DESCHUTES COUNTY
HENKLE BUTTE
Oregon Department of Forestry
14S-10E-24
14S-10E-24
1943: A 42-foot round timber tower with a 14x14 cab. The lookout was constructed from recycled materials from a closed down and no longer needed CCC camp. Built by Mel Crawford at a cost of $99.00. The lookout cab was built using the plans of the 1936 model L-4.
October 1948: "Larry Howard, 16-year-old lookout on Hinkle Butte, a short distance northwest of Sisters, together with his younger brother, went through a very harrowing experience but came out unscathed when the building suffered a direct hit by lightning during a storm on August 22. Larry was seated on a stool at the time of the strike and it threw him across a table and onto the floor. He was uninjured. This was due to the standard lightning protection that had been installed at the time the structure was built.
Nearly all the glass was broken out of the south side of the building which is a standard 14 by 14 building on a 40-foot tower. The wall telephone was broken open and all the inside parts burned out. The FX radio was also destroyed. The antenae of the radio was completely melted and part of the copper could be found splashed against the building. For a distance of a quarter of a mile from the building the telephone wire was either completely melted or broken into pieces from 6 to 12 inches in length.
When the lookout did not answer the hourly check calls by either telephone or radio, Dean Kingsbury, assistant district warden, started for the lookout and met the two boys walking down the road toward town. Both were in good condition but had difficulty in hearing for several hours. After spending the balance of the day and night at home, Larry returned to his position the next morning." (The Forest Log)
1952: "Installed new stairway." (Central Oregon District Annual Report)
1953: Mrs. Olive Allen, of Route 2, Bend, staffed the lookout until mid-July and then was moved to the Tumalo Butte lookout.
June 1, 1954: " Arrowhead hunters in the Geneva area of Jefferson county, west of the Deschutes gorge, were blamed for a fire earlier last week that was controlled by men from the Central Oregon state district office in Sisters. The fire was spotted by the Henkle butte lookout. The blaze was small." (The Bend Bulletin)
1955: The lookout is again spotting aircraft for the Air Defense filter center. The lookout radios to the local forestry office which in turn telephones the report to the Portland filter center until the center in Bend is completed.
1956: "The floor in the Hinkle Butte Lookout cabin was given a couple of coats of paint. Hinkle Butte Lookout will have to be painted on the outside in 1957." (Central Oregon District Annual Report)
1957: The exterior of the lookout was painted.
1959: The bracing on the tower was replaced and a shade cover was built for the water cans.
August 4, 1959: The lookout at this station made the first report on the Squaw Creek Fire at 1135 hours. Black Butte and Tumalo Butte reported within a few minutes.
1960: " The old Henkle Butte tower and lookout house were removed and the new structure, an Amort Special type structure, was constructed near the old tower. At the end of the year the new structure was approximately 85 per cent complete, The remaining work being interior finish, garage doors and painting." (1960 Central Oregon District Annual Report)
1960: The foundation was poured in the latter part of July. The actual construction of the structure was begun the first part of August. By the end of October the tower was completed except for garage doors, lower and second story windows and doors, and interior finishing of the second and third floors.
June 7, 1961: " The new Henkle Butte three story lookout is nearing completion and will be manned this summer by Mrs. Kenneth Blackburn." (The Bend Bulletin)
1961: " The lookout was completed and put into service. The total cost of construction, materials and labor was $4663.39. 154 man days of labor was required." (Central Oregon District Annual Report)
1962: New casings and moldings were installed.
1963: The lookout staffer was terminated after 29 days of duty. Fred Craven completed the season.
1966: A new garbage pit was dug. Also an AC radio was ordered to replace the old battery type now in use.
1967: "The lookout was wired for electricity during the spring and electrical appliances will be installed as they become available." (Annual report to the Oregon Department of Forestry)
August 19, 2003: The Booth fire was spotted around 3:30 p.m.by the lookout at Hinkle Butte. This fire was to later join up with the Bear Butte fire to become the B and B complex fire. These fires were discovered just a couple days before the President was to meet nearby to discuss better forestry practices.