The Women Observers of the Forest
A Fire Tower Photo Essay
After yesterday’s announcement about us publishing our NH Fire Tower memoir here on Day By Day, we received a bunch of new subscribers (thank you!) and quite a few questions and encouragement about the project.
So I thought, what the heck, here’s a fun little photo essay on women Fire Watchers. It occurred to me that I have a large photo collection of the women observers, spanning the very early years of the fire tower service, through the important World War II years, to the present.
Here’s a little taste of some of the material that we had planned for the book. Enjoy!
HALLIE MORSE DAGGETT: The very first fire tower lookout was Hallie Morse Daggett from San Francisco. In 1913 she was hired to work the Eddy Gulch Lookout Station atop 6.483 foot Klamath Peak in the Klamath National Forest. American Forestry Magazine described her as "full of pluck and high spirits" but worried that she'd be lonely or afraid of storms or beasts. They didn't have to worry, as Hallie served atop that mountain for 14 years. Pluck indeed - note in this photo she’s holding a rifle, carrying a knife and has a bear strung over her horse!
HELEN DOWE: Artist Helen Dowe was hired early in the forest service program and served atop Devil's Head in Pike National Forest in Colorado from 1919 to 1921. She also worked for San Isabel National Forest painting relief maps for guests and tourists. One of the most famous lookouts in the country, Devil's Head could only be reached by a harrowing 145 stair climb to the 9,700 foot summit. After retiring from the forest service, she became an engineer for the Water Commission in Denver, a position she held for over 35 years.
BARBARA MORTESEN: They were condescendingly known as WOOFs, or Women Observers of the Forest, but the important role they played during World War II in keeping the White Mountains and forest across the country safe - not to mention looking out for enemy aircraft - was critical to the history of our woodlands. In June of 1943, photographer John Collier, Jr. accompanied lookout Barbara Mortensen and her Great Dane Brenda to their perch atop Pine Mountain in Gorham and took dozens of amazing photos of Barbara at work. Her husband was away to war, in the Navy. This shot is from a set of haunting and beautiful photos that can be found in the Library of Congress.
HELEN ELLETT: Like New Hampshire, New York State hired woman lookouts for the first time during during World War II. Here is Helen Ellett at Dickinson Tower, the second female Fire Tower Observer in NY. She served for a total of 18 years, starting in 1943. During her time as a Fire Tower Observer, Helen had a dog Tippy, but also a pet raccoon named Soggy! Upon being told that she'd be unable to drive to the tower every day due to muddy roads, Helen said "Don’t tell me I’m going to be paid $100 a month for this job and I can ride my horse every day. I thought that was great."
ROSE VAUGHN: In the summer of 1945, a wicked band of lightning storms rolled through Sequoia National Park, with dozens of strikes around Cahoon Rock, the fire tower peak where long time look out Rose Vaughn was stationed. One of those strikes landed 150 yards from Rose's tower, igniting a mass of logs and loose debris into a dangerous inferno. With help 11 miles away and with lightning continuing to strike all around her, Rose grabbed a shovel and went to work.
Stopping only on occasion to run back to the tower and check for other strikes, by the time help arrived Rose had managed to both extinguish her own fire and prevent it from spreading, and call in three other fires as well - one fierce woman with a metal shovel at 9,200 feet in a lightning storm.
Later, Assistant Park Supervisor Ford Spigelmyre praised Rose with an awkward compliment, saying that her actions that day "clearly demonstrated a frail woman of 100 pounds can handle a man-sized job when the occasion arises."
Rose, the only woman lookout in Sequoia that season, took the typical "praise" in stride, saying only that she was tired by the end of the day because the shovel "got mighty heavy before I had the fire out."
For her bravery and efforts that day, Chief Ranger John Wegner bought Rose a new, lightweight shovel!
NANCY HOOD: In 2012, Nancy Hood became the longest serving fire lookout in the forest service. She began her career in 1959 and had served atop Lake Mountain Lookout in Klamath National Forest since 1992. In 2014, she barely escaped off the mountain ahead of the Happy Camp Fire. The lookout, which had been wrapped in foil, survived. Nancy's home, however, was destroyed. A fundraising campaign helped her recover a new home and she retired in 2018.
We hope you enjoyed this little photo essay! Once we reach 600 subscribers (only 16 to go!) we’ll begin a weekly feature of publishing Where There’s Smoke: On the Trail to New Hampshire’s Fire Towers. If you’re not subscribed, please do below. It’s FREE! Everything is free around here! And spread the word! As always, thanks for reading!
Thank you for shining a spotlight on these accomplished women!
Another great story. I look forward to reading your work every day. What is the name of the instrument shown in a few of the photos?