In the early 1900s, ostrich farming was a booming and unusual industry in parts of the American Southwest.
The birds were valuable for their feathers, which were used in fashionable hats and clothing, and large flocks were sometimes driven along roads much like cattle. But ostriches were not gentle barnyard curiosities. They were enormous, powerful, fast-moving birds, capable of reaching frightening speeds and delivering dangerous blows with their feet.
In November 1914, a quiet country road near Phoenix, Arizona, became the scene of a bizarre and deadly accident when 300 ostriches suddenly stampeded. The cause of the panic was unknown, but once the flock broke loose, even the men assigned to control them could not stop the birds in time.
Directly in their path was Mrs. L.D. Rosseau, the wife of a wealthy pioneer rancher, traveling by carriage with her team of horses. Within moments, the maddened ostriches swept over the carriage, leaving it shattered and Mrs. Rosseau dead. What followed was a scene of panic, as ranch families scattered and cowboys were called in to round up the terrified birds.
Birds’ Panic Fatal
PHOENIX, Arizona. — Three hundred ostriches stampeded today while being driven along a country road, and swarming over a carriage driven by Mrs. L.D. Rosseau, instantly killed both the woman and her team of horses, reducing the carriage to splinters.
A panic among ranchers’ families followed. Scores of cowboys were requisitioned to round up the birds. Twenty mounted vaqueros had the ostriches in charge at the time of the stampede, the cause of which is unknown.
Mrs. Rosseau, who was the wife of a wealthy pioneer rancher, was directly in the path of the maddened birds, which swooped down upon her at a tremendous speed.
Her horses bolted and overturned the carriage. The ostriches swept over the wrecked vehicle.
After they had passed, the trampled body of the woman was found. The horses were battered and torn by the birds’ feet.
Source: The Tacoma Times. Tacoma, Wash. November 13, 1914.
