RB-029 Fossil Canyon

Virgil Adams and Stanley Grimshaw, two students from State University, defy strong warnings and brave the horrible desert heat of Fossil Canyon to locate some bones or other fossils to impress the professors at school. Dean Sands at the university realizes at least one student is missing. So he asks Bill and the boys to look in the deadly Fossil Canyon for the missing boy. Can Bill and our rangers survive the heat of the canyon themselves? Can they locate the missing students?

Navy Medic Bill Jefferson

Bill mentions his time in the military in at least two episodes that I am aware of, RB-020 "If the Lord Is For Us Who Can Be Against Us" and also RB-009 "Bim, The Dog."

In "If The Lord Is For Us..." Bill encourages discouraged, young Army serviceman Ted Sloan. Bill tells of his persecution as a Christian by his sergeant during his training to fight overseas and how he was able to endure and benefit from that trouble. Bill was a Navy medic attached to a Marine unit training at New River, North Carolina.

Bill's sarge was Buck Donovan. Buck was tough and thought Bill was a "religious Lilly." Buck made life tough constantly for Bill in Big and little ways. Buck made Bill train harder than the rest of the men. He shorted Bill's supply requests or forgot them all together. Buck hid Bill's time-off passes for rest and recreation. And we need to remember that Bill's forest ranger dad had also passed away just weeks before Bill entered the service.

Bill finally won Buck over when he saved Buck's life when Buck was bitten by a rattler while the unit was out on maneuvers in a swamp. Buck's rough treatment of Bill probably saved his life because Bill was physically strong enough to carry Buck to an ambulance.

"Bim, The Dog" is actually a collection of real-life dog stories combined into this one Ranger Bill adventure. Part of that story is how Bim served with Bill in the fierce fighting in Bougainvillea Island in the Solomon Islands during WWII. In this story Bill and his unit are under attack by machine guns in a bunker. Bim was able to save the unit by jumping into the bunker and attacking the gunners allowing Bill's unit to overtake the Japanese. Bim is wounded and sent home.

Knotty Pine Junior Rangers

Become a Knotty Pine Ranger, one of Ranger Bill's Junior Rangers right now. Just go to our Zoomshare pages at http://rangerbill.zoomshare.com and print out your own Knotty Pine Ranger ID card and Ranger Bill - Warrior of the Woodland badge. That's all it takes!
Soon we will have activities where you can earn badges and more. Stop by often to see the latest Knotty Pine Ranger activities!

RB028 The River Monster

It's spring in in the Shady Mountains and down the Shady River Valley. That means that it's logging time again, time for tons of logs and log rafts to float down the Shady to the sawmills downriver. The Shady is high but safe from flooding thanks to new levees at the town of River's Bend. A new danger threatens the safety of the river, a giant log raft twice as big as any ever floated on the Shady thanks to logging boss Zac Stephens. High river levels and fast currents combined with the huge raft threaten to destroy levees at River's Bend, flood the town, and endanger the townsfolk. What can Bill do to deal with this monster? Can he pilot or possibly destroy the raft safely?

Park Service Web Rangers

The National Park Service offers a great place for kids called Web Rangers. Web Rangers is part of the service's web site at www.nps.gov/webrangers/.
Kids create their own ranger identity and set up their own personal ranger station. After that they can do all kids of activities related to parks. Topics covered are animals, trees, various national parks, and much, much more. Kids also get an ID badge and earn patches, all printable on your computer printer.
I have spent some time there and had a great time. I can tell that several Ranger Bill fans have already found and use this great site, because ranger names such as Ranger Bill, Stumpy, and Gray Wolf are all taken.
If you are interested in Ranger Bill's Junior Rangers, email us and we will get our rangers online.

RB027 Bobsled

Bill and the fellas are in for some high-speed action and excitement in this week's story. It's time for the annual bobsled races at Culver's Peak. The rangers have been state champs for the last three years. But this year the Cole brothers have a sled that's as fast if not faster than the rangers'. Both teams are consistently clocking speeds in excess of a mile a minute. Emotions are running high all over Knotty Pine. Bill and the boys are taking some pretty tough ribbing. But the fellas won't let the Coles take the racing title from them. Even more importantly, they won't let their Christian witness falter no matter the stresses. GO RANGERS!!! BEAT THE COLES!!!

Knotty Pine Gazette

Spring Flooding Worsens, Shady River Sandbagged

Spring melt-off plus constant heavy rains in recent weeks are raising the levels of lakes, streams, and rivers throughout the northern end of the state to flood stage.

Pine Ridge Dam, an earthen dam is cracking, leaking and overflowing. Crews of state and county workers are sandbagging Pine Ridge. Pendleton Valley below Pine Ridge is presently a flood plain.

Big Ridge Dam has had to open its flood gates for the past 5 days. Rangers from Big Pine National Forest cleared residents from the valley below Big Ridge right before the floodgates opened.

