Stand 3 - Clayton Gulch
In 1937 this area was a stand of mature trees. If you look uphill from where you are standing and visualize the fire creeping downhill you can see that the fire was out of alignment. During the morning of August 21st the fire had a slight southwest wind. This wind pattern is a typical airflow over Wyoming's Wind River and Absaroka Mountains. At this time The BPR and Tensleep CCC crews were cutting underslung line across the drainage. Firefighters at this time didn't think about using lookouts. Foreman Saban and Junior Assistant Hale (Wapiti CCC) with 5 or 6 men of the Tensleep CCC enrollees stopped and dammed up the creek to fill backpack pumps. Click to see Map D
As Post and his group gained the ridge to the north they noticed the smoke below Clayton and his group. Clayton also notices it and prepared to abandon line construction and attack the new smoke. Clayton directed his crew to the gulch to fill their backpack pumps while he headed down hill to scout out the "spot in the hole". The last word received from Ranger Clayton was a written note to Ranger Post.
"Post,
We are on the ridge in back of you and I am going across to "spot" in the hole. It looks like it can carry on over ridge east and south of you. If you can send any men please do so since there are only 8 of us here."
Clayton
Sometime around 1530 the wind increased to 30 miles per hour from the northeast blowing embers over the line. Then the wind subsided for a brief time. When the wind began again in was associated with the frontal passage and it blew strongly out of the northwest. The spot fires below the main fire were in direct alignment with topography, slope and wind.
The spot fire rapidly ran up the drainage. With no escape routes or safety zones the fire traps Clayton and his men at the dam in the drainage. Whether Clayton and his men actually started down to the spot or not was never determined.
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