MOM
78 V
A FOREST RANGER
THE FOREST RANGER
AND OTHER VERSE
COLLECTED & EDITED BY
JOHN D. GUTHRIE
Captain, Engineers, U. 5". Reserve;
formerly Forest Supervisor (on furlough),
U. S. Forest Service
BOSTON
RICHARD G. BADGER
THE GORHAM PRESS
COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY JOHN D. GUTHBIS
All Rights Reserved
. >. ( U%"\ UL ^1-A-J
Made in the United States of America
The Gorham Press, Boston, U.S.A.
DEDICATED TO
G. P.
A FIGHTER FOR THE CAUSE
OF
CONSERVATION
39R917
THE MEN WHO WROTE THE VERSES
MILFORD, Pike Co., Pa.,
August 7, 1917-
Mr. Jno. D. Guthrie, Flagstaff, Ariz.
DEAR GUTHRIE: I have read every word of
your collection of verses of the Forest Service, all
of it with keen interest, much of it with deep sym
pathy and real delight. You have put me, with
every other Forest Service man, deeply in your debt.
Nothing in years has so brought back to me the
spirit of the old days, and nothing has confirmed in
me so clearly the belief long held that the
Service now is the same as it was when I knew it by
daily contact.
For half a generation I have been convinced that
no body of men in our Government service, and that
means in any Government service in the world, has
so high a standard of efficiency and such fine and
generous devotion to duty as the United States For
est Service, or is rendering in proportion to its num
bers so extensive and valuable public service.
Our people generally know that the Forest Service
is clean and able, and can be trusted, but they have
no conception of what it has passed through to reach
its present well-earned place. Naturally, they do
not realize the difficulties and responsibilities of the
individual forest officer in his daily work. But the
men who wrote these verses know, and I know too.
You have made a real contribution to the safety and
success of Forestry in America by publishing this
book, for you have given the general reader a chance
to understand something of what the work actually
5
The Men Wh<* Wrote the Verses
means to the men who are doing it on the National
Forests.
American Foresters generally, and the men of the
Service in particular, have always been willing to
tackle any job, to make any personal sacrifice for
the good of the work, and they have always had the
forester s long look ahead. They have seen the
great end from the small beginning, and have done
cheerfully the hardest kind of hard work, have exer
cised the most trying patience, have hung on with
the grimmest determination, often for a distant re
sult, the full flower of which they can not hope to
live to see.
^ You yourself and many of the other men of the
Forest Service are going into the War. Thereby
you will change your uniform but not the spirit of
your work. You were giving your lives to the Na
tion before, and you are doing the same thing now.
I wish it could be my good fortune to be with you
now as I was in the times gone by. Good luck go
with you.
I was proud of the men of the Service when I be
longed to it, and I am as proud of them today.
There is no finer body of men alive. C. C. Hall ex
presses my sentiments exactly in the verses " To My
Old Comrades," when he says:
" They say that Heaven is a beautiful place
With rest, sweet songs, peace and joys
But the thing that would suit me down to the ground
Is- charge of God s Forests, and for Rangers these
boys."
Sincerely yours,
GlFFORD PlNCHOT.
6
CONTENTS
THE FOREST RANGER 19
Fred G. Plummer
THE GOVERNMENT S HANDY MAN . . .21
Arthur Chapman
THE CALL 22
Scott Leavitt
THE EASTERNER 24
Jack Welch
THE FOOL AND OUR FOREST DOLLARS . . 26
E. T. Allen
AN OFFICE DETAIL : " . , 27
James H. Sizer
I VE BEEN WORKING ON THE SURVEY . . 29
WHEN THE RANGER S FEET GET COLD . . 30
A. R. Ivey
THE FOREST CLERK . . 32
Rita A. Castle
THE FOREST ASSISTANT S COMPROMISE . . 34
R. F. Feagans
THE FLORIDA RANGER . . . ... 36
/. F. Eldredge
THE FIRE BUG AND THE EAST WIND 37
E. T. Allen
THE RANGER ""."". 39
7
Contents
PAGE
FOREST FIRES 4 1
J. D. G.
PROMOTION 43
James H. Sizer
THE FORESTRY STUDENT 44
THE MYSTERY - . 45
Aldo Leopold
A RANGER TO His BROTHER AT THE U . . 47
James H. Banner
THE GILA RANGER S SONG 49
Jack Case
THE NIGHT TRAIL . 50
Scott Leavitt
ONLY A LITTLE TREE-BUTTON . . . . 52
Constance Mainwaring
RESOLUTIONS OF A RANGER 53
Aldo Leopold
A RANGER S DAY . 55
SKIDOO SKIS .56
James H. Sizer
A RANGER S WORKING PLAN 57
/. D. G.
