Buddy wrote:


Great choice, Gary. I read this several years ago and also found it
riveting. The main point I remember was the berating of Wag Dodge for being
ahead of his time, by starting a small fire to survive before this technique
was formally recognized. I also remember feeling a little nauseous every
time I read the word "upgulch," and it was used a lot. I believe MacLean
died before finishing this book and someone else actually got it ready for
publication. --Buddy



Thanks Buddy. I had picked it up 3 times and could not get into it, but
I started it again last Wednesday for the 4th time and could not put it
down.

Your memory is correct re Wag Dodge and I think my jaw dropped when I
read that part. MacLean does explain that the technique was used in
Plains fires by native Americans and settlers.

The families came after the Forest Service saying his safety fire
stopped the others from escaping. MacLean, by this own investigations,
found the place where Dodge set the fire (it was marked by a wooden
cross the day following the fire, and MacLean triangulated the spot
using a old photo, finding this same cross ... over 30 years on!!!). He
concluded that they could not have been impeded by it.

Your memory is also correct that the press finished it off, mostly
chapterizing it, checking and sometimes correcting facts, removing
repititions.

My favorite parts were the description of the wildfire, how fast it
moved, how it fuels itself into a whirl that can consume a square mile
in an hour.

A damn good read full of MacLean's beautiful imagery and metaphysical
language.

BTW, I looked up Mann Gulch today on Google Earth. Has not changed a bit
since the fire nearly 60 years ago ...

Gary