Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1900-09-18
PRAIRIE FIRE CLUBS

PRAlRlE FlRE CLUBS
FRONTIER ORGANIZATIONS OF YEARS
@5 AGO IN THE WEST.
One Who Has Fought Fierce Oon-
nagrations ON. the Plsins Says .
storm 1t Sea II Tame Compared to
/ : storm O1 Flame ON the Prairie.
II reckon there are few people living
In this part Of the country who ever
heard Of prairie fire clubs" said a west
ern man, the subject having been sug.
gested by the burning Of a lot of rubbish
on scow. II doubt Il such things were
ever known in the east. In fact they
went out Of existence In the west 40
years ago. s. ~ ri (. tti5ss NJ Y
I'm very many sections Of what you
call the middle west timbered land Of
today was prairie 30 years ago. I have
travelled half day over one of these
prairies without seeing farmhouse, an
individual or 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
one of the prairies which rolled out to
the horizon in every direction, with never
tree or 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 1t on Sunday.
You may get an idea from this as to how
nearly isolated from the world we were.
"Not far from it, while the tree was
still a sapling, were 4 few farms. They
were not fenced. The ullers of the soil
plowed deep ridges about the ground
they cultivated. These were to protect
their crops and houses from the en-
croachment 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 retard the growth
Of spring. You have heard all your lives
Of certain events or things running or
| spreading like prairie fire. Any man
who ever saw one knows what it means,
and a man who has never turned out to
fight one has no conception of the work.
And the man who has never seen q
prairie fire when it was swept onward at
night by high wind has missed q thrilling
sight. I have read descriptions Of these
fires, but not one did the subject justice.
To my mind the storm at sea Is tame
compared to the storm Of flame on a
waste of prairie.
"The few farmers near the village Of
| which I spoke were almost sacred to the
people Of the village. They were the only
| farmers within Is miles of the place. We
relied upon them FOR our grain and many
of the necessaries Of life. One night
prairie fire escaped from control and bore
down upon this little cluster of farms.
| The attack was seen, of course. by the
village. 1t seemed to light the earth and
paint the heavens. Its roar was as dis
tinct as the breaking Of q stormy seq on
rock bound coast or thunder when 1t
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 hard
| ridden horse came nearer and more dis
tinct. In another moment-it seems like
a moment US I recall 1.-THE horse came
to a stand In the square. The rider was q
woman. 49,, ..r.ra.,2a.t. ~.
s@.".As soon as the young woman could
do SO she told what we already knew, ex-
|
| 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 few minutes as many as could
leave went out, some on horseback, some
in wagons. Later another posse went out.
was in the civil war, but never saw
| q battle like the one we had that night
! with that prairie fire. It didn't last as
long as the fires Of lead, but 1t was hotter
| and more stubborn. OF course you I'M
derstand that there was no such thing 40
water with which to fight such a fire.
It had to be thrashed and beaten back
with-well, with anything that would
thrush or smother. have known men
having exhausted whatever they had In
hand pull off their clothes and fight prai-
RE fires with them until the heat burned
their flesh.
1T was nearly noon before we had
it under control It was the most sullen
thing ever saw. At times 1t seemed
human. We saved the crops In the fields
and the house, but what a burned,
scorched army we were! Mems hair,
whiskers and eyebrows Were missing,
and not person escaped some accident
by the fiery contact. i.
"Within . few days the village organ
lied the Prairie Fire club, and every
man and woman and boy and girl be-
came . member. A detail was made In
prairie fire season whose duty 1t was to
watch the horizon and be prepared to
ride to the relief Of the farmers. The
club went out number Of times, but the
fires were always easily subdued. The
one have described was the terror.
Whenever I see a blaze, my mind goes
back to that night. The organization Of
our prairie fire club led to others in other
villages, but as the country filed up they
were no longer required. In
ter Ocean.
Sorry He Spoke.
A certain colonel on the staff Of one Of
Grant'a oonarala WA much given t0