THE FORESTER S LAMENT 58
R. W. Ayres
A RANGER S JOYS 60
A. R. Ivey
THE FOREST FIRE FIGHTERS 62
Arthur Chapman
THE RANGER ON THE TAHOE 63
A. R. Ivey
8
Contents
PAGE
THE CRY OF THE SURVEY CREW . . .., .. 65
SPARE TIME 66
Aldo Leopold
THE RANGER S LIFE 68
Arthur Chapman
A BUG-LAND LULLABY 69
H. R. Mullen
THE HOBO RANGER 71
Norman K. Olmstead
SUN RIVER PASS 73
Scott Leavitt
A RANGER S NEW YEAR S RESOLUTIONS . . 76
H. R. Batter ton
CIRCULAR ONE-FOUR-NINE-SEVEN ... 78
William E. Harris
THE TOURIST AND THE RANGER ... 80
Aldo Leopold
THE HEGIRA 82
Will C. Barnes
A FOREST INSPECTION HYMN . . . -,. >, 84
THIS JOB . . A.;r.ai ~W 86
WIRELESS BILL 87
James H. Sizer
THE BUSY RANGER ....... 91
/. D. G.
QUITTING TIME 93
A RANGER S THANKSGIVING HYMN ... 94
THE FIRE FOOL ^ ;^>^*v 95
A. G. Jackson
9
Contents
PAGE
THE FOREST LOAFER 96
Fred G. Plummer
RECONNAISSANCE 98
W. P. Lawson
ON CHANGING THE NAME OF HELLGATE . 100
P. S. Love joy
THE NEW FOREST ASSISTANT 101
Jack Welch
CERCOCARPUS 103
Gordon T. Backus
THE LITTLE STILL 104
Douglas Rodman
BILTMORE FOREST SCHOOL 105
James H. Sizer
THE RANGER MEETING 106
A. R. Ivey
GRIEF 108
Mary B. Sizer
THE SONG OF THE OHMLETTE .... 109
Gordon T. Backus
IF in
Harris A. Reynolds
FOREST RANGER S SONG 112
W. P. Lawson
THE PRODIGAL 114
Jack Welch
THE BUSY SEASON 116
Aldo Leopold
10
Contents
PAGE
WHEN WINTER COMES AROUND . . ., ,. 117
A. R. Ivey
RECREATION ... 119
James H. Sizer
To MY OLD COMRADES . , . . , . 122
C. C. Hall
A PIPE DREAM . . > . * . t . . y 124
SPRING HAS COMB . . . . ! i i7 V v V 125
THE DIARY AND THE REFLECTION . .. ; 127
/. A. Lars en
ON THE GUNNISON I2Q
H. L. Thackwell
LEAP YEAR AT A RANGER STATION . , 41 131
/. F. Forsythe
REMEMBER THE ALAMO . . . . ^ , 132
C. C. Hall
THE HOOK 4 , ! j j^^
/. F. Eldredge
THE SPASM FROM THE SHASTA . . . .134
A QUIVER FROM THE TAHOE 136
A MUSING FROM THE ANGELES . H .,. ,. ..,, . 138
THE BRANDING OF THE FORESTS . !ft i 1 + . 140
Witt C. Barnes
RANGER SONG FOR THE NORTH SIERRA RE
SERVE I43
Charles H. Shinn
THE FIRE GUARD ON PATROL . i^e
J.D.G.
