THE GREATEST PRAIRIE FIRE KNOWN IN KANSAS
The greatest prairie fire known in Kansas was in the year 1869 and it was set by an officer of the US Government. This officer was in Washington, D.C. and during the Spanish War, his name was frequently in newspapers.
One day in 1869 he and a party of officers from Fort Hays were returning from a wild turkey hunt in the canyons of the Saline River. The wind was blowing up a hurricane and when a stop was made on the high prairie some ten miles north of Hays, this officer deliberately touched match to the dry, crisp grass in order to make a spectacle. When the other officers saw what he was about to do they made a desperated effort to stop him, but the deed had been done and the red flames were reeling across the prairie like a frightened antelope. That fire swept from where it had started clear across Kansas into what is now Oklahoma.
The streams and roads offered no obstacles to it whatsoever. While going south, it had also turned to the east and left a trail of ruin across Rice, Reno, Kingman, Harper and other counties. Thousands of settlers were burned out -- losing their houses and their feed, their horses and cattle.
If the man who set that fire had been known to the settlers, all the troops on the plains would not have been enough to stay their vengeance. As it was, he suffered remorse beyond description. When the officers at Hays would bring him papers telling of the damage done he would groan and curse himself roundly.
He left for some other post in the following year and so far, as we know his name was never connected with the gigantic prairie fire of 1869.
Editor's Note: Made some changes that will be removed when the origin's of the story have been found. Then, this story will be posted properly.
