LEWIS COUNTY
KIONA PEAK
Rainier / Columbia / Gifford Pinchot National Forest
13N-6E-35
13N-6E-35
April 1917: "At a meeting of the state board of forest commissioners held here a few days ago, it was decided to co-operate with the federal government in establishing a lookout on Kiona Mountain in Lewis county, where a watchman will be on duty day and night during the summer season or 'fire' season. This lookout will cover the territory for a radius of 16 miles and will have telephone connection with the forest patrol system. The plan is said to have been found very satisfactory in Idaho and Oregon. State Fire Warden Fred E. Pape has begun listing the timber in the state cared for under the fire protection laws, in accordance with the statute passed at the last legislature." (The Timberman)
August 11, 1917: "The first lookout station in the Rainier National Forest is being constructed at Kiona peak.
The peak was so sharp that it was necessary to blast off a piece of the top to find a large enough space for the 10 x 12 station.
Twenty ponies carried supplies for the new station from Randle. No man has yet been appointed permanently to the lookout." (The Tacoma Times)
The peak was so sharp that it was necessary to blast off a piece of the top to find a large enough space for the 10 x 12 station.
Twenty ponies carried supplies for the new station from Randle. No man has yet been appointed permanently to the lookout." (The Tacoma Times)
August 20, 1918: "Stationed on Kiona peak in the Rainier national forest is V.W. Bigger, a newspaper man from Texas, who has taken his typewriter with him to the top of the peak and spends his time 'writing' while sitting in his glass-enclosed lookout house watching for signs of smoke in the distance." (The Oregon Journal)
1918: "The Kiona Peak lookout is located about four miles northeast of Randle in eastern Lewis county. A modern lookout building was constructed on the very pinnacle of the peak. At an elevation of over 5,000 feet it rises above all surrounding tree tops, giving an unobstructed view in all directions, particularly overlooking the valleys of the Cowlitz, Cispus and Tilton rivers, and also a portion of the Nisqually valley. The lookout is connected with five miles of pack trail and about the same length of telephone line.
This lookout was not fully completed until near the close of the 1917 fire season. A Weeks Law patrolman, paid jointly from federal Weeks Law and State funds, acted as lookout watchman for the season of 1917, while federal forest service and the association paid the lookout watchman for the season of 1917, while federal forest service and the association paid the lookout watchman for the season 0f 1918." "In 1917 the federal service allotted Weeks Law funds for improvement work on Kiona Peak lookout station..........$347.27." (Division of Forestry Annual Report)
1918 "We paid one-half the salary of the lookout patrolman stationed on Kiona Peak in Eastern Lewis County." (11th Annual Report of the Washington Forest Fire Association)
1919: "We have made haste slowly in establishing lookout stations, as the experience with a good many which have been established is, that the view from them is too often obscured by hazy, smoky, or foggy weather. This has been the case with the lookout on Kiona Peak, in eastern Lewis County. It has been of almost no value to us since it was established three years ago. With the lookouts in the Coast Range mountains, conditions are different, as the smoke is driven away from them by westerly breezes, leaving the atmosphere more clear." (12th Annual Report of the Washington Forest Fire Association)
1919-20: "Kiona Peak, which is the highest lookout and in clear weather commands a much wider range of vision than the others, became so enveloped in smoke during the height of the season that it was rendered practically useless. The range of vision was confined to a small area in the immediate vicinity of the lookout. Few fires were discovered by this lookout which had not been discovered by the patrolman or reported as quickly to him from other sources.
Further efforts will be made to test the usefulness of the lookout, but from our experience and observations to date the lookout as a practical unit to the state service is questionable." (15th & 16th Annual reports, Washington State Forester)
1922: "After giving Kiona Peak Lookout four years trial it was abandoned this season as impractical to operate." (First Biennial Report Forestry Division - 1921-22)
September 1923: "Reported a fire at a distance of 37 miles." (Six Twenty-Six)
May 1925: "Mr. Mayhill, of the Fox Film Company, went to Kiona Peak last week to obtain moving pictures of the work of a lookout in the fire organization." (Six Twenty-Six)
July 16, 1926: "The fire that started Friday at 2:15 p.m. as reported by P.K. Herrington from Lookout station, Kiona peak, as being southeast of the Glenoma schoolhouse, by Friday night had burned over four or five hundred acres, mostly in an old burn, but some valuable timber was consumed. The fire has spread over considerable territory since then and appears not to be under control yet." (Chehalis Bee Nugget)
June 17, 1927: "P.K. Herrington went to Kiona peak last week to get the telephone in working condition preparatory to taking over his work there for the summer at the lookout station. Mr. Herrington reported four feet of snow at the peak and fourteen in the canyon below the station." (The Chehalis Bee-Nugget)
July 1, 1927: "Ray Hampton moved P.K. Herrington to Kiona peak yesterday, where he will soon take up his vigil for the summer." (Chehalis Bee Nugget)
1929: Panorama photos taken.
