BALDY MOUNTAIN
Beaverhead County - Beaverhead National Forest - 5S-12W-36
October 20, 1911: "A riding patrol of 16 rangers and guards was maintained on the Beaverhead forest during the fire season which has just ended. The work of riding the patrol was supplemented by a lookout station on Bald mountain. A forest guard rode to the summit of this mountain nearly every day and from this vantage point, which commands a view of almost the entire forest, with a pair of field glasses searched the surrounding country for forest fires. If a fire is discovered by the guard on the lookout he can very quickly communicate this information to the supervisor, for his office in Dillon is connected by telephone with the lookout station on the mountain. If the ranger in whose district the fire is located has not already discovered it the supervisor can in a very short time reach him by telephone and messenger and then, in most cases, the fire can be located and extinguished before it has done much damage." (Big Hole Breezes)
August 9, 1912: "One of the highest fire lookout stations in the country has just been established on the Beaverhead National Forest by the local forest officers. It is located on Bald mountain which reaches an altitude of a little over 10,000 feet. The apparatus consists of a de-mountable plane table which, when attached to its support, is oriented due north and south. On this table is a circle graduated much the same as the dial of a compass, and the exact direction of a fire can be ascertained by the use of this dial and a sighting instrument known as an alidade.
Besides this, a telephone line runs to the top of the mountain and the lookout man is in direct communication with the Supervisor's office in Dillon. On the map of the forest in the supervisor's office is a dial similar to that on the mountain and if the fire is reported by the lookout man it can be quickly located in the office.
The telephone instrument is of a special design made for the forest service and is as near rust, dust, lightning, and fool-proof as can be made. It is cased in a heavy metal case, with double doors, and it seems to be admirably adapted for the place. A fire guard is camped at timber line on the mountain and twice a day he climbs to the top and reports the condition of affairs to the supervisor's office.
Bald Mountain is so situated that an enormous scope of the country is to be seen from it. The lookout man has an unobstructed view as far south as Monida, with Horse Prairie and Medicine Lodge in his immediate field of vision. Looking west he can see all of the high range of mountains west of the Big Hole basin; to the northwest, he can see the range west of the Bitterroot valley. The Tobacco Root mountains to the northeast are plainly seen; to the east, Blacktail and surrounding mountains can be seen. This means that a large scope of country outside of the Beaverhead Forest is under his vigilance and that other forest aside from the Beaverhead are scanned daily during the fire season." (The Dillon Tribune)
August 29, 1913: "C.K. Wyman, supervisor of the Beaverhead National Forest, and his assistant J.E. David returned from an inspection trip over the Beaverhead reserve, recently.
While on the trip the supervisor and his men scaled Bald Mountain, 10,050 feet above sea level, Orlando Connolly, of this city, stationed on the top of this peak, reporting all 'smokes' and fires he may see. Some fierce storms pass over this peak, and a man must endure severe hardships to remain at the summit of the mountain. Last week, Connolly's tent was torn and blown away by the fierce winds. The 'lookout man' has been reporting smokes twenty miles distant from the summit of the peak. It is the opinion of Mr. Wyman that Bald Mountain is the best lookout post in the northwest. It is possible to see over two hundred miles of the continental divide from this point. The Teton range of mountains in Wyoming are plainly discernible from the summit of Bald mountain.
The forest telephone system which is strung on the trees, is in first class condition, it being possible to recognize any voice over it. The violent electric storms have not affected it in the least, while on the other hand it has raised havoc with the company lines, which are strung on poles. Mr. Wyman says that all the electricity caught on the forest wires grounds before any damage is done." (The Dillon Tribune)
March 10, 1915: "Supervisor Wyman has been requested by the forestry officials in Missoula to prepare tools and other necessary fire-fighting apparatus in anticipation of the fire season. Among other precautionary methods used for fire protection will be a well constructed look-out on Mount Baldy mountain, where the 'look-out man' will have an unobstructed view of the surrounding country for miles and will be able to discover a fire with the aid of powerful glasses when it is miles away." (The Dillon Examiner)
August 18, 1915: "Arlie Connelly, of this city, the young forest ranger who was injured some time ago by wounding himself with a hunting knife, while stationed as lookout on Mount Baldy, returned to his duties last week and on Wednesday was again so seriously injured that he will not be able to resume his work this season. Connelly was winding heavy wire with a rock drill when the drill escaped from his clutches and, whirling, penetrated his clothing and made a deep gash in his thigh. He was hurried to Dillon Wednesday night and placed under a physician's care. The patient is a valuable man in the forestry service, having been the only man who could be induced to endure the hardships as lookout on Mount Baldy during the summer months." (The Dillon Examiner)
August 20, 1915: "Wanted--A man who is not afraid to stick his head into a bolt of lightning.
