Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1894-09-08
MAY BE- A 1000 DEAD
Appalling Loss of Life by Forest
Fires in Northern Minnesota.
Six Towns Are Obiiteratcd-Two Hundred
People Estimated to Have crishcd
In Itincklcy AIope-iwful
Scene of Desolation.

ST.. PAUL, Sept. Six towns wiped
out and more than 500 dead is the rec.
ord made by the forest fires in this
state in the last twenty-four hours. In
Hinckley, Pokegama, Sandstone juno
ton, Skunk Lake and Mission Creek
there are 355 known dead. In addition
several hundred are missing, while
from $50 to POO people were scattered
OF farms throughout the district
burned over. Destruction was com
plete in most of the towns named, but
some of the forest land escaped. The
loss, however. will be III the millions
and the loss of life will not be def.
nitcly known for several days, if ever.
Some estimate the total fatalities ut
over /, 900, and time may demonstrate
that these figures are not an eXaggera-
tion.
On a train today from llinckley were
one or two people who had come
through the fires, and they gave
graphic stories of the scene. \ train
from Duluth reached "a point "A mile
and II half from Hinckley some time
h@NNi lllNAhiShb Us ~ ~ anu HaS
forced To return TO a point five miles
away on account of the threatening
flames. Hal! a dozen passengers, how
ever secured "a hand car and rode
through the flames 10 lIinckloy. On
the ride they counted twcnty-seveu
dead bodies along the line of railroad,
seventeen were discovered at lIinckley
during the morning and twenty-onc
others were found up TO me O'Clock.
They say the people Of llinciley ran TO
the woods when their houses caught
fire and as the timber afterwards
burned il is more than probable that
great numbers persisted. The most
conservative estimate places the dead
at 200.
The whole country around Iiinckleyis
on fire. The party that came through
the fire around llinc<ley on a hand car
suffered severely from burns. Their
injuries, however.-yi,l not prove fatal.
They tell Of many tragic scenes that
they saw. One woman evidently tried
to save her five children and was over.
taken 10y the flames and the whole
family persisted close to the railroad
track. Another case a mother. seeing
her house in flames, ran to save her
child, her husband also following her
and the walls caved in before they
could get out.
The passenger train from Duluth on
which these men were is in ashes, and
the rest of the passengers have taken
refuge in II marsh near Skunk lake.
where they are surrounded by fire.
The engineer is badly burned, but
stuck to his post and got all passengers
out safely.
The little town of Mission Creek, n
little distance north of llin.Itley, is
also reported in ashes.
Special trains nave been sent ont
from Duluth and st. Paul with "A full
medical force and everything possible
will be done The losses in the neigh
borhood Of ST. Cloud. which is at the
western edge of the fires, are estimated
at 5000 OO, and from hat point cas-
and north nearly everything Is burn
ing. Fires are raging in Becker and
Aitkin counties, where many farm
houses ana much grain has been burned
as well as timber
1t is feared that several other towns
have suffered IA like fate. Millaca
| called for help yesterday, and q relief
train from IT. Cloud was unable TO get
beyond Bridgeman. Nothing further
las DtCh lCCtlHCt iSAh NllilllI, anu
at this time be known. Bridgeman is
apparently safe after a hard fight. The
flames, however, are very threatening
around that town, and as it is very dry
all over that part OF the state, the
worst is feared.
Gathering the Dead.
AS night closed the people began to
come ont from their hiding places and
made their way over the hot embers of
the city. They were absolutely dazad.
Communication with the outer world
was cut off for hours as completely as
If on IA desert island. When morning
broke Il few energetic spirits began to
organize the work of recovery OF the
the bodies. j. w. Sargent, passenger
conductor of the Duluth road, got into
Ilinckley during the night and organ-
lied a volunteer crew who manned two
hand cars, whose capacity was in
creased by use OF plants. They went
up the Dutch track to the north and
picked up thirty-one bodies between
the river and Skunk lake.
Citizen volunteers harnessed up the
available vehicles saved in IA gravel pit
and went to the swamp across the
Grindstone river. They brought in
DIN bOAiiCSs NillCil tllcA ctTIltl
| out to the desoiate burying ground IL
mile east OF town. There was neither
time nor opportunity TO observe the
Sacred formalities usually surrounding
death. The excitement OF the occasion
temporarily blunted their finer scnsi-
bilities and the dead were hcaped high
on wagons aud laid in piles at the Gem
etery.
The coroner directed the digging of
two huge pits, "A by II feet, in which
interment will be made tomorrow.
One of tho saddest features of the
calamity is the Impossibility of identi-
tication in such "A large proportion of the
cases. Those who brought in the bod
les from the swamp reported that there
were ut least t~hirty-iive other bodies
out there which cannot be brought in
until morning. Out on the govern
ment road, to the east, was found tho
Best family of SIX persons-father,
mother, and four children. Best was "A
prosperous farmer living just out of
town. Near Skunk lake was found a
family consisting of father, mother
and seven children. In another family
in which were five children. only the
father escaped. There was n settle
ment of about thirty people near this
lake, and but two are known to be
alive.
Marvellous escapes were numerous.
The little settlement ut Mission Creek,
~peopled largely by employees of the
Martin mill, was wiped off tho face of
the earth almost the same as Hinckley.
On the west side OF the track, for
tunately well removed from the mill
yard, stood an old log house in the cen
ter OF a large potato patch. The
women and children were huddled into
this solid structure, and the man re-
manned outside fighting away the fire.
The log house was n literal haven of
refuge and not u life was lost.
The Work OF Relief.
Preparations for the relief Of the for
est fire sufferers were under way almost
Immediately upon the receipt Of the
news. This city, MINNEAPOLIS and towns
along the St Paul and Duluth road all
sent ont provisions or other supplies on
"a relief train today while Duluth and
West Superior sent some down during
the night. General Merritt Of the
United States army commanding the
department of the Dakotas, issued or
dcrs for hospital supplies, tents and so
forth for the relief of the survivors.