“Who made these things?”
That was the question I found myself asking as I drove across the American West. It seemed amazing to me that a government agency could create something so quirky, so beautiful, and so iconic. So I started looking into it.
Turns out, there wasn’t much out there. I began collecting what information I could, trying to piece together the clues. In the course of my research, I met several people willing to help. Chief among them was Bus’s daughter Carolyn, who provided stories and photographs I could never have uncovered on the internet. His protege Bud Unruh was also a great help. (Bud took this photo of Bus in 2003. Because Bus began his career at the Estacada Ranger Station, Bud’s picture shows both Bus’s origins in the Service, and his greatest contribution to it.) Bud’s emails with someone named "“Les,” led me to Les Joslin, a retired ranger who’s written some fantastic books on Forest Service history. People like Eben Lehman at the Forest History Society were astonishingly helpful. And I’m flattered and honored that Charles Spencer Anderson took the time to give me his expert opinion on the iconic status of Bus’s creations.