FIRES ALONG THE OREGON TRAIL

The Indians knew that the telegraph wires strung along the Oregon Trail carried white man's news which generally meant bad news for them. When time and opportunity permitted, these lines were routinely destroyed, usually by burning the bases of the poles. Fuel on the Plains was scarce and these three Sioux warriors have gathered bundles of brush along some river bottom to feed these fires in a vain effort to halt the white invader.