Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-224).

Machine generated contents note: Part I. Big Country, Big Fires -- Introduction 3 -- Cherokee Tale, Myths of the Cherokee: The First Fire 7 -- Miwok Tale, How Tol'-le-loo Got the Firefor the Mountain People 9 -- Meriwether Lewis, Excerpt from The Journals of the Expedition -- under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark 11 -- Washington Irving, Selection from A Tour on the Prairies 12 -- Henry David Thoreau, Selection from TheAllegash and -- East Branch 19 -- John Muir, Selection from John of the Mountains 25 -- John Muir, Selection from My First Summer in the Sierra 27 -- Mark Twain, Selection from Roughing It 29 -- Stephen J. Pyne, The Big Blowup 34 --Part II. Of Fire and the Landscape -- Introduction 49 -- Aldo Leopold, Grass, Brush, Timber and Fire in Southeast Arizona 53 -- Norman Macean, Selection from Young Men and Fire 63 -- Margaret Millar, After the Fire 79 -- Roger Caras, Selection from Panther! 84 -- Edward Abbey, Fire Lookout: Numa Ridge 90 -- Ed Engle, Fire 113 --Part III. Fire as Foe, Fire as Friend -- Introduction 129 -- Ted Williams, Incineration of Yellowstone 133 -- Michael Thoele, Selection from Fireline: Summer Battles -- of the West 156 -- John McPhee, Selection from The Control of Nature 170 -- John Maclean, Selection from Fire on the Mountain 177 -- Rick Bass, The Fires Next Time 187 -- Louise Wagenknecht, Pride and Glory ofFirefighting Is -- Hard to Resist 196 -- Alianor True, Firefinder 200 -- Gretchen Dawn Yost, First Burn 209 -- Keith Easthouse, The Shape of Things to Come 215.