Augusta has many well-known pieces that depict wildfires. In her mother’s journals, she made records of at least three fires between January and the end of April in 1895 when Augusta would have been just 13.The entry reads, “Terrible prairie fire in N and W. Mat Shaw and Pa fighting all day-fire at nightwind in all directions and blowing a gale.” Augusta would watch Pa and other local ranchers attempting to prevent fire damage by cutting and burning swaths through pastures to create firebreaks in hopes that it would stop or slow the pace of a prairie fire. Have you…
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