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Death, Daring, and Disaster: Search and Rescue in the National Parks
375 exciting tales of heroism and tragedy drawn from the nearly 150,000 search and rescue missions carried out by the National Park Service since 1872.
576 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
April 6, 2024
If you ever decide, on a whim, to take a hike in one of the many National Parks of the United States, you may want to reconsider that decision. This book painstakingly lists nearly every incident, accident, or disaster that has occurred in the parks since they were opened to visitors and the costs of responding to pleas for help. Sometimes a plane crashes or a bear lunges or a foot slips at the wrong time, but this is a read that will convince you to take precautions when enjoying the great outdoors.
The book is put together chronologically which makes it easier to read. It also provides a view of the increased events as more and more visitors visit the sites. It begins with the years before 1900 when much was just wilderness. Once Teddy Roosevelt pushed for saving these great lands, it also meant more people getting injured or dying. This, in turn, ignited the need for more rangers and volunteers to assist the clueless. In 1880s Yellowstone, for instance, visitors were slain by Indians, drowned, murdered, or overdosed (yes, they had drugs in those days). While most injuries and deaths can be attributed to car accidents and illnesses, an inordinate number occur when someone tries to ford a river. Not really a good idea!
Each decade receives its own chapter, starting with an introduction and then followed by a list of tragedies by year. Finally, the chapter concentrates on each incident, explaining how it happened and who tried to rescue who. It quickly becomes clear that the combination of paid rangers and unpaid volunteers risk their lives far too often because of the entitlement of casual climbers and hikers. Want to scale a tall mountain while a storm is brewing? Want to hike without water and adequate clothing? Want to ski off the path, resulting in avalanches? Not really a good idea!
There are, of course, major disasters that have happened in the National Parks. The collision between two airplanes over the Grand Canyon in 1956 resulted in the deaths of all aboard the two planes. There are MANY fatal flights by the military where the planes simply disappeared, only to be found decades later when the ice retreated from a mountain. In fact, just last month the United States lost an entire team when their plane was sent (needlessly) into a raging storm. Not really a good idea!
I thought this book would be too much for me, as it is full of detail. But the way it is laid out is quite perfect. It was amazing to read about more and more accidents as the years went by, showing the popularity of the parks but also the dangers. The authors also highlight the sacrifices made by the SAR Teams (“Search And Rescue”) who sometimes lose their lives when trying to save others. It’s good to know there are decent people out there trying to help others, but they wouldn’t have to do that if people didn’t try to take selfies with bison. Stay on the path and control thyself. But, hey, enjoy the scenery.
Book Season = Winter (endless crevasses)
The book is put together chronologically which makes it easier to read. It also provides a view of the increased events as more and more visitors visit the sites. It begins with the years before 1900 when much was just wilderness. Once Teddy Roosevelt pushed for saving these great lands, it also meant more people getting injured or dying. This, in turn, ignited the need for more rangers and volunteers to assist the clueless. In 1880s Yellowstone, for instance, visitors were slain by Indians, drowned, murdered, or overdosed (yes, they had drugs in those days). While most injuries and deaths can be attributed to car accidents and illnesses, an inordinate number occur when someone tries to ford a river. Not really a good idea!
Each decade receives its own chapter, starting with an introduction and then followed by a list of tragedies by year. Finally, the chapter concentrates on each incident, explaining how it happened and who tried to rescue who. It quickly becomes clear that the combination of paid rangers and unpaid volunteers risk their lives far too often because of the entitlement of casual climbers and hikers. Want to scale a tall mountain while a storm is brewing? Want to hike without water and adequate clothing? Want to ski off the path, resulting in avalanches? Not really a good idea!
There are, of course, major disasters that have happened in the National Parks. The collision between two airplanes over the Grand Canyon in 1956 resulted in the deaths of all aboard the two planes. There are MANY fatal flights by the military where the planes simply disappeared, only to be found decades later when the ice retreated from a mountain. In fact, just last month the United States lost an entire team when their plane was sent (needlessly) into a raging storm. Not really a good idea!
