CATAMOUNT MOUNTAIN
St Lawrence County
1917: A 35-foot steel tower was erected. (7th Annual Report of the Conservation Commission)
March 5, 1942: "When fire threatened wide destruction recently in the densely wooded section of the Adirondacks near Mud Lake and Catamount Mountain, the observer in the fire tower atop the mountain was well nigh helpless in aiding the fire fighters below. He had a telephone but, of course, the men deep in the forest didn't.
But from Potsdam the telephone company's plant force, on the job protecting their lines on the main highway below, soon found a solution. A telephone was installed on their service truck and connected to the lines at a convenient point. There the district fire ranger, within comparatively easy reach of the fire fighting forces, could telephone the observer above and direct his men where they were needed most.
Soon the fire was brought under control. At the height of the battle there were more than 200 fighters. Men with five gallon tanks strapped to their backs trudged up steep mountainsides, carrying water which the fire trucks relayed to them from Mud Pond." (The Hammond Advertiser)
April 23, 1950: "William McDonald of South Colton was the first to be back as a fire spotter. He returned to the fire tower on top of Catamount Mountain early last week and already reported one blaze, a small grass fire." (Syracuse Herald Journal)
July 19, 1966: "Forest rangers were keeping a watchful eye on several fires in wooded areas and in the Adirondack foothills which blazed up over the weekend.
A fire broke out Sunday night in the woods south of South Colton and was discovered by Miles McCarthy, fire observer on the Catamount Mountain tower.
He notified forest ranger Ivan Ford of Colton who rounded up a crew of men and got the blaze under control. The fire, of unknown origin, started when a hunting camp in the area burned to the ground." (The Post-Standard)
October 9, 1969: "With the autumn colors nearly at their height, Miles McCarthy has called from his post atop Catamount Mountain to tell of a most exceptional visitor last Sunday. Eighty-three-year-old John L. Sullivan of Potsdam was able to make the climb right to the top of the fire tower. Although Catamount is not a difficult climb, it is one that takes a bit of pep. Seems that Mr. Sullivan doesn't lack that!" (Courier-Freeman)