KERN COUNTY
BALD MOUNTAIN
Sequoia National Forest
September 22, 1953: "Kern County officials searched today for a disgruntled hunter who shot and wounded a U.S. Forest ranger after the ranger refused to sell a deer he had killed.
Arlen Barber, fire lookout on Bald Mountain, reported he was shot in the arm when he turned down the man's $25 offer for the deer.
He said the hunter asked to see his .22 caliber pistol and when Barber handed over the weapon the hunter shot him in the arm and fled." (Humboldt Standard)
Arlen Barber, fire lookout on Bald Mountain, reported he was shot in the arm when he turned down the man's $25 offer for the deer.
He said the hunter asked to see his .22 caliber pistol and when Barber handed over the weapon the hunter shot him in the arm and fled." (Humboldt Standard)
September 24, 1953: "Forest Service fire lookout Arlen Barber admitted today that he invented a story of being shot and wounded by "an irate deer hunter" in the Sierra east of here.
The 22-year-old Sequoia National Forest employee reported to headquarters Monday that he was shot by a hunter who became angry when he refused his offer to buy a deer for $25.
Superintendent Eldon Ball said Barber broke down and admitted the story was phony after rangers and sheriff's deputies requested that he submit to a lie detector test.
Barber told them he accidentally wounded himself while firing the weapon at crows. He said he was using his right arm as a pistol rest when a bullet plowed into it. Ball said Barber has been suspended temporarily pending completion of an investigation of the case." (Humboldt Standard)