Although the foregoing advertisement has never been run it is being seriously considered by the local officers of the forestry department who are scouring this neck of the woods to find someone who will occupy the new station built on the top of Bald mountain.
Notwithstanding the fact that a lightning rod was placed on the frame work when the building was started, hardly a day had been spent nailing the timbers together until a bolt from the sky put in its part and caused some rebuilding. At the present time with the building completed and covered with sheetiron roof, with lightning rods covering it and with the metal roof grounded several times, there is at present no one looking for the job and it is a safe gamble that with a storm anywhere in the neighborhood of the lookout station something is going to happen at this altitude of more than 9,000 feet." (The Dillon Tribune)
Although the foregoing advertisement has never been run it is being seriously considered by the local officers of the forestry department who are scouring this neck of the woods to find someone who will occupy the new station built on the top of Bald mountain.
Notwithstanding the fact that a lightning rod was placed on the frame work when the building was started, hardly a day had been spent nailing the timbers together until a bolt from the sky put in its part and caused some rebuilding. At the present time with the building completed and covered with sheetiron roof, with lightning rods covering it and with the metal roof grounded several times, there is at present no one looking for the job and it is a safe gamble that with a storm anywhere in the neighborhood of the lookout station something is going to happen at this altitude of more than 9,000 feet." (The Dillon Tribune)
National Geodetic Survey
DESIGNATION - BALDY 2
PID - QY0579
STATE/COUNTY- MT/BEAVERHEAD
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - POLARIS (1988)
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1956 (WFD)
THE STATION IS ABOUT 21 MILES NORTHWEST OF DILLON, 14 MILES
NORTH-NORTHWEST OF BANNACK, 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF BADGER PASS
AND 30 FEET SOUTHEAST OF A LOOKOUT BUILDING. IT IS ON THE
HIGHEST POINT OF WHAT IS LOCALLY KNOWN AS BALDY MOUNTAIN.
TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE STOP AND GO LIGHT 1 BLOCK NORTH
OF THE POST OFFICE IN DILLON, GO EAST AND SOUTH ON U.S. HIGHWAY
91 FOR 4.1 MILES TO A HARD SURFACED SIDE ROAD ON THE RIGHT, TURN
RIGHT AND GO WEST FOR 13.85 MILES TO A SIDE ROAD AND SIGN
BANNACK STATE PARK ON THE LEFT, CONTINUE WEST FOR 3.75 MILES
TO A WIRE GATE ON THE RIGHT, TURN RIGHT AND GO NORTH ALONG
THE EAST SIDE OF A FENCE FOR 1.35 MILES TO A GATE, PASS THROUGH
THE GATE AND CONTINUE NORTH FOR 1.5 MILES TO A GATE, PASS
THROUGH THE GATE AND CONTINUE NORTH FOR 0.35 MILE TO A POINT
WHERE THE MAIN ROAD TURNS LEFT, CONTINUE NORTHERLY ON TRACK
ROAD FOR 1.1 MILES TO A FORK, TAKE THE LEFT ROAD AND GO
NORTHWEST ALONG A CREEK FOR 0.9 MILE TO A FORK, TAKE THE LEFT
ROAD AND GO WEST AND NORTH FOR 2.85 MILES TO A FORK, TAKE
THE RIGHT ROAD AND GO NORTHEAST FOR 0.1 MILE TO A FORK
AND THE END OF TRUCK TRAVEL. PACK EAST AND NORTH TO THE
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN AND THE STATION, ABOUT A 3-1/2 HOUR
PACK.