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Fire lookout · Stevens County, Washington

First Thought Lookout Site

Also known as First Thought Mountain

Stevens County, WA lookout on First Thought Mountain near Orient: steel tower with L-4 cab 1947; cab moved to Orient Community Park in 1986; site today not described.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at Orient

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Cab moved to Orient Community Park in 1986 (register text and Weebly). No source describes the mountain site today.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

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

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a tower40-foot steel Aermotor tower with L-4 cab (1947)The designs: L-4, Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1914
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
3,962 ft (1,208 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Stevens County, Washington
Coordinates
48.89240, −118.16640
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-first-thought

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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.3 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 BuiltNewspaper report of a station recently constructed on First Thought Hill near Orient (quoted on Weebly). Register dates the first lookout to 1916.Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1916 BuiltRegister: 35-foot pole platform with a log shelter at the baseSource: firetower.org
  3. 1920 StaffedStanley Pierce has the lookout station (Weebly, Republic News-Miner)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1925 Replaced by a new structureRegister: 60-foot pole tower with 6x6 cab. Weebly: 70-foot wooden tower built that April, 76 feet to the roof. The sources disagree on height.Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1925 StaffedWalter Spaid named as the man chosen to serve as lookout (Weebly)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1928 StaffedKeith Miller took charge of the lookout station (Weebly)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1928 and 1946
  8. 1946 EventConcrete poured for the footings of a steel tower with an L-4 cabSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1947 Replaced by a new structure40-foot steel tower with L-4 cab completed. Weebly says it was recycled from a parachute training tower in Idaho; no second source found.Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1953 StaffedMarilyn Buck on First Thought lookout tower (Weebly)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1958 StaffedErnie Keyes listed for 1958 and 1959 (Firelookout list of known personnel)Source: firelookout.com
  12. No record between 1958 and 1985
  13. 1985 EventOrient Improvement Clubs purchased the lookout, planning to move it to Orient Community ParkSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  14. 1986 MovedCab set onto a trailer by crane and moved to Orient Community Park. Register photo caption says 2001.Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  15. No record between 1986 and 2012
  16. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 14, 2012 as US 1495, WA 395Source: firetower.org
  17. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to Orient.Source: FFLA
  18. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.

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 on the Colville National Forest.1,2 A newspaper item from August 1914, quoted on the Weebly page, describes a station recently built on First Thought Hill near Orient.2 The register dates the first lookout to 1916, a 35-foot pole platform with a log shelter at its base.1

The sources differ on the tower that followed. The register describes a 60-foot pole tower with a 6-by-6 cab, put up in 1925.1 The Weebly page quotes a 1925 account of a 70-foot wooden tower built that April, and a later note that it stood 76 feet to the roof.2

Steel came in the 1940s. Footings for a steel tower with an L-4 cab were poured in September 1946.2 The register and the Weebly page both describe a 40-foot steel tower with an L-4 cab finished in 1947.1,2 The Weebly page also says the tower was recycled from a parachute training tower in Idaho. We found no second source for that.2

A few lookouts appear by name. The Weebly page has Stanley Pierce at the station in 1920, though a 1921 item spells the name Pearce.2 It names Walter Spaid as the man chosen for the post in 1925, and Keith Miller as taking charge in 1928.2 Keith Miller was leaving the post in September 1929.2 Marilyn Buck was on the tower in 1953.2 The Firelookout page lists known lookouts through 1959, with Ernie Keyes in 1958 and 1959.3

In 1985 the Orient Improvement Clubs bought the lookout, planning to move it to Orient Community Park as a historical point of interest.2 In 1986, after several failed attempts to airlift it, a crane set the cab onto a trailer and moved it to the park.2 The register's text also gives 1986, but its photo caption says 2001.1

We could not find a source that describes the cab's condition today, or whether the park still shows it. The register does not say what, if anything, remains on First Thought Mountain.1

  1. First Thought Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, 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, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/firstthought.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of First Thought Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1916
1916 (1916)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1927
1927 (1927)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cab moved to Orient Community Park in 2001
Cab moved to Orient Community Park in 2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: design, height, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.