ECONOMY i^
Charles H. Jennings
II
Contents
PAGE
FIRES 149
Bristow Adams
THE APACHE RECESSIONAL . . "" " . . 152
J. D. G.
A ROLLING STONE 153
Harry Lawson
KLAMATH BUG SONG . 155
S. W. Allen
RECEIPT FOR A RANGER 157
/. B. Cammann
FOUR CENTS TO THE LICK 158
P. S. Love joy
His WISDOM . 160
Howard C. Kegley
PLANTING RHYMES . .; *V 5 * : *v tg^ix- . 161
THE FELLOW THAT DROPT THE MATCH . .162
THE FOREST PLEADERS . . . 1 . . 163
E. T. Allen
PROSPECTIN . " . .165
/. R. Simmons
EXTRACT FROM AN OLD-TIME DIARY OF AN
OLD-TIME FOREST RANGER 166
James H. Sizer
A FOREST SYMPOSIUM 168
The Prelude 168
The Suping Supervisor 168
The Desking Districter 170
The Rangy Ranger 171
The Woman Side 172
The Last Word 174
12
EDITOR S NOTE
The verses in this volume have been in process of
collection by the writer during the past fifteen years.
Most of them appeared originally in the pages of
forest news letters issued on the different National
Forests. Poetical or literary merit is claimed only
for a few, but the claim is made that they reflect the
daily life and work of the Forest Ranger on the
National Forests of the West. Some are frankly
parodies; some are merely rhymes and jingles; some
few are songs, sung by Rangers at their occasional
meetings or perhaps hummed around a lonely camp
fire by the side of some Forest trail, in the dense fir
timber of the Pacific Northwest or the open pine
forest of Florida.
The labor of collecting and editing has been one
entirely of pleasure, and the little book is sent out
with no literary aspirations whatever but only with
the desire to bring together and put on record these
expressions of the spirit of the men who have heard
the call of the forest and of distant places, and in
the hope that they may bring back pleasant memories
of many a forest camp or meeting. Perhaps they
may be the forerunner of a collection of folk songs
of American foresters and forest workers.
Occasionally the editor has taken the liberty of
13
Editor s Note
making minor changes from the originals ; he has en
deavored always to retain the spirit back of the
words. The authors of many of the verses were
not known and thus previous permission to include
these could not be obtained. To these unknown
authors, perhaps Rangers in some far away moun
tain cabin, the writer extends his thanks. He would
appreciate being informed of the authorship of those
verses which appear as anonymous.
To the many who have responded so splendidly
to the request for copies of verses contained in the
issue of the Forest Quarterly especial thanks are
extended. The volume here presented includes less
than one-half of the total number collected and only
the ones believed by the writer )to reflect most truly
the Forest Ranger s life and work have been in
cluded; many that were received were of too per
sonal a nature or possessed a superabundance of local
color to be of general interest to foresters and Forest
officers.
Especial thanks are due to the following indi
viduals and publications for permission to include
certain of the verses:
Mr. Arthur Chapman, the Western poet, for
"The Government s Handy Man," "The Forest
Fire Fighters," and " The Ranger s Life," origin
ally appearing in the columns of the Denver Repub
lican; Mr. E. T. Allen, for " The Fool and Our
Forest Dollars," "The Fire Bug and the East
Wind," and "The Forest Pleaders"; the Uni
versity of California Journal of Agriculture, for
"The Ranger"; The Independent, for "Forest
Editors Note
Ranger s Song," by W. P. Lawson, originally ap
pearing in Harpers Weekly; American Forestry for
" The Hegira," " The Branding of the Forests,"
" If," " The Fire Fool," " The New Forest Assist
ant," " The Prodigal," " The Easterner," " Fires,"
" The Fire Guard on Patrol," " Receipt for a Ran
ger," and " His Wisdom."
JOHN D. GUTHRIE.
Flagstaff, Arizona,
June 15,
THE FOREST RANGER
THE FOREST RANGER
The Forest Ranger s mottoes stand,
" Create, protect, restore,"
To help home builders with the land
And bring content on every hand,
Now and forevermore.
Seedtime and harvest he computes,
And from her plenteous store
Summons Dame Nature s attributes
To make two saplings shoot their shoots
Where one shot heretofore.
He stops the fires that send their floods
Which tears the valley floor,
And ruin the farmer s corn and spuds,
So that two cows may chew their cuds,
Where one could heretofore.
