The word “drought” connotes an undesirable condition which I doubt anyone wants, but an open winter has left us dry. Because of it, the evil partners of fire and wind see the opportunity to run on the prairie and roar with contempt as they chase and destroy everything in front of them. Thankfully our volunteer fire departments block them. Money to furnish these volunteers with the proper equipment is money well spent. There’s usually more and newer equipment to buy, but they work on with what they have.
There was a time when equipment wasn’t available, and the only thing standing between the fire and safety were a few people who spotted smoke on the horizon and came running to slap at the flames with sacks and blankets.
We only need to look at the fire at Fort Ransom in 1867 to help understand how dangerous a prairie fire can be. A hunting party of Metis camped outside the fort found themselves in the fire’s path. As the commander of the fort wrote, “In a few minutes a genuine hurricane swept us, carrying everything before it.” Twenty Metis died. The fort itself was saved because of a sudden shift of wind.
I’ve read several historical accounts where ranch hands of a century and more ago resorted to gruesome tactics to stop a fire. They would sort out a critter to kill, spread its carcass to full width, and drag it behind a galloping horse to snuff the lip of the advancing flames. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was never mentioned.
Mari Sandoz wrote of life in the Nebraska Sandhills and related her experiences. While still youngsters, she and her brother stood watching one fire which drove animals before it: “While we stood dumbfounded, a coyote tore past, not five feet away. Cattle bawled. We saw their flying feet below the smoke, heard the thunder of their hoofs.”
Willa Cather wrote of her aunt and uncle moving to their new homestead. “When they finally made it from the town to their lot, the aunt and uncle settled down for the night—then a whipping prairie fire scorched their land. The fire may have done them in, with all their possessions, if it hadn’t been for the quick action of the driver of the wagon, who started a backfire.”
Writers delight in hanging human or animal characteristics on prairie fires such as marching and advancing like an army; the fire could not only run, but it could jump; faster than a horse could run; its hot breath threatening destruction; plus so many more examples.
Let’s hope for adequate rainfall.
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On a particular morning over breakfast, my wife and I bantered about things in our personal world. Something she said permitted me to see a story bouncing around. She busies herself with genealogical research and writing the results and then takes it a step beyond just listing names and dates. She often asks herself what did these people from the past do, what were they like, how did their descendent families fare with their lives, and so forth.
She mentioned how this one particular branch of Norwegian ancestors includes a good many bachelors. We don’t know if the reason was a shortage of women, bashfulness, poverty, or other reasons. But it was a common enough occurrence for an old favorite entertainer Garrison Keillor to often spoke of those Norwegian bachelor farmers in his hometown of Lake Woebegon.
Now I like Garrison Keillor enough that I’ve recently ordered from his online collection a book of his limerick poetry. He’s a clever dude who can write interesting material and deliver it well. To go a step further, I had to splurge with one of his t-shirts. In large letters, the acronym POEM displays prominently on the front. On the back the letters spell out Professional Organization of English Majors.
This is not a real organization, an official one that is, but one he’s invented one that presents some of his humor. He often mentioned it in his regular weekly program from which he unfortunately has retired. I still enjoy some of his recent writing.
Two other writers with huge followings recently died and left a big void in the literary field. Beverly Cleary wrote children’s and young adult’s books about everyday kids including some well-known characters of her imagination as Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ralph S. Mouse. NPR radio said, “She has always thought like a kid.”
Larry McMurtry became popular with his best-seller, Lonesome Dove. Many lovers of western literature will attest to its being the best. He wrote many other books, too, and wasn’t afraid to deal with controversial material. He and a writing partner wrote the screenplay for “Brokeback Mountain,” the story about a love affair between two cowboys. Like it or not, the film won an Oscar
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