The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1906-03-28
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NfSpsTSNNSN anu OltcH leuIlul ueStIuC-
tion wrought by the prairie
fires Of earlier days in the West, and
which even now frequently sweep the
vast prairies west of the Missouri and
the rivers of the north. From earliest
childhood to manhood 1 was familiar
with this demon of the prairies, and
no recollection of pioneer experiences
stands out so clearly as those connected
with these fiery trials.
From the earliest settlement of this
region down to perhaps 1876 or later,
destructive prairie fires annually vis-
tied us in northern Iowa, and they
were especially severe during the falls
Of 1862 and 1867. None of the old pio-
neers will ever forget those terrible
fires. During the earlier years the
fires were, of course, tiercer and wilder.
but not so destructive for the reason
that the country then was so sparsely
settled. Houses, grain and haystacks,
and sometimes stock and people, were
destroyed by these wild fires. Every
fall, and perhaps spring, the vast prai-
ries would be swept by the fires, and
they kept the settlers in constant fear
and dread. More than once did we
come near being burned out, or having
much property destroyed. After the
first one or two hard frosts in the
fall, and even IN until the snow came,
the settler looked for and expected
these visitations. All the long weeks
during the fall the air would be haZy
with smoke from the prairie fires Ell
ther nearby or far away, and always
accompanied by that peculiar odor of
burned wild grass.
There was sense of wildness and
danger about all this, that in spite of
the anxiety and dread which each one
shared, lent a charm to the scene. The
settler would break q few burrows
around his home, hay and grain stacks,
and then a second line of burrows five
or ten rods from the first one, and then
during a quiet day would set fire to
the wild grass between these two
strips and burn it off. This was his fire
break. But often the fire would come
sweeping along at a race-horse gait,
jump the fire-break as easily as though
it was only an Indian trail. and de-
stroy everything in its path. The fire
gathered wind, and when the grass
was heavy and tall, ms it was on the
lower ground in early days, it was
terrible, and nothing could stand be-
fore it.
The fire always burned and adj
vanced in broad V-shaped form,
vanced, and would sometimes jump
twenty to forty rods, catch, and con-
tinue on. :. great prairie fire would
sometimes advance with the mad rush
of the wind for miles and miles over
the country, wien the wind would
suddenly shift and blow from con-
trary direction, compelling it to back
fire or burn against the wind. This
was watched day and night by the
settlers, as they knew only too well
that any moment the wind might
change and the fire come on again in
its mad rush.
Well do remember how night after
night we would watch the distant fires
ready at moments notice with
bundles of hazen brush, mops and
wet rags to begin ack-firing to save
ours or anothers property; and dis
tinctly do I recall what fierce times we
tx-ntrlI hnv fiuhtinfr tl1n Hnpnn
times all day long and far into the
night. The flames would momentarily
become less fierce as the wind died
down, and then breeze up again, and
only too often the fire would spread
with renewed fury over the ground
we had gained. and we would all be
compelled to run and await our chance
to fight it again. Inch by inch We
would gain upon it, only to be over
whelmed by it and compelled to re-
treat again. The men, women and
children had to fight for dear life.
Sometimes we would conquer, some
times not. All were nearly roasted and
blistered by the fierce heat and black
thtu ny lhC ttuet i'ut bo"S
and all we held dear depended upon
it, and all must fight-and We did. Be
yond the prairie were black and dead,
covered with ashes of the burned grass,
and whirlwinds passed hither and
thither, carrying great black columns
of ashes far up into the sky. The roar
and cracking of the flames as they
rushed through the tall grass and the
heavy pillows of smoke were indeed
appalling, and only by those accus-
toned to such wild scenes of danger
and destruction could they be faced.
In spite Of all efforts, sometimes the
settlers hor'e and all he possessed on
earth would be swept away, and all
he would have left would be the few
smoulderirg ruins on the prairie.
One day, about the middle Of Octs-
ber, 1859, one of our neighbors, q Mr..
Whitney, had observed a prairie fire a
few miles away to the southeast, and
had anxiously watched it, but as the
wind was in the opposite c4retion and
it was backing against the wind, they
did not apprehend much danger from
it for few hours, so the -amily sat
down to eat. While they were at the