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BLAZING
CANVASESPrairie
Fires in Oil and Tempera |
Yukon,
Oklahoma WPA Mural “The Run" detail
TE photo 2009 |
| Second
only to Indian attack, prairie
fires were the most terrifying threat to pioneers. The threat continues today
with recent fires in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado.
Kansas seems to have diminished the threat by fighting (future) fire with (intentionally
set) fire. Dead grass is burned after winter throughout Kansas, eliminating potential
fuel and creating fertilizing ash. A fast-burning fire twelve inches tall can
easily be controlled while drought-dry 30 inch grass can ignite outbuildings,
cars and homes. |
Charred
Kansas landscape after a controlled fire
TE photo, April 2009 |
Prairie
Fires became the subject of at least two Depression-era murals, and provided
a backdrop for another. The following gallery comes from two Oklahoma murals and
one from West Texas. They are:
Yukon,
Oklahoma, (SW Oklahoma) “The
Run, April 22, 1889, Taking the Lead” Artist Dahlov Ipcar painted the oil
on canvas mural in 1941
Madill,
Oklahoma, (South Central Oklahoma) “Prairie
Fire” by Ethel Magafan, a tempera painting installed in 1941. Location: Madill’s
current post office
Brownfield,
Texas: (West Texas)
"Ranchers
of the Panhandle Fighting Prairie Fire with Skinned Steer" by Frank Machau.
Located in the Brownfield Police Headquarters (the former Brownfield post office) |
“Prairie
Fire"
Detail of Madill, Oklahoma WPA Mural by Ethel Magafan
TE
photo |
| A detail
from the Brownfield
mural was used for the cover of the book The Texas Post Office Murals.
Image left shows the detail as it appears in place, while the right side shows
a reverse image for the cover. | |
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