Lowrie's Last Ride

Ron Wirth from Oregon contacted the Omaha Public Library. His great-grandfather's brother, Walter J. Lowrie, was a member of the Omaha Hook and Ladder Company. He had in his possession a copy of a booklet published by the Omaha Bee newspaper called "Lowrie's Last Ride." It recounts the accident on July 21 1880, that took the life of Lowrie, the oldest paid member (except for the chief engineer) of the fire department while he was on his way to a fire. Ron asked us:

"Are their any photos of the fire departments of that time in Omaha in the archives, or personal and or donated images?"

As it happened, I had run across a photo in the Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company records and so we scanned it for him. Mark Dasovic, a fire fighter / historian at Omaha Fire Department, identified the photo as one they also have in their collection. The photo was taken in January, 1879. It shows Pioneer Hook & Ladder Company #1 hand-pulled fire wagon with ladders on the top and leather buckets hanging from sides. It was the replacement rig for the original smaller one. It is parked in front of the Williams Block on the east side of 15th Street between Capitol and Chicago. Currier Photography shop is shown behind on the right. On the left is the "New American" sewing machine store.

" The alarm of the fire was from the corner of Fifteenth and Dodge Streets and Lowrie headed down Sixteenth Street, followed very closely by the Hook and Ladder truck. The accident occur ed at the intersection of Sixteenth and Douglas Streets. On the south side of Douglas Street, running west half way across Sixteenth Street, on the north side of the crosswalk, there is a washout about a foot deep and two or three feet wide. Lowrie's cart struck this ditch and was bounced up and down as the horse proceeded down the street on the jump. Lowrie was thrown from his seat into the air and when he came down he slipped between the foot board and the horse, and tried to save himself by grabbing at the horse's hips, but missing his hold, he fell to the ground, and the next instant the left wheel passed over his head. The horse and the cart dashed on down the street. Lowrie never stirred after the wheel went over him. Mr. Al Sorenson, who had run to the fire in his reportorial capacity, was running alongside the cart when the accident occurred, and with another witness of the affair, Mr. Tucker, ran up to Lowrie, who was laying on his face, and dragged him out of the way of the hook and ladder truck, which was coming down the hill in the track of the horse cart, at full speed. About the same time Dr. Grossman, who was on his way home from the bedside of an attempted suicide, came up and examined the body, and found a large fracture in the skull on the left side of the back of the head. There was a hole there large enough for him to put his hand in, and he didn't look for any other injuries, that in itself being fatal..... The booklet goes on to cover the services, the funeral train, and a poem written by Rev. D. R. Miller, friend of the deceased, entitled "Lowrie's Last Ride."

Thank you to Mr. Wirth for sending us a copy of "Lowrie's Last Ride" for our collection. Photo is courtesy of the Omaha Public Library (pho_507).