Forest Fires
- 192x (?)
- Size unknown, burned between Hoodoo and the highway
- Snags and live old growth left evidence of its borders
- 1967 - Big Lake Airstrip Fire
- Caused by a lightning strike near the Big Lake airstrip
- Burned about 8,000 acres, including most of Hoodoo Butte
- South edge at the Big Lake airstrip
- North edge passed by the ski patrol cabin
- West to Sand Mountain
- East to between Circle Lake and Cache Mountain
- Described in the June 1968 issue of National Geographic
- 2003 - Booth Lake, later merged into the "B&B Complex" Fire
- Caused by a lightning strike on a ridge just south of Square Lake
- Burned near 100,000 acres.
- West to encompass all of Potato Hill
- South to the edge of Hoodoo Bowl and campgrounds on Suttle Lake
- East edge reached the Metolius River
- North to between Three Fingered Jack and Mount Jeffereson
Subject: SPSP History
Bill and Bob,
1) What year was it started? .
2) Who started the patrol? .
Not sure, but Ed Thurston had an NSPS National number ~576 (?)
3) What was the first year a lift was operating? .
Probably 1940s, the right-side gully rope (or maybe the bunny hill rope)
4) What type of lift was it? .
5) What lifts followed and when did they go up? (See above)
6) Who have been the Hoodoo operators? (See above)
7) What training did the first patrollers have?
Before 1968:
Standard & Advanced Red Cross First Aid classes
On the hill training that usually took almost a full season to complete
8) What were the old roads?
As they are now, except for Hwy 126 which did not exist
- The McKenzie River valley had no east end outlet during the winter
until the Clear Lake Cutoff was built.
-> Skiers in Eugene usually focused on Willamette Pass, as even I5
didn't exist until ~1960
9) Who used to ski at the area?
High school & college students & families from Corvallis, Albany, Salem
Also Bend, until Mt Bachelor opened in 1958
- (Jean/Gene?) Gillis brought school kids from Bend and taught
them to ski on what is now named Gillis Hill.
10) What is the history of the Lodges? (See above)
11) When were the roads built?
Santiam Pass - 1865 Santiam Wagon Road constructed
- Wiley toll road out of Lebanon/Sweet Home area
- Often blocked for six months of the year by snow drifts
-> Yeah, when did they start plowing the roads in the Winter? ;-)
Highway US20 paving was completed in Summer 1947
Clear Lake Cut-off constructed 1962
12) When were the fires and what did they do? (See above)
13) What stories were passed down to you? (See above)
14) What stories can you tell?
- There have been some "personalities" of all types, like Brownie
(who ran the top of the chairlift), Cliff Ullman (mechanic), Bill
Ayler (sp?)(got his personality from his Doberman?),
In addition to Ed and Ruth, a few other "characters" were of long-standing
note. "Brownie" (a motel owner from Sisters) manned the top of the Green
chair. He was never at a loss for words, perhaps because he spent so much
time alone at the top of the hill. In the later days, Brownie would call
for a "meat wagon" ...
"Schmitty" manned the bottom of the chairlift's bottom end.
Cliff Ullman was the mechanic
It might be noted that back in the early days
- Santiam "Y" gas station, wrecker - Emile Sandoz & family ran a
north side of the highway. Gasoline sold for a scandalously high 35 cents a gallon.
15) Do you have any more old pictures?
Yes. Probably best woven into some text which explains them.
- Too many to scan them all, need to identify target topics.
What pictures do you already have? (The CD I made a while back?)
I realize that you guys can only go back so far. However, I assume that you are
able to draw back on your family history.
Thanks.
Doug
