The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America

President Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was a statesman, politician, conservationist, naturalist, and writer. He was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. He began his political career as a Republican, then formed his own Progressive party. His major accomplishments as president include trust busting, increased regulation, and conservation. As a result of his presidency, millions of acres of land are protected by the national forest reserve system.

Gifford Pinchot was a forester and politician. He served as the Chief of the United States Division of Forestry, the head of the United States Forest Service, and as Governor of Pennsylvania. He was a counsel to Presidents Cleveland, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was President Teddy Roosevelt’s closest confidant and strategist in the battle for conservation, which was his primary agenda.

William B. Greeley was one of the first forest rangers in Pinchot and Roosevelt’s new Forest Service. Pinchot put Greeley in charge of the West after he graduated from the Yale School of Forestry and he later became the chief of the United States Forest Service. He left the Forest Service in 1928 for a position in the timber industry.

Elers Koch was one of the first forest rangers in Pinchot and Roosevelt’s new Forest Service. He worked for the Forest Service for 40 years and wrote the popular book 40 Years a Forester.

Edward Crocket Pulaski was a Forest Service ranger who previously worked as a miner, railroad worker, and ranch foreman. He was severely injured and blinded while saving many lives during the great fire of 1910. He later invented the Pulaski, a type of axe commonly used by firefighters today.

Senator Clark was a copper magnate and senator. As a businessman, he had interests in mining, banking, and railroads. He used his wealth to buy influence and political office, working to combat the Forest Service and Roosevelt’s conservation agenda. He founded the town of Las Vegas, Nevada, as a maintenance stop on his rail line (Clark County, in which Las Vegas sits, is named after Senator Clark).

Senator Weldon Brinton Heyburn served as United States Senator from Idaho from 1903 to 1912 and also worked as legal counsel to mining interests. He frequently battled Roosevelt and Pinchot’s conservation agenda. A city in Idaho, a mountain, and a state park are named after him.