What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Great Apache Forest
J. W. Schultz (1859–1947) was an author, explorer, and historian known for his historical writings of the Blackfoot Indians in the late 1800s, when he lived among them as a fur trader. In 1907, Schultz published My Life as an Indian, the first of many future writings about the Blackfeet that he would produce over the next thirty years. Schultz lived in Browning, Montana. This Plains veteran's book "In the Great Apache Forest " was published in 1920 and is “real stuff,” vivid and exciting, with the value that comes from firsthand knowledge.
Considered one of the best of Schultz' Indian stories, "In the Great Apache Forest," is the true story of 17-year-old George Crosby who being too young to serve his country in France becomes a member of the forest service in Arizona, where he encounters troublesome outlaws and helps to rout them. This book satisfies the reader's love of a struggle for he is fighting not merely the forest fires but real flesh and blood villains.
The book introduces incidentally considerable interesting information about the Hopi Indians and a plea for fairer treatment of them. It is while at his lookout station high up on a hilltop that Crosby is visited by a group of Hopi Indians. One of these, trained in an American school, tells of the Indian customs. It is with these Indians' help he is able to protect the forest from a group of left-wing "fire bug" activists seeking to burn it down (members of the Industrial Workers of the World). Other antagonists include a giant grizzly and an Army deserter---both intent on causing havoc. A bit of mystery adds to the interest.
The geography on which this adventure unfolds is Apache National Forest which covered most of Greenlee County, Arizona southern Apache County, Arizona, and part of western Catron County, New Mexico. Here is a high country; the altitude of Greer is 8500 feet, and south of it there is a steady rise for eleven miles to the summit of the range, Mount Thomas, 11,460 feet. And here, covering both slopes of the White Mountains, is the largest virgin forest that we have outside of Alaska, the Apache National Forest. It is about a hundred miles wide, and more than that in length, and contains millions of feet of centuries-old Douglas fir, white pine, and spruce. The great forest still harbors an abundance of game animals and birds, and its cold, pure streams are full of trout. Here the sportsman could still find in 1918 grizzly bears, some of them of great size. There were black bears, also, and mule deer and Mexican whitetail deer, and of wild turkeys and blue grouse great numbers. Cougars, wolves, coyotes, and lesser prowlers of the night were quite numerous and in most of the streams the beavers were ever at work upon their dams and lodges.
Of Crosby and his home range, Schultz writes:
"George Crosby was born and has lived all of his seventeen years, in Greer, a settlement of a halfdozen pioneer families located on the Little Colorado River, in the White Mountains, Arizona, The settlers of Greer are a hardy people. Theirs is one continuous struggle with Nature for the necessities of life. It was then, at the opening of the war, that George Crosby considered what he could do for the good cause. Came the summer of 1918, and the Supervisor of the Apache National Forest found himself woefully short of men, and the dreaded fire season coming on. The most of his rangers, fire lookouts, and patrols had gone to the war, and he could not find enough men of the right sort to take their places. . . . With this introduction, I let George tell his story, a story that I found exciting enough. "
Considered one of the best of Schultz' Indian stories, "In the Great Apache Forest," is the true story of 17-year-old George Crosby who being too young to serve his country in France becomes a member of the forest service in Arizona, where he encounters troublesome outlaws and helps to rout them. This book satisfies the reader's love of a struggle for he is fighting not merely the forest fires but real flesh and blood villains.
The book introduces incidentally considerable interesting information about the Hopi Indians and a plea for fairer treatment of them. It is while at his lookout station high up on a hilltop that Crosby is visited by a group of Hopi Indians. One of these, trained in an American school, tells of the Indian customs. It is with these Indians' help he is able to protect the forest from a group of left-wing "fire bug" activists seeking to burn it down (members of the Industrial Workers of the World). Other antagonists include a giant grizzly and an Army deserter---both intent on causing havoc. A bit of mystery adds to the interest.
