Red Mountain
To the west, 27 miles away from Martis Peak, you can see Signal Peak (Red Mountain), the site of the first fire lookout built in the U.S. in 1867. The vista out the window of that lookout and the story of its operation are displayed in the exhibit shown below, located at the Big Bend Forest Service Visitor Center.
You can look at part of this
exhibit online by clicking on the link below.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/tahoe/documents/big_bend/red_mountain_lookout.htm
“The Greatest Good”
From a 3-DVD set, which celebrates the centennial of the U.S. Forest Service, and which can be purchased at the U.S.F.S. Big Bend Visitor Center, when it is open during the summer; Or at the link below. On the role of fire lookouts and fire fighting see these segments from the DVDs:
From Disc 2:
Fire Music: Video fire images set to the film’s fire theme music
From Disc 1, Part II –
Chapter 13. The Big blowup
Chapter 22. The 10 AM policy and smokechasers
From Disc 1, Part III
Chapter 27. Hot Shots and Tragedy Fires
From Disc 1, Part IV
Chapter 41. Fire vs. Fire
From Disc 3:
Lookouts: History and Lore of the fire lookout towers
W. B. Osborne: Inventor of fire finder and panoramic camera
Cold Missouri Waters: Emotion charged song about the Mann Gulch fire fighting tragedy
“The greatest good for the greatest number in the long run” was the mission statement of the founder of the U.S. Forest Service. But what is that “Greatest good” ?
http://www.fs.fed.us/greatestgood/press/mediakit/facts/pinchot.shtml
Driving Directions
To
visit the Big Bend Visitor Center, turn south off of interstate 80 at Exit 168 (
Big Bend/Rainbow Rd. ) and drive 1.2 mi. on Hampshire Rock Rd.