The observation tower at Aiton Heights was originally located just west of the present-day (1986) Itasca District Forestry Station. Due to its proximity at that time to the campgrounds (the present day picnic grounds), it was utilized extensively during the summer season for its education/public-relations value. During the early 1930's the Minnesota Forest Service devoted a considerable amount of time and funding to forest fire prevention and suppression. Public education was an important aspect of this program, especially in view of the long-term drought conditions which were widespread at that time; and through the 1950's, fire towers were often manned primarily for the educational/public relations value. Records indicate that from April to September, 1936, some 14,305 individuals climbed the tower, at that time called the Forestry Headquarters Tower. Indeed, the tower was so popular that plans were made to move it to Schoolcraft Hill near Douglas Lodge to provide a better location and accessibility for use by the park visitor. During the summer of 1937 the relocation plans for the Forestry Headquarters Tower were changed, and Aiton Heights was selected as the relocation site. Apparently the 1937-1938 period was the time of "the great fire tower shuffle" in Minnesota. One memo from G. M. Conzet, Director of Forestry, regarding "tower improvements" reads in part: The old Waskish tower, which is now located at Waskish, is to be transported and re-erected at the new Turner Lake site. The new Turner Lake stairway tower will be transported and erected at the Glen site at the location of the Long Lake Tower. The new Waskish tower will be erected at the present site of the Height O'Land tower and the old Height O'Land tower will be erected between Itasca Park and Lake George.

(Whatever happened to the old Height O'Land tower is not known except that it was not "erected between Itasca Park and Lake George"). It was not until January 24, 1939, that the last of a running series of "the final decision memo" regarding fire tower locations within Itasca State Park was produced. In a letter, on that date, to the state Civilian Conservation Corps project office, H. Ostergaard-in charge of Recreation and Lands, Division of Forestry, Department of Conservation wrote: There is no other stairway tower available for construction in Itasca Park and it therefore seems advisable to carry out the present plan, that is take the stairway tower from its present location and relocate in the new location southwest of Douglas Lodge. Erect a new ladder tower west of the office where the footings already are in place. Place a fence around this to keep out all persons not authorized to climb the tower. Adjacent to this tower prepare a parking area, preferably along the road. Appropriate signs to discourage people from going to the ladder tower should be erected and similar signs directing the people to the new stairway tower location should also be erected. The new stairway tower would serve for fire prevention and educational work both. The ladder tower at the ranger station would be a secondary fire tower only. At any rate, this very complex and ever-changing tower shuffle resulted in the replacement tower scheduled for the Forestry Headquarters not being compatible with the concrete footings. This necessitated having the bottom section from another tower (the bottom eight to ten-foot section) installed on the existing footings, and then the scheduled replacement ladder tower could be added without any further changes being required. This "on-site" re-engineering of the ladder tower at the Itasca District Forestry Station is easily observable today (1986). The problems encountered in replacing the Forestry Headquarters stairway tower with a ladder tower may account for the almost 22 months required for the projects completion. The reconstruction of a tower at the Forestry Headquarters (the present day ladder tower), started on November 15, 1937, and was completed on August 8, 1939. The original job proposal, which was approved on March 15, 1937, estimated that the project would require 100 man-days. Records indicate that it required 126 man-days in 1937 and 88 man-days in 1939 for a total labor cost of 214 man-days. As to exactly why there was no time expended on this project in 1938, the records are silent, although it undoubtedly was due to the ever -changing tower shuffle of that era. The project was officially completed on March 1, 1940 when Harold Nilson, the new Superintendent (replacing George Wilson) of CCC camp S-57 (Lovelis Lake), signed the final project completion document.

