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Fire lookout · Ferry County, Washington

First Thought Lookout Site (now at Orient)

Also known as Orient

Forest Service lookout on First Thought Mountain; its L-4 cab was moved to Orient Community Park in 1986, though the register's photo caption says 2001.

Original site: First Thought Lookout Site

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Cab in Orient Community Park; no source I read gives visiting hours or says whether the cab can be entered

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a 40-foot steel Aermotor tower, 1947; the 1925 tower was wooden with a 6-by-6 cabCab: L-4; tower: Aermotor
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1916
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Unknown
Location
Ferry County, Washington
Coordinates
48.86630, −118.20593
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-first-thought-lookout-site-at-orient

View from the cab

What you see from the cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

Downloads about 4.2 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1914 EventNewspaper item describes a station recently constructed on First Thought Hill near Orient; may predate the 1916 platform dateSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1916 Built35-foot pole platform with log shelter at the baseSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1925 Replaced by a new structurePole tower with 6x6 cab replaced the platform; register and firelookout.com give 60 feet, a June 1925 item 70 feet, WillhiteWeb 76 feetSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1928 StaffedKeith Miller named as lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1928 and 1946
  6. 1946 EventConcrete footings poured for a steel tower with an L-4 cabSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1947 Built40-foot steel Aermotor tower with L-4 cab; the Forest Lookouts page says its steel came from a Farragut parachute training towerSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. 1958 StaffedErnie Keyes named for 1958 and 1959; the last name on firelookout.com's staffing listSource: firelookout.com
  9. No record between 1958 and 1985
  10. 1985 EventOrient Improvement Clubs purchased the lookout, planning to move it to Orient Community ParkSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  11. 1986 MovedCab set down by crane onto a trailer and moved to Orient Community Park after airlift attempts failedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. No record between 1986 and 2012
  13. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 14, 2012Source: firetower.org
  14. Date unknown MovedMoved from First Thought to Orient.Source: FFLA
  15. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The First Thought lookout stood on First Thought Mountain, near the town of Orient, in Stevens County and the Colville National Forest.1,2

The register dates its first structure, a 35-foot pole platform with a log shelter at its base, to 1916.1,3 A 1914 newspaper item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page describes a station recently built on First Thought Hill, so a lookout may have stood there earlier than the register's date.2

A 60-foot pole tower with a 6-by-6 cab replaced the platform in 1925, according to the register and firelookout.com.1,3 WillhiteWeb says that tower stood 76 feet, and a June 1925 item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page describes a 70-foot wooden tower.4,2

Footings for a steel tower with an L-4 cab were poured in 1946.2,4 In 1947 a 40-foot steel Aermotor tower with an L-4 cab went up, and the Forest Lookouts page says its steel was reused from a parachute-training tower at Farragut, a recruit base on Idaho's Lake Pend Orielle.1,2,4

Keith Miller was the lookout in 1928.4 The firelookout.com list of known lookout personnel ends with Ernie Keyes, for 1958 and 1959, and gives no end date for staffing.3

In 1985 the Orient Improvement Clubs bought the lookout, intending to move it to Orient Community Park as a historic attraction.2,4 In 1986, after attempts to airlift it failed, a crane lowered the cab onto a trailer and moved it to the park.4,2,1

The register's photo caption, however, says the cab moved in 2001, which conflicts with the register's own text.1

The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Washington list shows a standing tower at Orient and marks the original First Thought Mountain site as gone.5

Today the cab is in Orient Community Park.1,5 None of the pages checked gives visiting hours or says whether the cab can be entered, so check locally before visiting.1,3,2,5,4

  1. First Thought Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/first-thought-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. First Thought Mountain, FOREST LOOKOUTS, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/first-thought-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. First Thought (Thot) Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/firstthought.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. First Thought Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/first_thought/lookout_088.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Washington Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wa/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.