Mayor Wilkinson recalls fires of 1889
Mayor recalls fires of 1889
Mayor Recalls “The Dark Days” in Summer, 1889
Present Forest Fires Rival in Severity Those of That Year.
Forest fires in this vicinity are not a new thing. There are many Missoula people who remember the fires of 1910; perhaps not so many who remember those of 1889. Little attention was given to fires in the forests here at that time and for that reason little is known of their exact character. But according to descriptions given by Mayor H. T. Wilkinson the blazes this year might rival those of that time.
He said:
“It was my first year in Missoula. Forest fires were something new to me, and for that reason I guess I paid more attention to them than did most people of the town at that time. I was working for the Northern Pacific railway in the superintendent’s office. The office was in the second story of the building now used as a freight depot. The smoke was so dense here in the valley that it was impossible to see across the street. At noontime I could just distinguish the outlines of buildings across Railroad street, as I sat in the office. This condition prevailed for a week or more in the middle of August.
“With the fires as bad as they are now, I can’t quite make out why it is that the air remains so clear about the city. People here didn’t seem to pay much attention to the fires, though complaints of the smoke were common. There was no organized effort to extinguish the flames. Some of the logging companies tried it, I think, but as to their success I don’t know. Just where the fires were, too, is unknown to me. I guess they were everywhere. The year had been dry. After a week’s time, the air began to grow more clear, and by the end of the month the fires seemed to have gone out. As I remember it, it was rain that did the successful fire fighting that year.”
The above article appeared in The Missoulian on July 27, 1919.
H. T. Wilkinson served 3 terms as the Mayor of Missoula. Originally serving as clerk and recorder he was first elected mayor in 1916 as a Democrat.
For a short biography of Wilkinson see the link below:
https://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/DocumentCenter/View/8281/Wilkinson-HT?bidId=