SISKIYOU COUNTY
MT. BRADLEY
Shasta National Forest
July 18, 1930: "Ever on the alert to detect forest fires before they become uncontrollable, the Shasta national forest is establishing a lookout station on Mt. Bradley just west of Dunsmuir. During past years forest fires in the Sacramento river canyon in this vicinity have caused forest fire fighting no little trouble and the decision to locate a station on Mt. Bradley is made to locate the fires more quickly, and to more accurately direct fire fighters to the fire. A telephone line will be strung to connect the station with forest headquarters.
A fire fighting crew has been established for the summer at Castella to be near the scene of any fire that may break out in the canyon.
There has been a lookout station on Mt. Eddy for many years." (The Dunsmuir News)
A fire fighting crew has been established for the summer at Castella to be near the scene of any fire that may break out in the canyon.
There has been a lookout station on Mt. Eddy for many years." (The Dunsmuir News)
July 2, 1932: "L. T. Solaro and C. W. Durst have completed a lookout house on Mt. Bradley, where the lookout can reside during his stay on the peak this summer." (The Searchlight)
July 30, 1932: "A crew made up mostly of Shastans will be stationed on the old Cantara mill site, where they will be ready to report for fire duty in that region. There will be 20 in that camp.
They will do work on the Mt. Bradley lookout trail, which will be constructed out of Cantara. At present it takes many hours for foresters to go to the lookout, as the trip must be made via Castle lake or out of Castella." (The Searchlight)
August 7, 1942: "Don Lafferty, who is stationed at the Mount Bradley look-out station west of Dunsmuir, is believed to be one of the first to learn about the wreck at Mott Monday afternoon involving four Southern Pacific locomotives.
Young Lafferty saw the accident and at once notified the Forest Service and aid was sent to the scene of the wreck." (The Dunsmuir News)
May 28, 1943: "Frank Bascom has accepted a position as lookout for the Forest Service and is spending this week on Sugar Loaf mountain in Shasta county. He will be the look-out on Mt. Bradley for the season. Mrs. Bascom will accompany him." (The Dunsmuir News)
October 1, 1943: "To date, this year, there have been 127 visitors at the lookout station, Mr. Bascom reports." (The Dunsmuir News)
July 7, 1944: "Carol Collins at the Mt. Bradley lookout station. Miss Collins is a young lady from Orange, N.J., and is popular with the townspeople as well as the forest officers. And this is not her first experience as a lookout gal." (The Dunsmuir News)
September 1, 1944: "Miss Carol Collins, the Mt. Bradley, lookout, made her trip up the slopes of Mt. Shasta last week and was very much impressed by the sights. During her absence Miss Edith Comstock and Miss Margaret Bonneville reported fires from the lookout. She expects to leave the middle of September for her home in New Jersey." (The Dunsmuir News)
September 15, 1944: "Today is moving day on Mt. Bradley lookout. Henry Erhard will take Marilyn Jackson up to replace Carol Collins for the balance of the fire season. Miss Collins will leave at once for her home in New Jersey and continuation of her college work. Marilyn has had experience while keeping her mother company at Sugar Loaf lookout this past summer and well knows the thrill of being first to report a 'smoke.' " (The Dunsmuir News)
June 29, 1945: "Dorothy Wright, from Modesto, after a hard year of teaching school, is doing her share of looking from the top of Mount Bradley." (The Dunsmuir News)
June 14, 1956: "The fire season started June 1. Mt. Bradley was the first lookout to be manned. Pearl Cown went up there a month ago. The Bradley lookout is the key lookout for this area, being the only one with direct telephone communication with USFS headquarters. All stations are equipped with two-way radio." (The Dunsmuir News)
August 6, 1959: "Pearl Cown, who takes care of the USFS Lookout station on top of Mt. Bradley, has a German shepherd dog, 'Cubby,' that gets very irritated with the heat lately. He has been digging holes in the ground in the basement of the lookout station. While making himself a nice cool bed to lie in July 30 he unearthed an old fruit jar. Mrs. Cown picked it up and noticed that there were four rusty pennies and a note inside. She hastened to open it and read the note. It said 'On this day, July 20, 1941, I, Bill Wheeler, of Dunsmuir, California, buried four pennies in a bottle at Mt. Bradley Lookout. I also fixed the flag pole and raised the flag at 11:15 a.m. My address is 105 Bridge St., Dunsmuir.'
Bill is the son of Mrs. Mildred Wheeler and brother of R. R. Wheeler and F. A. Wheeler of Dunsmuir. He enlisted in the armed forces while a senior in high school in 1941 and was killed in action." (The Dunsmuir News)
March 10, 1960: "Pearl Cowen, veteran fire lookout, who spends her summers on Mt. Bradley, is in a Chico hospital recovering from recent surgery." (The Dunsmuir News)
August 9, 1962: "A veteran look-out is Pearl Cowen, in charge at Mt. Bradley. She has served 12 seasons, seven in the McCloud area." (The Dunsmuir News)
October 18, 1962: "In describing the damage to the lookout on Mt. Bradley, it was rather minor in comparison with that at Black Butte. Two of the shutter are gone, one window broken and some of the shingles from the roof. The USFS planned to begin repair on it yesterday." (The Dunsmuir News)
June 20, 1963: "Mrs. Cowan related an experience during the thunder storm last week.
She pointed out the north side of the Lookout building and said, 'see that tree that has been struck by lightning? The other night while the storm was on, I was standing at the table when a bolt of lightning struck the tree. The impact of the strike knocked me flat on the floor.'
At the same time, said Pearl, I knocked the transmitter off the stand, and the phone went out too, to make bad matters worse. As I sat there on the floor, she continued, regaining my composure, I could hear the receiver the radio operator giving orders to Bob Marshall to get to Pearl as quick as possible because they were sure I was in trouble.
Amusing, said Pearl as it was, I could do nothing to keep Marshall from breaking his neck to get to me. In only 15 or 20 minutes, Marshall sped up the winding road from the Freeway, bounced out of his pickup --- in the meantime, Pearl up and around, stuck her head out the door and said, 'Come on up Bob and have a cup of coffee --- oo0ooch, --- all Bob could say, added Pearl, --- was 'Dam you Pearl.'
But what could I do, said Pearl, I was helpless to get word to you that I was ok.
Well, Pearl was very happy to see the concern for her safety and after Bob cooled off . . they sat down and had a Coffee Klatch at 2 a.m." (The Dunsmuir News)
She pointed out the north side of the Lookout building and said, 'see that tree that has been struck by lightning? The other night while the storm was on, I was standing at the table when a bolt of lightning struck the tree. The impact of the strike knocked me flat on the floor.'
At the same time, said Pearl, I knocked the transmitter off the stand, and the phone went out too, to make bad matters worse. As I sat there on the floor, she continued, regaining my composure, I could hear the receiver the radio operator giving orders to Bob Marshall to get to Pearl as quick as possible because they were sure I was in trouble.
Amusing, said Pearl as it was, I could do nothing to keep Marshall from breaking his neck to get to me. In only 15 or 20 minutes, Marshall sped up the winding road from the Freeway, bounced out of his pickup --- in the meantime, Pearl up and around, stuck her head out the door and said, 'Come on up Bob and have a cup of coffee --- oo0ooch, --- all Bob could say, added Pearl, --- was 'Dam you Pearl.'
But what could I do, said Pearl, I was helpless to get word to you that I was ok.
Well, Pearl was very happy to see the concern for her safety and after Bob cooled off . . they sat down and had a Coffee Klatch at 2 a.m." (The Dunsmuir News)