The Aiton Heights Tower project was started on September 14, 1937, and was completed on June 24, 1940. The original job proposal was approved on March 15, 1937, and had a more realistic estimate of the time it would require, an estimated 200 man-days. Upon completion a total of 251 man-days had been expanded with 138 of those required for site preparation and the pouring of the footings upon which the tower stands today. The construction of the road from the present day wilderness drive to the tower site (officially truck trail #94G), was estimated to require 200 man-days. It was completed in the summer of 1937, but records as to the actual time required for its construction have not been found. Most CCC truck-trail construction projects had a "time-over-run" factor of about twice the original job proposal estimate. The ground wire telephone line was extended from the east contact station to the tower site by the end of March, 1938. The actual construction probably occurred during the summer of 1937 in order to get the poles in the ground. Establishing dates for CCC projects is usually an easy task, when the records are available, as all CCC programs and projects were based on six-month periods. One exception was the records and reports of George Wilson, the first Superintendent of CCC camp S-57, Lovelis Lake. George Wilson was an old-time logger from the Itasca State Park area and his experience in operating lumbering camps was undoubtedly put to good use during his tenure as CCC camp Superintendent from 1933 until the very late 1930's. Apparently an outstanding project manager, he did not give much attention to the formalities of bureaucratic paperwork and of "going by the book". Memo after memo from the state CCC office pointed out his wrongdoings, i.e., he purchased spark plugs in Park Rapids rather then ordering them through the CCC supply center in Milwaukee; he purchased antifreeze in mid-winter when needed rather than once a year as specified; and he produced project proposals and reports when he had the time, usually once or so each year, more or less. Possibly no other Camp Superintendent received as many memos regarding the speed at which the camp trucks were operated. these memos eventually came in mimeographed form which must have produced a tremendous savings in clerical time at the St. Paul office. Although the bureaucrats never could accept his methods, they apparently had the ability to see that he was extremely useful and efficient and therefore put up with his less than standard methods of operating. In spite of all the letters and memos sent to George Wilson regarding his methods of operating (with copies to the District Forestry Office, the District Forester dutifully filing his copies in the ever expanding "S-57-Operation" file folder), not a single reply from George Wilson has been found. Without doubt he read them, but apparently without much effect. He had over 200 men to keep housed, supplied and equipped as well as lined up with worthwhile work projects in the midst of a few hundred square miles of semi-wilderness.

 After its reconstruction at Aiton Heights, the tower was used until the late 1950's as part of the educational/public relations program of the Division of Forestry. The last Division of Forestry employee to be assigned to Aiton Heights was Olaf Qualley who was a seasonal employee for many years at the Itasca District Forestry Station. During periods of high visitor use, he would spend many hours in the tower telling the visitors about the various activities of the Division of Forestry and pointing out landmarks observable from the tower. During his many sessions of service, he signed and passed out thousands of the now extinct 'Ancient and Honorable Order of Squirrels' cards. He never tired of telling me and usually any other department employee who would listen, how on one Sunday afternoon after presenting his brief program and passing out the squirrel cards, one visitor stayed to tell him that his presentation was very good and that he was doing an excellent job for the Conservation Department. As this visitor started down the stairway, he casually mentioned that his name was Chester Wilson and that he worked for the Conservation Department too. (Chester Wilson was at that time the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Conservation. After he retired, he described his tenure as Commissioner with "I walked that political tight-rope for fourteen years." One only has to read his involvement with the Itasca State Park deer vegetation problem to understand what biopolitics is all about). Although Olaf never directly asked if the Commissioner had ever told you that you were doing an excellent job for the Department, the implication was usually there.

