by Timothy Egan
Koch and booze, recruiting in Taft, from Koch, Forty Years a Forester.
Other ranger experiences around Taft just before fire, from Early Days of the Forest Service.
Greeley quotes to reporters, from The Missoulian, July 15, 1910.
Curing cancer and bald heads making people smart, from random wire-service stories in The Missoulian, January 10, 1910.
Koch and his bride, the Kipling verses he cited, all from Koch, Forty Years a Forester.
Wild days in the town, bullet in tongue, from Crowell and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
Pinchot's passion for the outdoors, description of the Grand Canyon, from Pinchot diaries, April 19, 1891.
No money to pay firefighters, from Koch, Forty Years a Forester.
No money to pay rangers' salary, from Albert Cole's recollections in Early Days of the Forest Service.
Butte Irish, from The Butte Irish: Class and Ethnicity in an American Mining Town, 1875—1925, by David M. Emmons, University of Illinois Press, 1990.
Story of the Irish firefighter Grogan, from his claim file at the Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
More background on Grogan, from Crowell and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
Comments of Wilson, the agriculture secretary, from National Geographic, January 1911.
Taft's massage, his routine on holiday, from Leslie's Weekly, July 21, 1910.
Taft's insecurities, insulting nicknames, from Anderson, William Howard Taft.
Pinchot on Taft, from Pinchot, Breaking New Ground.
Weigle happy to have troops, quoted in Idaho Press, August 9, 1910.
Buffalo Soldiers, their history and pay, from National Park Service, www.nps.gov.
Number of blacks in the region, from U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov.
The Brownsville incident, from A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, by Michael McGerr, Oxford University Press, 2003, and from the Park Service history of the Buffalo Soldiers, www.nps.gov.
Additional background on the 25th Infantry, from Buffalo Soldiers, 1892—1918, by Ron Field, Osprey Publishing, 2005.
Senator Tillman's racist comments, from The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson, by Rayford W. Logan, Da Capo Press, 1997.
Taft's reaction to a request for interview, from Anderson, William Howard Taft.
James J. Hill on Taft, from Martin, James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest.
Peary and Roosevelt, from True North: Peary, Cook and the Race to the Pole, by Bruce Henderson, W. W. Norton, 2005.
Taft quote, from Anderson, William Howard Taft.
8. Spaghetti Westerners
Italians get old quickly, from The Immigrants Speak, by Salvatore J. LaGumina, Center for Immigration Studies, 1979.
Background on Italian immigration experience, from the author's visit to the Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli, Torino, Italy, October 16, 2007.
Why Italians from the north left Italy, from the author's interview with Professor Paola Corti, University of Torino, October 17, 2007.
Lives of Bruno and Viettone, from their claim files at the Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, College Park, Maryland, and from the author's visit to their hometown, Rivara Canavese, Italy.
Death of twelve-year-old Italian girl, from The Survey, January 17, 1911.
Sentiment toward immigrants, scum of creation, from This Fabulous Century, 1900—1910.
Anti-Italian sentiment, from Wop, edited by Salvatore J. LaGumina, Straight Arrow Books, 1973.
Plantations trying to get Italians, from The Survey, January 17, 1911.
Orphans and treatment of immigrants in Morenci, from The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction, by Linda Gordon, Harvard University Press, 1999.
Italians in Washington State, and Indians, from La Storia: Five Centu ries of the Italian-American Experience, by Jerre Mangioni and Ben Morreate, HarperCollins, 1991.
Italians seeing their first blacks, from LaGumina, The Immigrants Speak.
Days the Italians were hired, from claim files, Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
Pinchot in Italy, from Pinchot diaries, May 1910, and from his book Breaking New Ground.
Roosevelt in Africa and Italy, from When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House, by Patricia O'Toole, Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Roosevelt letter to Lodge on mistake of Taft, May 5, 1910, from Selections from the Correspondence of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge.
Heyburn's views on states' rights, from The Outlook, March 19, 1910.