Where only sage and cacti grew,
With ditch and reservoir,
Fed from the mount s protected snow,
He sees two drops of water flow,
Where one flew heretofore.
And as the fruit of his master hand
And knowledge of forest lore,
Bearing the stockman s glaring brand,
We see a team of horses stand
Where one stood heretofore.
19
The Forest Ranger
So here s to the Ranger s fireside;
May his tribe increase galore,
And may ten forest rangers ride
On road, on trail or steep divide,
Where one rode heretofore.
Fred G. Plummer
20
The Forest Ranger
THE GOVERNMENT S HANDY MAN
Your Uncle Sam he says to me, " I want a man to
ride,
To pack a horse, and shoot a few, and sleep out
doors besides.; "
So I signed with him as a ranger bold, to ride the
forests free,
But lord ! you ought to see the stunts your Uncle
Sam gave me !
It s law in the morning, science at night,
Study all day, and figger and write ;
He gets high-browed work on a high-browed plan,
Does the Government s handy man.
I ve broke my jaw on science names for every tree
and bark;
I ve got to know fine points in law, jest like a
Blackstone shark ;
I ve got to pick out min ral land, same as a wise
M. E.;
And this here ranger job ain t jest what it s
cracked up to be.
It s readin the Manual early and late,
Rules by the hundred get em all straight.
He d ruther punch cows, but he does what he can,
Does the Government s handy man.
Arthur Chapman
21
The Forest Ranger
THE CALL
And have you heard the Call where world-old
silence broods
And have you heard the Voice that speaks from soli
tudes ?
We who alone are wont to ride
Among the pines at eventide,
And climb to where some jutting crest
Gigantic looks toward the west,
There at the sunset hour to seek
O er wide-flung realms of crag and peak
And canyons, black with mystery
Gold islands in a shadow sea
Where silent tides of purple shade
Engulf red shores that glow and fade
Ah, we have heard the Voice that calls,
That magic Voice which has no sound :
From out the dusking night it falls,
From canyon s depth and granite walls,
And aw r e has compassed us around.
And lone the trails we ride that run
Where canyon shades shut out the sun:
Rock-gated is the op ning pass
Whence bursts the mountain s awesome mass,
Where, far above the proudest height,
A searching eagle hangs in flight
And, ever soaring, wheeling, throws
22
The Forest Ranger
A circling shadow on the snows:
And darkling is the forest shade
When camp by dusky stream is made
Ah, then the hobbles clank we hear,
When packs are off, and saddles thrown,
And, breathing round the campfire s cheer,
Again the silent Voice draws near
The Mountains, calling to their own !
And we have gone where birches stand
Like white-robed Naiads, hand in hand,
Round hidden lakes where, trembling, lies
The Secret of the Centuries,
And seems to wait but time and chance
To burst in magic utterance:
The lake gives back the fading sky:
Long shadows on the waters lie :
The pine crests last with gold are kissed :
The air is dark ning amethyst
Ah, now again from shore and lake
The magic, yearning Call is heard :
Within our depths we feel it make
Such echoes as in souls awake
That understand, and need no word.
And you have heard the Call where world-old si
lence broods
And you have heard the Voice that speaks from soli
tudes.
Scott Leavitt
The Forest Ranger
THE EASTERNER
I was a ranger on the Bow *
In the Service s early days,
With a scalin stick, and an army Colt,
And a nerve you couldn t feaze;
A veteran of the cattle-war
And the Leadville riot row,
With a keen contempt for the Easterner,
The pin-head, town-bred Easterner,
Who called a steer a " ceow."
I knew the kinks of a ranger s job
From A to the letter Z,
Fire patrol in the Snowy Range
To side camp cookery.
Slingin my tarp when the sun went down
In the Rockies fenceless campin ground;
None of the Eastern college kids
Could show a thing to me.
His tables of yield and growth per cent
Would make a cayuse smile ;
To see him throwin the diamond hitch
Would pay you to hike a mile.
He came with a thin-skinned silken tent,
His grammar was certainly excellent;
But grammar don t count for a copper cent
When savy and sand s at trial.
