JACKSON COUNTY
WAGNER BUTTE
Crater National Forest > Rogue River National Forest
39S-1W-36
39S-1W-36
1913: An alidade with a tent camp established. This site had an Iron Mine telephone mounted on a pole set in the rocks.
February 24, 1914: "The Jackson County Fire Patrol association held its annual meeting in the forest service office Monday afternoon, and elected new officers and directors.
It was decided that new lookouts should be built, pathways made in some isolated districts and new instruments installed on Wagner Butte." (Medford Mail Tribune)
July 8, 1914: "Telephone lines built by the forest service this spring are now in operation, covering twenty-two miles, as follows: Fifteen miles on Elk Creek to the Umpqua Divide, two and one-half miles from Butte Falls to Santiam lookout, and four miles from Wagner's Butte to Long's cabin. Rangers for lookout stations were sent out the first of the month." (Medford Mail Tribune)
August 17, 1914: "Mark Kline, Talent: Wagner Butte lookout, phone, Ashland exchange." (Ashland Tidings)
October 7, 1915: "Mr. Kline, who has charge of the lookout on Mount Wagner, is down for the winter." (Medford Mail Tribune)
1916: "The Wagner Butte lookout is provided with the latest and best map of Jackson County mounted on an Osborne fire-finder.
There is one Osborne alidade in use on the forest--Wagner Butte. Though more costly, this does away with most of the disadvantages of wooden hand made alidades.
On Wagner Butte the fire-finder is on the very top, but to report a fire the observer is obliged to climb down the rocks to the telephone. This results in the same awkwardness as on Palmer Peak and worse, for the Wagner Butte observer has to report to the Supervisor over a long-distance pay line. It will not do to hold the line open while the observer climbs to the top to verify a reading, and call a second time means added costs. A three minute conversation costs 15 cents, with 5 cents for each additional minute.
Upon leaving the lookout in the fall the Wagner Butte observer greased well his stove and Osborne fire-finder and stored them in a cave in the rocks of the summit. He felt reasonably sure that they would not be disturbed, since he himself had not discovered the cave till that season, though he had been the observer for several seasons. Apparently no water enters the cave, and protected from rust by the coating of grease, they probably have wintered well." (The Fire Lookout System on the Crater National Forest, Harold D. Foster, 1916)
July 28, 1920: "Ralph Bowman has gone on top of Wagner Butte as lookout for the forest service. Alex Bowman is staying with him, Sunday, their parents went to spend the day with them. They had a very pleasant but tiresome trip." (Ashland Weekly Tidings)
August 18, 1923: "The forestry forces have just finished leveling of the top of Wagner mountain by explosives and other means to make way for the site of the new lookout station to be erected there. All the material is ready at the site with which to rush the construction of the station from now on. It has been arduous preparation task that has been going on for months past, as the mountain is 7000 feet high. Forty horse and mule loads of material for the station have been hauled to the top during that time." & "D.T. Lawton returned Thursday to the forest lookout station at the top of Wagner Butte after having spent several days in Medford on business. Rangers are building Mr. Lawton a lookout house on the top of the mountain which is more than 7000 feet above sea level. In order to get a big enough level spot upon which to build the station they have used over 100 pounds of picric acid, a most powerful explosive, in blasting away rocks. He says that he will be able to watch the auto races at the fair with the aid of a pair of binoculars." (Medford Mail Tribune)
1923: "Bert Peachy, forest fireman at Ashland, built a lookout house on Wagner Butte. On October 23 Ranger Port and J.J. Deadmond went to Wagner Butte to finish the building." (The History of the Rogue River National Forest, Vol. 1)
1925: "The cupola on the lookout house blew off during the winter and was repaired in the spring." (History of the Rogue River National Forest, Volume 1 , - Carroll E. Brown)
July 23, 1927: "While practically isolated from the world, a narrow mountain trail of a very steep grade affording the only egress, P.E. Neff, fire lookout on the summit of Wagner butte on the southern edge of the valley, this morning enjoyed accounts of the Sharkey-Dempsey fight published by this morning's San Francisco newspapers, which were dropped by Ralph Virdin, Pacific Air Transport flier, as he was flying to Medford from San Francisco on his daily mail trip. The copies landed very close to the station and were easily found.