More on Roosevelt and Pinchot scheming, from O'Toole, When Trumpets Call.
Roosevelt, Man in the Arena speech, and Africa, from www.theodoreroosevelt.org.
9. Firestorm's Eve
Prediction on the winds, Seattle Times, August 12, 1910.
Halm, the athlete, from Chinook 1907, published by the junior class of Washington State College, Pullman.
Halm, on how dry the forest was, from his recollections in Early Days of the Forest Service.
Behavior of black troops, from Idaho Press, September 8, 1910.
North Pole and Negro not named, from The Outlook, March 12, 1910.
Black dialect in headline, from The Missoulian, July 8, 1910.
Comment, six good Greeks, from Company Town, by Keith C. Peterson, Washington State University Press, 1987.
Weigle quote, God only knows, from Hult, Northwest Disaster.
Problems of Italian immigrants in the cities, from The Survey, January 17, 1911.
Italians, on receiving the roughest treatment in Idaho, from Idaho Ethnic Heritage, vol. 2.
Pulaski details, from Emma Pulaski's "Memories of a Forest Service Wife."
Italians had a saying about the streets being paved with gold, from Coming to America: Italian Americans, by Barry Moreno, Barron's Educational Series, 2003.
Pulaski's thoughts, doubts, and guilt, from Pulaski's response to questions on what happened, internal Forest Service correspondence, from Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, Seattle.
Pulaski's surprise at the chef's hat, from Hult, Northwest Disaster.
Koch on how fire is like war, from Koch, Forty Years a Forester.
Koch on manpower requirements, from Koch, Forty Years a Forester.
The town of Taft, people getting drunk before the fire, from Koch, Forty Years a Forester, and from Haun's report in Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, Seattle.
More on Taft, reaction of forest rangers to town, from Koch, Forty Years a Forester, and from memories of Roy A. Phillips in Early Days of the Forest Service.
10. Blowup
Fire description, from W. G. Weigle's "Report on the 1910 Fires," on file at the National Archives, Seattle; from Koch's report, "When the Mountains Roared," on file at the Forest Service Region One headquarters, Missoula; from Spencer, The Big Blowup; from Halm's published account, "The Great Fire of 1910," American Forests and Forest Life, July 1930; and from William W. Morris's account, "The Great Fires of 1910," on file at the Forest Service Region One headquarters, Missoula.
How a fire grows, feeds on itself, nature of fire, from Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire, by Stephen J. Pyne, University of Washington Press, 1997.
The velocity of fire in the Rockies, from Young Men and Fire, by Norman Maclean, University of Chicago Press, 1992.
11. The Lost Day
Weigle's account of being in the fire, from his "Report on the 1910 Fires," and from his "The Great Idaho Fires," The Timberman, July 1934, reprinted in Idaho Yesterday, Fall 2001.
Weigle's thoughts just before the storm, from Butte Miner, August 14, 1910.
Description of Wallace as the fire spread, from Seattle Times, August 26, 1910, and from L. Worstell's account on file at the National Archives, Seattle. Additional information from Hult, Northwest Disaster.
No hors
e fast enough to outrun the fire, from personal accounts on file at the Museum of Northern Idaho, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and from Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, Seattle.
Carl Getz and the horror, quoted in Seattle Times, August 26, 1910.
William Chance quotes on following him, from Records of the Forest Service, Region One headquarters, Missoula.
Ed Pulaski quote on no use, from the account by Foltz, a witness, in "Pulaski, Two Days in August, 1910," cultural resource inventory from Records of the Forest Service, Region One headquarters, Missoula.
Pulaski's details from his own account, "Surrounded by Forest Fires," American Forests and Forest Life, August 1923, and from Forest Service archival report put together for the 1984 dedication of a memorial, on file at the Wallace District Mining Museum.
More Pulaski details, from "Pulaski, Two Days in August, 1910."
Death of the Italians, Ranger Bell's account, from Koch's report, "When the Mountains Roared"; from Spencer, The Big Blowup; and from claim files of the Italians at the National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
Weigle returns to town, what he found, his reaction, from his account, "Report on the 1910 Fires," National Archives, Seattle.
