The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-06-17
Western Forest Fires.

Western Forest Fires.
THAT sniff of burning pines that we
got here last night is the first thing that |
reminded me of home since left Lead
vile, said Captain William Kavanagh,
an old frontiersman, scout, trapper and
miner, in the rotunda of the Lafayette
Hotel yesterday. s'Of course this fire
we had up in the State wasn't a marker
in extent to the fires we have up in the
Rockies and Sierras, but it's more serious
in its consequences. see by the papers
that there was some loss of life and con-
siderable loss of property, while out
West the only damage done is the de-
struction of a few tons of game. -
do the indians ever get caught?'
was asked.
''Yes, now and then. remember in
so, when twenty-six Utes were caught
in fiery trap in the Red River country
and only one escaped to tell the story,
and he died forty-eight hours afterwards
from the burns he had received. About
two years later twelve red devils were
burned to death in the Black Mountains,
near Santa Fe, n NJ They belonged
to the New Mexico tribe of Apaches and
met their fate while being pursued by
party of Regulators It was said that
the pines We're fired by Vigilants, but
out West we don't investigate those
points very closely, when a redskin is
concerned.
The forest fires in Colorado" con-
| tinued the Captain, land throughout
the mountain ranges occur twice a year
in the fall and spring. They origi-
| nate from various causes-so sometimes
| from prospector's or hunters camp
fire, but more frequently they are fired
by the redskins, who use the forest for a
| dual purpose. When at war with the
whites the forests are fired to cut off the
approach OF the soldiers, and in peace
the forests and prairie grass are often
set on fire for the purpose of running
out the game.
in 1868 half-breed Indian scout
invited me to join party of Ute hunters
I in a hunt down the White River. | ac-
cepted the invitation. Our party con-
sisted of fourteen bucks, two half breeds
and myself. supposed, of course, that
we would simply beat the woods for
game. instead OF that they formed 8
circle two miles in circumference and
fired the forests in sixteen different
places and then fought the flames along
the edge of the circle. After working
all night chopping down trees and haul
ing them out of the reach of the flames
We went into camp at the opposite side
OF the White River and waited there,
hungry as wolves, for the fire to die out.
The third day we wrapped ourselves in
wet blankets and started through the
forest of blackened and smoking trunks
in search of our game. Within hun
bred yards we began to pick up the
small game. Every man of us was
nearly starved to death, and l am free
to say that the best relished meal | even
ate was when | scraped cool spot I'M
der the hot pine needles and deyoured q
roasted woodchuck without salt or pep.
per or any other of the usual accessories.
suppose we piled up ton or more OF
small game, such as rabbits, squirrel:
and woodchucks, but we tramped fol
an hour before we found any big game.
Then we found it in heap. Twenty
head of deer, dozen or more of elk
two bears and stray antelope lay deaG
} along the bed of little mountain
stream that ran through the burned for
est. A short distance beyond was the
carcass of female mountain lion, which
had died in vain effort to save its lite
t of three cubs
Il have seen scores of big forest fire.
compared with which these blazes up il
t the State would look like bontires; bu
the most exciting one occurred in DC
tober, 1879, when the Leadvilie boon
was at its height. The Ute war, whicl
began during the summer with the mas
sacre of Father Meeker and the EN-
= ployes of the White River Agency, ant
a was followed later by the killing O
= Major Thornberg and his troops, causes
n an intense excitement throughout tn
: State. The farmers deserted thei
e ranches and fiocked into Denver an
: Leadville. Even the miners, who ar
always the last to retreat, left thei
claims along the range and came t
Leadville This stampede was cause
almost wholly by the forest fires whic
were raging on the opposite side of tn
Sierra Madre, and which were suppose
to have been started by the Utes.
:. lone night the forests in the directio
- of Alma were fired and high wind in
/, PEELED the flames with almost lightnin
n rapidity towards Leadville Eve
re the old-timers felt nervous an
N the town was in. an uproar.
walked into the Windsor Hott
and there sat about twenty-five mel
armed to the teeth with repeatin
rifles and revolvers. Miners kept tlocl
ing in from the gulches, driven in b
flames, which come rolling up the A
c. kansas Valley and down Big Evar
IN Gulch. By midnight Leadyille VS.
shut in by roaring mass of fam
The mountains which surrounded tt
basin in which Leadville nestles wei
mountains of fire. Wewere literally
the bottom of a burning pit. The he,
was SO intense that it scorched men
faces half-mile away from the flame
' The Indian fighters were compelled
drop their arms and devote their attel
in ton towards saving the town from fl
90 instead of from the redskins. Mar
n cabins on the outskirts of the town WEI
burned, but the greater portion of Il
camp WAS saVeu. TOT SlA WeekS uee
;, wards both Leadville and Denver we
3" enyeloped in a cloud of smoke dens'
:. than any that ever hung over Pitt
= burg. During all this time the ST
~. looked like a ball of molten iron al
the moon like red lamp in an apoth
cary's window Millions of feet of lur
her were destroyed during the fire,
/, there are every year along the gre
re Western ranges. ''-PhIddetpkja Time
of
@ Hawaiian Notes.
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