I thought this book would be too much for me, as it is full of detail. But the way it is laid out is quite perfect. It was amazing to read about more and more accidents as the years went by, showing the popularity of the parks but also the dangers. The authors also highlight the sacrifices made by the SAR Teams (“Search And Rescue”) who sometimes lose their lives when trying to save others. It’s good to know there are decent people out there trying to help others, but they wouldn’t have to do that if people didn’t try to take selfies with bison. Stay on the path and control thyself. But, hey, enjoy the scenery.
Book Season = Winter (endless crevasses)
September 30, 2019
2.5. This book is a quick overview of lots (and I mean lots) or SAR cases in the national parks, starting from the advent of the national parks. It purposely goes broad, but that comes at the expense of depth. There were a lot of really neat stories I would have liked to know more about. But now that I know of them, I can go search for more in-depth stories on them.
January 16, 2025
This book is probably more of a deep-dive than most readers would want, especially if you were mostly interested in deaths and extreme rescues in a specific park. For the best deep-dive into deaths in specific national parks, I’d recommend the Death in series. Out of all the volumes, I’ve only read Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park, but that one is SO good and I still quote it all the time. I even once made a small detour to visit a couple of bear cubs mentioned in that book--they’re now residents of a very nice zoo, and I’m sure they don’t even remember that time when they were babies and they ate literal humans.
However, if you’re also very interested in specific types of misadventures across the national parks, then this book is perfect as a round-up of all of them (and could really use an Index for that!). For instance, I enjoy reading about misadventures while caving, and it wouldn’t have occurred to me that one of the first recorded misadventures would be in Sequoia National Park, the story of a soldier discovering Lost Soldiers Cave in 1909 or 1910 and then promptly disappearing into it. The cave itself was apparently then lost for nearly 40 years before being rediscovered. I think this is the cave that is now referred to just as Soldiers Cave on the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park website, and that site also doesn’t say anything about this origin story… or if the remains of that original lost soldier were ever discovered!
It was also easy to get drawn into dramatic stories I’ve never before heard about, like the time in 1941 that part of a squadron of P-40 Warhawks crashed in Kings Canyon National Park. Four pilots died and four bailed out over the High Sierras--and then two bombers also crashed while searching for survivors! The wrecked plane of one of the survivors was eventually found, and there are anecdotes online about casual hikers perhaps finding other pieces of wreckage, but some planes are still officially missing. THIS is the kind of stuff that I find so interesting--imagine not even just actual humans, but actual AIRPLANES, we know exactly when they crashed, we know approximately where they crashed, and we still can’t find them! Blows my mind.
Okay, this story made me cry: in 1959, a park ranger in Glacier National Park got word that a grizzly bear was literally currently in the act of eating a hiker. So he ran over there, found that indeed, a 250-pound grizzly bear was eating a guy, tried to scare the bear away, couldn’t, and so instead he risked his own life to shoot the bear, even though this was super risky because what if the bear turned on him instead, or what if he shot the hiker? He did shoot the bear without shooting the hiker, though, rendered first aid, directed the rescue operation, and the hiker lived. I was curious about this story, so after reading it I Googled to see if there was more info, and y’all, here is where I started crying: fifty years after this event, Ranger Dayton and the bear attack survivor had a reunion!
Okay, but then after all that I had to double-check that afterwards, Ranger Dayton had continued on in peace and happiness with no further crazy events. HOWEVER, he was actually the superintendent of Carlsbad Caverns during that time in the 1970s when terrorists tried to take it over, so yeah, he’s had himself more than his fair share of adventures.
There are also some really awful stories, like the dentist who got caught in a blizzard on Mount Rainier with his two children and died saving their lives by blocking the entrance to the snow shelter they’d dug. Also, three mountain climbers, including a nine-year-old, died after falling into a snow cavern in Grand Teton National Park, causing an avalanche that buried them up to their necks in snow, and then drowning when that avalanche dammed the stream that was running through the cavern. Another mountaineer actually jumped into the cavern right after them but couldn’t save them because they were buried so deeply, and reading his report of how he kept trying to pull the nine-year-old out of the snow by his helmet and his little jacket while having to witness him drown was so awful.
