LAKE OF THE WOODS
Curry County - Siskiyou National Forest - 34S-12W-33
February 13, 1914: "Lake of the Woods. Area 6.08 acres.
Recommendation made for the selection of this station to the District Forester, January 2, 1914.
This area has been used for several seasons as a summer headquarters for patrol man and for storing tools.
The only improvement is a store house valued at $25.00.
There is sufficient grass for several horses during the fire season.
There is no running water. A sufficient amount for domestic use and for the livestock can be secured from springs and the lake.
The area has not been applied for under the Act of June 11, 1906." (L Stations, Siskiyou National Forest)
Recommendation made for the selection of this station to the District Forester, January 2, 1914.
This area has been used for several seasons as a summer headquarters for patrol man and for storing tools.
The only improvement is a store house valued at $25.00.
There is sufficient grass for several horses during the fire season.
There is no running water. A sufficient amount for domestic use and for the livestock can be secured from springs and the lake.
The area has not been applied for under the Act of June 11, 1906." (L Stations, Siskiyou National Forest)
August 1927: "The Lake of the Woods fireman is pretty well fixed for warm weather. He has a shake cabin with a summer kitchen on the front porch where his cooking is done over a homemade stove. This is not so good when the fog drifts in, as he has no way of heating the cabin proper. He has a fine lookout point on a ridge 250 yards from the cabin where there is a fire finder mounted in the open, and sort of a crow,s nest in a fir tree with a ladder leading to it. The lower Illinois Valley, the Agness region and much of the Lobster Creek watershed lies open to the fireman's eye from this point. I felt well repaid for the stiff climb by the view from the top. The good dinner fireman Reese served us helped make the trip a success. A.G. Jackson, Forest Examiner." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
September 1929: "The twenty ninth I spent with the Lake of the Woods Lookout Fireman. In the morning the atmosphere was clear, and we could see the surrounding country as in the spring of the year. About 1:00 p.m. the smoke started to drift up the Rogue River, and at 2:00 p.m. we could see no distance at all. The fog rolled up the river a solid cloud as dense as fog, and just as hard to see through. And at the present time is still with us. Ranger Allen, Agness District" (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
October 1929: "November is here again, and we are still having fires. Had to put the Lake of the Woods Lookout back on duty, and he is being kept busy reporting fires. One thing I am thankful for, most of them are on the state. However, there is a hot spot over the ridge from Agness near the center of the Lobster Creek watershed that seems to break out and burn every time the sun comes out." (The Siskiyou Bulletin)
1933: A 14x14 L-4 lookout house was constructed.
September 19, 1935: "Frank Thornton and Leonard Deveraux killed a cougar within 200 yards of the Lake of the Woods lookout station early Thursday morning. The lookout had reported a deer freshly killed by the cougar and the two men brought their dog in and soon had the cougar treed." (Curry County Reporter)
November 1935: "Lake of the Woods lookout reported seeing a cougar with freshly killed deer within one hundred yards of his station at 4:45 pm on September 20. One of the local hunters was called on the telephone and went up to the lookout that night with his cougar dog and had the cougar hide early the next morning." (Six Twenty-Six)
May 1940: "Point is needed for detection of fire along Rogue River. It is the only point available in this section, but is by no means entirely satisfactory." (Plans, Guard Placement, Siskiyou National Forest)
1941: The lookout station was staffed 120 days, reported to the Agness Ranger Station via forest line to West Coast Telephone Company.
July 18, 1969: Leslie Shores of Bend will be spending his second summer on Lake O'Woods Lookout. (The World)
September 7, 1973: "Siskiyou National Forest Service in the Powers - Gold Beach area airlifted a 7-1/2 ton lookout station Thursday about 5 p.m. the 12 miles from Barklow Mountain to Lake O'Woods west of Agness. The station was situated about 30 miles from Powers and 33 miles from Gold Beach, to replace an older structure.
The airlifted lookout, a steel structure built in 1957 atop Barklow Mountain, was moved by a Sikorsky S-64 Air-crane helicopter owned and operated by Erickson Air-Crane of Marysville, Calif. The company is logging on a timber sale on the Gold Beach Ranger District to which the lookout was moved.
Cost of the move by the huge $1,800,000 helicopter was $2,100, according to Curt Townsend, fire patrol officer in the Gold Beach Ranger District who supervised the job. Construction of a new lookout to replace the old one at Lake O'Woods would be much more costly, it was noted. The old lookout was built in 1934 and Townsend said one more severe winter would destroy it." (The World)
1973: The CL-100 series steel cab was flown by helicopter from Barklow Mountain and set upon an eight foot tower. A catwalk and extensive remodeling was done at the time of reconstruction. This lookout is situated to the east of the prior structure.
July 8, 1974: "Donald and Susan Wolfe are spending their summer at one high Siskiyou point between Agness and Gold Beach. This is the Lake O'Woods lookout where they have been for five years." (The World)
1996: Failure to obtain funding is responsible for the lookout remaining unstaffed this season.