ELK MOUNTAIN
Cowlitz County - State Division of Forestry - 8N-3E-32
c.1927-28: A crow's nest temporary lookout erected.
1929: "A new lookout on Elk Mountain, was observed by a temporary lookout during 1929. It is planned to construct a lookout on this point in Cowlitz County, and two others, one each in Skagit and Whatcom Counties, during 1930.
Some six miles of telephone line was constructed from the Kalama River, at a point on Section 20, Twp. 7, Range 3 East, to the Elk Mountain temporary Lookout on Sec. 32, Twp. 8, Range 3 East, and on to Butler's Butte on Section 31." (22nd Annual Report of the Washington Forest Fire Association)
June 6, 1930: "The state forest fire service has a lookout station under construction on top of Elk Mountain in eastern Cowlitz county, from which a large area of forested land can be observed by the lookout to observe forest fires. Much trail construction is under way in that district this year." (Centralia Daily Chronicle)
June 13, 1930: "There has been finished a 57-foot tower of wood construction on Mt. Lookout at the southeastern corner of Cowlitz County, this mountain being 4560 feet high. The tower is enclosed with glass and is complete in every detail." (The Chehalis Bee-Nugget)
June 26, 1930: "The Washington forest fire fighting department is constructing a lookout station on the summit of Elk mountain in eastern Cowlitz county, from which a large area of timber land can be watched for signs of fires. A ranger will be stationed at the lookout during the fire season." (Goldendale Sentinel)
1930: "In Cowlitz County, a Lookout was developed at the end of a trail opened up some years ago by the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company. It overlooked a vast territory of virgin timber, in an area susceptible to lightning strikes." + "Assistant Chief Warden V.O. Wallace supervised the erection of the Elk Mountain Lookout." (23rd Annual Report of the Washington Forest Fire Association)
1936: "We also constructed a tower on Elk Mountain in Section 32, Township 8, Range 4 East. This tower, built a decade ago of white fir, became dangerous, and the point lost much of it's effectiveness for this reason. A new tower of hewn cedar, sixty feet high was erected, the material being horse packed for some two and a half miles. The actual trail from the end of the road is approximately nine miles, but it was found possible to so re-locate the trail, with some additional swamping, as to make it possible for our tractor to pull a fully loaded wheeled trailer to Butler's Butte. This helped very materially in the problem of feeding men and horses as well as hauling equipment at an elevation of 4,650 feet. In addition, 14 3/4 miles of truck trail was added, and 370 miles of old trail cleared and brushed out.' (29th Annual Report of the Washington Forest Fire Association)
December 1937: "The following story was picked up at the recent meeting of Western Forestry in Portland and is vouched for by C.S. Cowan, of the Washington Forest Fire Association:
Jake Nordvik has been the lookout on Elk Mountain in Lewis county, Washington, for the past 11 years. In spite of the fact that he lost an eye and his right hand some years ago when a bunch of dynamite went haywire, he can still spot fires with the best best of them and also use an axe and broadaxe. The last is evidenced from the fact that he hewed the timbers for his lookout tower. But the interesting part of the story is about Jake's two horses which pack supplies to the lookout. He calls them the mare and the colt in spite of the fact that they are 28 and 24 years old respectively. They have been traveling this trail ever since Jake manned the lookout, so they know their way.
When it is necessary to send a stock of supplies up to the lookout, Mrs. Nordvik packs the mare and colt, escorts them the river a couple miles distant, heaves sticks and rocks at them until they get across and then returns to her home. The animals make their solitary way up to the lookout where Jake unpacks them, starts them back down the trail and then goes in and phones his wife to go open the gate in about three hours because the horses will be there. So far they have never failed to make the round trip unattended." (The Forest Log)
1939: During the winter of 1939 the tower fell into the canyon. (Longview Daily News) 8/22/1953
1940: "A new 29 foot ring-connected tower and ground house were constructed on Elk Mountain." (Annual Report of the Division of Forestry)
June 10, 1963: "Leland Peterson of Bellevue, who has been the watchman for the past several years, will man the Elk Mountain tower east of Castle Rock this year." (Longview Daily News)
Removed