The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-09-14
PRAIRIE FIRE CLUBS
FRONTIER ORGANIZATIONS OF YEARS
AGO IN THE WEST.

One Who Has Fought Fierce Con
fngratiOns on the Plains Says
Storm at Sea Is Tame Compared I,
Storm of Flame ON the Prairie.
Il reckon there are few people Twin,
In this part of the country who eve
heard of prairie fire clubs" said a west
ern man, the subject having been sug
gested by the burning of lot of rubbish
on scow. II doubt if such things wer,
ever known in the east. In fact they
went out of existence in the west AZ
years ago.
In very many sections of what you
call the middle west timbered land OF
today was prairie 80 years ago. have
Travelled a half day over one of these
| prairies without seeing a farmhouse, an
individual or n domestic animal The
| towns were few and far apart, and q
census taker could have stood in one
| place in some of them and made up his
! figures. One | have in mind stood on
one Of the prairies which rolled out to
| the horizon in every direction, with never
; q tree or a shrub to break the vision.
| Some years later an oak shrub was
| found in the grass, and that constituted
| town talk for several days. | remember
/ a party going out to see it on Sunday.
You may get an idea from this rs to how
, nearly isolated from the world we were.
Not far from it, while the tree was
/ still sapiug. were a few farms. They
were not fenced. The tillcrs of the soil
/ plowed deep ridges about the ground
/ they cultivated. These were to protect
/ their crops and houses from the en-
I croUchmcut of prairie fires. But there
were prairie fires which no burrows could
turn.
The fires were always started in the
fall after the grasses had died out. The
object was To clear away the dead grass
es SO they would not rctard the growth
Of spring. You have heard all your lives
of certain events or things running or
/ spreading like prairie ire. Any man
who ever saw one knows what it means,
and man who has never turned out 10
fight one has no conception Of the work.
And the man who has never seen a
prairie fire when 1t Was swept onward at
night hy higA wind has missed thrilling
sight. | have read descriptions of these
fires, but not one did the subject justice.
10 my mind the storm at sea is tame
compared To the storm Of flame on Il
waste of prairie.
The few farmers near the village of
which l spoke were almost sacred to the
people of tile village. They were the only
farmers Wi,a'1 - miles OF the place. We
relied upon them for oar grain and many
Of the necessacies 0f life. One night u
prairie tire escaped from control and bore
| down upon this Lrtle cluster Of farms.
The attack was seen, Of course, by the
village. 1t seemed 10 light the earth ami
( paint the heavens It's roar was as dis
tinct as the breaking Of stormy sea on
a rock bound coast or thunder when it
strikes the heart Of forest.
The village was watching the sweep
of this fire, discussing what was best to
do, when the sound Of hoofs Of a hard
ridden horse came nearer and more dis
tinct In another moment-it seems like
moment rs | recall 1.-THE horse came
to stand In the square. The rider was a
woman.
I AS soon as the young woman could
| do so she told what We already knew, ex-
| cept the information that she had been
sent TO the village for help, and, Of
/ course, we had surmised that when we
| heard the hoofs Of her horse beating a
charge on the road.
In q few minutes as many as could
leave went out. some on horseback, some
! in wagons. Later another posse went out
l was in the civil war, but | never saw
battle like the one we had that night
with that prairie fire 1t didn't last as
/ long as the fires of lead, but it was hotter
and more stubborn. OF course you un-
1 derstand that there was no such thing as
/ water with which to fight such a fire
/ 1t had to be thrashed and beaten back
withheld, with anything that would
| thrash or smother. have known men
/ having exhausted whatever they had in
hane pun on tneir clothes ana hght prai.
re hres WIN them until the neat burned
'n ..I. uesn
:. 1t was neaIiS noon DeIore we mac
~ uhuGr control II was the most sulleI
thlns l ever saw. AT times 1t seemed
huIlaI' we saved the crops IN the heid>
anu thG mousse out what a burned
scorched army we were! Mems hair
Wh,SAers ana eyebrows were missing
anu not person escaped some accident
ny yne merry contact :,
lIHih .e" uays the village organ
Ecu me l raiile rlre cluo' ana every
man ana woman ana boy ana girl be
caii!e nleHioer' uetall was MADE II
prairie nre season whose duty II was tC
"atch tne horizoh ana be prepared tc
rae TO the rellet OF the farmers. The
cup went out number of times but the
hres We're always easily subdued. The
ueSGrlnp0 tpTrOr