Conflagration - 1910

By L. R. Spencer

Alexander Livingston left the Texas farm where he was born in 1899. He wanted to experience the frontier his father and great-uncle had described. But where? It had disappeared in Texas. He headed north and west to the Rocky Mountains seeking it. Working on ranches and in logging camps in the Rockies gave him a wealth of experience, most of which he would just as soon gone without, that prepared him for a job with the newly formed United States Forest Service. In 1909 he was transferred to the East Front of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, a backwater in the national forest system. His assignment was to manage Forest Service holdings stretching from the mountain front to the Continental Divide, an area of over 2,000 square miles.Livingston's assigned area contained no gold, silver, or copper, produced piss-poor timber, and encompassed mostly rocky soil unfit for the plow. Even without the draw of valuable natural resources, aspiring entrepreneurs and hopeful agronomists flocked to the area. Remnants of the once great Blackfeet Nation struggled to hold on to their lands, and poachers, rustlers, and other outlaws roamed the mountain slopes. It was an impossible job. While trying to carry out his assigned duties, Alex met two women who further complicated his life: Oota Dabun (Day Star), a Blackfeet princess, and Tuva Olsson, the daughter of a Norse homesteader. In August of 1910, the job got worse. The Northern Rocky Mountains erupted in flame. The "Big Blowup" incinerated three million acres of timber in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Alex joined a ragtag army of firefighters fighting the conflagration. It was Hell on earth. Fire raced forward faster than a man could run. Trees ignited like Roman candles. Heat seared firefighters. Smoke choked them. Prayers failed. To put a spin on a popular public service announcement, "Only you can prevent forest fires, but once a big one starts, only rain can put it out."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0F5NZC773
• ISBN13: 9798315265191
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 290 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"