Customer Reviews

Trimotor and Trail: Pioneer Smokejumpers

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While the Mann Gulch fire is only one chapter of this book, it was my main interest. Having read other accounts, it was nice to hear the voice of someone actually involved. Cooley writes well and in an enjoyable, straight-forward manner. I've enjoyed other books on this incident but this added something extra that I'm finding hard to describe. Other accounts of this incident include Noman MacLean's "Young Men and Fire" and "A Great Day to Fight Fire: Mann Gulch, 1949" by Mark Matthews.

Other chapters provide an enjoyable read as well for anyone interested in wildfire fighting and forest rangering in the mid-twentieth century.

If you get an original printing you'll probably have an Earl Cooley signatured copy - written by the pioneer and leader of what many call the Smokejumper Brotherhood. This book is approx. 1/2 autobiography and 1/2 depositions from those surviving the Mann Gulch fire of August 5th, 1949 - including Earl Cooley's own perspective as the spotter for this aerial dispatch. I consider the book five star because it is well written and portrays a person with a high level of courage and leadership who successfully survived a lifetime of financial and job related challenges. Earl Cooley passed away November 9, 2009 at the age of 98 - leaving an impressive legacy. I knew Earl as the #1 guy while I was a Smokejumper at the Missoula, Montana Hale Field base during the 1949, 50 and 52 fire seasons. As far as the Mann Gulch fire is concerned, in my opinion, as rookies we were trained to jump into trees and alpine meadows and to put small fires out - typically two man fires for the suppression of spot fires started by lightning strikes. These fires might smolder for one or two days before taking off for a run through ground fuels and then perhaps turn into a roaring crown fire. We were not trained for fire behavior or fire safety relative to large fires or fires that might suddenly transform from a two man fire into a large fire. Hence, when dispatched to anything larger than a two man fire - one or two seasoned and more highly fire-trained squad bosses jumped with us to keep us fire safe. Wag Dodge was the lead person on the Mann Gulch dispatch. However, when the moment came, his crew panicked, ignored his directions to make use of the back-fire he started, and ran for the ridgetop - with disastrous results. Wag Dodge survived by his actions. Sallee and Rumsey survived by sheer luck. Earl Cooley initially paid for the crosses spotted across the hillside of Mann Gulch, but because of freeze-thaw damage they have been replaced by the U.S. Forest Service - as well as a Star of David for one of our Brothers. Read the book and see what you think.