August 29, 1930: "Elcana DeRossett, who has charge of the Kiona peak lookout station has a bad fall over a cliff last week when his footing gave way. He struck a snag and suffers a serious bruise on the thigh bone. The wound was threatening serious trouble by the time he got to Randle for medical aid. However, he will soon be able to return to his work." (The Chehalis Bee-Nugget)
c.1935: An L-4 ground cabin was constructed to replace the original structure.
Activated: March 13, 1942; Deactivated: April 1, 1944. Seattle Filter Center.
April 1, 1944: Aircraft Warning Service Station 'Jig 3-2' was deactivated. The site was retained by the Forest Service for continued use as a fire detection facility. Using AWS funding, sleeping quarters and woodshed were added to the improvements. (Report of the Aircraft Warning Service Stations , May 1, 1944)
April 1, 1944: Aircraft Warning Service Station 'Jig 3-2' was deactivated. The site was retained by the Forest Service for continued use as a fire detection facility. Using AWS funding, sleeping quarters and woodshed were added to the improvements. (Report of the Aircraft Warning Service Stations , May 1, 1944)
June 6, 1953: "Facilities for the detection and suppression of forest fires were meager for quite a few years. The first lookout was constructed on Kiona Peak seven miles northwest of Randle in 1917 by B.P. Moore and his son, Henry, who still resides in Randle. No other lookouts were built until 1928 when two others were put up, one on Cispus Peak, and the other on Badger Peak." (Centralia Daily Chronicle)
Removed
National Geodetic Survey
DESIGNATION - KIONA
PID - SC1292
STATE/COUNTY- WA/LEWIS
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - KIONA PEAK (1993)
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1946 (JTJ)
THE STATION IS ON THE HIGHEST POINT OF KIONA PEAK, 3-1/2 MILES
AIRLINE NORTHWEST OF RANDLE, ABOUT 10 MILES AIRLINE NORTHEAST
OF KOSMOS, 7 FEET SOUTH OF KIONA LOOKOUT HOUSE. THE DISK IS
STAMPED KIONA 1946, SET IN A DRILL HOLE IN A BOULDER FLUSH WITH
THE SURROUNDING SURFACE.
REFERENCE MARK NO 1 IS STAMPED KIONA NO 1 1946, SET IN A DRILL
HOLE IN A BOULDER, IT PROJECTS 3 INCHES AND IS 4 FEET LOWER THAN
THE STATION.
REFERENCE MARK NO 2 IS STAMPED KIONA NO 2 1946, SET IN A DRILL
HOLE IN A BOULDER, IT PROJECTS 3 INCHES AND IS 1 FOOT LOWER THAN
THE STATION.
THE AZIMUTH MARK IS STATION SILER.
THE PICTURE POINT IS LONE FIR TREE, 15 FEET WEST OF LOOKOUT
HOUSE, 5.15 METERS LOWER THAN THE STATION.
TO REACH FROM THE POST OFFICE IN RANDLE GO WEST ON STATE HIGHWAY
NO. 5 FOR 1.4 MILES TO A DIRT ROAD SHARP RIGHT, TURN SHARP RIGHT
AND GO 0.4 MILE TO A CABIN ON THE RIGHT, CONTINUE STRAIGHT AHEAD
FOR 0.2 MILE TO A FORK, TAKE THE LEFT FORK FOR 0.1 MILE. FROM
THIS POINT PACK ALONG A DIM TRAIL FOR ABOUT 1 MILE TO THE KIONA
LOOKOUT TRAIL, TURN LEFT AND FOLLOW MAIN TRAIL TO KIONA LOOKOUT
AND STATION AS DESCRIBED.
NOTE--PACK WILL REQUIRE ABOUT 5 HOURS.
