I think I need to clarify my comments about there being no "jail" in the tower. Both Barbara Van Houton and Terry Graham, both of whom are very knowledgeable historians of Wrightwood and Big Pines have questioned me about it.
Many people will look up at the tower and see the iron bars in the window and think that the tower was a "jail" that incarcerated criminals. Big Pines never had such a "jail". However, as both Barbara and Terry can attest to, there is a small room at the base of the tower that was used as a temporary "holding cell" that was used to detain individuals until the Sheriff's Department could get up to Big Pines and pick them up. Individuals weren't detained there for more than a few hours at the most, thus no toilet or beds that many associate with being part of a "jail". Today the room is full of wood that is used for the fireplaces in the Recreation Hall when it is used for meetings or events. Here are some interesting notations about this holding cell from Terry:
"Physical evidence: Inside the place where they now stack firewood, was the holding cell. It was not used to 'house' arrestees, but only to detain them until Los Angeles County Sheriffs from Lancaster arrived to take them off their hands. There is a small concrete bench inside the door.... and if you notice, you will see a locking latch outside the door, and LACO markings on the door below the locking latch. There is also an observer window port- that if it still worked(only the frame remains), it opened up, allowing the USFS, or County guard, to observe the detained person sitting on that small cement bench. As you enter the small room, you would notice more sitting spots to the right.
During those days, there was no 'extras' like a toilet or bunk bed, the cell was a temporary holding area only.
I am still trying to dig up old incident reports that mentioned suspect (s) being picked up from that location, and then taken to regular sheriff stations for booking. It's been hard, since back then that piece of info wasn't included in their reporting, like it was in my time as a deputy, and is now in present time. The reports are more complete. However, two sources have verified the existence of that holding cell.... or temporary detention cell: the Big Park Administrator Harry Grace, through a lengthy tape interview of the park and it's operations; and a Los Angeles county deputy sheriff, who was assigned to an inmate crew work crew. William A Hagenbaugh was the deputy's name who mentioned the cell in Big Pines, after having to detain a civilian that was unlawfully trying to communicate with one of his inmates that he was supervising. At the time of this particular incident, the deputy and his inmate work crew were finishing off the road (Later known as Big Pines Hwy, that they had extended from N4, passed Jackson Lake, and onto big Pines. It was in May of 1929."