One more interesting through-line is how every now and then the families of someone who has died because of their own carelessness in a national park has sued the national park service… and won?!? In 1993, two of the chaperones of a Mormon Church Explorer Scout group died when they led their kids through an extremely risky route that nobody had the training to do. Their families sued and got 1.49 million dollars. I was also an Explorer Scout that year, and Sergeant Martin would NEVER have put us in danger like that.
A lot of the stories are actually reprints of news articles of the time, which made the book a little more challenging to read, as the tone and style often changed, but I really liked seeing how each event was reported within its own particular cultural context. There were several block quotes that were harder to figure out the provenance of, which would be more problematic for citation, but didn’t bother me as a casual reader. To add to the confusion, sometimes the included photos related to the specific event being described, sometimes they depicted a similar event, and sometimes they didn’t seem to be chronologically or thematically relevant at all. I loved the photos, but I definitely wanted a clear, concrete association between each photo and the event it recorded.
Honestly, what I think this book wanted to be was an encyclopedia. It has all the great stories, but it’s not the most pleasant experience to read cover-to-cover. But if it had a keyword index and more graphics and citations, it would be a stellar reference for one of my favorite Special Interests.
However, if you’re also very interested in specific types of misadventures across the national parks, then this book is perfect as a round-up of all of them (and could really use an Index for that!). For instance, I enjoy reading about misadventures while caving, and it wouldn’t have occurred to me that one of the first recorded misadventures would be in Sequoia National Park, the story of a soldier discovering Lost Soldiers Cave in 1909 or 1910 and then promptly disappearing into it. The cave itself was apparently then lost for nearly 40 years before being rediscovered. I think this is the cave that is now referred to just as Soldiers Cave on the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park website, and that site also doesn’t say anything about this origin story… or if the remains of that original lost soldier were ever discovered!
It was also easy to get drawn into dramatic stories I’ve never before heard about, like the time in 1941 that part of a squadron of P-40 Warhawks crashed in Kings Canyon National Park. Four pilots died and four bailed out over the High Sierras--and then two bombers also crashed while searching for survivors! The wrecked plane of one of the survivors was eventually found, and there are anecdotes online about casual hikers perhaps finding other pieces of wreckage, but some planes are still officially missing. THIS is the kind of stuff that I find so interesting--imagine not even just actual humans, but actual AIRPLANES, we know exactly when they crashed, we know approximately where they crashed, and we still can’t find them! Blows my mind.
Okay, this story made me cry: in 1959, a park ranger in Glacier National Park got word that a grizzly bear was literally currently in the act of eating a hiker. So he ran over there, found that indeed, a 250-pound grizzly bear was eating a guy, tried to scare the bear away, couldn’t, and so instead he risked his own life to shoot the bear, even though this was super risky because what if the bear turned on him instead, or what if he shot the hiker? He did shoot the bear without shooting the hiker, though, rendered first aid, directed the rescue operation, and the hiker lived. I was curious about this story, so after reading it I Googled to see if there was more info, and y’all, here is where I started crying: fifty years after this event, Ranger Dayton and the bear attack survivor had a reunion!
Okay, but then after all that I had to double-check that afterwards, Ranger Dayton had continued on in peace and happiness with no further crazy events. HOWEVER, he was actually the superintendent of Carlsbad Caverns during that time in the 1970s when terrorists tried to take it over, so yeah, he’s had himself more than his fair share of adventures.
There are also some really awful stories, like the dentist who got caught in a blizzard on Mount Rainier with his two children and died saving their lives by blocking the entrance to the snow shelter they’d dug. Also, three mountain climbers, including a nine-year-old, died after falling into a snow cavern in Grand Teton National Park, causing an avalanche that buried them up to their necks in snow, and then drowning when that avalanche dammed the stream that was running through the cavern. Another mountaineer actually jumped into the cavern right after them but couldn’t save them because they were buried so deeply, and reading his report of how he kept trying to pull the nine-year-old out of the snow by his helmet and his little jacket while having to witness him drown was so awful.