1 Medicine Bow, National Forett.
24
The Forest Ranger
So first we tormented him, then ignored,
I guess his life was Hell;
The pace we led the assistant man
Wouldn t be good to tell.
But as the years are speedin on
And the seasons come and go,
We re comin to see that the Easterner,
The quick-brained, school-trained Eastern^,
Is a pretty good man to know.
We ve camped and smoked and rode and joked
And run out lines together,
When the misty mountains loomed up cold
In the Bow s October weather.
We fought the fires of Nineteen ten
(Fought and ran, and fought again,
Sectional lines were forgotten then)
That made us pards forever.
Now we feel he s one of us,
And forget his Eastern birth,
We find he knows some things we don\
About this planet Earth.
So we listen while he tells us,
And he listens in return;
For each can teach the other
Some useful things to learn.
Jack Welch
The Forest Ranger
THE FOOL AND OUR FOREST DOLLARS
Goodby to the fool with the empty gun ;
Forgotten his bid for fame.
Though he kills his friend, it only counts one,
And that, nowadays, is tame.
The fool who playfully rocks the boat
Is on the front page no more.
He may rank high with the fools afloat
But his glory has gone ashore.
There s the fool with women, the fool with wine,
And the fool who games with strangers,
And the joy-ride fool (he does well in his line
By combining these ancient dangers).
But they re all still down in the primer class,
Mere novices taking a flyer,
Compared with the prize-taking criminal ass,
The fool in the woods with fire.
A few hearts break for the deeds they ve done
In their pitiful amateur way,
But fire slays dozens where they slay one
And scourges a State in a day.
For the ruined home and the smokeless stack
And the worker unemployed
Know a hundred years shall never bring back
The things that his match destroyed.
E. T. Allen
26
The Forest Ranger
AN OFFICE DETAIL
I got a little detail
To the Supervisor s shack,
And I hadn t lit in Springer,
Till I wished that I was back
On the far end of my district,
Counting stock or building trail,
For to work inside an Office
Is like doing time in jail.
This bending o er a table,
And a writing all the day,
Is a-making me hump-shouldered,
And my hair is turning gray.
It shore will be my finish
If they don t relieve me soon,
For my bewhiskered, sunburnt features
Is gettin paler than the moon.
Some may rant and cuss a little,
And feel they ve got a snob
Cause they haven t been promoted
To a Supervisor s job;
But I d rather face the devil,
Or a bald-faced grizzly bear,
Than this everlasting torment
In a Super s swivel chair.
The Forest Ranger
I thought that I had troubles
When on my district all alone,
But I ve found that serious trouble
Was a thing I d never known.
When I git back on my district,
You can bet your life I ll stay,
And be thankful to my Maker
I can draw a ranger s pay.
James H. Sizer
The Forest Ranger
I VE BEEN WORKING ON THE SURVEY
I ve been working on the survey, all the live-long
day,
I ve been working on the survey, just to pass the
time away.
Don t you hear the Cook a-calling, rise up so early
in the morn,
Don t you hear the Boss a-shouting " Pull your
trousers on ! "
Sing me a song of the Survey,
Pull that chain along,
Forester ain t half so happy
As when he s singing a song.
Stem-analysis crew for the loafers,
The Height-crew for a snap,
But if you want the best of fellows,
The Survey s the best on the map.
Lake Ambajejus, Me., 1903.
29
The Forest Ranger
WHEN THE RANGER S FEET GET COLD
In the spring the ranger s feet begin to tingle and
get warm,
For the " wanderlust " is on him, and he feels the
mountain charm.
The birds are singing gaily, and the hills are get
ting green,
And he knows the trout are leaping in every moun
tain stream.
The days are getting longer; the flowers are all in
bloom ;
So what s the use of waiting in some stuffy Ranger
room?
He gently sounds the " Boss " on the subject near
his heart.
Has he " Heard how long before Brown s sawmill
s going to start ? "
He talks about the brush that he was going to burn
last Fall,
And wonders how his fences are, and if they re
down at all,
And how his cabin stood the snow, and if it needs
repair,
And about the trail he d like to " brush " if he were
only there.
He overhauls his outfit half a dozen times a day,
Till the " Boss " takes pity on him and sends him
on his way,
For the " wanderlust " is on him, and he feels the
mountain charm,
And it s hard to hold a ranger when his feet get
warm.
