BLACK CRATER
Deschutes County - Deschutes National Forest - 15S-8E-14
March 30, 1922: "A new lookout station planned for this season is to be established at Black Crater in the Sisters country." (The Bend Bulletin)
September 19, 1923: "One lookout, Lee Armstrong, stationed during the summer on Black Crater, has been relieved from duty on this peak. Armstrong left Black Crater today. With the danger from fires somewhat lessened by the cooler weather, his territory will be covered by other lookouts." (The Bend Bulletin)
August 20, 1925: "Two inches of ice had formed on the west side of the Black Crater lookout house this morning, J.F. Blanchard, forest service lookout, reported by telephone from his cloud capped station.
Although uncommon in mid-summer, the formation of ice on the mountain peaks is a characteristic condition when moisture laden west wind strikes chilled surfaces." (The Bend Bulletin)
September 3, 1925: "Construction of a standard lookout house on Black crater, just east of the McKenzie pass lava fields, is now under way, according to information obtained from local forest service officials. J. F. Blanchard, lookout, is building the house. Lumber for the lookout house on Black crater was carried on pack horses for a distance of about two and one-half miles.---Bend Bulletin." (Morning Register)
October 1926: "For the entire fire season this lookout only reported one false alarm." (Six Twenty-Six)
1928: Thomas R. Roe was transferred from Maiden Peak in mid-June and Edward Zane was moved to the road crew. By mid-July Edward Zane was again the lookout.
July 6, 1928: "Edward Zane is to be lookout at Black Crater this year. It is wxpected he will take up his station there within a few days." (Bend Bulletin)
1930: Dick Ayres, a student at the University of Idaho School of Forestry, staffed the lookout.
May 25, 1932: This station has been designated as a precipitation recording point and will be supplied with a rain gauge. (The Bend Bulletin)
August 9, 1932: "A number of the lookouts, including George Wakefield, stationed on Black crater, were detailed to work in the lower country today." (The Bend Bulletin)
August 19, 1953: "The forest service once operated a fire station lookout on the highest point of the crater's rim, now dismantled, was closed after lookouts were built on more accessible buttes in the area. The one-room building juts out over the crater on a broad slab of rock, commanding a fine view of many miles radius. A telephone wire, strung up the slope to serve the station, remains as evidence of former use as a lookout." (The Bend Bulletin)
Removed
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY US FOREST SERVICE 1936
THIS INTERSECTED POSITION IS THE CENTER OF THE U.S.F.S. LOOKOUT HOUSE ON THE SUMMIT OF BLACK CRATER, ELEVATION 7260 FEET, IN THE EXTREME NW CORNER OF THE COUNTY.
TO REACH THE LOOKOUT, LEAVE MC KENZIE HIGHWAY (U.S. 28) AT WINDY POINT AND FOLLOW SIGNED TRAIL FOR ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHERLY. IN 1936 THE FOREST SERVICE REPORTED THAT FROM THE CENTER OF THE LOOKOUT HOUSE IT WAS 3.54 METERS (11.6 FEET) NW TO A U.S.G.S. REFERENCE DISK, IN AZIMUTH 134 DEG 02 MIN, DETERMINED BY THE FIREFINDER. THIS REFERENCE DISK IS APPROXIMATELY 2 FEET E OF THE U.S.G.S. STATION BLACK CRATER OF 1916, WHICH WAS THE CENTER OF A FIREFINDER IN SERVICE AT THAT TIME.
DESCRIBED BY US FOREST SERVICE 1936
THIS INTERSECTED POSITION IS THE CENTER OF THE U.S.F.S. LOOKOUT HOUSE ON THE SUMMIT OF BLACK CRATER, ELEVATION 7260 FEET, IN THE EXTREME NW CORNER OF THE COUNTY.
TO REACH THE LOOKOUT, LEAVE MC KENZIE HIGHWAY (U.S. 28) AT WINDY POINT AND FOLLOW SIGNED TRAIL FOR ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHERLY. IN 1936 THE FOREST SERVICE REPORTED THAT FROM THE CENTER OF THE LOOKOUT HOUSE IT WAS 3.54 METERS (11.6 FEET) NW TO A U.S.G.S. REFERENCE DISK, IN AZIMUTH 134 DEG 02 MIN, DETERMINED BY THE FIREFINDER. THIS REFERENCE DISK IS APPROXIMATELY 2 FEET E OF THE U.S.G.S. STATION BLACK CRATER OF 1916, WHICH WAS THE CENTER OF A FIREFINDER IN SERVICE AT THAT TIME.