Weigle, all crews lost, from his "Report on the 1910 Fires."
12. The Lost Night
Magazine description of the fiercest forest fire ever, from Collier's, September 24, 1910.
Maclean quote, from Maclean, Young Men and Fire.
Greeley quoted on all hell breaking loose, from Greeley, Forests and Men.
Wallace, account of its being doomed, then surviving the fire, from two editions, published on same day, The Missoulian, August 21, 1910.
Accounts of flames burning homes, from Seattle Times, August 25, 1910.
Soldiers on the train, overseeing the evacuation, from Hult, Northwest Disaster.
Quote of the fire chief, from Hult, Northwest Disaster.
How the fire affected property owned by Senator Heyburn, from Idaho Press, August 25, 1910.
Wallace evacuation and the plight of the hospital, from Idaho Press, August 22, 1910; Spencer, The Big Blowup; and Hart and Nelson, Mining Town.
Emma Pulaski quotes, from her "Memories of a Forest Service Wife."
Boss is dead quote, from Pulaski's own account, and from Stockton's account as reported in Crowell and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
Death of the Italians, from their claim files, Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
Additional information on the Italians, from consulate's report, Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
Quote on being cooked alive, from Crowell and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
Arthur Hogue quote on what fire looked like, from Spencer, The Big Blowup.
Eighteen bodies burned, death of Grogan, suicide of firefighter, from Koch, "When the Mountains Roared," Forest Service Region One office, Missoula.
Cause of Weigert's death, and conclusion of suicide, from claim files, Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
Times of death for firefighters with Grogan, from Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, Seattle.
Common laborer, from Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, Seattle.
Two Englishmen, final letter: on Holmes, from Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, Seattle, and for the other victim, from The Missoulian, August 25, 1910, and Hult, Northwest Disaster.
13. Towns Afire
Taft burning, from Koch, Forty Years a Forester, and from Koch's report, "History of the 1910 Fires," on file at the Forest Service Region One headquarters, Missoula.
Quote, I've lost all my crews, from Spencer, The Big Blowup.
Sky turning a ghastly color, from Koch, "History of the 1910 Fires."
What town of Taft was like, from Doctors, Dynamite and Dogs, by Edith M. Schussler, Caxton Printers, 1956.
Wence, the Northern Pacific section man, quoted in The Missoulian, August 24, 1910.
Whole canyon on fire, from Koch, "The 1910 Fire Season."
Quote from man in Mullan, from The Missoulian, special commemorative edition, August 2000.
Death of towns, from Koch, "When the Mountains Roared," and from individual ranger reports on file at the Forest Service Region One headquarters, Missoula.
Evacuation of Grand Forks, from Hult, Northwest Disaster, and from Crowel and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
What it looks like, from the author's visit to the site, August 15, 2007.
Pinkie Adair story, from oral history project, Latah County Historical Society.
Additional Pinkie story, from Crowel and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
14. To Save a Town
Here lies a coon, from Gems of Thought and History of Shoshone County, edited by George Hobson, Kellogg Evening News Press, 1946.
Avery troops, from official report of 25th Infantry, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, National Archives; Lieutenant Lewis's report, from Forest Service Region One office, Missoula.
Kid on the train, from Hardship and Happy Times, edited by Bert Russell, Lacon Publishers, 1978.
Pinkie Adair, from oral history project, Latah County Historical Society. Black troops "stuck to their posts like men," from Crowell and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
Negro soldiers' heroic service, from Seattle Times, August 22, 1910.
Description of blacks, from Collier's, September 24, 1910.
Race quote, a whiter set of men, from Seattle Times, August 28, 1910.
15. The Missing
Weigle, from his narrative in "Report on the 1910 Fires," on file, National Archives, Seattle.
World was black to my eyes, Pulaski, from his account,
Emma's view, from her account, "Memories of a Forest Service Wife."