The Aiton Heights Cabin was likewise a CCC project which originated with a letter by H. Ostergaard in November, 1940, to the state CCC project director. The CCC program was asked not only to provide the manpower but also the materials for the cabin construction project. The work plans for the 17th CCC period (April 1, 1941 to October 1, 1941) list 500 man-days for "Construction, 18' x 26' cabin-Aiton Heights." The cabin (actually 20' x 26') and two latrines of batten construction were completed by CCC camp S-57 in 1941. Aiton Heights was declared "Forestry Administration Site No. 312". Following the practice of the day, each building had its small white sign board with black lettering: "F.A.S. 312-712" for the cabin, with numbers 713 and 714 assigned to the two latrines. It took this writer some twenty plus years to find out why the letters F.A.S. preceded the building numbers. The result of countless inquiries was that it was just the way it was done; in the past, at the present time and it will continue in the future. Since the Aiton Heights Tower was only utilized as a fire tower on rare occasions, the Aiton Heights Cabin was likewise seldom used. The last occupant was one of Itasca State Park's seasonal naturalists during the summers of 1956 and 1957, Herb Harper of Forest Lake, Minnesota. The cabin was not utilized from late August, 1957 (except for an occasional visit during conducted tours to the tower site) until 1975 when it started its second life after a brief traumatic experience.

In 1975, with the judicious use of a chainsaw, the Aiton Heights Cabin was cut into two nearly equal sections. Each section was placed on skids made of aspen logs and with the park's dump truck they were skidded on the snow-covered roads to its present location at the boat rental/launching site. The entire project was under the direction of Carl Johnson, the park's carpenter at that time. He relates that, after cutting the cabin in two, heavy braces were placed across the openings; and each section then slid over the concrete foundation onto the aspen skids. The original foundation which elevated the cabin a foot or two off the ground remains in place at Aiton Heights. Since covered over, it has the appearance of an interesting prehistoric mound or geological feature. Actually the poured concrete foundation was so well constructed by the CCC crew that no available equipment could break it up; and it was therefore earth-covered to eliminate a potential hazard and eyesore. Moving the cabin from Aiton Heights to its new location on the north arm of Lake Itasca required about an hour and a half of travel time. The driver of the truck used to pull the load, Jack Katzenmeyer, recalls that it "went slow except when it (the half-cabin section) headed for the ditch when going down hill". When the half-cabin section started to go faster than the truck, a common occurence on the hill and curves of the park drive, the only 'cure' was to have the truck go faster to straighten out the drag. During the move, the condition of the drag was relayed to the truck driver by David Fell who made the trips standing on the running board of the truck. He relates that every downhill run was a problem and at one point "it damn near ended up in Lake Itasca". The two sections arrived at the boat launching site in excellent condition to await the warm weather which would allow for the necessary concrete work.

A concrete footing was poured and a concrete block foundation was constructed in May of 1975. The two sections were then slid via plank ramps onto the new foundation and the two half-sections rejoined. Most present day park visitors find it hard to believe the history behind the current boat landing building and how it managed to get to its present location; but I'm sure that George Wilson would have been proud of the crews, the project and the results. In the mid-1960's the Aiton Heights tower, cabin, road, etc. were transferred for management purposes to the Division of State Parks. At that time the old hand-crank telephone, alidade and other items were removed from the crow's nest along with the big brass forestry lock (stamped "M.F.S." on both sides of its heavy-duty shackle) which was probably original equipment when the tower was originally built. The following season the telephone line to the tower was removed and due to vandalism, the windows and door of the crow's nest were removed as well. At approximately the same time the old water pump near the cabin site was removed and the well pipe sealed. In the mid-1960's a short self-guiding trail was constructed from the old Aiton Heights parking area to the shore of Allen Lake, the origin of the Allen Lake Trail. This trail and its trail leaflet were utilized by thousands during the twenty or so years of operation. Both the trail and leaflet were discontinued when auto access to the tower site was closed in the early 1980's. Recent developments include the replacement of the tower's stairway planks in the early 1980's and the installation of signs to relay various aspects of the site's history and natural history to the Aiton Heights visitor. The gravel road to the tower site from the wilderness drive was resurfaced with crushed road gravel and then closed around 1983. Today (1987) the tower visitor hikes the old truck trail from a newly established parking area just off the wilderness drive. A trail leaflet, which provides some basic history and natural history information, is available at the start of the hiking trail to the tower site.

Ben Thoma

April - 1987

    THE HISTORY OF THE AITON FIRE TOWER

By Ben Thoma, Park Naturalist. Itasca State Park. 1987