Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 March 1883 — PIONEER EXPERIENCES. [ARTICLE]

PIONEER EXPERIENCES.

The past forty or fif.y years have wrought great changes in the physical character of this country, and what called out the most per*is ent effort of the early settlers,-like them has < principally passed away. New times bring with them new dmie. and necessities which call out new caps-

biiities to meet them. Of early experi' n es. now happily no longer to be feared, the praire fire wyS one to make a lusting impression upon the memory of the beholder, and yet one cot easily described We are permitted to print the following description. • which some of our older citis-ns euj dorse as remarkably accurate, from the manuscript of the History of Jasper county, now iu preparation:

“From tha time the grass would burn, which was soon after the first frost, usuahy about the first oi Octo be. , tilt the surrounding prairie was ail burnt over, or if not all burnt, till the green grass iu the spring bad growu sufficiently to prevent the rapid progress of the fire, the early set tleis were continually on the watch, and as they usually expressed the idea, “slept with one eye open When the ground was covered with snow, or during taiuy weuth r, *ne apptehension -as quieted, and both eyes could Le safely closed. A stat ute law forbade sei ting the praiiie on fire, and one doing so was sub]' o r to penalty, and liable in an ac.iou of tr- spAss, for the damage occurring; but convictions were seldom effected, ns proof was difficult to obtain, tho’ there were frequent fire*. These, started on the leeward side of an improvement, while dangerous to property -O he let ward, were not so t.i pj operty to the windward as fire progressing against the wind is easily extinguished, and the temptatio > ro -‘art one of these fires for some trivial purpose was often quite inesiotable.

Various meats wero resorted to for protection. A common one was to plow several furiowp around a strip, several rods wide, outside the im provements. and then burn out the inside strip; or to wait until t e prairie was on fire and then set Are outside K.f this furrowing, reserving the inner strip for a late burn, 1. e., until the following summer, and in July burn both old grass and new. The grass wculd start afresh immediately, and the cattle would feed it close io preference to the older grass, so that the fire would not pass over it in the following autumn. Th’S process repeated would socn. or in a few years, tun out the prairie grass, which in time would be replaced by bluegrass, which will not burn to any serious extent. But all this toon time and labor, and the crowd of business on the lands of a new settler, of which u novi< e has no conception, would prevent him doing wha- would now seem a small matter; and even when ae complishe , all such precautions often prove futile A prairie fire driven by a high wind wo-id often leap such >artiers and seem to put human es fort at defiance. A praine fir> when first started go«s straight forward with a velocity proportioned to th** force of th. wind, widening as it goes, but the center keeping ahead; it spreads sideways, out burning laterally, it m ikes but comparatively slow progie-s, «ud if ’he wind is moderate end st.eoly,tins spreading Are is not difficult to in.in > 8 e l feh ut wind veers a point or iwo-Wfiist one wuy and then the other, it sends this side fire beyond control I lie bead fire in dry graas aud ahead wind is a fearful thing, and psi-tty sure to h iVe its own way unless ’lU'i'.' is sum. defensible point to niee it. A c >ut* st with such a fir." -t< q itr< s such skill and tact as can be leu>he.>l only by experience, and a neighborhood of sealers called ou by such in exigency at once put themselves under the direction of the oi ieSt and most experience 1 of their, number, and go to work with the alacrity and energy of men defending their homes and property Loin destruction The usual way of meeting advacc ng lives, was to begin iho defense where the head of the lire would strike, which was calculated by the smoke and ashes brought by the wind along in advance of lire, a road, cattle path or furrow is of great value at such a place; if there was no such, a strip of the g.ass was wetted down, if water could pe procured, which was, however, a rather scarce articl • ar the time of the annual fire. Ou the side nearest the coining fire, of such a road or path, the gruss is set on fire, which burns slowly against the wind until it meets the coming conflagration, which latter stops of co irse for want of fuel, provided there has been sufficient time to bu.n over a strip thAt can not be leaped oy the head fire as it com *s iu. This is called “back firing”; but in this method giert care must be exercised to prevent the Are getting over the furrow or path, or whatever is used as the base of operation. ’ P it gets iu the rear of this and once under way, there is no remedy but to fall back to a more defensible position. The head of the Are successfully • becked, the force of Are-Aghters divide, part going to the right and part to the. left,- and the back-Ariug continued to meet the side fires as they come up. This must be continued until the fire is checked along tne entire front of the premises endanger ed. and the sides seemed. Various implements were used to put out a sid or back fire or even the head of a Are iu a moderate wind. A fence board, four to six feet long, with one side shaved down fora handle, was very effective when struck fiat upon the narrow strip of fire. A bundle of hazel brush, a spade or shovel were often used with effect. i'he women frequently lent their aid and dextrously wielded the mop, which, when thoroughly wet proved a very efficient weapon, especially in extinguishing a flre ( in the fence. When the Are overcamt all opposi-. tion, and seemed bound to sweep over the settlement, a fear of person al loss would paralyze, for the moment, every faculty, and as soon as the danger seemed imminent, united effort ceased, and each one hastened to defend his own as best be could. It is due to historical truth t.> jay that actual losses were much less than might have been expected, though frequently quits severe The physical efforts, made In extinguishing a dangerous* fire, and protecting one’s home from this devouring elensen’, were of the moat trying natu e, not uurit-quently xesultiug fatally lhe premises about the residences and yards being trampled down by the family and domestic animals, as .ter a year or two became tolerably safe from fire, but the fences, corn aud stubble fields were often attacks ed. When the open land was all fencud and under cultivation, so that these fires were a thing of the past, the residents of the prairie were hap | Pdy released from the cons>ant apprehension which for years had' dis i ttirbed their peace by night and caus- i

ed anxiety by day, though the early settlers still retain vivid recollections of the grand illuminations nightly exhibited in dry weather, frem early fall to 1 .te spring, by numberless prairie fires. The whole horizon would be lighted up around its entire 1 I circuit. A heavy fire six or seven 1 miles away, would afford sufficient

light in a dark night to enable one to read floe print. When a fire had passed through the prairie, leaving the long lines of side fires Ifke two armies facing each other, the sight at uight was sublime; and if one’s ptem ise«» were securely pro ected and he could enjoy the exhibition without apprehension, it was t sight well worth going far to see.”