Cabin Fires

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Before we move into the Adair Tract and the Paul Dunn part, let me ask you one more question. I understand they built a cabin for Peavy at one time, a Dean's cabin somewhere in McDonald Forest?

Paul M. Dunn: Right. There have been three cabins. The first one was built in 1926 by the students, and was on the site of the present big cabin. It burned in 1949, and was rebuilt within a year or two, mostly by students. Most of the money came from the Rebuilding Fund. The State of Oregon doesn't carry insurance on any of its buildings here or elsewhere, but each year the Forestry School placed a certain amount of money in a Rebuilding Fund. If a catastrophe occurred, like a fire, they dipped into that fund. Money from that fund was used for the construction of the Arboretum Building. It was built on the site of the CCC Camp. It burned and was rebuilt from the Rebuilding Fund. The Dean's cabin was built entirely by alumni in the mid-thirties as a friendly gesture not long before Dr. Peavy retired. It was for Dean Peavy to use to meet with some of his former students and reminisce. It was up on a hill not far from the tower. In fact, the tower is just beyond it, but that cabin burned, also.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: The Dean's Cabin?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, the Dean's Cabin.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: I thought you said it was on the site of the present Forestry Cabin?

Paul M. Dunn: No. There were two school cabins. The first was built in 1926 by the students. It was a large, one-room cabin with a big fireplace. It burned, I think, in 1949. The present club cabin, as it was called, was rebuilt in 1950 on the site of the one that was built in 1926. The Dean's Cabin was built in 1935, and was on the slope of the hill where the tower is, to the south and west of the Arboretum area. One could see the Dean's Cabin from the valley area. It was just beyond a grassy part, on the edge of the forest.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Now it burned as well?

Paul M. Dunn: It burned in the late '50's, I think. Vandals burned it.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: I was going to ask about that. Was access to the Forest limited during the time you were Dean? Could you control the gates? Could you pretty much control who went in and out, or was that a problem?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, but control was limited. We were able to control some of it with gates on the roads, but we couldn't control the foot people - hikers or walkers. Quite often the gates were broken open, but all the time from 1942, and I think before, there were locked gates on the roads. Entry was granted only by written permission. Vandalism occurred. The fire that burned the club cabin was just an accident. During the late 1940's there was a dearth of places for college parties. An unwise decision was made to rent the cabin for Saturday night parties. Evidently someone didn't put out the fireplace fire after a party and the cabin burned early Sunday morning. Because of the location there was no hope of stopping it.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Were there any repercussions? Was the party that caused the fire held responsible in any way?

Paul M. Dunn: No action was taken on the incident. It was considered just an accident.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: So that burned completely to the ground?

Paul M. Dunn: That's right. It was rebuilt by students and with help from state finances. The concrete slab was still there. From the former Dean's Cabin we recovered the plaque that was on the cabin, and now it is over the fireplace in the big club cabin.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Has there ever been a fire in the McDonald-Paul Dunn Forest?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, there was one that came over into the Oak Creek area, in the mid 1940's. It came over the hill from a logging slash fire and burned a part of the forest. Other than that I think the record is zero.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What about relations with neighbors bordering the McDonald Forest? Has there been trespass problems or other problems with those people?

Paul M. Dunn: No, or very few. Communications have been rather good. Maybe, in the last few years since the deer crop has built up, there may have been some poaching, but that is a State Game Commission problem.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: When did the program of allowing hunters into the Forest start, or has that always been that way?

Paul M. Dunn: The McDonald Forest area has been a state game refuge for years. Until the late 1940's, there had been no appreciable number of deer in the whole valley area. Credit can be given to the Game Commission in the curtailment of hunting, and the deer population has built up. Now there are three or four types of hunting there; bow