August 1910, in Afton, Wyoming, young Loyn BlackerLoyn Blacker
Ruth Blacker Waite, about three years of age, and his six year old brother, Roy, were sent by their mother to find and gather eggs laid by their chickens around the barnyard . It was a Saturday afternoon, when with their dog, Loyn and Roy, carrying a lard bucket, began their search. A sudden thunderstorm soon formed, and they began to walk back toward the house, with the dog between them, not more than an arm's length from either boy.

Suddenly, within a few yards of the house, a deafening bolt of lightening struck. The dog was hit and immediately dropped dead. The boys were shaken but not hurt. Lightning also hit the gable of the house and set it on fire. Through the open door, they saw their mother, Hettie,who had been stunned while on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor, wave at them to turn back. Their hearing was affected and they couldn't hear what she was calling to them. She was able to recover and hurry to the bedroom, where four month old Fred had been sleeping. The room was already on fire,, and hot, burning sawdust which insulated the ceiling, was falling onto the bed, some of which had already fallen on the baby,s forehead. A small, red scar remained in the center of his forehead the rest of his life.

Father Thomas was binding grain in a field about two miles away, and seeing the smoke, hurriedly unhitched one of the horses from the other, and leaping onto it's back, fearfully galloped toward home. By the time he arrived, the house was a smoldering ruin. Everything, except the clothing they were wearing, including any money in the house, was gone. Not one item had been saved, except the little metal lard bucket Roy still held in his hand. They had lost everything except each other.

Concerned neighbors and other family members soon arrived, and within a couple of hours, clothing and some other supplies had generously been provided. After spending a few days with other family members, they moved into an abandoned, old log house, on some forty acres they had recently purchased, where they lived for about a year until they could afford to start building a new home.