Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1889-11-15
SAVED BY A STEER.

Several years ago, if one had been trav
cling through Lake Township, in a
county of Eastern Dakota, and had in
quired who was its best known and most
reputable citizen, the answer in almost
every case would have been Emmett Car
len, and almost any settler could have
pointed out on the level prairie, from his
own door, the house and buildings of the
young Norwegian upon the crest of "Tip-
Top Knoll, ~ at the head of Rush Lake.
Emmet began life in Lake Township
as many other Norsemen in many other
regions of our new West have done, with
no possessions save a change of clothing,
but, at the end of few years, he had,
by his thrift and industry, secured and
improved a new farm and placed himself
on the sure road TO comfort and plenty.
At the time of which write, however,
it was not so much his thrift that made
him a marked man, but certain daring
cool-headedness which he had always
displayed when courage and intrepidity
were demanded.
Once, at his own great peril, he had
carried food and extra clothing to
school teacher and n half-dozcn small
children who were confined in little
school-house, nearly n mile from any
habitation, by one of the fiercest biz
yards ever known in that region. This
happened during the first year of his stay
there, and while he was working for his
board and attending school with the lit
tie ones whose lives he had saved.
Strangely enough, he was again to ig-
ure as the rescuer of two of these same
children from another sweeping storm,
one even more terrible than the dreaded
blizzard, storm of fire, as it swept over
the tall, dry grass of the unbroken
prairie
To this exploit, however, there was
another party, Emmet's big steer,
"Comet," +" without whose aid, indeed, the
children must have persisted.
This animal was quite as noteworthy as
his master. "Comct" was a huge, long
legged, long horned steer For two
years Emmet had only his help in plow-
ing and cultivating the "Tip-Top" home
stead, except that the breaking of sod
was done by hired 'tbreakers."
The young Norseman hitched his steer
to a heavy cart, and drove him to market
at the small but ambitious town of
Boomerang eight miles distant. In
winter, when snow fell and the roads
were good, light sled took the place of
the cart.
Before the sled Comet soon gained a
local reputation for speed upon the road
His gait was steady, long stepped trot,
like that of an elk, and nearly as swift
At any rate. it was soon an admitted fact
that there were no horses in the neigh
borhood that could pass Comet in trot-
ting match. This was abundantly proved
by many races along the road to town
and back, where the drivers of the teams
or single horses had tried and failed to
ego by" the feet steer.
One day in October Emmett was
plowing. The day was one of those
common to that season in new prairie re-
gions, smoky, with strong northwest
wind smelling of burned grass, fine
dust of cinders sitting down, and the sun
shining through smoke and dust with a
dull red glare. But as Emmett had
some time before burned a broad "fre
break" around his shanty. grain and hay
stacks, he noted these evidences of rag
ing fire without uneasiness. They came
at some time every autumn
1t was about the middle Of the after
noon that little Jake and Lib Walker
came into his field, bringing some grain
bags which Emmett had lent their fathe,
TO use during his threshing the week be.
fore.
Walker lived at the foot of Rush Lake
about a mile from the school house
where the young Norwegian had taker
lessons in English, and these little fel-
lows, Jake and Lib, had been his school
mates when the "big blizzard" came