he knew it to be pretty good size a fire. None of the other lookouts saw the smoke except Bald Knob who got a glimpse of it through a pocket in the smoke. To make a long story short 12 local men and the ranger were on it that night and by morning had it pretty well licked." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
June 14, 1935: "Mrs. Chas. Stallard, Jr., and daughter left Thursday morning to spend a month at Bald Knob, where her husband is stationed as lookout." (The Coquille Valley Sentinel)
May 1940: "Position covers lightning area in Port Orford district, and the area north of Agness in which several man-caused fires have occurred. The seen area in the Agness district justifies the manning of this point early in the year. In past years the position has been manned much earlier than the suggested opening date, while the existing opening date is so far out of line with actual needs that it has not been observed." (Plans, Guard Placement, Siskiyou National Forest)
1941: The lookout staffed 100 days, reported to the Powers Ranger Station by way of West Coast telephone.
Activated: September 29, 1942. Roseburg Filter Center.
1943: Aircraft Warning Service Station "George 6-3" utilized existing facilities owned by the Siskiyou National Forest. Very little AWS involvement in additional improvements. At the end of service the site was retained by the Forest service for continued use as a fire detection point. (Report of AWS Stations, May 1, 1944) Activated: September 29, 1942. Roseburg Filter Center.
August 10, 1950: "Saturday, Bob Mitchell, the Bald Knob lookout, heard what sounded like cougar kittens at play, on the Rogue River side of the lookout, which is on the divide above Agness. He talked with the local Ranger station, and Richard Francis and Lee Frye took dogs up to the lookout, to see if the cat family could be located. Due to the bright clear night, the men had no luck." (Myrtle Point Herald)
October 1, 1957: "Arthur Frost of Glendale on Bald Knob, replacing Bill Roberts." (The World)
October 12, 1962: The Columbus Day Hurricane badly damaged the lookout house.
1963: A 20-foot tower with an R-6 flat roof cab constructed.
September 29, 1972: "Everett and Sue Deniston were married in June. Two days after the wedding, they went up to the Barklow lookout in the Powers district of the Siskiyous. They are now at Bald Knob lookout." (Corvallis Gazette-Times)
July 26, 1973: "Bald Knob Forest Lookout - The only lookout station on our district. Everett and Sue Denniston will be happy to share with you the spectacular view of the Rogue and Coquille River drainage." (Myrtle Point Herald)
1992: The wood frame windows replaced with metal frames. The lookout also painted.
2010: A smoke detection camera system installed by Coos FPA to expand their forest fire detection capabilities.