Nation’s first forest ranger faced fires, guns in Colorado

It was late summer, 1901. William Kreutzer had been a ranger on the Battlement Mesa Forest Reserve — now Grand Mesa National Forest — for barely three months when he was ordered off the mesa by two armed cowboys.

“When Bill began his work for Uncle Sam, the West was, nearly everywhere, and not least in Colorado, firmly set against practically every form of government control.”

GIFFORD PINCHOT Developed the National Forest Service under President Theodore Roosevelt

Ranger Kruetzer 10-5-20