Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)

681 Pages·1997·40.427 MB·English

by  Stephen J. Pyne

Cycle of Fire
Stephen J. Pyne
"Cycle of Fire" is a suite of books that collectively narrate the story of how fire
and humanity have interacted to shape the earth. "Cycle" is an apt description
of how fire functions in the natural world. Yet "cycle" also bears a mythic
connotation: a set of sagas that tell the life of a culture hero. Here that role
belongs to fire. Ranging across all continents and over thousands of years,
the Cycle shows earth to be a fire planet in which carbon-based terrestrial
life and an oxygen-rich atmosphere have combined to make combustion
both elemental and inevitable. Equally, the Cycle reveals humans as fire
creatures, alternately dependent upon and threatened by their monopoly over
combustion. Fire's possession began humanity's great dialogue with the earth.
"Cycle of Fire" tells, for the first time, that epic story.
"Cycle of Fire" is part of the Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books, published
by the University of Washington Press under the general editorship of William
Cronon. A complete list of Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books appears at the
end of this book.
World Fire: The Culture of Fire on Earth
Vestal Fire: An Environmental History, Told through Fire, of Europe and Europe's
Encounter with the World
Fire in America: A Cultural History ofWildland and Rural Fire
Burning Bush: A Fire History of Australia
The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica
Fire: A Brief History

