Winter @ Moran Patrol Cabin
Caleb 📷 Stolte
As part of NMLA's preservation and documentation activities, members are conducting oral histories with
current and former lookout personnel and family members.
The interviews are held as Oral History Collection OH-453 at Archives & Special Collections,
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library,
University of Montana.
We are interested in the reason you are visiting our Oral History site.
Are you a former lookout, interested in lookout history, a researcher, or another reason?
We're looking for suggestions to improve our interviews and the names of people, with their permission, who might be interested in being interviewed.
Please drop us a note and let us know why you visited our site
and offer feedback to improve our product.
Ted Clarke Interview
July 31, 2021
Ted Clarke discusses being born in Eureka, Montana and living in the “new” town of Rexford after Lake Koocanusa inundated their home during the Kootenai Dam construction. Ted remembers being 11 in 1955 when his dad, Ed, became the lookout at Webb Mountain Lookout above Eureka. Ted recalls his first experience with pack trains; hauling water from a spring ¼-mile below the lookout, sleeping with younger brother, Dave on the lookout floor; and learning to help with duties like using the alidade, taking the weather, and watching for storms. He tells of brother Dave and him gathering huckleberries and morel mushrooms; having squirrels, crows, and a dog as pets; playing with slingshots; and fishing Boulder Lake. Ted says he and Dave made their own “slide” (a zip line) out of #9 copper wire with a galvanized pipe as a handle. Ted remembers one rainstorm with the lightning protection humming and forming an electrical charge as big as a volleyball. He remembers the family each taking one side of the lookout recording lightning strikes for several hours. Ted recalls his father getting a job on Black Butte Lookout when Ted was 14. The family stayed there until his dad died in 1964. Ted tells of working for the U.S. Forest Service for a short while on Red Mountain Lookout in his teen years.
Dan Snell Interview
May 25, 2024
Dan Snell shares growing up in Morocco in North Africa before moving to North Carolina, joining the Marines at 17. He became a lookout at Patrol Mountain, Lewis and Clark National Forest, in 1972 and was a lookout for twenty-two years. Dan describes feeling lucky and comfortable there. Dan talks about geography, wildlife, and experiencing the power of lightning strikes and storms. Dan says he later staffed Swede Mountain Lookout near Libby and how different it was from the remoteness of Patrol. He said he had one wedding and three funerals while there. Dan shares insights, discusses the importance of preserving the history of lookouts, the lessons learned from his experiences, and the unique perspective of life he gained from being a lookout. He talks of the emotional toll of witnessing tragedies such as 9/11 while being on a lookout. He also discusses the significant impact of nature on his life, emphasizing the connection he feels with the land and the personal growth that comes from spending time in nature.
Judi & Merv Wingard Interview
February 17, 2024
Merv and Judi Wingard share their experiences as lookouts at Numa Ridge and Apgar in Glacier National Park in 1968 and 1969. Judi reflects on her idyllic childhood in Washington, filled with nature and supportive neighbors. Merv shares his love for nature and mountain climbing, influenced by his family's logging background and experiences in the mountains. The couple discusses life in a remote wilderness lookout. A constant in their lives was Ron, a seasoned packer for both Numa Ridge and Apgar. He provided food and entertainment with his unique personality. Judi and Merv discuss painting the interior of the lookout with Forest Service green, red, gray, and white, adding a racing stripe on the ceiling and floor. They mention cleaning the cabins, doing cabinetry work, and building a new outhouse at Numa Ridge. They remember the training they received before going to Numa Ridge, including a week of training with married couples. They share details about how they communicated with each other during their time at Apgar Lookout, including using the fire cache as a hub for communication. They recount learning how to use a fire finder and build a fire trail. They remember aerial observers would drop mail and supplies at the lookout, using precision to land near the stairway. They discuss the challenges of living without refrigeration, with limited access to fresh vegetables. Merv and Judi discuss their experiences with grizzly bears and the death of ranger Karol Hagen in a flooded river. Other highlights they mention were working on a film set and building a platform for a helicopter. They said from their experiences as lookouts they learned contentment and enjoying moments beyond the lookout.
Daniel Yuhas Interview
August 25, 2023
Daniel Yuhas talks of his parents being lookouts in 1947 on Desert Mountain when he was in diapers at eight months old. Dan recalls his father’s long Forest Service career with the Glacier View Ranger District, Flathead National Forest, including playing at the Big Creek Ranger Station, fishing the North Fork Flathead River, and going to school in Hungry Horse, Montana. Dan tells of his wife, Jill Rocksund, and him volunteering on Cooney and Firefighter lookouts, describes fires they witnessed, and talks about how current amenities make lookout life easier than when his parents staffed Desert Mountain Lookout. Dan discusses what he thinks a person considering becoming a lookout might find important to help determine if lookout life is a good choice.