The Forest Ranger
The Summer passes quickly the ranger s on the
go,
He dreads the thought of winter when he ll have
to move below.
He gets his share of pleasure, as well as plenty work,
For a ranger s jobs are many, and he s seldom known
to shirk.
He feels at home in cattle camps; the tourists are
his friends,
" And I don t care a rap," he says, " if summer
never ends ! "
For his feet are warm and tingling ; there s music in
the air,
His home is where he hangs his hat, and he doesn t
have a care.
But along about November there comes a sudden
change,
The sheep are moving southward; the cattle leave
the range.
And the ranger feels a longing, and his thoughts be
gin to roam,
And he dreams about the office, and the dear ones all
at home,
His mind is busy scheming how he s going to get
" called in."
The " Boss " has sure forgot him, and he thinks it
is a sin.
The " wanderlust " has left him, and he doesn t feel
so bold.
For he s like all other mortals when his feet get cold.
A. R. Ivey
31
The Forest Ranger
THE FOREST CLERK
Who could relate the kinds of work
That fall to the lot of the Forest Clerk?
Record the things that she must do
Before she counts her day s work through?
She opens the letters and reads the mail
From a grazer s complaint to a timber sale :
She takes dictation as a matter of course
From the janitor up to the head of the force:
She bears the brunt of the office ire
And wears a smile as she pokes the fire:
Till frowns disappear and hearts grow strong:
And not the least of her many trials
Is keeping in mind all things in the files,
Which files she arranges day after day
For those who take out but don t put away.
Accounts and disbursements must be kept well in
hand,
As for errors in that line no D. F. will stand ;
And so the poor Clerk must worry her brains,
And get little thanks for her efforts and pains :
She makes out reports and orders supplies
For the force in the office and Ranger likewise :
She straightens out claims and helps on the maps,
Reconnaissance, grazing, or boundaries, perhaps.
She answers the telephone forty times daily,
Welcomes all visitors and talks to them gaily,
E en though on her desk the work stands knee deep,
32
The Forest Ranger
And all must be finished before she can sleep.
The first of the year she turns her attention
To Accountability too awful to mention !
Then follow the things which before I have quoted
Though dozens of things I haven t yet noted,
Such as corrals and fences and bridges and trails,
Telephone lines and great timber sales:
Fire prevention for tree preservation
To help Uncle Sam promote Conservation.
She tends all these duties in a businesslike way;
So when all s said and done no critic can say
She doesn t deserve, from the hands of the Nation,
The small sum she gets as due compensation.
~Rita A. Castle
33
The Forest Ranger
THE FOREST ASSISTANT S
COMPROMISE
He longed to be a Ranger
And through the Forest ride,
A Stetson on his noble brow
Six-shooter by his side
And now he s wearing hip-boots
Down in Florida!
He had read " The Ranger s Triumph,"
All full of quirks and thrills,
He had heard of " Whiskey-High-Ball Bill "
And those six men he kills
And now he s picking chiggers
On the Ozark!
He knew some Forests by their name,
The Tusayan and Nebo,
He swore that he would win to fame
Surpassing that of Pinchot
And now he s counting sheep
Down on the Prescott!
He dreamed of fighting raging fires,
Flames leaped from tree to tree,
The giant forests gleamed and fell
As he could plainly see
And now he s stationed
In Pinyon, Nevada!
34
The Forest Ranger
He went to school for many a year,
At Penn State or dear old Yale,
He knew that he could minister
A ten million dollar sale
But now he s counting seedlings
On the Wasatch !
He thought that in the years to come
How he would win a wife,
A glorious, dazzling, wondrous maid,
A pal to him through life
And her maiden name was,
Lolita Salazar!
R. F. Feagans
35
The Forest Ranger
THE FLORIDA RANGER
Mighty is he who can sail the sea
And ride a cayuse too,
Run a line and corners find,
And boss a timber crew.
He must know how engines go,
And how to steer at night,
How to measure logs and navigate fogs,
How to quell a nigger fight.
He s got to know where the seedlings grow,
Where the oysters bask in bed,