by Delbert Trew
I would guess that since man first discovered fire, learned its uses
and enjoyed its comforts, at least a zillion cords of wood had been
burned down through the ages. History abounds with stories telling of
the early Great Plains settlers sending out the children pulling wash
tubs with ropes gathering cow or buffalo chips for fuel. Other settlers
gathered rough tall grasses making small bundles called "hay-cats" to
burn in their stoves. Prairie fuel was hard to find and keep in stock.
Chuck wagon cooks prepared for "woodless days" on the trail by
swinging a dried cowhide beneath their wagon box, calling it a "coozie"
and filling it with whatever prairie fuel found that day during the
drive to the next camp ground. It might be wood, soto sticks from bear
grass or just a pile of good cow chips found near a buffalo wallow.
Common sense tells us that Indians moved their camps regularly
because of the lack of firewood more than any other reason. Every early
western settlement provided jobs and business opportunities by the
constant need for firewood, hauling water, moving outhouses and hauling
off trash and manure the same as modern cities today.
My favorite firewood story comes from the history of a Colorado gold
mining strike high in the Rocky Mountains. Winter forced most of the
miners to flee the high altitude snows to lower altitudes to spend the
winters in warm saloons. A few of the more hardy miners built good
cabins, cut and stacked firewood for the winter, and stayed living near
their mines.
One old-timer, well-experienced in winter survival, built a tight
cabin and cut plenty of firewood to keep him snug through the winter. At
some point that winter, he discovered someone was stealing from his
firewood piles but was unable to determine the identity of the thief. He
finally drilled a hole with a wood auger into a chunk of wood, filled
it with black powder, plugged the hole and left the chunk near where the
thefts were occurring.
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