The geography on which this adventure unfolds is Apache National Forest which covered most of Greenlee County, Arizona southern Apache County, Arizona, and part of western Catron County, New Mexico. Here is a high country; the altitude of Greer is 8500 feet, and south of it there is a steady rise for eleven miles to the summit of the range, Mount Thomas, 11,460 feet. And here, covering both slopes of the White Mountains, is the largest virgin forest that we have outside of Alaska, the Apache National Forest. It is about a hundred miles wide, and more than that in length, and contains millions of feet of centuries-old Douglas fir, white pine, and spruce. The great forest still harbors an abundance of game animals and birds, and its cold, pure streams are full of trout. Here the sportsman could still find in 1918 grizzly bears, some of them of great size. There were black bears, also, and mule deer and Mexican whitetail deer, and of wild turkeys and blue grouse great numbers. Cougars, wolves, coyotes, and lesser prowlers of the night were quite numerous and in most of the streams the beavers were ever at work upon their dams and lodges.
Of Crosby and his home range, Schultz writes:
"George Crosby was born and has lived all of his seventeen years, in Greer, a settlement of a halfdozen pioneer families located on the Little Colorado River, in the White Mountains, Arizona, The settlers of Greer are a hardy people. Theirs is one continuous struggle with Nature for the necessities of life. It was then, at the opening of the war, that George Crosby considered what he could do for the good cause. Came the summer of 1918, and the Supervisor of the Apache National Forest found himself woefully short of men, and the dreaded fire season coming on. The most of his rangers, fire lookouts, and patrols had gone to the war, and he could not find enough men of the right sort to take their places. . . . With this introduction, I let George tell his story, a story that I found exciting enough. "
- GenresClassics
112 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1920
78 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
James Willard Schultz
123 books30 followersJames Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, (born August 26, 1859, died June 11, 1947) was a noted author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfoot Indians.
James Willard Schultz (J.W. Schultz) started writing at the age of 21, publishing articles and stories in Forest and Stream for 15 years. He did not write his first book until 1907 at age 48. The memoir: ''My Life as an Indian tells the story of his first year living with the Pikuni tribe of Blackfeet Indians East of Glacier. In 1911, he associated himself with publishers Houghton Mifflin who published Schultz's subsequent books for the next 30 years. In all, Schultz wrote and published 37 fiction and non-fiction books dealing with the Blackfoot, Kootenai, and Flathead Indians. His works received critical literary acclaim from the general media as well as academia for his story telling and contributions to ethnology. Sometime after 1902, while living in Southern California, Schultz worked for a while as the literary editor of the Los Angeles Times.
James Willard Schultz (J.W. Schultz) started writing at the age of 21, publishing articles and stories in Forest and Stream for 15 years. He did not write his first book until 1907 at age 48. The memoir: ''My Life as an Indian tells the story of his first year living with the Pikuni tribe of Blackfeet Indians East of Glacier. In 1911, he associated himself with publishers Houghton Mifflin who published Schultz's subsequent books for the next 30 years. In all, Schultz wrote and published 37 fiction and non-fiction books dealing with the Blackfoot, Kootenai, and Flathead Indians. His works received critical literary acclaim from the general media as well as academia for his story telling and contributions to ethnology. Sometime after 1902, while living in Southern California, Schultz worked for a while as the literary editor of the Los Angeles Times.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 14, 2013
About George Crosby - my grandfather.
A picture of the lookout tower on Mt. Baldy mentioned in the book can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swregion...
A picture of the lookout tower on Mt. Baldy mentioned in the book can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swregion...
November 26, 2020
In the Great Apache Forest, The story of a Lone Boy Scout by James Willard Schultz
Story starts with intro to the main hero: George Crosby and he always wanted to be a boy scout but growing up he was never even near close enough to the boy scout troops. He applied to become one and they agreed he could and then as the war went on and his uncle was off to fight in France, he wanted to do his part in the US.
His tribe lives in AZ and he was able to get a job guarding for fires in the Apache National Forest.
I was so happy to learn of this and that there was even a forest dedicated to the Apache. Love all the super descriptive details of the area and how he had help getting his items to the cabin up the mountain.