One more interesting through-line is how every now and then the families of someone who has died because of their own carelessness in a national park has sued the national park service… and won?!? In 1993, two of the chaperones of a Mormon Church Explorer Scout group died when they led their kids through an extremely risky route that nobody had the training to do. Their families sued and got 1.49 million dollars. I was also an Explorer Scout that year, and Sergeant Martin would NEVER have put us in danger like that.
A lot of the stories are actually reprints of news articles of the time, which made the book a little more challenging to read, as the tone and style often changed, but I really liked seeing how each event was reported within its own particular cultural context. There were several block quotes that were harder to figure out the provenance of, which would be more problematic for citation, but didn’t bother me as a casual reader. To add to the confusion, sometimes the included photos related to the specific event being described, sometimes they depicted a similar event, and sometimes they didn’t seem to be chronologically or thematically relevant at all. I loved the photos, but I definitely wanted a clear, concrete association between each photo and the event it recorded.
Honestly, what I think this book wanted to be was an encyclopedia. It has all the great stories, but it’s not the most pleasant experience to read cover-to-cover. But if it had a keyword index and more graphics and citations, it would be a stellar reference for one of my favorite Special Interests.
May 16, 2020
Yes it really took me 4 years to read this book, lol! Granted, I took about a 3 year break. I committed to finishing it over a month ago! It’s textbook thick and there are some great rescue stories, but the print is so small! I could only read it in small chunks.
April 29, 2022
Impressive collection of 400+ true stories of adventures and rescues and accidents in America's national parks, monuments, and associated areas. Well-researched and cited, this revised edition keeps the reader on the edge of his seat as it recounts stories in chronological order.
A few notes:
- April 3, 1776: first known European lays eyes on the Sierra Nevada near what is now Sequoia National Park. Ch. 1.
- 1841: first record of skis being used in America. Ch. 1.
- 1872: inconclusive proof of the first climb of the Grand Teton.
- Mar. 1, 1872: Ulysses S. Grant establishes the world's first national park: Yellowstone (300 visitors recorded the first year). Ch. 1.
- August 1882: first SAR-related victim in a national park--Walter Watson, who fell into a Yellowstone hot pool. Ch. 1.
- Next 3 national parks: Sequoia, Yosemite, General Grant (nka Kings Canyon NP), all in 1890. Ch. 1.
- One park ranger in Carlsbad Canyon in 1939 (found in Ripley's Believe It or Not) fell down an elevator shaft headfirst for 100 feet until he could clasp his arms around the elevator cables, right himself, then use his arms and legs to slow himself on the cables around 125 feet below. He showed up on the other elevator a few minutes later none the worse from wear, just covered in grease from the cables. Ch. 4.
- 2 men floated the Grand Canyon (51 degree water) in 1955 for 279 miles, and survived. See their book, We Swam the Grand Canyon, by Bill Beer. Ch. 6.
A few notes:
- April 3, 1776: first known European lays eyes on the Sierra Nevada near what is now Sequoia National Park. Ch. 1.
- 1841: first record of skis being used in America. Ch. 1.
- 1872: inconclusive proof of the first climb of the Grand Teton.
- Mar. 1, 1872: Ulysses S. Grant establishes the world's first national park: Yellowstone (300 visitors recorded the first year). Ch. 1.
- August 1882: first SAR-related victim in a national park--Walter Watson, who fell into a Yellowstone hot pool. Ch. 1.
- Next 3 national parks: Sequoia, Yosemite, General Grant (nka Kings Canyon NP), all in 1890. Ch. 1.
