The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-01-04

i hood OF LIE Beau and BOISE Cach
ei'creek. slnlfacs, twas. the river tina
stopped it, for had it not been ther
or had the wind got into the south, i
] would have swept on $50 miles fur
Z, ther, out Of Dakota and on into th'
British possessions, no one knows
how far. Probably about. 28,OC(
!! square miles Of prairie was burned
over by thisemoving sea Of Ere. About
/ thirty hunters aud few families were
! caught in that fire and burned to death
Hundreds Of buffaloes and antelopes
we're roasted.
Among The most devastating Of the
last great. fresson the plains was one
| in 1880. A prairie FIRE swept down
from British Columbia. across the in
ternatiidn.al line 'into Dakota, until il
reached the Northern Pacific railroad.
At It's greatest width, in Northern
!. Dakota, the flames were 100 miles
wide. Over 10000 square miles were
covered by the sweeping fire. Pas.
sengers on the Northern Pacific rail
road hada chance to see part Of the
awful fre and to this day there are
those among the passengers who say
that the sound Of the, roaring flames
and the enormous walls Of fame NOV
ing over the dry grass in leaps and
bounds, like red, angry, belloSing,
Gery surf, was terrible beyond de-
scription. For two days and three
nights the flames could be seen raging
10 the north of the railroad tracks.
The great tongues Of flames seemed to
|sbeI shooting higher than the cars and
almost reaching them, though they
we're really further away than they
looked, being held back by the COM
|spany $ ere break or burne strip along
The track. There was no sleep on the
|ssraiins passing jthatfre, but the win
dous and platforIas I wsrs 9 crowded with
passengers, eagerly watching the roll
ing Games. Antelopes. deer, prairie
wolves, foxes, jackrabbits and other
animals could be seen in great num-
bers hurrying before the flames and
crossing the track. It Frequently hap-
peued that some ..of them we're, run
over by the train and killed. Those
that reached the south side Of the
track found safety for the; time being,
at least, as the fire did not cross.
Later in the season, however, the
usual smaller fres prevailed south Of
the railroad.
Many man has been hanged or
shot to death If the conveniences for
hanging were not to be had on the
treeless, polelesa plains, for starting
prairie fires. The cattlemen and cow
boys, assisted by the soldiers at the
army posts on the.prairie always start
ed out Immediately after a prairie fire
to investigate the cause. But very
often there was nothing left, to tell
the tale Of the origin Of the eonaagra-
tion. The plainsmen were, however,
80 angry usually at their losses aud
the suffering and death Of human
beings and beasts in the fire that they
meant to fix the blame somewhere.
No doubt scores Of men have been
hanged for starting prairie fires when
they were either innocent or the FIRE
had been started by carelessness. In
August, 1870, when the great prairie
fire of western Kansas swept from the
Arkansas river down into Indian ter
ritory, a distance of nearly 300 miles,
the origin of fire was traced by a
gang Of cattlemen to roundup party
in the employ of the Arkansas Cattle
company. located near where Coolidge,
Kan, has since grown up. The Tex
ans went to Dodge City and secretly
told the Arkansas cowboys. A posse
started across the plains, sixty miles
to- their camp The latter were ar.
rested and the trial began at once.
The prosecution contended that q
grudgc had existed between the pris.
oners and the Texas cattlemen, that
the prisoners had sworn vengeance
against the Texas cattlemeu at the
earliest opportunity and that when
the prisoners had learned that the
Texas fellows were in western Kansas
driving herd slowly on the way to
Dodge City market, they had set 6rc
to the prairie grass, SO that its flames
would envelope the whole region, de-
stroy the Texas herd, and anyhow,
burn. all the fodder for any Texas
herds coming that way. The testi-
mony of several cowboys, who swore
they knew the plans of the prisoners
was introduced.
Tha tx;al s4a.eaa ~. II