The National Smokejumper Association (NSA) is an organization which preserves and shares the history of aerial fire management and provides a forum for those associated with wildland firefighting. Founded in 1992, the NSA maintains a roster of current and former smokejumpers and actively collects the histories of individuals and organizations associated with the development of smokejumping and aerial fire management.
In addition to furthering the legacy of smokejumping, the NSA works to support current and former smokejumpers as well as the forests and rangelands they protect. The organization offers support to smokejumpers and their families through a scholarship program and a "Good Samaritan Fund," offering financial support to those in need. Additionally, the Trails Restoration and Maintenance Projects, organized by NSA members and staffed by volunteers, clears trails in wilderness areas using volunteer teams. Established in 1999 by Jon McBride and Art Jukkala, the program utilizes the NSA's network of former smokejumpers to clear trails of debris, build fences, and restore structures in national forests and parks.
The collection contains reports, correspondence, rosters, personal papers, oral histories, photographs, and moving images documenting the history of aerial fire management. The material in the collection was created by the association itself, by former smokejumpers, or by the U.S. Forest Service. The earliest materials include documentation of the development of parachute jumping during the F Studies – Aerial Control Parachute Jumping experiments of the late 1930s and early 1940s by the U.S. Forest Service. The collection also contains: fire reports from various years including the investigation report for the Mann Gulch fire in Montana (1949); newsletters and magazines published by the National Smokejumper Association; collected interviews, obituaries, and profiles of former and/or pioneer smokejumpers; and numerous magazine and newspaper articles related to the development and history of smokejumping and aerial fire management.
This collection also includes extensive moving image materials. The bulk of these materials are from the documentary
This collection has been divided into seven series:
Series I: National Smokejumper Association Records, 1978-2022, 1.35 linear foot
Subseries 1: Operational Materials, 1978-2010, 0.1 linear feet
Subseries 2: Publications, 1993-2023, 1.25 linear feet
Series II: Smokejumping History, 1919-2009, 2.4 linear feet
Subseries 1: Reports/Handbooks/Manuals, 1940-1994, 0.5 linear feet
Subseries 2: United States Forest Service, 1939-1999, 0.6 linear feet
Subseries 3: General, 1919-2005, 1.3 linear feet
Series III: Smokejumpers, 1938–2005, 0.8 linear feet
Subseries 1: Personal Narratives and Interviews, 1940-2004, 0.3 linear feet
Subseries 2: Collections of Personal Stories, 1990-1995, 0.2 linear feet
Subseries 3: Obituaries, Biographies, and General Information, 1940-2003, 0.2 linear feet
Subseries 4: Photographs, 1949-2005, 0.1 linear feet
Series IV: Miscellaneous Audiovisual, 1939–1940, 1976, 2004, 0.8 linear feet
Series V:
Subseries 1: Video Log Books, undated, 1.0 linear foot
Subseries 2: Field Tapes and File Tapes, Betacam SP S and L, Corresponding VHS Dubs with Window Code and Rough Edit Tapes, 2000 and undated, 6.0 linear feet
Subseries 3: Other Source Video, DVD, Mini-DV, Betacam SP S, Betacam SP L, and VHS, 1988-2003, 3.3 linear feet
Subseries 4: Video Not Used, 2000, 4 items
Series VI:
Series VII: Personal Papers of Smokejumpers, 1938-2016, 0.5 linear feet
Subseries 1: Ball, Herman, 1950s, 0.1 linear feet
Subseries 2: Brennan, Robert "Bob," 1938-1942, 0.2 linear feet
Subseries 3: Grenager, Lyle, 1951-1953, 0.1 linear feet
Subseries 4: Kurowski, Ed J., 2016, 0.1 linear feet and 16 Megabytes
Subseries 5: Mathews, Jack, 1986-2001, 0.1 linear feet
Subseries 6: Pickard, Lloyd A. "Chuck," 1946-2005, 0.2 linear feet
Series VIII: Accession 2018-066, 1947-2017, 0.4 linear feet
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright of some materials transferred to The University of Montana-Missoula. Please contact Archives and Special Collections for details.
[Name of document or photograph number], National Smokejumper Association Records, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.
