MOUNT TAYLOR
New Mexico - Cibola County - Cibola National Forest - 12N-7W-30
April 30, 1921: "Ward Shepard and C.H. Kissam, of the forest service, had gone to Grants to build a telephone line from the Canyon Lobo range station to the lookout on Mount Taylor." (Albuquerque Journal)
August 31, 1921: "A new fire lookout tower, about seventy feet high, will be constructed on Mount Taylor in time for use next spring, according to the plan of Ward Shepard, supervisor of the Zuni national forest, who returned yesterday from a ten-days' trip of inspection in the Mount Taylor region.
The new tower will make it possible to watch almost all of the forest district around Mount Taylor and Mosca peak from one spot, while it has been necessary heretofore for the lookout to patrol from a lookout on Mount Taylor to a lookout on Mosca peak, a distance of about two miles.
A series of surveys of the district were made by Mr. Shepard, showing the district which could be seen from each peak and the region which could be seen from Mount Taylor, if a tower were erected. It was found that a tower seventy feet high would enable the lookout to watch all but a few degrees of the surrounding district. It was thought that it was better for the lookout to have one regular station than to waste time in patrolling the two miles between the stations.
It is expected that the new tower will be ready for use before the fire season opens next summer." (Albuquerque Journal)
September 5, 1921: "A new fire lookout tower is to be erected on the summit of Mount Taylor to be ready in the spring. The tower will be over 10 feet high and will be built by the forest officials of the Zuni national forest." (Las Vegas Optic)
1939: Replaced by the construction of a lookout on La Mosca Peak. A more advantageous view from the treeless summit of La Mosca, even though its elevation is about 500 feet lower than Mt. Taylor.
DESIGNATION - TAYLOR
PID - FO1614
STATE/COUNTY- NM/CIBOLA
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - MOUNT TAYLOR (1995)
STATION RECOVERY (1945)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1945 (RAM)
'STATION WAS RECOVERED AND ALL MARKS FOUND TO BE IN GOOD
CONDITION. REFERENCE MARK 2 HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AND AN
AZIMUTH MARK HAS BEEN ADDED. THE STATION MARK AND REFERENCE
MARK 1 ARE STAMPED 1919 BUT THE STATION WAS NOT OCCUPIED
UNTIL 1920.
STATION IS LOCATED ON MT. TAYLOR, THE HIGHEST AND MOST PROMINENT
PEAK IN THE VICINITY. IT IS IN THE CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST,
IS ABOUT 15 MILES (AIR LINE) NE OF GRANTS, AND IS CLEARLY
VISIBLE FROM THERE.
TO REACH THE STATION FROM GRANTS, GO W ON U.S. HIGHWAY 66
TO THE POINT WHERE STATE HIGHWAY 53 GOES RIGHT TO SAN MATEO,
CONTINUE ON STATE HIGHWAY 53 TO SAN MATEO. CONTINUE E ON THE ONLY
ROAD LEADING OUT OF SAN MATEO FOR 5.9 MILES TO A RIGHT FORK
AT A SIGN ELKINS RANCH 7 MI, TURN RIGHT AND CONTINUE AHEAD
FOR 5.3 MILES TO A RIGHT FORK AT A SIGN LA MOSCA L.O., BEAR
RIGHT AND CONTINUE ON THE FOREST SERVICE ROAD FOR 5.5 MILES TO
LA MOSCA LOOKOUT AND THE END OF TRUCK TRAVEL. FROM THE
LOOKOUT A TRAIL LEADS SW FOR ABOUT 1-1/2 MILES TO THE PEAK AND
THE STATION. THE PEAK WAS ONCE USED AS A LOOKOUT STATION
AND A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF ROCK WORK HAS BEEN DONE
AROUND THE MARKS.