First Rangers: The Life and Times of Frank Liebig and Fred Herrig, Glacier Country 1902-1910

Book excerpt: A special breed of adventurer, the first forest rangers were among the explorers, mountain men, lawmen, and pioneers who made America. First Rangers details the exploits of two of these men, told mostly in their own words. Written in the saddle while riding along the trail, or on a log at camp, or at a table in a dimly lit cabin, these stories bring to life a bygone era. “Their stories, to paraphrase Don Bunger, Liebig’s neighbor and friend, will never happen again to anyone, for the conditions are not here anymore to produce them,“ writes author C. W. Guthrie. Part journal written by the men themselves and part carefully researched biography illustrated by fascinating historic photos and documents, First Rangers celebrates two men who were, as Guthrie puts it, “. . . heroes of their era. Liebig as the first forest ranger in what became Glacier National Park built the first ranger station, patrolled over a half-million acres, led numerous wildfire fights and saved at least three lives that we know about. Herrig, who met Theodore Roosevelt while working as a horse wrangler in Medora, North Dakota and later on at Roosevelt’s ranch in the Badlands, joined the Rough Riders and was with Roosevelt in the 1898 Battle of San Juan Hill—the decisive battle of the Spanish-American War.” Frank Liebig and Fred Herrig’s job was to stop wildfires, timber thieves, squatters, and poachers. Supremely suited to their work, Frank and Fred were skilled woodsmen, natural leaders, and men of rare courage and integrity who entered their careers at a time when “. . .becoming a forest ranger was simply to be handed a badge, a rifle, some ammunition, a crosscut saw, and paper to write reports on as your told, ‘Go to it and good luck!’” According to Guthrie, the book is about more than the heroics and adventures of these brave and forthright men. “It is also a love story of several kinds. It is, of course, about Liebig and Herrig’s love of their adopted country, of a good challenge, of the wilderness, and of the Forest Service they served. But ultimately, it portrays their love of the women they chose to share their lives in this wild place and the love of the children to whom they passed on their hard-won knowledge of and abiding affection for the wilds of Glacier country.” Their legacy lives on in their families, in the park's protected wild lands, and in the ethos of today's forest and park rangers.