WYOMING LOOKOUTS

MOUNT SHERIDAN

Park County
Yellowstone National Park

​August 27, 1934:  "Floyd Keller, fire lookout on the top of Mount Sheridan in the park, had a visitor at his lonely outpost the other day.  A purple finch skimmed down from the skies and darted into his cabin.  Keller played host as best he could with crumbs and meat scraps.  Mr. Finch remained for a few hours, then left only to return shortly with Mrs. Finch.  Keller asked them to stay for supper.  They did, and finally decided to remain in the cabin all night.  The next day the parents returned with four little finches, and now Keller is wondering about other relatives."  (Independent - Helena)

​July 17, 1935:  "Harvey Crowder fire lookout stationed atop Mount Sheridan is in the hospital at Mammoth hot springs today puzzled as to how a snow slide in mid-July sent him there.
     Crowder had a visitor on his lonely vigil last week-end, Dick Lillig a radio engineer who had come to install a short-wave set.  The night before he had prepared tea and placed it in a snow drift near his cabin.  The next morning he had gone to serve ice tea to the engineer.  He stepped out on the snow cliff to get it, and as he bent over the entire drift broke loose and hurtled downward.  He fell and rolled over boulders and jagged rocks for nearly a thousand feet before he came to rest unconscious and his entire body severely lacerated.
     Lillig saw him catapult down the mountain side and summoned doctors and park rangers.  The long trek from the mountain slope took nearly the entire day.  An improvised stretcher brought the injured man four miles overland to a road truck, then over nine miles of trail to an ambulance waiting on the highway.  The final leg, 85 miles of highway, brought Crowder to the hospital where examination showed no broken bones but a mass of deep cuts about the head, back and legs."  (Independent - Helena)

​July 21, 1936:  "A forest fire believed started by lightning broke out late today near Madison lake, 16 miles off the Park Loop highway, and was burning on a half-mile front tonight.
     Fifty CCC enrollees from the Nez Perce camp under two foremen were outfitted tonight and prepared to leave immediately and pack horse over the 10-mile trail to the inaccessible area in the south Old Faithful district.
     A lookout station atop Mount Sheridan reported heavy smoke and a crosscheck from Mount Holmes gave the location of the blaze.  George Walker, assistant chief ranger in charge of forestry, said.
     Temporary Ranger Charles Waldron was dispatched to the scene immediately to plan the battle against the flames." (Independent - Helena)