Samsara Chapman Duffy Interview #1
May 08, 2023
Samsara Chapman Duffey discusses being born in Missoula, Montana, but moving to Helena as a young child and growing up there. She says she started backpacking and camping then, learning how important the outdoors was to her. She talks of her older sister becoming a lookout at Prairie Reef and introducing Sam to the lookout world. Sam says she will be twenty-seven years this year on Patrol Lookout in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Sam tells of daily life in the lookout, including taking radio calls, making weather observations, following crews through the radio, and watching for fires. She also talks about how weather has seemed to change over time, and what the effects climate change may be having on weather, wildlife,
and the Montana landscape.
Samsara Chapman Duffy Interview #2
May 17, 2023
For her second interview, Samsara Duffey discusses how to watch for lightning strikes and holdovers and what to look for with weather. She shares her observations on the importance of long-term lookouts; knowing your area; and the lookout’s role in changing ways agencies view lookouts now, in the past, and what might be in the future. Sam speaks of how climate change may be affecting fire seasons. She also talks of the importance of having humans at lookouts, changing ideas of administrators, educating the public, and the importance of lookouts within our country.a
Samsara Chapman Duffy Interview #3
May 23, 2023
In this third interview, Sam Duffey discusses her daily routine when not looking for fires, including baking, knitting, listening to audiobooks, cooking, how she deals with garbage and storage, and other “odds and ends.” She talks of wildlife encounters, how often she leaves the lookout, making grocery orders, and how she conserves water. Sam also discusses her outhouse, or “out,” and using the rain gauge. Sam tells of seeing the northern lights, a great horned owl, and her romantic love affair with the stars. She discusses the Forest Service fire administration and the role lookouts play in the organization. Sam shares ideas of how to become a lookout, skills required, and the value of being a friend to oneself.
Mark Hufstetler Interview #1
November 29, 2022
Mark Hufstetler describes being born in Utah in 1958. He says his father was a career U.S. Forest Service employee, and Mark’s family lived at Forest Service ranger stations within the Challis, Bridger, and Dixie National Forests until his family purchased a homestead in the Uinta Mountains. Mark tells of visiting Twin Peaks and Fly Creek Point Lookouts in 1966, sparking an interest in lookouts. After attending college in Salt Lake City, Mark describes spending six years with Glacier National Park concessions, where he visited many lookouts. Mark discusses getting his master’s degree at Montana State University and then working as a historian in Glacier National Park. He describes working with the Flathead National Forest as a volunteer lookout for 24 days on Cooney, Cyclone, and Baptiste Lookouts. In 2018, Mark staffed Porphyry Peak Lookout with the Lewis and Clark National Forest before returning in 2019 to Baptiste Lookout as a paid staffer.
Mark says he has worked there ever since and plans to return in 2023.
Mark Hufstetler Interview #2
January 30, 2023
In this second interview, Mark focuses on the Flathead National Forest’s volunteer program, which he says is a “unique opportunity for the community” by having volunteers who do all the duties of regular lookouts for ten days to two weeks. He says the volunteers have two days of training to learn weather, the firefinder, radios, and other equipment and duties. Mark tells of the uniqueness of lookouts he has staffed, like Baptiste’s remoteness, and the great interplay of weather. Cyclone Lookout has a view of Glacier National Park that Mark says equals or exceeds what tourists can see in the park. At Porphyry Lookout, he tells of being the only lookout for one hundred miles, but you can drive to the lookout, so there is no solitude. Mark talks about his own unique duties: working with main lookout, Leif Haugen, before lookouts return, helping with volunteer and Forest Service training, response to fires, and updating manuals. He discusses how things change seasonally and says he is gratified by learning self-reliance as a result of his lookout experiences.
Leif Haugen Interview
January 05, 2022
This interview spans Leif Haugen’s entire lookout career: Mount Morrell, Mt. Henry, Numa Ridge, and Thoma. Along with experiences on the lookouts, Leif discusses knowledge and experience he gained on how to live on a lookout and do a quality job; the Park Service and Forest Service organizations; and his role in creating the volunteer lookout program for the Forest Service. Leif is a lead lookout for the Park Service and Forest Service and heads the volunteer program.
