By Scott North
Herald Writer
SNOHOMISH — They call it Taylor’s Landing, but it’s really a monument to the man who taught Snohomish County how to fly helicopters on rescue missions.
For nearly a quarter-century, Sgt. John Taylor oversaw search-and-rescue operations for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
When Taylor started, rescue missions were largely spur-of-the-moment affairs undertaken by untrained, underequipped deputies and volunteers. By the time he retired in 1997, the county could call on a cadre of well-organized search-and-rescue groups, supported by a small fleet of helicopters.
Since 1997, Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue has been developing an operations base on Old Machias Road east of Snohomish. The site is complete with helicopter hangar space, meeting rooms and an area that houses sheriff’s deputies who oversee the county’s search-and-rescue efforts.
On Sept. 29, the group formally dedicated the center, naming it in Taylor’s honor.
Taylor’s Landing "is actually a wonderful tribute to a real hero," sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said. "He has saved hundreds of lives. I know that his purpose was to help people, and that is why he became involved in law enforcement."
Taylor is a little embarrassed by the honor. He said he’s just one of dozens of hard-working people who helped beef up the abilities of the county search-and-rescue network.
He’s also a little emotional.
"Do you want to hear me cry?" Taylor remarked. "It chokes me up just thinking about it."
Taylor not only led countless missions to find missing hikers and save injured climbers and others who got into trouble in the county’s wilderness areas, he is the person most responsible for developing the county’s search-and-rescue capabilities, said Ken Lakey, president of the volunteer group.
"He’s really grown it into what it is today," Lakey said.
Taylor’s first rescue came in July 1961 when he was a teen-ager working at a lodge in Monte Cristo, the former mining town east of Granite Falls. Sheriff’s deputies enlisted Taylor to help them bring down a woman who had been struck by a tumbling rock and suffered a broken leg while hiking on steep terrain.
After service in the Army, Taylor joined the sheriff’s office in 1968 and took over search-and-rescue operations in 1973. Along the way, he developed an ability to scrounge equipment for use in rescues, everything from snow cats to amphibious troop transports and hovercraft, and, above all, helicopters.
Helicopter transport revolutionized search and rescue in Snohomish County. It helped speed help to places where it was needed most and reduced the challenge presented by the county’s heavily timbered areas.
But for Taylor, it was heart, not machines, that often made the difference.
Lakey, who has been involved in search and rescue here since 1971, said he has numerous memories of missions with Taylor, but one that really stands out came about 30 years ago when a young boy was stuck on a rock in the middle of a rain-swollen river. Taylor worked his way out to the boy, but couldn’t get him safely back to shore before dark.
"He spent the night out on the rock," Lakey said. "I think he shivered for three days."
Taylor received a citation from then-President Richard Nixon for saving the child’s life. The retired deputy is honored at Taylor’s Landing with a more rustic symbol: a natural stone obelisk. Search-and-rescue crews plucked the boulder from a cliff at Monte Cristo, where for Taylor the adventure began, Jorgensen said.
"He is a man that people are never going to forget," she said.
You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431
or send e-mail to north@heraldnet.com.
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