170 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Eddy's Gulch Lookout Station on Top of Klamath Peak Where Miss Daggett Was Sta- 

 tioned FROM June 1 to November 6 Last Year. 

 The Elevation is 6,444 Feet. 



desires to be reappointed when the fire 

 season opens this year. 



The story of her experiences she has 

 told for American Forestry and here 

 it is: 



' ' My earhest recollections abound with 

 • moke-clouded summer days and fires 

 that wandered over the country at their 

 own sweet will, unchecked unless they 

 happened t > interfere seriously with 

 someone's claim or woodpile, when they 

 were usually turned oflE by back firing 

 and headed in another direction, to 

 continue their mischief till they either 

 died for lack of fuel or were quenched 

 by the fall rains. Such being the case, 

 it is easy to see that I grew up with a 

 fierce hatred of the devastating fires, 

 and welcomed the force which arrived 

 to combat them. But not until the 

 lookout stations were installed did 

 there come an opportunity to join what 

 had up till then been a man's fight; 

 although my sister and I had frequently 

 been able to help on the small things, 

 such as extinguishing spreading camp 

 fires or carrying supplies to the firing 

 line. 



"Then, thanks to the liberal minded- 

 ness and courtesy of the officials in 

 charge of our district, I was given the 

 position of lookout at the Eddy's Gulch 

 Station in the fourth District of the 

 Klamath National Forest; and entered 

 upon my work the first day of June, 

 1913, with a firm determination to 

 make good, for I knew that the appoint- 

 ment of a woman was rather in the 

 nature of an experiment, and naturally 

 felt that there was a great deal due the 

 men who had been willing to give me 

 the chance. 



"It was quite a swift change in three 

 days, from San Francisco, civilization 

 and sea level, to a solitary cabin on a 

 still more solitary mountain, 6,444 feet 

 elevation and three hours' hard climb 

 from everywhere, but in spite of the 

 fact that almost the very first question 

 asked by everyone was 'Isn't it awfully 

 lonesome up there?' I never felt a 

 moment's longing to retrace the step, 

 that is, not after the first half hour 

 following my sister's departure with 

 the pack animals, when I had a chance 

 to look around. Of course I had been 



