Lookout Show `n Tell
#4: The Osborne Firefinder
In 1911, William B."Bush" Osborne Jr., a young
Yale graduate U.S. Forest Service forester in Portland, Oregon came up with
an idea he called a "Firefinder". His alidade instrument didn't find the
fire; but made it possible to accurately plot its location on the
map. At first, it consisted of a circular map oriented precisely N, S, E,
and West, on an portable 8-sided iron base that could sit on a stump, a tree, or
a rock cairn.
In 1913, his invention was first commercially
produced, when Fred Leupold & Adam Voelpel of Portland turned out
100 of the instruments that consisted of a 14" circular map on a cast iron base,
and upright brass sights on a bar that pivoted on a center
pin exactly above the lookout position on the map. A 360
degree outer edge was etched to align with the sight bar. It was
precisely accurate to 1/30th of 1 degree! Pictured below is the 1913
Osborne Firefinder.
Next to come, the 1914, 1915, 1917, and 1934
models...
Ray Kresek
Fire Lookout Museum
Spokane, WA