He finds many things out of place one day when he returns to his cabin, food missing. There is also trouble in the area, some firebugs are setting fires near the sawmill. They are able to get help from other tribes and police in the area but are never able to find them.
George also watches a trail of blue smoke each morning and puts it all together and he knows who the culprit is.
An Indian from Hopi tribe appears and they become friends and they are there to summon rain gods as their crops in the desert need rain, badly.
So does the Apache forest. What a lot of excitement and mystery and clues over the course of this book, so cool. Animals are throughout the book also.
Author made it so real for me as if I was there to experience it all first hand. Love the caves and things found and the sacred lands.
Story starts with intro to the main hero: George Crosby and he always wanted to be a boy scout but growing up he was never even near close enough to the boy scout troops. He applied to become one and they agreed he could and then as the war went on and his uncle was off to fight in France, he wanted to do his part in the US.
His tribe lives in AZ and he was able to get a job guarding for fires in the Apache National Forest.
I was so happy to learn of this and that there was even a forest dedicated to the Apache. Love all the super descriptive details of the area and how he had help getting his items to the cabin up the mountain.
He finds many things out of place one day when he returns to his cabin, food missing. There is also trouble in the area, some firebugs are setting fires near the sawmill. They are able to get help from other tribes and police in the area but are never able to find them.
George also watches a trail of blue smoke each morning and puts it all together and he knows who the culprit is.
An Indian from Hopi tribe appears and they become friends and they are there to summon rain gods as their crops in the desert need rain, badly.
So does the Apache forest. What a lot of excitement and mystery and clues over the course of this book, so cool. Animals are throughout the book also.
Author made it so real for me as if I was there to experience it all first hand. Love the caves and things found and the sacred lands.
March 22, 2019
Being a denizen of the wilds of Arizona, and experienced mountain top worker for many years, I related completely to this short book. Schultz usually writes from his own experience, but I can't tell if he did in this case, as I have yet to fully study his biography. Most of his writings are about time with the Blackfeet indians, but his story has historic details about the wobblies or Socialist unionists that caused lot of issues in early 20th Century Arizona.
January 16, 2023
Once my eyes and ears got used to the cadence, vocabulary and phrasing of the characters in this book, I really enjoyed. A short novella, it was a perfect bedtime read and I learned a lot about some Hopi customs.
February 19, 2019
A Summer Adventure
A very enjoyable read. There are some spelling and typo errors, but they do not detract from the story and what a great history lesson.
A very enjoyable read. There are some spelling and typo errors, but they do not detract from the story and what a great history lesson.
January 24, 2020
Excellant older biography
Wonderful story of a different time . Do not expect minute to minute excitement. I have been to this country and the story sounds true. I hope it is.
Wonderful story of a different time . Do not expect minute to minute excitement. I have been to this country and the story sounds true. I hope it is.
February 10, 2020
Fiction of the west
At first I thought this book was a true story b the more I read I read it was just fiction. But not that bad of fiction.
At first I thought this book was a true story b the more I read I read it was just fiction. But not that bad of fiction.
March 23, 2023
I now call home the mountains where this story takes place. It’s a beautiful depiction of our beautiful Arizona White Mountains!
April 24, 2023
Superb reading
Fantastic true life stories of a young American youth sent to the mountains to work as a fire scout.
That is just the beginning of an incredible adventure.
Fantastic true life stories of a young American youth sent to the mountains to work as a fire scout.
That is just the beginning of an incredible adventure.
October 11, 2007
I enjoyed this book. I think his books are easy reads. His cabin home in Greer is about 25 minutes from my home. I have visited it as the Butterfly Lodge Museum several times. The principle character in the book is George Crosby who married Hannah Butler, daughter of John and Aunt Molly Butler. George was on the lookout for any movement of German spies during the First World War. He found some and it was exciting to read about how he handled the situation.
December 7, 2021
Great story
She'll tell us does a good story. This is my second read of this book and I enjoyed it both times.
She'll tell us does a good story. This is my second read of this book and I enjoyed it both times.
June 11, 2022
Love his books. It’s been a great find discovering this writer and his books!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews