CHELAN COUNTY
DIRTY FACE RIDGE
Wenatchee National Forest
27N-16E-12
27N-16E-12
1914: Site first developed as a heliograph lookout. (See: Tumwater Mountain entry for March 20, 1914)
June 22, 1915: "Under supervision of A.H. Sylvester, supervisor of the Wenatchee national forest reserve, lookout stations are being erected on four mountains in Chelan county for the purpose of detecting and subduing forest fires. One peak to be utilized is Dirtyface, near Lake Wenatchee. During the summer season one man will be on constant guard at each of the four places, one of which will be the central station. Each man will be equipped with a heliograph and compass, in order to get bearings and signal to the central station, which will have a phone and can send assistance at once." (The Semi-Weekly Spokesman-Review)
July 2, 1915: "A line will be built to the lookout station on the summit of Dirty Face mountain on Lake Wenatchee." (The Leavenworth Echo)
July 16, 1915: A force of men are employed in building a telephone line to the top of Dirty Face mountain near Wenatchee lake where a lookout station will be maintained. The line is expected to be completed next week." (The Leavenworth Echo)
July 30, 1915: "The Forestry Department has several crews of men at work in this vicinity. A new trail is being built up the Little Wenatchee to Soda Springs and one up Dirty Face mountain where a lookout station has been located." (The Leavenworth Echo)
September 28, 1923: “Miss Gladys West came in Tuesday from Dirtyface lookout where she had been stationed the past two weeks. Miss West has acted as relief lookout the past season and has been in charge of most of the stations in this community at different times." (The Leavenworth Echo)
September 28, 1923: “Miss Gladys West came in Tuesday from Dirtyface lookout where she had been stationed the past two weeks. Miss West has acted as relief lookout the past season and has been in charge of most of the stations in this community at different times." (The Leavenworth Echo)
June 20, 1924: “Forest Supervisor A.H. Sylvester has virtually completed the placing of summer employees in the Wenatchee National Forest.” "Lake Wenatchee Ranger District – Lawrence Cunningham is lookout on Dirtyface Peak.” (The Leavenworth Echo)
June 20, 1924: “Forest Supervisor A.H. Sylvester has virtually completed the placing of summer employees in the Wenatchee National Forest.” "Lake Wenatchee Ranger District – Lawrence Cunningham is lookout on Dirtyface Peak.” (The Leavenworth Echo)
June 18, 1926: “Harold Nutting, who arrived home Saturday from W.S.C., will be employed in the forest service this summer, probably as lookout on Dirty Face mountain.” (The Leavenworth Echo)
November 1929: "The lightning connectors were not on Dirty Face Lookout until the next day after the storm, which occurred early in the season. You can draw your own conclusions as to where the lightning started in, from Ranger Kellicut's description as follows:
The flag on the 20 foot flag pole about 30 feet from the building was torn to ribbons. The small copper emergency wire, used in lieu of a flag rope, was uninjured down to where it was wrapped around the flag pole some 4 feet from the ground. Here it was slightly burned and the pole badly shattered for about two feet up and down; one of the splinters from the pole was found sticking into the roof of the lookout house.
From the base of the flag pole, the lightning traveled some 30 feet through the ground under two piles of rock about 20 feet apart, scattering the rocks in all directions and making several holes of fused soil.
Then it jumped about ten feet to a pile of rocks over one of the guy cable anchors, scattered the rocks and traveled up the cable to within about a foot of the tower post to which it was fastened. From here it jumped up through the hip of the roof to the galvanized hip shingles, tearing two of them loose.
At the same time, lightning came up the guy cable at the opposite corner of the building, tore off some of the hip shingles and in addition scattered the lookout's store of dried provisions, beans, cereals, etc., in pasteboard containers on a shelf at the corner, all over the room. This was the principal thing objected to by the lookout who was out of the building at the time. The W.B.G. fuse and Vac-M Arrester were in tack but the coil and some of the connections on the howler signal set in the tower were badly burned.
Incidentally, he says that in nearly every case, where iron tree pins had been used on the telephone line, near the lookout, the tree insulator was broken. C.M. Allen" (Six Twenty-Six)
June 23, 1933: Lake Wenatchee Ranger District: Pat Douglas, Dirtyface Peak lookout. (The Leavenworth Echo)
May 29, 1934: “Fearing a storm, Ranger Axel Lindh of Lake Wenatchee rushed a man to the look-out station on Dirtyface peak at 6 p.m. Yesterday. The peak normally would not be occupied until next month." (The Wenatchee Daily World)
Removed
