Fires, Fear, and Fighting Back: The Week the Forest Burned Near Mt. Hood

Zigzag Ranger Station 10-14-1952

 It all started late in the season around midnight on October 13, 1952. The forest around Mt. Hood was as dry as a bone. Trouble came, starting south of the Mt. Hood Highway just east of Rhododendron. Flames popped up near Yocum Falls, moving their way down through Laurel Canyon and stretching toward Flag Mountain. At first, officials thought a tree falling on a power line might have been ignited the fire. The Sandy Electric Company asserted that the initial fire at Yocum Falls might have been caused by men violating the hunting ban rather than a 33,000-volt power line.

A second fire broke out from wind blown embers near Still Creek along the north slope of Zigzag Canyon, threatening summer homes in that area. The fire caused landslides and loosened large rocks at the top of ridges, sending them toward the Zigzag River, making the situation more even more dangerous for firefighters.

Homes in Mt. Hood Region Threatened by Forest Fires

By Tuesday, October 14, another fire erupted, burning up Henry Creek toward Devils Canyon near Rhododendron. The dry east winds were blowing with their typical intensity, fanning the flames and making life miserable for everyone, especially the firefighters.

Crews prepare to fight fires at the Zigzag Ranger Station, Zigzag Oregon

The Mt. Hood Highway was closed, roadblocks went up at Sandy and Bend, only letting through emergency vehicles and buses. Traffic was rerouted through the Columbia River Gorge or the North Santiam Highway. Firefighters hosed down wooden bridges on the highway, while residents were hosing down the roofs of their homes and cabins, hoping to keep the embers at bay. Folks living nearby in Rhododendron got ready to pack up and leave if needed.  The county’s civil defense agency was on high alert, ready to step in if the fires threatened private homes. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Radio dispatcher communicating during the forest fires

Come Wednesday, October 15, things got even worse. A third fire started near Brightwood around noon that day, burning through heavy ferns and second-growth timber. In that fire arson was suspected as it was reported by local residents that two teenage boys in a blue coupe were seen speeding away from the area. Police put out the word to watch for them, but the boys were never found. 

Tired from all-night battle against forest fire which blackened the butte north and east of Brightwood, crew headed by Eldon Stroup, (second from left), ranger from Umpqua National Forest, rests after coming off shift. Men are, (from left) John Burr, Ted Winter and Jim Hawkins.

By Thursday, October 16, the fires had everyone on edge. The Brightwood fire made a run toward the Bull Run watershed, where Portland gets its water. Winds pushed the flames up Boulder Creek closer to Bull Run. In Rhododendron, a 120-man crew was scrambling to put a fire line around the blaze near Henry Creek. A total of 400 firefighters were working in the area. Meanwhile at Zigzag Ranger Station, local women volunteered to make sandwiches to help keep the fire crews fed.  

Logistics, supplies, at the Zigzag Ranger Station, Zigzag Oregon.

Finally, Friday brought some good news. The firefighters had the upper hand, and by October 17, they had most of the fires contained. Crews—all 700 of them—had been working around the clock, with another 200 focused just on Brightwood. The fires had burned an estimated 1,200 acres by then, with the Brightwood blaze alone covering anywhere from 300 to 400 acres. But the danger wasn’t over yet. Northeast winds and low humidity kept everyone on alert, hoping the forecast might bring some long-overdue rain.  

A firefighter mans a hose in the forest near Mount Hood Oregon.

When it was all said and done, the fires left their mark, but they also showed what a community can do when disaster strikes. From firefighters risking it all on the front lines to locals supporting firefighting efforts, folks hosing down their homes and making sandwiches, it was a team effort. The forest would heal, but the stories of that fiery week in October 1952 will endure. 

The fire at night

These photo are scanned from negatives from my personal collection.

A scorched hillside from the fire near Mt Hood
The forest burns during the forest fires near Mount Hood Oregon

Rhododendron Oregon Centennial and History

100 Years of Rhododendron Oregon and Mount Hood Tourism

I produced a video to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the little Mount Hood village of Rhododendron Oregon. It’s a collection that consists of photos that I’ve collected through the years and have added to my collection. There are a couple that are in the video that are copies of photos from the Welch Family as well as the family of Dr Ivan Wooley.

Rhododendron, Oregon | Things to do, hotels, & attractions
Located along the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway on a 19th-century pioneer wagon route, Rhododendron nestles into the western flank of the craggy peak. The terrain.

The Rhododendron Inn

The Rhododendron Inn – In the early days in the communities on the south side of Mount Hood travelers on the old road to the mountain relied on the inns and roadhouses for a bed and a meal while they traveled through or played in the area.

