Interviewer
Mark Huftstetler; C. Kjell Petersen; Beth Hodder
Files
Description
Betty Violette shares stories of her eleven seasons as a fire lookout in Montana's Flathead National Forest (FNF) and Kootenai National Forest (KNF). Betty grew up in St. Ignatius, Montana, and struggled to find her career path. She discusses wanting to be an artist but working in New York City made her realize that wasn’t for her. She then became a lookout in 1966. Betty describes working at Kenalty Lookout in the KNF, where she hiked to get there. She enjoyed a cat as her companion. She recalls radio communications, weather duties, and successfully reporting a fire. She recounts encountering a moose, a humorous encounter with a badger, and a packrat that left sticks on the catwalk. Through the 1960s and 1970s, she talks of using metal cans for water, using the same water for washing dishes and clothes and bathing. She says she worked long hours with limited breaks and constant monitoring. She recounts a storm hitting one of her towers, causing damage, and a near miss with lightning. Betty talks of enjoying the solitude on lookouts, staying a whole season without returning to town. She talks of being thrilled to work at Baptiste Lookout in the 1970s. She said she believes she was the last lookout at Baptiste and Cyclone and possibly Firefighter Lookouts before they closed [All three FNF lookouts are now open again]. Betty says being a lookout shaped her life because it kept her in an outdoor environment in Montana.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Kenalty Lookout; Baptiste Lookout; Cyclone Lookout; Firefighter Lookout; Women lookouts; Ben Bannon; Doug Peacock; Montana lookout experiences
Original Date
2-14-2024
Time Period
Twentieth century; Twenty-first century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Northwest Montana Lookout Association Oral History Project, OH 453, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 453-030
Media Type
Moving Image; Sound; Text
Original Format
video/mp4; application/pdf; text/plain
Digital Format
video/mp4; application/pdf; text/plain
Run Time
01:11:30 minutes
Local Filename
OH_453_030.mp4; OH_453_030.m4a; OH_453_030.pdf; OH_453_030.srt
Citation
Violette, Betty Ann, "Betty Violette Interview, February 14, 2024" (2024). Northwest Montana Lookout Association Oral History Project. 29.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/nwmt-ffla/29