Salmon River Lookout re-located to Buckley Foothills Museum

REGIONS: ORIGIN SITE ~ WA Coast, RE-LO SITE ~ Mt Rainier

The move of the Salmon River Lookout’s live-in DNR cab to the grounds of the Foothills Historical Museum in Buckley is a good example of a Type 1 re-location.   The Salmon River entry on the FFLA website (www.firelookout.org) contains this description: “A platform and trailer set up in 1965 were replaced in 1967 with a 2-story DNR live-in cab which was moved to the Buckley Museum in 2000.”   A sign at the Buckley museum provided more background about the reason for the move.

The location of the Salmon River (also known as Salmon Ridge) Lookout Site is near Lake Quinault and just inside the Quinault Indian Nation boundary.  Evidently it was initially believed to be just outside the Quinault lands.  An interesting, and long, article published in the April 25, 1965 Port Townsend Evening News told of the plans for upcoming fire season.  This article, which included the planned staffing of the nearby lookouts, reported that “Salmon River Ridge, located just east of the Quinault Indian Reservation boundary line” would be manned.

It was later determined that the lookout was on Quinault land and the tribe took over ownership.  I have heard two reasons given for the DNR’s apparent error in choosing the site for the Salmon River Lookout.  One version says that the State just goofed and mistakenly built it on Quinault Nation Lands.  The other explanation is that the Quinault Nation boundaries changed due to ongoing negotiations after the lookout was built in 1967. 

The Salmon River LO cab, which was reconstructed and placed on a short tower, can be seen on its present location on the grounds of the Buckley Museum.  Stairs were built allowing visitors to access the catwalk and look into the live-in cab with its fire-finder, equipment and furnishings.