Now not nearly as far off the ground as in the past, First Thought Lookout does provide a view of a bit of the village of Orient, but not much else.
A fire lookout was first established on First Thot Mountain in 1914, serving the
Colville National Forest. Built in 1946-47, this was the third "First Thot" fire lookout tower to stand atop First Thot Mountain. The first was a small shed atop a 35 foot pole tower, erected in 1916. The second, a smaller 6 foot X 6 foot cabin atop a 76 foot pole tower, served from 1925 until the construction of this lookout.
Abandoned by the forest service in 1985, the lookout was purchased by the Orient Improvement Clubs and in 1986 was moved to
Orient Community Park. It remains the centrepiece of the park, open to the public through the summer.
The photo to the left is of the lookout when still in place atop First Thot Mountain in 1979. Included in the photos below are two views from the original site of the lookout, which would be the second, 76 foot, tower, taken in 1934.
First Thought Lookout
First Thought Lookout was on the rim of an old remnant volcano.
In 1914, local newspapers report of a lookout station being established on First Thought Hill above Orient. Another lookout was placed on another high mountain on the west side of Kettle river. From these lookouts the view covered the entire valley and a large area of the Colville national forest. The First Thought station was to be equipped with a telephone and the two lookouts will communicate by seismograph signals.
In 1915, at the end of the season, the Republic News-Miner reported that guards would be relieved from duty and that lookout towers for fire detectives were built on Sherman, Bonaparte, Vulcan and First Thought mountains.
In 1916, a 35-foot pole platform was built with a log shelter at the base.
In 1925, a 76-foot pole tower was built with a 6-foot by 6-foot cab on top.
In 1947, a 40-foot steel Aermotor tower with an L-4 cab was built. The steel framework came from a parachute jump training tower at the U.S. Navy’s Farragut recruit base on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho.
In 1985, the lookout was purchased by the Orient Improvement Clubs with plans to move it to the Orient Community Park for a historical point of interest.
In 1986, after several dates to airlift the lookout failed, the cab was successfully set down by a crane onto a trailer and moved to Orient Community Park.
From WilHiteWeb