- One park ranger in Carlsbad Canyon in 1939 (found in Ripley's Believe It or Not) fell down an elevator shaft headfirst for 100 feet until he could clasp his arms around the elevator cables, right himself, then use his arms and legs to slow himself on the cables around 125 feet below. He showed up on the other elevator a few minutes later none the worse from wear, just covered in grease from the cables. Ch. 4.
- 2 men floated the Grand Canyon (51 degree water) in 1955 for 279 miles, and survived. See their book, We Swam the Grand Canyon, by Bill Beer. Ch. 6.
February 14, 2023
This book didn't need to be as long as it was. I didn't need to be told the history of the helicopter before hearing about its role in search and rescue. I didn't need to read a letter from a grateful rescuee in its entirety twice. I did not need to be told the individual names of all 27 rescuers who earned a citation. And I didn't need to hear the details of the same rescues multiple times, in part using identical phrases each time.
It's an interesting topic and many of the rescues sounded amazing from a factual standpoint, but the author didn't make me feel amazed because he's just not a particularly engaging writer.
It's an interesting topic and many of the rescues sounded amazing from a factual standpoint, but the author didn't make me feel amazed because he's just not a particularly engaging writer.
February 25, 2024
Drop into the National Parks in a rather different type of read. From accidents, to lost hikers, and much more, this is a fantastic read.
As National Parks have become more popular, it stands to reason that there are going to be more people going missing from time to time. However, there are some good old fashioned accidents, and oopses during the peak seasons.
These stories, with the courage and training of our park rangers, are a great read. See a different side of the parks.
When you visit these locations, hike carefully!
As National Parks have become more popular, it stands to reason that there are going to be more people going missing from time to time. However, there are some good old fashioned accidents, and oopses during the peak seasons.
These stories, with the courage and training of our park rangers, are a great read. See a different side of the parks.
When you visit these locations, hike carefully!
April 3, 2024
This was a really, really long book. A lot was interesting; I recognized some of the accounts (such as Randy Morgenson going missing), but was unfamiliar with most. I thought the organization method (by date, rather than by park or type of incident) was strange, though that might be because I'm used to reading the various deaths/rescues books - including Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite, which is part of the reason I picked up this book - which are organized by park and by type of incident (climbing, lost hikers, etc). Overall, a decent read.
July 14, 2024
This is a book you should read a story at a time but not listen to. I didn’t enjoy the narrator. I also have mixed feelings about telling every story with no depth. I appreciate every story but felt the book would have been better as a series, with each story having more depth and detail about those involved. I’ve read books, that cover some of these same tragedies/rescues in depth and their telling of the incidents are significantly more impactful.
October 16, 2025
The stories were very interesting for the most part. I would have liked it more if the stories were longer. Some were less than 1 page and even some of the final sentences were vague. For example "he was found 3 months later"...while I would assume that means "dead" the book didn't always specify. Maybe it was clear to everyone else, but sometimes I was a little unsure of some of the outcomes. Still a good read though.
July 10, 2023
Fascinating. I tended to wish I knew more personal information behind some of the individuals in the rescues and what happened next but I’m sure we can’t know for most of them, especially the historic rescues from long ago. I could personally hear less about the awards given to the rescuers but still interesting.
September 19, 2023
The further I got in the book, the more stars I took away. It’s huge. There should have been some prioritizing and some stories left out. Large margins don’t help. Stories are poorly written - they start talking about three people and all of a sudden there’s only two, or they tell you the fates of only part of the people mentioned, or they just throw in random names without context.
July 11, 2024
Even though this book is gigantic and talks about many rescues in the parks I found it to lack a lot of details. I wanted to know what happened to many of the people that were saved. Some of the stories were newspaper articles without any further research done by the author. I got the basics, but it needed more.
December 15, 2025
I enjoyed this book and hearing about the legends I've heard during my different phases of life in climbing, techincal rescue, caving and SAR. The history is long and storied dating back to the 1800's and proving that adventure and nature are so important to many and we should preserve it always.
April 1, 2022
Not as good as the other "National Parks are out to kill you" books that i've picked up in Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. Too many airplane crashes and a lot of recycled newspaper accounts, written in stilted prose. It's a doorstop of a tome, and likely to stay that way on my bookshelf.
