K.D. Swan’s career with the U.S. Forest Service, from 1911 to 1947, spanned the “Stetson-hat era,” when foresters patrolled the backcountry on horseback and performed a remarkable range of duties. In this lively, detailed retracing of his “trail,” K.D. brings those days alive, inviting us to ride alongside as he cruises timber, plants seedlings, patrols through blizzards, drafts maps, fights wildfires, builds trails, and more. Luckily for us, K.D. became a talented photographer renowned for his images of forestry work and wild, wide-open landscapes. The result is a wonderfully rich, insightful record of a forester’s life in Region 1—Montana, northern Idaho, and western South Dakota—during the agency’s early years. Here are remote ranger stations, men digging fire line, mule strings laden with supplies, and the first smokejumpers, but also sod-roofed farmsteads, small-town street scenes, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and hardships on the home front during the war years.
Holistic Ranch is a regenerative farmstead in the Hudson Valley. We invite you to join us, to slow down, get inspired and reconnect - with yourselves, each other and the land.
