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…