Dee Wright began work in 1910 and spent 24 years in the Forest Service, packing supplies for fire camps, work crews, and lookouts, helping locate part of the Pacific Crest Trail, and sharing stories around the campfire. In 1933, as a Civilian Conservation Corps foreman, he began installation of a viewfinder amid the jagged lava fields atop McKenzie Pass. After his death in the spring of 1934, the observatory was named in his memory and in honor of the 24 years he devoted to the Forest Service. His ashes were scattered among the Cascade peaks.