The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-03-11
DISASTROUS WORK
OF PRAIRIE FIRES
Hundreds Are Homeless In Ok
lahoma and Kansas as
Result.
SEVERAL LIVES ARE LOST
Thousands Of Persons With Scant Ap,
pareI Were Forced to Spend Night
on Frozen Prairie-Heavy De-
struction of Property.

LaWton, Okla, March 5.-Prairtet
ires that swept over large portions of
kiowa and Comanche counties del
stroyed hundreds of farm buildings and
much live stock, made 1000 persons|
homeless, caused the death of several
persons, threatened a number of towns,
and swept ava scores OF buildings I'M
the outskirts Of the towns. Two deathsl
are verified.
DIR. HARMON, six miles from Law-I
ton, body found. :
UNKNOWN BOY, body found on thet
prairie near Lawton, burned beyond,
identification
John Harmon and a daughter of Mrs.l
Henderson, living near Lawton, werej
fatally burned.
The country was very dry, no rain
having fallen for months. Grass and
stubble fires set by farmers, as is cus-l
tomary at this season of the year, were
driven beyond control by a violent galel
which rose suddenly.
All estimates OF the loss exceed
5000, 600.
AT Hobart, the county seat of Kiowal
county. the fire approached from thej
east, destroying the stables and ffteen|
race horses, fifteen residences. two bus-
mess houses and various small build
lnSs. Spreading to the southwest, thel
tre swept $4,000 acres of government
military timber reserve and Indian,
school reserve, destroying several In-
Ola houses and forty head Of govern-!
ment cattle. Spreading westward. thej
flames covered miles of the homestead
district, destroying houses, barns andI
stock. 1t was in this district that fiVel
persons n Tn 1snnnrtpl fn. Jn,,, ,,a,,tGg,n1l
IN attempting to protect their property.
Lawton's Marrow Escape.
Late at night the fire began movingi
o'clock midnight 10000 people of thel
city, We're up to battle with the flames.
The advance line Of the fire was fully
two miles in length, and came in semi-'
circular form. A thousand men turned
their efforts to checking the fire in,
the grass borders Of the reservation
at the city limits. Water from every
source. carried in every conceivable
way, was distributed along this line
and carried all around the city limits.
This served the purpose OF checking'
the advance of the fire, but was of It'll
tie avail in hindering he continual
rolling Of the fire brands into the,
streets of the city. In more thar a
hundred places flames arose from
dwellings,, barns and outhouses. But
wherever a blaze grew men were sent
TO quench it with water. AS a RESULT
the city's loss was only $40.
Stories are coming in of how fam-i
lies lay out on the prairie through,
out the freezing night after the storm
had passed, with only thin clothes onl
their backs Hundreds of people are,
suffering intensely in the cold and
with excruciating pain occasioned byt
burns. Clothes, physicians and medi.
ClleS are being sent n1t from, "a II f1,Af
cities and towns in the district to re1
lieve the suffering. Cavalry from Fort
Sill and officers from his city are
searching for missing women and
children.
People Dangerously Burned.
The names of six persons dangerouslS
burned nave been learned, and reports
persistently continue from various dis
tricts to the effect hat a large nam
Der of persons were injured in fighting
the flames.
I. c. Strickland, the sexton of the
LaWton cemetery, and his wife and two
children were seriously burned.
j. e. Denny, a farmer, was seriously
injured. =
r. e.. Troser, living three miles ont.
Of Lawton, lost all his property, a herd
Of cattle. and was burned seriously.
but with his entire family. in night
clothing, escaped to plowed ground and
remained in the colo night air until
dawn.
A report has been received at Fort
Sill that an Apache Indian village was
swept clean. This report has not been
verified. The soldiers at Fort Sill were
ordered to fight the flames. and rem
dered great assistance.
At Anadarko many farm buildings
were burned. Nc lives are reported
lost, but there were numerous narrow
escapes. Women and children scantily
clad fled to plowed ground, while the
men remained to fight the flames in
an endeavor to ave property.
Guthrie, Okla, March "A great
prairie fire today swept the entire
country from the Wichita mountains
past Lawton. Two men were burned to
death. Many farm houses and much
stock were burned. The Lawton and
Fort Sill Indian schools barely escaped.