Bill Fordyce Interview #1
December 07, 2021
Bill Fordyce discusses being born in St. Louis and moving as a child to Sheridan, Wyoming where he lived on a dude ranch. He describes his family later moving back to St. Louis, but Bill couldn’t take city life and left after high school for the West. He said a friend in Helena, Montana suggesting he apply for a lookout job and was hired in 2009 for his first lookout job at Beartop Lookout for the Lewis and Clark National Forest. He discusses being sent to work with no training, his first fire was one tree, and his season ending with the death of his mother. In 2010, back at Bearhat, Bill remembers reporting a mule breaking a woman’s knees. With a storm coming, a helicopter barely got her out. Bill’s most traumatic season was 2011 because he experienced responding to a death. The interview was stopped at this point because of technical difficulties.
It was continued as OH 000-020 on December 9, 2021.
Bill Fordyce Interview #2
December 09, 2021
Bill recalls helping fly a dead man out in a helicopter near Beartop Lookout, his lookout site. He discusses lightning hitting Beartop and thinking he was deaf and blind for a while. He watches a grizzly bear stalk and elk, and talks of eating food eleven years past its expiration date because a grocery resupply didn’t come. Bill says he found a box in the attic that had held human ashes of a former lookout and letters from girls to another lookout. Bill discusses his next lookout, Scalplock, in Glacier National Park (2014-2016). Bill remembers Henry, the previous lookout, who took his own live after suffering from depression. Bill says Henry talked about “baking a potato,” which was keeping his feet in the oven to stay warm, a tradition Bill continued. In 2015, Bill recalls U.S. Highway 2 being closed because of a fire, and Scalplock was wrapped in fire wrap. While Scalplock was closed, Bill said he was sent to Cyclone Lookout in the North Fork Flathead, and experienced a wind that split a crossbeam on the tower. In 2017, Bill says he was the lookout at Numa Ridge in Glacier National Park. He talks of reporting many fires, including the Adair Ridge and Moose Creek fires, and the Sprague Creek Fire, which burned historic Sperry Chalet. He also said he had a choral group visit on the Fourth of July, singing songs, and kids from a math camp, whose teacher played an Indian flute. Bill says his next lookout job was at the Corral Hill Lookout, Nez Perce National Forest. There, he recalls a Hereford cow scratching on the tower and shaking it, and dry rot on catwalk boards. He talks of difficult topography for watching fires. He says his next job was at the Middle Fork Lookout, Salmon-Challis National Forest, where he had a long drive to a remote lookout, with water three miles away. Bill recalls few visitors but lots of fires with smokejumpers. He talks of a Chinook helicopter at the Jenny fire “making it rain.” He tells of a black bear visit to the catwalk at l:30 a.m., leaving scat, and being struck by lightning two times, one that took out the repeater. Bill says he is not lonely at lookouts, and that his outlook on life changed as a result of being a lookout.
Gene Miller Interview #1
February 04, 2021
Gene describes growing up in Montana’s Swan Valley and how that helped him decide to become a U.S. Forest Service lookout. Miller talks about his 38-year tenure as a lookout, including Priscilla Peak, three lookout towers as a relief staffer, and 37 years on Blue Mountain. He tells about several fire incidents, including the inside phone melting after a lightning strike and igniting a fire under the lookout. He recalls a diverse range of visitors to the tower including Russian and Chinese delegations, pot smokers, an arsonist who was starting fires along the road, and the Hells Angels.
Gene Miller Interview #2
February 26, 2021
In this second interview, Gene Miller provides more information about growing up in the Swan Valley in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He describes the wildlife that lived in the area including bears and a young coyote who found Gene companionable. Miller tells more stories about his time as a U.S. Forest Service fire lookout, focusing on the wildlife there. He talks about visits from mountain goats and blue grouse, listening to elk bugling, and watching his dog chase pikas. Other wildlife incidents include finding evidence that a mule deer got its antlers caught in the ground wire for the lookout phone, feeding peanuts to Golden Mantled ground squirrels, picking huckleberries alongside a bear, and seeing wolf tracks. He also tells about a time when his dog refused to go home with a packer after Gene was helicoptered to the hospital with appendicitis.