Blue Lake, Goose Lake, as well as White Lake and White River all are experiencing minor flooding. The flooding is affecting roads and traffic in and out of those areas.
Boss Ranger Bill Jefferson is leading large company of workers to load and stack sandbags, including a group of Big Pine rangers as well as Knotty Pine area volunteers, to the Shady River flood zone about 20 miles south of Knotty Pine. Weather Service forecasters expect the rain and rising waters to continue for several more days. Volunteers from River's Bend and Junction City have set up kitchens to feed the hundreds of workers who are working tirelessly to save homes, ranches and farms in the area.

Area ministers have set up to offer workers worship services for baggers and kitchen workers. Worship is planned to begin with a sunrise hymn sing.

To add to the Sahdy's problems, this is the beginning of the logging season on the Shady. Logging bosses Frenchy DeSalle and Zac Stevens have agreed to limit the number of logs and size of log rafts their logging operations send down the Shady. Several trucking firms have agreed work overtime to help deliver logs to mill for DeSalle and Stevens.

Everyone using the Shady for boating or shipping are asked to stay off the river for the next few days.

Ranger Bill vs. The Survivor Men
Chief Ranger Bill Jefferson is offering classes on how to avoid being in a "Survivor Man" situation. Ranger Bill has great respect for both Bear Grillis of "Man vs. Wild" and Les Stroud of "Survivor Man." These gentlemen are experts in survival. Ranger Bill and Mr. Grillis have had similar military survival training. But they cannot safely teach successful survival techniques on TV. Ranger Bill asks that you do not attempt surviving as a hobby. Bill tells the GAZETTE he will be teaching wilderness survival by not getting lost in the first place. Bill offers three sets of weekend classes in wilderness, mountain, and desert hiking and camping. The classes will show what gear and supplies are required; maps, compasses, and signal devices to use; and most importantly, the skills required to stay safely on marked trails.
Mr Jefferson will sprinkle these excursions with some survival training, just in case you do get lost.
Bill wants everyone to have a safe and enjoyable summer while camping, fishing, climbing, and hiking in Big Pine National Forest. And our chief ranger promises that these will be fun and entertaining trips into the wild.

Frenchy DeSalle

Frenchy DeSalle is one of the most frequent visitors to Knotty Pine and also one of the most beloved characters on Ranger Bill. Frenchy is played by the extremely versatile Rex Brenner.
Frenchy is featured in the Ranger Bill episodes "Timid Timothy" (RB025), "The River Monster" (RB028), 2-episode "Muscle and Prayer" (RB211 and RB212), "The Battle of the Lumberjacks" (Club #222), "Chinook" (RB033), "The Log Jam" (RB050), "Tongues of Fire" (RB186), and probably other episodes. If you know of other episodes featuring Frenchy, please e-mail me with the title or a description of the show and I will add that to this list.
"Muscle and Prayer" tells us that Frenchy was originally a logger in Canada with his father. Frenchy and his dad had trouble with a big angry man known as "The Bear." The Bear could kill an animal by crushing it to death. The bear had a fight with Frenchy's father and killed him. The Bear tried to kill Frenchy, but Frenchy fled to the Rockies and settled in near Knotty Pine. Frenchy is over 6 feet tall, a huge and powerful man himself. You can imagine how big The Bear must have been to scare Frenchy. "Muscle and Prayer" tells how The Bear finally tracked Frenchy to Knotty Pine to kill him.
In "Timid Timothy" Bill tells us that he had a fight with Frenchy and then the two became friends. Frenchy has been a Christian only three years in this show. "Timid Timothy" is an early Ranger Bill episode. I believe that there is the full story of Bill and Frenchy becoming friends among the 15-minute episodes that we do not have at this time. Hopefully Moody Audio will be able to find that story sometime soon.
We also know from these Ranger Bill episodes that Frenchy was a very rough character before becoming a Christian. I don't think Frenchy was much gentler than The Bear. People all around Knotty Pine used to FEAR Frenchy. He used to get drunk and fight like so many other loggers. With his size and power, the French Canadian hurt many men and destroyed lots of property. Since becoming a Christian, Frenchy is a totally changed man. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He is always willing to lend Bill a hand no matter how tough the situation.
Let me repeat that if you have any information you would like to add about Frenchy DeSalle, please email me, Ranger Dave, at rangerbillclub@aol.com. I will add your information on this page and credit you with the material.

RB-026 Henry's Miracle

This is one of the truly unforgettable Ranger Bill stories, although you may have a hard time understanding the title at first. This is the story of Henry Scott at the age of ten. Henry is very seriously hurt in a fall and paralysed. The doctors said that it would take years for Henry to recover from his injuries. Henry begins the healing process when his mother discovers she has cancer. Henry is put in a nursing home. Henry's dad Hank works himself into exhaustion. The story has many more twists and turns for Henry, Hank, and Bill. Find out what happens to Henry and to his relationship with Bill.

RB-025 Timid Timothy

Timothy Sullivan is a discouraged young man. He comes to Bill for advice. Tim has had several business failures. Now his uncle wants him to manage a logging business in Knotty Pine. Tim's dad, Officer Sullivan, expects Tim to do well. Tim is scared to death of this logging business. Bill calls on Frenchy DeSalle for logging knowledge. Can Bill and Frenchy help Tim make a success in logging? Will Tim quit or work hard and overcome his fear?