Prior to the materials coming to Archives and Special Collections, the collection was in the possession of the National Smokejumper Association. Personal papers of smokejumpers arrived as donations from their individual creators or from friends and family of the creator designated for this collection. Video and video logs in Series V,
Initial donation was a gift of the National Smokejumper Association Board in 2003.
Additions to this collection are ongoing and will be added by the organization and individual donors.
This collection was originally minimally processed with limited description and rearrangement. In 2016, the majority of the collection was rearranged and redescribed to ease use and access. Copies of the original guide are available at Archives and Special Collections upon request but current folder titles may not reflect the original description. All materials were maintained except oral history transcripts that are already held by the Mansfield Library in OH 133. Photographs were also removed from Bob Brennan's photo album and put in four folders in their original order for preservation purposes.
Eastern Washington University holds meeting minutes and other records of the National Smokejumper Association. Two oral history collections held at the University of Montana's Archives and Special Collections contain approximately 150 oral history interviews with smokejumpers: OH 133, Smokejumper Oral History Project, and OH 163, Civilian Public Service Smokejumpers Oral History Project.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
This series primarily contains copies of the organization’s newsletter,
This subseries contains reports, memos, correspondence, and reunion materials generated by the National Smokejumpers Association. There are also negatives of photos from the August 11, 1986 reunion at Camp Paxson at Seeley Lake, Montana, some images are identified.
This subseries contains items published and distributed by the National Smokejumpers Association including their quarterly magazine, trail maintenance reports, and newsletter.
This series contains materials that relate to the history of smokejumping.
This subseries contains materials documenting a range of topics related to aerial fire management. Materials include rosters, regulations, training manuals, and fire reports. These materials specifically include copies of the investigation of the Mann Gulch fire and the fire investigation report of the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain. Materials are arranged chronologically.
This subseries contains materials created by the United States Forest Service about firefighting, smokejumping, and smokejumpers. This subseries is arranged chronologically.
This subseries contains overviews and timelines of smokejumping history. Items include articles, booklets, chronologies, a conference paper, and general histories of several regional smokejumping stations including the North Cascades Smokejumper Base, the California Smokejumpers and the Siskiyou smokejumper base. Materials are arranged chronologically.
This series contains materials relating to individual smokejumpers including personal narratives, interviews, biographies, obituaries, and photographs. These materials are arranged alphabetically.
This subseries contains the personal stories of smokejumpers.
This subseries contains collections of personal narratives of smokejumpers assembled for publication and distribution.
This subseries contains obituaries, biographies, and other general information about former smokejumpers including newspaper clippings and articles. These materials are arranged alphabetically.
This subseries contains photographs of various smokejumpers and their equipment. These materials are arranged chronologically.
Photographs by Richard M. Wilson
This series contains various audiovisual materials including Wilderness Survival Tapes, photos transferred to CD.
This series consists of video components and detailed video logs from the documentary
This subseries contains video logs that include transcripts of interviews and brief descriptions of raw footage with timecodes from the making of
This subseries contains raw footage on betacam and VHS dubs of the originals, log books in previous subseries provide an index to the materials from the making of
This subseries contains additional source videos for
This subseries contains film collected but not used in the making of
This subseries contains research and contracts related to the making of
This series contains interview recordings of smokejumpers for the
In 2025, the collection of interviews was assigned on oral history number by the Archives (OH-490) to facilitate making them available online. Release forms were removed from the series and filed with the administrative records of other oral history projects. Interview abstracts, DVDs and supplemental material provided by interviewees were foldered.
no audio file
This series contains personal papers of former smokejumpers.
Herman Ball was a smokejumper who jumped the 1950 and 1951 seasons in Missoula. He was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency for their operations in Taiwan; he and other smokejumpers trained Chinese nationalist troops in survival tactics and parachuting. This subseries contains photographs of Ball's activities in Taiwan in the 1950s as well as a photograph of Marana Army Air Field in Arizona, a CIA base of operations during the Vietnam War.
Robert J. Brennan was a pioneer smokejumper in the summer of 1941. This collection contains photographs, journals, and a jump log from the Nine Mile camp in western Montana as well as journals from Brennan's previous Forest Service posts.