Gene Miller Interview #3
March 04, 2021
Gene Miller’s third interview follows his many years of fire experiences, from harrowing lightening strikes around and beneath his lookout that sparked fires to winds rocking the lookout, to large hail storms. He watched first from several lookouts during several years with many large fires, including a powerline fire that hit Patty Canyon, and a smokejumper whose joke to a firefighter resulted in an arson fire that burned Hellgate. He also experienced snowstorms and being evacuated from Diablo Lookout with a truck whose battery had died. He begins with stories from his childhood in the Swan Valley and 40 degree below zero weather.
Brian Miller Interview #1
June 20, 2022
Brian shares being born in Indiana but his family moved to Montana when he was four. He tells of living in Potomac, where he also went to school. He says playing outdoors led to a “wild imagination. Brian talks of growing up with his father, Gene Miller, on lookouts starting at age five, spending twelve years over his lifetime on lookouts, with most experiences being on Blue Mountain, Mormon, Sliderock, Morrell, and West Fork Butte Lookouts. Brian recalls his dad telling him that as a youth he entertained visitors with stories, landmarks, peaks, etc. He remembers wildlife sightings, flying paper airplanes, playing with Lincoln Logs, hooking rugs, picking huckleberries for Gene’s pies, and hiking to other lookouts. Brian recalls a strenuous backpack trip with his cousin because of carrying lots of canned food, learning to cook on a woodstove, vandalism on Blue Mountain Lookout, drunks at the lookout at night, and learning to read Forest Service maps and clouds. Brian describes lookout people as resilient and introverted.
Brian Miller Interview #2
July 11, 2022
In Brian Miller’s second interview, he remembers being five years old with his father, Gene Miller, on Mormon Peak Lookout. He recalls his mother and sister visiting when his mother rushed Gene to the hospital for gall bladder surgery. Brian tells of being on Sliderock Lookout next, which had a microwave repeater nearby, affording the lookout with electricity. Sliderock also had a cabin at the base of the lookout, a small rundown cabin next to the lookout, and the original lookout: a tree with rungs nailed to it. Brian says there was an old ghost town on the way up the road. He recalls his uncle’s car losing the oil pan on the way down, and they had to walk for help. He discussed the 1988 fires; walking from Mexico to Canada in 1993 along the Continental Divide; and exploring and renting these lookouts, some while skiing to them with his wife: West Fork Butte, McGuire, Hornet, Mt. Wam, Webb Mountain, and Stahl Peak. Brian talks about Sliderock Lookout being moved by helicopter to Fort Missoula as a museum piece. Brian says his strongest memories of being a lookout are dramatic weather and the people he has met.
Bob & Marj Folkestad Interview
January 22, 2021
Bob recalls how growing up in Montana, then visiting to hike, camp, and fish after his family moved, influenced his decision to work for the Forest Service after high school. He discusses applying for a fire lookout position in the summers while attending Seattle Pacific College. Folkestad describes working two summers on the Ashley Mountain Lookout from 1962-1963. He talks about taking his dog Tana with him, receiving supplies by mule train, cooking for himself, and eating a lot of Spam. He recalls the visitors he had including his parents, and young men from the Dominican Republic who were staying at a resort nearby and training for the priesthood. Folkstad notes that visiting with them influenced his decision to become a Christian missionary. He talks about the physical layout of the lookout, mentioning its size and the few outbuildings around it. He reminisces about accidentally calling in a fire that turned out to be moonlight glinting in the trees. Folkstad describes the fire traffic procedures for calling in smoke sightings and lightning strikes, emphasizing that being a lookout required constant surveillance to familiarize himself with the territory. He discusses working on the Castle Rock Lookout in the Cascade Range from 1964-1966, and then the Sand Mountain Lookout for part of the summer of 1967. Folkestad concludes by discussing his missionary work in Mozambique and South Africa, noting that being a lookout provided him with ample time to study the Bible.
Kay Rosengren Interview
August 23, 2018
Kay describes her experiences working with her husband Keith at Numa Ridge and Apgar lookouts in Glacier National Park. She tells how she and Keith came to Montana in part because he loved the outdoors. She talks about their friendship with the Park’s ranger Adolph Opalka and his wife Marian, who mentored the Rosengrens when they arrived at the Numa lookout. She reminisces about other rangers, lookouts and people she and her husband worked with during their time as lookouts. She also tells stories about their many wildlife encounters such as the porcupine she befriended, the deer who would come and knock on the stairs to be fed, and the pack rats who nested in the floor, as well as an aggressive black bear who chased her husband. Rosengren describes working as a dispatcher out of ranger stations in the Park and relaying messages about many things, including several grizzly bear attacks and getting tobacco dropped to smokejumpers.