Fire Lookouts & Mountain Climbing in Oregon 1920-1948: A Collection of Stories and Pictures

The job of a fire lookout was usually an isolated and physically demanding job, living with no electricity, or running water. In the early 1900’s lookouts were often staffed by schoolteachers or college students during the summer. Such was the case for Curtis E. Gould who was a teacher by trade, a mountain climbing hobbyist in his spare time, and a fire lookout in the Mt. Hood National Forest during the summers of the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s. His pictures, notes, poems and accounts give a glimpse into a profession that is quickly fading away into a past most don’t remember and have never experienced.