June 2, 2019
Too me an entire year of reading of and on to finish. Really interesting look at the history of the NPS and SAR. Super long and hard to read continuously.
April 30, 2020
This book would have gotten four stars if it weren’t for the five typesets on the page and the horribly variable margins.
Read
September 8, 2020Some ridiculously wild stories in here, most 1-2 pages long. Worth browsing at the least.
April 30, 2021
Tidbits of harrowing rescues and recoveries with the history of life saving measures and the national parks sprinkled in. Intense.
August 8, 2024
Interesting book. Can be a hard read since it’s not a fluid read through. Definitely shows you how far we’ve come to make national parks a safer place and experience.
May 13, 2015
It took me a couple months to slowly work my way through this partial history of Search and Rescue in the national parks. I really appreciated the chronological perspective... it lets the reader see through implementation how technology advanced and was used in rescues, the introduction of helicopters and better climbing equipment, and yet how the same human foibles contribute to SAR callouts over and over. (Not prepared, didn't plan well, bad weather, unlucky.) Several of the cases covered were things I'd heard of before, and one was an event I also responded to. I was most interested in the rescues entirely unlike anything I've worked on or read about -- the SCUBA divers going into rivers and caves, the Hawaiian volcano rescues, and the unusual goings-on in less popular parks. Well worth reading for anyone interested in the outdoors or the history of Search and Rescue in the USA.
August 1, 2008
A collection of newspaper articles that tracks the history of incidents in US national parks. Some tragic, some humorous, all very entertaining. I really like the way the book is laid out, although not exactly a history book, the chronological format gives the reader a feeling for the progress of safety in our national parks as well as the changes in our society over the years.
A great book for anybody who enjoys the outdoors, US history, Search and Rescue, or perusing news papers for grim reports (not everybody dies but there are a lot of rescues that turn into recoveries).
This makes a fantastic companion to DEATH IN YELLOWSTONE by Lee Whittlesey
A great book for anybody who enjoys the outdoors, US history, Search and Rescue, or perusing news papers for grim reports (not everybody dies but there are a lot of rescues that turn into recoveries).
This makes a fantastic companion to DEATH IN YELLOWSTONE by Lee Whittlesey
January 22, 2012
Amazing accounts of real-life rescues in our national parks. I especially enjoyed the rescues on Mount Rainier (sadly, 4 hikers are currently lost on the mountain as I write this) and in Olympic National Park. The book really details the challenges of wilderness rescue and the risks the rescuers take to help others (sometimes even dying in the rescue attempt.) Reading these accounts also makes me positive I will never enter the wilderness, no matter how nice a day, without extra water, food, clothing, matches, and a map!
December 1, 2012
It wasn't what I was expecting format-wise. It had a lot of stories, and for the most part they were interesting enough to read. It took me awhile to get through this book, and I think it was just written in an unappealing way. I greatly enjoy reading books like this, and I am typically able to get through them faster. Overall an okay read.
May 30, 2010
This one sounded like fun, stupid things that people do at the national parks, a sort of Darwin Awards for the outdoors. But it read more like a newspaper or an almanac, and it wasn't my style at all. It was really huge too. I think I'll just pass on this one.
April 25, 2011
Good historical accounting of search and rescue episodes in the national parks, beginning before 1900. Sited in the west of the USA. Some of the accounts were more readable than others, depending on the source. Intersting in outlining the development of SAR.
October 27, 2013
Great book, although I would have liked for some of the story vignettes to be longer, especially the one about the Martin boy, lost in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Some sad stories, but some with good endings as well.
January 2, 2011
Interesting compilation gathered and reconstructed mainly from the individual National Park archive records.
February 6, 2015
Couldn't help picking this up to read, since we visit so many national parks. Amazing stories of rescue.
January 6, 2012
just read a few of the stories. very interesting accounts of rescues in national parks. Dad Koehl owns the book.
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