At Jason's suggestion Turkey Lurkey needed to go on the trip with us to document our stops....sort of like where in the world is Turkey Lurkey. Our first real stop was Fort Missoula where we saw a great display on The Great Fire of 1910. It was a wildfire which burned about three million acres ( approximately the size of Connecticut) in northeast Washington, northern Idaho (the panhandle), and western Montana. Smoke from the fire was said to have been seen as far east as Watertown, New York and as far south as Denver, Colorado. It was reported that at night, 500 miles out into the Pacific Ocean, ships could not navigate by the stars because the sky was cloudy with smoke. The Fire of 1910 shaped the U.S. Forest Service policies around how to handle forest fires. Before the epic event, there were many debates on how to handle forest fires; whether to let them burn because they were a part of nature and were expensive to fight, or to fight them in order to protect the forests. After the devastation of the Big Blowup, it was decided that the U.S. Forest Service was to prevent and battle against every wildfire. Interesting that the U. S. Forest Service has now reversed that decision.Ed Pulaski was a forest ranger who played a prominent role in the fire of 1910. He is widely credited for the invention of the Pulaski in 1911,
The other interesting exhibit was about the The 25th Infantry Bicycle Corp, a unit of black soldiers which was formed in 1896 to test the combat viability of bicycle mounted troops by riding from Missoula, Montana to Saint Louis, Missouri. This would be accomplished first by a ride from Fort Missoula, Montana to Yellowstone National Park and back in 1896 and then with a ride from the fort through the Rocky Mountains, and across the Great Plains to Saint Louis in 1897. Makes the STP look like a cake walk!
No comments:
Post a Comment