A tall tale credits Paul Bunyan with creating fire towers so lumberjacks could work through long winter nights in the north woods. After deciding more light was needed for logging, he had Ole the blacksmith build a tower on a hill one hundred feet high and seven feet square on top, then went with Babe to northern Wisconsin to get a giant ball of beeswax from giant bees. They brought it back to Minnesota, ran a rope through the wax, set it atop the tower, and lit it as a giant candle that illuminated the woods all night. After logging was done, the towers were left behind and later used to watch for forest fires. This tower has stood here since 1934; Art Savage was the first fire ranger, living with his family in a cabin at its base, whose foundation remains visible. In 1958, a fire near Island Lake went unseen because of a blind spot, and on another occasion a bear named Sassy climbed the tower and startled the ranger.