SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

MOUNT SOLOMON

Los Padres National Forest

​December 23, 1948:  "Grandma Bessie Hampton, 54, has climbed down from her glass-enclosed watch tower for another winter.
     For four summers now, she and her dog Rover have maintained a 24-hour-a-day vigil atop Mt. Solomon, 1,336 feet above the ocean.  She turns her spyglasses on the surrounding forests between Pacific Coast highway 101 and the sea, reporting suspicious smoke to the fire warden.
     Grandma, who boasts 12 grandchildren, got in training with 12-hour shifts at a war-time aircraft warning post.  She opens the fire tower about May 15 and closes it in November each year.
     Now she's set for a winter of traveling."  (Kokomo Tribune)