BRUNDAGE
Valley County - SITPA - 19N-3E-07
1914: log cabin, platform tower. (Kresek)
1919: two-story 18x18 log house. (Kresek)
November 24, 1925: "On a high mountain, overlooking a vast area of valuable timber and grazing land, valleys dotted with farms, stood this sentinel. Using a powerful binocular he swept the great domain. Here a smoke wreath. The range finder brought into play. Headquarters notified of the exact spot. In a few moments fire fighters on their way. Shortly the fire extinguished--around 60 of them in only one of Idaho's forest reserves last summer--fires that, but for the sentinel and his equipment and the prompt action would have destroyed millions of feet of white pine, wiped out many homes and possibly cost lives.
The station of Brundage mountain, not far from Payette Lakes, is typical of a number maintained by the forest service. This eye is the pulse of the mountain's soul, denoting whether all is well or not in that great body.
The menace is not so much from campers as from fires kindled by Promethean drawn agencies. Lightning is the terror of the timberland. It cannot be cautioned or controlled, like the tourist, nor punished. It comes when least expected and spreads its trail of flame over wide areas. Before the coming of the Argus-eyed sentinel, every belt carried a prospect of heavy damage.
To discover the fire's location would be without benefit if it were not for the telephone. In the mountains, as in the vales and the cities, this faithful servant is on the job. Instant communication can be established between look-out stations and with headquarters.
The foresters also are enabled, by reason of the telephone, to perform a great variety of service for the public, and especially those who hie to the hills in summer time. Many injured have been saved by prompt appearance of medical and surgical aid summoned over the phone. Important messages to campers have been delivered with dispatch. In one case, with which the writer is familiar, a large project was saved in Idaho in this manner." (Twin Falls Daily News)
December 1929: "A total of 671 people registered in 1929 on the Brundage Lookout on the Idaho Forest, of which number 10% were from Oregon. This lookout has a narrow, mountain road to its top and is located a few miles from the Payette Lakes." (Six Twenty-Six)
1930's: A two-story laced log 20 x 20 lookout structure was built with Civilian Conservation Corps labor. (Payette Valley Sentinel)
March 28, 1936: "Johnny Hargraves, for years in charge of the lookout atop Brundage mountain, is seriously ill at St. Luke's hospital." (The Idaho Statesman)
July 2, 1936: "J. H. Campbell, assistant state fire warden of Boise, came in Friday accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Ace Glenn of Ola, who are to have charge of Brundage mountain look-out station this summer. Campbell opened the station Saturday." (The Idaho Statesman)
1982: A two-story cinder block and wood frame observation cabin, 20 x 20 feet was constructed.