Nicholson, lack of compensation, from Records of the Forest Service, National Archives, Seattle, and from Spencer, The Big Blowup.
Weigle, never have I seen conditions so appalling, quoted in Seattle Times, August 23, 1910.
Headlines, from Spokane Spokesman-Review, August 25, 1910.
Halm believed lost, from Idaho Press, August 24, 1910.
Debitt, food supply short, from Crowell and Asleson, Up the Swiftwater.
Halm's death reported, from New York Times, August 27, 1910.
Halm, from his account in Early Days of the Forest Service.
Haines volunteers to search, from Weigle, "The Great Idaho Fire of 1910."
Halm, from his account in Early Days of the Forest Service.
Patrick Sullivan, compensation, death, from the Records of the Forest Service, National Archives.
16. The Living and the Dead
Dead bodies as charcoal, from Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 23, 1910.
Pinkie Adair, from oral history project, Latah County Historical Society.
Quote, fire worse than San Francisco earthquake, from The Missoulian, August 25, 1910.
Quote, United States just ended its latest war, from Collier's, September 24, 1910.
Deaths at Big Creek, from Weigle, "Report on the 1910 Fires"; Spencer, The Big Blowup; and Halm, in Early Days of the Forest Service.
Weigle throwing guy down stairs, from Idaho Press, August 25, 1910.
Lullaby story, several versions, this one from Koch, Forty Years a Forester.
Emma taking care of Ed Pulaski, from her "Memories of a Forest Service Wife."
Italians and consulate's efforts to compensate them, from Records of the Forest Service, National Archives.
17. Fallout
Pinchot placing blame for cause of fire, from New York Times, August 27, 1910.
Pinchot quote, more blame, from Everybody's Magazine, October 1910.
Blame, back and forth, from Idaho Press, September 8, 1910.
Revolutionary speech, from The Autobiography of William Allen White.
Taft reaction, from Chessman, Theodore Roosevelt,
and from Miller, Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism.
New Nationalism speech and reaction, from The Missoulian, September 1, 1910, and Theodore Roosevelt Association, www.theodoreroosevelt.org.
Pinchot on rebuke to reactionaries, from Anderson, William Howard Taft.
Taft retreats to bed and weeps, from The Autobiography of William Allen White, and Anderson, William Howard Taft.
Great fun quote, from Pinchot diaries, March 13, 1911.
Opposition to the Forest Service died, from Steen, The United States Forest Service.
Zane Grey forester book, The Young Forester, Grosset and Dunlap, 1910.
Death of Senator Heyburn, from obituary in New York Times, October 18, 1912.
18. One for the Boys
Replanting Bitterroots, and Morris's observations on the land after the fire, from "Experiences on a National Forest," by William W. Morris, part of Early Days of the Forest Service, on file at the Forest Service Region One headquarters, Missoula.
Pulaski and claims, from "Pulaski, Two Days in August, 1910."
Pulaski self-description, from American Forests, July 1984.
Back and forth on Pulaski claims, from memos on file at the Forest Service Region One headquarters, Missoula.
Cost of a memorial, memos on file at the Forest Service Region One headquarters.
Pulaski death, from Forest Service biography, files. Pinchot appearance and not feeling well, from photographs and Pinchot diaries, January and February 1911.
Pinchot feeling cheerful, from Pinchot diaries, March 1911. Tree dedicated, from National Park Service website, www.nps.gov/muwo/historyculture/stories.htm.
Heyburn as intense partisan, from the Museum of North Idaho news clips on his life, collected in a single bound file at the museum.
White, mostly rich men quote, from The Autobiography of William Allen White.
Roosevelt at the end, from Gould, The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.
Taft quote on his presidency, from www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/williamhowardtaft.
Quote, life at its warmest, from Pinchot, Breaking New Ground.
What fire meant to Forest Service, quote, from Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America, by Rocky Barker, Island Press, 2005.
Weigle's second and third acts, from Forest Service archives, Ketchikan, Alaska, www.fs.fed.us/r10.
