In 1943 the Forest Service hired Roberta Eads. She was one of more than 600 “lady lookouts” employed to scan the horizons for the smoke of forest fires during the Second World War. Eads worked 55 feet above the forest floor in the Spruce Mountain Fire Lookout Tower.
Perched at an elevation of just over 10,000 feet, the tower is located seven miles west of Albany, Wyoming in the heart of the Medicine Bow National Forest. On the job, Eads would have enjoyed a panoramic view of Medicine Bow Peak, Rob Roy Reservoir, Jelm Mountain and the southern end of the Snowy Range.
She spent the fire season living in the lookout tower. Furnishings were sparse - a chair, small table and cot for furniture and a small woodfired stove for cooking and warmth. Eads would have had to cut firewood and haul water. Life in the lookout tower could be lonely or even downright dangerous during lightning storms.
Lookouts had to scan the landscape and horizon at regular intervals, sometimes as often as every 15 minutes.
See the Medicine Bow National Forest records at UW’s American Heritage Center to discover more.