THE LOG OF A TIMBER 
CRUISER 
CHAPTER I 
THE RECONNAISSANCE PARTY 
I was under appointment as Forest Guard on the 
Gila National Forest when the opportunity to take 
up reconnaissance work came. The Supervisor’s 
letter was brief. It ran as follows: 
‘We can use another man on the Gila Cruising party 
which will work the Black Range this summer; would you 
like the assignment? If so, report to Walter C. Frazer, 
_. Chief of Party, at Silver City, not later than May 1. You 
will receive your present salary of $900 per annum with 
expenses while in the field. The work, it is expected, will 
last about six months, 
“You are perfectly free to accept or decline the offer of 
this position. I will say, however, that unless you are 
opposed for personal reasons to tackling reconnaissance, the 
present chance to learn the methods of this branch of silvi- 
culture is an excellent one.’’ 
Though somewhat flattered by the offer, my first 
impulse was to decline it. I had heard much of 
reconnaissance—the cruising of timbered areas andi 
the topographical mapping of regions usually wild 
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