Lyle Grenager was a smokejumper out of Missoula, Montana from 1946 to 1951. He was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1951 to assist with their covert operations in Taiwan to train a resistance force of Nationalist Chinese troops. This subseries includes photos from Grenager's time in Taiwan including playing on the basketball team for the CIA's front company, Western Enterprises, Inc., and meeting the president of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek.
Lou Rucker was head of the parachute training program in Taiwan. A former colonel in the U.S. Army, he was also Lyle Grenager's roommate at the Taipei Guest House, the first headquarters for CIA operations in Taiwan.
Ed J. Kurowski was a smokejumper who jumped his rookie season in Missoula, Montana in the summer of 1961. Kurowski was from Green Bay, Wisconsin and studied forest engineering at the University of Wisconsin. This subseries contains the collective memoir of many smokejumpers who rookied in 1961 in Missoula, Montana; Ed Kurowski compiled, edited, and authored the memoir.
This is an electronic version of Kurowski's memoir, please contact Archives and Special Collections for additional information.
Jack Mathews was a smokejumper in Missoula, Montana in the summer of 1948. He was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency and spent his entire career with them. This subseries contains correspondence written by Mathews concerning various aspects of his service as a military advisor in Laos in the late 1950s, clippings of an article he wrote, photographs, and various other correspondence and notes. There is also a detailed letter he wrote to John MacLean about his article on the smokejumpers at Mann Gulch.
Lloyd A. "Chuck" Pickard was a smokejumper in Missoula, Montana who trained in the summer of 1948. He was a squadleader out of Nine Mile in the summer of 1949 and was supposed to jump on the Mann Gulch fire near Helena, Montana, but traded places with Bill Hellman. This subseries includes photographs, Mann Gulch research materials, materials collected by Jack Mathews, and smokejumper reunion materials.
This series contains folders of material by or about fifteen smokejumpers. All folders include a 'submittal form' documenting contents and providing context. The materials were compiled and donated for inclusion in the NSA collection by John Driscoll. Driscoll has indicated jump years and base on each folder.
reproduction of photo of Beasley and his wife, Jane, at CIA Headquarters. Invitation to CIA Museum ceremony, 2014.
Map indicating single fire jump of Benzie in 1956. Database printout documenting his activity.
Three photographs by Driscoll of MSO Alaska Booster Crew, including Currie, 1978
Smokejumper patch from 1968 fire season. Signed copy of book: Smokejumpers of the CIA. Color slides dated 1977, identified as "fire season out of Missoula Fire Depot." Photographs identified as "unknown jumpers exiting DC-3, probably NW of Missoula in 1968."
DVD: Leap of Faith: CO Smokejumping During World War II. DVD description states: Includes video footage by former CO Smokejumper Lester Gahler.
Reproductions of photographs. One identified as Silver City Fire Crew either 1959 or 1960. Others identified as "we think this is the Grangeville Fire Crew."
photograph: "10 man Volpar load out of McGrath headed for Canadian boarder." Photo by John Driscoll.
Typewritten notes by Driscoll of interview with Grenager. Typescript of article printed in June 25, 2004 "Clark Fork Chronicle."
undated photographs: Old Hale Field, first civilian helicopters, ford tri-motor dropping cargo, smokejumper training at Nine Mile. Castle Creek crew (1948).
photos of Fred Koons and George King, and possibly Jerry Linton.
photocopies of photographs in other folders in this series.
original and copy photographs - McVey at Castle Creek on Middle Fork of Clearwater.
original photographs - Pattee Canyon Jump for 20th Century Fox, 1950; Marble Canyon, Arizona jump; Nott and Johnson pilot Larry Florek; unidentified jumpers, planes, and equipment.
Privately published book: Richard Arnold Peterson and Eve Ridgely Chapline Peterson.
photograph of Skeezeck and Smitty, 1949. Smith in truck, undated.
Bound memoir: Smokejumpers, Aerial Firefighters of the West. The Way We Were, 1961. A collection memoir [by] Ed. J. Kurowski. Clipping. Database printout of jumps.