Camper at The Rhododendron Inn

The roads were primitive and the automobiles were slow. It would take the best part of a day to drive from Portland, for instance, in contrast to the hour drive that it is today. As a consequence of the time that it took to journey to Mount Hood many roadhouses, hotels and restaurants sprung up along the old road. The town of Rhododendron had the Rhododendron Inn.

Rhododendron Inn

Henry S. Rowe, a Mayor of Portland from  1900 to 1902, had the Rhododendron Inn in built 1905 on 160 acres of land that he owned. A Portland Fire Chief that served during Rowe’s administration by the name of Lee Holden did the construction and design.

Henry S Rowe – Lee Holden

Holden took over the hotel in 1910, and it was this season that the post office was established under the name of Rowe. The name was later changed at the request of the Post Office Department to Rhododendron in 1920.

Rhododendron Inn Annex

Holden sold the hotel to Emil and Suzette Franzetti, hoteliers from Europe in 1912. The Franzetti’s added a 60’x100’ dance hall, a 50’x100’ concrete swimming pool, tennis and croquet courts, bridle paths and hiking trails. They also added an annex across the road as well as several cottages and tent houses scattered through camp areas in the woods surrounding the inn.

Rhododendron Inn

In 1916 Emil was killed when his car rolled in soft sand near the Zigzag Ranger Station. Mrs. Franzetti ran the hotel for seven years after that and finally sold the inn and 20 acres around 1924 to William Cash and his wife while the rest of the land was subdivided into lots, many containing Henry Steiner built log cabins. The annex burned down in 1932. The hotel was sold in 1943 (?) to Thomas Rex who changed the name to the Rex Inn. During a very cold snap in the Winter of 1949 the inn caught fire, supposedly from a blow torch being used to thaw pipes.

Rhododendron Inn and the old Zigzag River Bridge and The Rhododendron Inn through the trees.

The location of where the Rhododendron Inn once sat is on the south side of today’s Highway near where the pedestrian suspension bridge over the Zigzag River is located on the west side of town. All traces are lost today with no hint of its existence.

The Rhododendron Inn
Rhododendron Inn
Rhododendron Inn brochure
Rhododendron Inn Flyer

Villages of Mt Hood Post Offices

The Villages of Mt Hood Post Offices

What gives a town, or in this case a village, its identity? In most cases it’s the establishment of a post office. Many feel that the establishment of a post office is truly that which makes a settlement a town or a village. The case is no different here on The Mountain, as each of our villages have been identified in that very same way. That identity still exists in places that no longer have a post office, such as Zigzag, Wemme and Faubion.

One might think that Welches, being the center of attention in our area, would have been the first post office to be established here, but it was actually the roots of the present day Brightwood post office that makes that claim. Samuel Welch, a local pioneer and Welches namesake’s first venture in the area was a hotel and general store in what was then called Salmon, Oregon, with a post office being established in 1891. His hotel was located near the present west end of Brightwood Loop near the Salmon River, and it wasn’t until 1910 that the name Brightwood was adopted. At that point in time it was located inside of McIntyre’s General Store near its present location. The Brightwood Post Office was discontinued in 1914 but reestablished in 1925.

The next in line as one travels east was Wemme. Named for E. Henry Wemme, the benefactor of the old Barlow Road, its post office was established in 1916. Wemme was discontinued upon the establishment of the new Welches post office in 1977.

The Welches post office was established at the Welch’s Ranch in June of 1905 with Linny Kern as the postmaster. Billy Welch succeeded Kern as postmaster in 1910 and served until 1940 when his wife Jennie took over. Jennie, for years the local matriarch, served until 1960 when the Welches post office was closed. The Welches post office was re-established in 1977. The original plan, at that time, was to move the Wemme post office into a new building on Welches Road, thus threatening to re-name Welches to Wemme. Because of the local outcry the postal service changed their plans and named the new post office Welches, thus insuring the perpetuation of its true identity.

In 1909, a post office was established in the little town of Rowe. Named for Henry S. Rowe, an ex-mayor of Portland who built the old Rhododendron Inn, the post office was located in Dad Miller’s store. The Rowe post office name was changed to Zigzag in 1917.

The Zigzag post office existed as its own entity until 1964 when it became a rural delivery station for the Rhododendron post office. Although the mail was sorted at Rhododendron, the mail was postmarked “Zigzag Rur St”. The Zigzag post office closed for good in 1974.

The Rhododendron post office was established in 1920 and is still operating today.

The Faubion post office, which was located in the old Cedarwood Store on what is now Faubion Loop operated from 1924 to 1932 and was operated by William Faubion, Jennie Welch’s father.

Please take some time to send a postcard to friends or relatives. Our postmasters on The Mountain are all friendly down to earth folks that would love to have you drop in. They will also remind you that they need your business to continue their existence.