FIRE IN AMERICA
A Cultural History of
Wildland and Rural Fire
Stephen ). Pyne
With a Foreword by William Cronon
and a New Preface by the Author
University of Washington Press
Seattle and London
Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire
has been published with the assistance of a grant from the
Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books Endowment, established
by the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, members of the
Weyerhaeuser family, and Janet and Jack Creighton.
Copyright © 1982 by Stephen]. Pyne
Originally published in 1982 by Princeton University Press
Foreword and Preface to the University of Washington Press paperback edition
copyright © 1997 by the University of Washington Press
Paperback edition published by the University of Washington Press in 1997
10090807060504 76543
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
University of Washington Press
PO Box 50096
Seattle, WA 98145-5096, U.S.A.
www.washington.edu/uwpress
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pyne, Stephen J., 1949-
Fire in America: a cultural history of wildland and rural fire /
Stephen). Pyne ; with a foreword by William Cronon ; and a new preface by the author
p. cm. —(Cycle of fire)
Originally published: Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, c!982.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-295-97592-X
1. Wildfires—United States—History. 2. Fires—United States—History. I. Title.
II. Series: Pyne, Stephen]., 1949- Cycle of fire.
SD421.3.P96 1997 96-49191
304.2—dc2l
The paper used in this publication is acid-free and 90 percent recycled from at least 50 precent
post-consumer waste. It meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. ©o
"Where the Hayfields Were" and "The Danger in the Air," by Archibald Macleish, are reprinted
with the permission of Houghton Mifflin Company from Archibald Macleish, New and Collected
Poems 1917-1976, © 1976 by Archibald Macleish. "Fire and Ice" is reprinted by permission
of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Publishers, from The Poetiy of Robert Frost, edited by Edward
Conneiy Lathem, © 1923, © 1969 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, © 1951 by Robert Frost. Two
lines from "Little Gidding, IV" are reprinted with the permission of Harcourt Brace ]ovanovich,
Inc., from T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, © 1943 by T. S. Eliot.
I started writing this book for Joe Alston and Richard "The Kid"
Gonzales.
I ended up writing for Paul "Gummer" Engstrom, Peter "The Ape"
Griffiths, Jack Guinan, Donnie "Greenback" Hackney, "Pinyon Foot"
Kent Rethlake, Ralph "Rastus" Becker, Mike Gilbert, Tom Achterman,
Tim McGann, Eric Brueck, Dana Tally, Randy "Go For It" Seeliger,
"Uncle Jimmy" Owen, Ted Burke, Mark "Dash Riprock" Wright, Ken
Castro, Jonathan "John-Boy" Lee, Jim "Hambone" Boone, Bruce
"Pferd" Pferdeort, Lenny "The Dancing Pole" Dems, David "Ralph"
Stiegelmeyer, and the "New Hampshire Hotshots" Rich Greer and
Dan "The Man" Barter.
The other North Rim Longshots had a lot to do with it, too.
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
FOREWORD BY WILLIAM CRONON xi
PREFACE TO THE 1997 PAPERBACK EDITION XV
PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION: HISTORY WITH FIRE IN ITS EYE xix
ABBREVIATIONS xxii
PROLOGUE: THE SMOKE OF TIME 3
1: NATURE'S FIRE 6
Electrical Fire: A Natural History of Lightning Fire 8
The Fire Environment: Principles of Fire Behavior 20
Fire and Life: Principles of Fire Ecology 34
The Burned-Over Districts: A Fire History of the Northeast 45
2: THE FIRE FROM ASIA 66
Our Grandfather Fire: Fire and the American Indian 71
These Conflagrated Prairies: A Fire History of the
Grasslands 84
Paiute Forestry: A History of the Light-Burning
Controversy 100
3: THE FIRE FROM EUROPE 123
Prometheus Bound: Fire and Europe 126
Our Pappies Burned the Woods: A Fire History of the
South 143
Fire Wolves and Smokey Bears: A History of Fire
Prevention 161
4: THE GREAT BARBECUE 181
The Dragon Devastation: Fire and the Counterreclamation 184
Sky of Brass, Earth of Ash: A Fire History of the
Lake States 199
From Fire and Axe: Private and Early Government Fire
Protection 219
viii CONTENTS
5: THE HEROIC AGE 239
1910: A Fire History of the Northern Rockies 242
The Forester's Policy: A History of Fire Policy in the U.S.
Forest Service 260
A Moral and Legal Charge: A History of Fire Policy in the
Department of the Interior and Interagency Organizations 295
6: A CONTINENTAL EXPERIMENT 322
Fire and Water: A Fire History of the Northwest 327
Cross Fire: Fire Protection by the States 346
Under Fire: A History of Manpower in Fire Control 360
7: THE COLD WAR ON FIRE 387
Firepower: Fire and Warfare 390
A Burned-Out Case: A Fire History of Southern California 404
The Best Tools: A History of Fire Equipment 424
The Red Menace: A History of Rural Fire Defense 450
8: FIELDS OF FIRE 462
The Thermal Pulse: A History of Wildland Fire Research 467
Fire and Frost: A Fire History of Alaska 497
Fire on the Mountain: A Fire History of the Southwest 514
EPILOGUE: THE FORBIDDEN FLAME 530
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ABBREVIATIONS 534
NOTES 535
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY 618
INDEX 627
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Unless otherwise noted, all illustrations are courtesy of the U.S. Forest
Service.
1 . Evening satellite photo of Europe and the northern half of
Africa, January 4, 1975. Produced from U.S. Air Force, Defense
Meteorological Satellite Program film transparencies archived for
NOAA/EDIS by the Space Science and Engineering Center,
University of Wisconsin-Madison. 41
2. Charles Russell, Crow Burning the Blackfoot Range, 1905.
Courtesy Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming. 73
3. Alfred Jacob Miller, Prairie on Fire, 1836. Courtesy Public
Archives of Canada, C-432. 77
4. A. F. Tait, The Trapper's Defence, 1845. Courtesy Harry T.
Peters Collection, Museum of the City of New York. 77
5. Grass fire suppression, Oklahoma, 1908. 93
6. Coastal redwood forest converted to pasturage, California,
1936. 106
7. Louisiana pinery converted to pasturage, ca. 1920. 150
8. A James Montgomery Flagg poster for the national fire
prevention campaign begun in the late 1930s. 173
9. The exodus from Peshtigo, as reported by Harper's Weekly,
1871. 207
10. The aftermath at Hinckley, 1894. Reproduced from Rev.
William Wilkinson, Memorials of the Minnesota Forest Fires . . .
(Minneapolis, 1895). 209
1 1. The War Eagle mine, 1910. 249
12. J. B. Leiberg, map of Bitterroot Forest Reserve, 1898.
Reproduced from U.S. Geological Survey, Twentieth Annual
Report (1900). 253
13. Mather Field Conference, 1921. 269
14. The Tillamook fire in eruption, 1933. Courtesy Oregon State
Department of Forestry. 325