Additional information
by La Vaughn Vanderburg Kemnow (Author)
Fire lookouts experience extremes in weather: Heat and cold, gale-force winds, rain and snow, electric storms. They are alone on high mountaintops in cabins or high towers to deal with whatever comes their way, with courage and ingenuity. The historical information in these volumes is the culmination of many years of research of original documents by Ron Kemnow for his website, ronkemnow.weebly.com. Also included are many historical photographs. Some of the older photographs and picture postcards are of poor quality, but were included for their historical value. This book is not in narrative form, but is a collection of official reports, letters, and news articles, presented as they were originally written.
Author Biography
The author grew up on a dairy farm in the Pacific Northwest adjacent to the Siuslaw National Forest, where her grandparents and great grandparents had been among the earliest settlers. Family outings often consisted of a drive over narrow dirt Forest Service roads winding through towering fir and spruce forests. The day would often include a primitive picnic, with venison steak threaded onto sharpened willow branches and broiled slowly over the glowing coals of a small cooking fire. Sometimes their travels through the foothills of the Coast Range led them to a fire lookout tower. This interest was expanded in later years when she and her husband began visiting fire lookouts and abandoned lookout sites. The fascination with the history of these sites led to an in-depth study and research of original documents pertaining to the subject, much of which is presented in these volumes.
