The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-15
Terrible PRAIRIE FIRES
HsDw SMOKE AND FLAME SWEPT
THROUGH LUXURIANT GRASS.
Wild Beasts OF Many Kinds Fled in
Terror Before Impending Death
and often succumbed.

los Angeles (Cal) Times.
40 one who has never seen a prairie fire
siEch as used every fall TO devastate the
pains from the Missouri river TO the
RScky mountains. and from the Rio Grande
W into central British America, can have
as idea what such enormous CONGREGATIONS
wire. No one has yet adequately told the
fIsghtful sublimty, the horrible grandeur
AID the awfulness OF a sea OF lurid flames,
tcsls OF thousands Of acres in area, rolling,
tossing and rushing forward like an en-
ragged titanic monster. and quickly leaving
tr. its trail blackened and smoking ruins
fam horizon TO horizon. Mark Twain has
SD that the most colossal. awesome thing
ri all nature is a great fire the plains.
SIGH as he saw in Nebraska in the fall Of
$50
Prairie fires where solid walls of flames
twenty-five and thirty feet high. extending
ten and more miles. the wind might be
b;,wing. have been common. Descriptive
Writers and artists have Wed with one
other i'm an effort 10 tell the sensations
that animate one who looks upon a sweep
iDg. roaring prairie fire. but all efforts have
failed The burning of Moscow and the
ccnhagration Of Chicago have been power
fr6ly pictured in song and story. but il has
remained for the naked savage OF the
p.Ains TO tell with some degree of adequacy
ofs the prairie fire. 1T is says he. THE
sEarit OF fire who I'm anger has drawn his
bssw Of flames across The path OF the red
man"
COVERED 800 MILES.
In 1874 some hunters started a prairie
hys, In Bonhomme county, Dakota, oppo-
size Niobrara. Neb. There was a strong
southeast wind. and IL swept away TO the
northwest for over 800 miles. licking up the
dr. prairie grass and rolling up great col
utSns OF smoke the soft September air
fe- upward OF a week. This one was COM
osrativeIy narrow. being kept from spread
iTSs 10 the west by the Missouri river, and
sIsm making much progress to the east
az first by the SIN river and later by the
w2ud. which shifter more TO the east. but
irs some places the tract burned over
reached a width OF enty-five miles and
u!averaged perhaps fully nifty.
II found few streams 10 impede its prog
reSs on that side OF the Missouri: what few
II did encounter IL had no difficulty I'm leap
if& Indeed. the distance that the fire will
1i<np In crossing these prairie streams
wsere the grass grows rank and tall TO
TIE very waters edge. seems almost past
b<iief. and during the fall. of course many
og the creeks are dry for a greater part
o. their course, and In case fire cannot
US III oHt llbCe thefc - usually a place
Were 10 can. and so II rushes on, frequent
u leaving large unburned. irregular A.
sfaped places along the streams or lakes
pt.t leaving the country as a whole black
bfsrren and fOrbidding
This fire took over week 10 go rather
more than two hundred miles This may
seem slow. but several things must be
rtSen into consideration. In many places
It's grass was short, which necessarily
hsddered It's progress. There was little or
NJ wind during the night IL OF course
uaVeied very slowly then. Al other times
wen IL got among stretches OF blue Joint
o. other fail grass II, ike any other prairie
ne. Travelled at such a rate that a horse
be ne ever so fast. could not long keep
abead The 'front.' was. OF course. irregu-
L. ana as usual II would frequently hap
pa That two long advancing arms would
JC1n several miles ahead OF the main line
% tame and rush onward, forming a new