Ponderosa Pines

A fire begins in Deadwood, South Dakota and is soon raging through the Ponderosa Pine Forest of the Black Hills. Nine-year-old Annette, her siblings, and cousins are sent home from school early. Later in the evening, the children notice the smell of smoke. Turning on the television, they find out that the fire is actually very close. The newscast reveals that Annette's dad, uncle, and their fellow workers in the Homestake Gold Mine have been signaled to evacuate the mine and ordered to join the ranks of those fighting the fire. Radio and TV announcers let listeners know that Deadwood is being evacuated, and that residents in the nearby town of Lead, where Annette and her family live, should standby for further direction.

It is a scary time for Annette, as her mom, aunt, siblings, and cousins, plan and prepare for possible evacuation. She must summon up the courage to go into the dreaded basement alone to collect supplies. Worse yet, when Mother experiences an asthma attack and sister Betty breaks her toe playing kickball, Aunt Dolly needs to drive them to the hospital, leaving Annette in charge of the other children. Annette faces her eleven siblings and cousins who look at her "like a bunch of lost puppies." In addition to coming up with ways to keep everyone occupied and calm, she must prepare supper for them, all the while worrying that they have no means of escaping, should they need to evacuate. 

Contents

Map xiii

Family Tree xiv

Family Photo xv

First Day of School 1

A Forest Fire 7

Packing Up 21

Seeing the Fire 28

Harry Daniels 35

Climbing 47

Supper Time 57

Chokecherries! 63

The News 73

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 82

Asthma Morning 88

Being in Charge 98

Tea Time 113

Uncle Roger 128

A Homecoming 133

Epilogue 151

Deadwood Fire of 1959 Statistics 156

Endnotes 158

Bibliography 164

Interviews 167

Photo & Map 169