Nelly Almen, an early lady fire lookout

My memories of my great-aunt Nelly center primarily around the years my family lived in Campbell. Born in 1889, Aunt Nelly was an older sister to my maternal grandmother. Nelly was the ninth of thirteen children, born to Swedish immigrant parents who homesteaded in the cold of North Dakota. My childhood memories of Aunt Nelly include her wispy, blue-rinsed hair, the sweet floral fragrance of her violet toilet water, her elegant turquoise silk kimono, and that she would only use half and half in her morning cup of coffee because she was “watching her girlish figure.”

Aunt Nelly never married. During the time we lived in Campbell, she lived in a rented room in a San Francisco residence hotel on Geary Street. There she shared a bathroom with the other residents on her floor and brewed her coffee on an electric hotplate, keeping the half and half cool on the fire escape. Many of her meals were taken at the diner on the corner where the entire staff knew her by name and order. As a child of 8 or 9 years, I loved visiting her. I thought she was the epitome of an adventurous and independent woman.

I have recently learned how adventurous and independent she truly was. My sweet Aunt Nelly was, for a time in her youth, a lady fire lookout in the forests of the northwest. I can only begin to imagine what kind of life that was for a woman in the early twentieth century – to live alone in a cramped fire tower monitoring miles and miles of western wilderness for wildfires.

Aunt Nelly’s fire lookout service prompted me to investigate the history of female fire lookouts and I was thrilled to find several sources of information. My readings include “The History of Lady Lookouts” (Dina Gachman, Smithsonian Magazine, March 29, 2021), “Hallie M. Daggett: Early Woman Lookout” (American Forestry) and “We Feminine Foresters: Women, Conservation and the USDA Forest Service, 1850-1970” (Rachel D. Kline, doctoral dissertation, University of New Hampshire, Spring 2021).

After a devastating fire in the early twentieth century, the US Forest Service established a series of fire lookout stations across the western states. Some of these stations were staffed by women, working primarily alone. Lookout stations were isolated from populated areas and staff had to be totally self-sufficient. Most lookout stations were tall prefab wooden towers with a small room at the top for both living and working. After hauling in all equipment, food, water, and personal items on the backs of horses or donkeys, lookout staff had to climb several sets of wooden tower stairs or ladders to reach the station. Staff responsibilities included station repair and upkeep as well as fire monitoring and personal care.

Hallie Morse Daggett, hired in 1913, was the first female fire lookout. She staffed the Eddy’s Gulch Lookout Station on Klamath Peak in the Klamath National Forest. Others followed her pioneering footsteps, along with several husband/wife lookout teams. During World War II, when men were called into military service, dozens of women trained to become lady lookouts and the work of a forestry lookout changed to support the war effort. Lookouts now were on the alert to report enemy aircraft as well as fires.

Today, we have new equipment and advanced technologies that can spot and fight forest fires, but several women continue the lady fire lookout tradition. Many of the original lookout stations have closed or have become tourist rentals, but some remain staffed by a lady lookout protecting our forests while taking in nature’s majesty.

I have no idea when or where Aunt Nelly gave her service to forestry preservation. That family history is lost. I am, nonetheless, proud of her pioneer spirit and her remarkable courage to be part of a tradition that lives on. How I wish the two of us could have a long conversation over a cup of her beloved morning coffee – with half and half.

The Red Bluff Garden Club is a member of Cascade District, California Garden Clubs, Inc., Pacific Region Garden Clubs, Inc., and National Garden Clubs, Inc.