Summary Of The Big Burn By Timothy Egan

In “The Big Burn” by Timothy Egan, the story revolves around the wildfire of 1910 that completely destroyed the whole town of Wallace and the people who fought for the sake of the blaze. This wildfire was the biggest, not the deadliest, in the history of the United States. Numerous people have sacrificed their lives in the service of the great fire in order to fight and preserve their people and town. However, the contribution of the 25th Infantry, known as the Buffalo soldiers, was the greatest since they had saved the entire town of Avery, Idaho and they also succeeded in emptying the town. There were negative ways in which the press, politicians, and public opinion portrayed the Buffalo Soldiers; however, there was positive major contribution of the Buffalo soldiers during the Big Burn. …show more content…
As soon as they got into the town, which was full of white people, they were welcomed with hatred by the people of the town and they began to mock them. Moreover, they called them the Buffalo soldiers for their curly hair. As a proof, the troops were greeted with curiosity and skepticism by polite citizen, scorn and open hostility by other.” (Egan 3). Furthermore, the newspapers started rumors, for instance, they said that the Buffalo soldiers had drunk all night while playing cards. Hence, the people of the town of Wallace and Avery were criticizing the Buffalo soldiers all the time by saying things like how could a black man save a town. Additionally, the people of Wallace and Avery underestimate the Buffalo soldier’s ability. Evidently, the Buffalo soldiers “refused service in town—a last-straw insult in a place where they complained about being treated like dogs despite wearing the uniform of their country.” (Egan