Pilot R. Cunningham, who has the Portland-to-Medford run for the Pacific Air Transport company, has also dropped papers to a station in the Umpqua mountains, according to the local landing field." (Morning Oregonian)
October 3, 1930: "Mr. Neff, who has watched faithfully all summer from the Wagner Butte lookout, closed his windows this week and was packed down to civilization." (Medford Mail Tribune)
May 24, 1931: "Mr. Neff was put on duty at Wagner lookout station last week by the forest service. This is the second lookout to open this season, the other being Tallowbox." (Medford Mail Tribune)
June 30, 1933: "The second lookout station went on duty last week when Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Andrews were packed to Wagner Butte." (Medford Mail Tribune)
July 8, 1934: "Lightning struck the forest ranger lookout station on Mount Wagner near Ashland and ignited a box of matches, but did no damage." (The Oregon Statesman)
September 21, 1936: "Bob Lindsay of the Wagner Butte lookout tation was down for a few days this week returning to work Sept. 17." (Medford Mail Tribune)
June 24, 1938: "Orie Phillips, employed as forest service packer here, established Herbert 'Slim' Pennings of Portland, at Wagner Butte during the last few days." (Medford Mail Tribune)
July 5, 1938: "The lone forest fire that spoiled a perfect record occurred Sunday afternoon. It was reported at 2:30 by H. Pennings, Wagner Butte lookout. A crew under Ranger Lee Port from the Star Ranger Station circled the blaze in an hour, had it completely out by 9 p.m. The firefighters saved a barn that had been threatened." (Medford Mail Tribune)
August 21, 1941: "Lightning set two fires on the Rogue River National Forest, one in the Union Creek district and one in the Applegate district where the bolt struck only 500 yards from the Wagner Butte lookout station." (Medford Mail Tribune)
October 2, 1941: "A forest fire lookout from Mount Wagner didn't report this blaze. He brought it into town with him.
He told a service station attendant something was smoking under the automobile hood. The attendant found a bushel of debris ablaze--the remains of a pack rat nest." (The Oregon Statesman)
October 20, 1941: "When John Harr, lookout at Wagner Butte, woke up yesterday morning and saw the snow, he made a bee line for his car, parked safely in the clear at Wagner Gap, and got out of the snow-covered forest, leaving all his things behind to be packed out by a packer from the Star ranger station." (Medford Mail Tribune)
1956: "All personnel were well trained and were able to do a very effective job with the possible exception of Wagner Butte Lookout who was a little rusty in filling out a lookout report. However, I believe all that was needed there was practice. I am sure that the excellent showing of all personnel did not just happen but is the result of good supervision and training on the part of Ranger Thomas and his assistants.
The district has done considerable reconnaissance work on a road location to Wagner Butte Lookout. The first leg of this road they proposed to construct as access to the proposed Greeley Creek sale. Extension beyond this sale area on toward the lookout will of necessity have to be with road funds. It would seem quite desirable that this lookout access road be put on the forest program of work for completion within the next several years. Forest Service trail to Wagner Butte has been obliterated by private land logging in the vicinity and the existing sub-standard logging road has washed quite badly and makes a very poor trail." (1956 General Inspection)
September 3, 1961: "Manning the Wagner butte lookout this summer has been Bill Benson, a junior at Stanford university.
Because the old lookout building was dismantled early in the summer, Benson has been living in a tent since late June. His daylight-to-dusk schedule includes periodical checks of the forests from the rock, relaying of weather reports and data by radio, and the routine of preparing his meals.
Plans for the completely modern structure to be built have been prepared by the USFS office in Portland. The unit is pre-fabricated, in that pre-cut materials are used. This is the first of the standard-type lookouts to be used in this area.
The house will be about 15-foot square and is complete with furniture. Cabinets will be built-in with Formica tops" (Medford Mail Tribune)
September 3, 1961: "At least 6,000 pounds of ready-mixed concrete were carried in 18 different 'buggy loads' last week to the top of Wagner butte lookout. M.C. Lininger and Sons, Medford, trucked the water, rock, and sand to the heliport, about 29 miles southeast of Medford. Cement was then mixed with the aggregate before being poured into the cars for its helicopter ride to the lookout site." (Medford Mail Tribune)
1964: The lookout discontinued.
1971: The lookout destroyed.