Draft:Great Fires of 1871

Great Fires of 1871
Date(s)	September 29, 1871 (1871-09-29)
Location	United States
Statistics
Burned area	3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2)
Impacts
Deaths	Thousands
Damage	Unknown
Ignition
Cause	Controlled Burns, Railroad Sparks, etc

The Great Fires of 1871 were a series of conflagrations that took place throughout the final days of September first weeks of October 1871 in the United States. These fires include the Great Chicago Fire, Peshtigo Fire, Great Michigan Fire, and more. In total the fires burnt more than 3,000,000 acres (1,200,000 ha) of land and killed thousands.

Background

The summer of 1871 saw a prolonged drought. A report from the National Weather Service in Chicago stated that "leaves had started dropping as early as July." Only 134 mm of rain had fallen in Chicago compared to the average of more than 230 mm. Lansing, Michigan reported 70% of the average and Thunder Bay, Michigan reported just 64%. On the first week of October 1871 a large cold front had moved in creating strong south-easternly winds. The first week of October also had "tinder dry" conditions, perfect for fires.

Fires

Wisconsin

Peshtigo Fire

Further information: Peshtigo Fire

Making for the river

Wisconsin experienced the deadliest conflagration in recorded history that being the Peshtigo Fire which broke occurred on October 8th 1871. The fire was said to have also been started due to slash and burn methods and grown by the winds. During the fire a firestorm ensued. Peter Pernin (an eyewitness) wrote "When turning my gaze from the river I chanced to look either to the right or left, before me or upwards, I saw nothing but flames." In total the fire spanned across 6 counties and 1.2-1.5 million acres, killed 1,200 to 1,500 people, and damaged a total of 16 towns. The only structures that remained in Peshtigo was a brick kiln and a house constructed of new wood. Today there is a museum and cemetery to commemorate the fire.

Elsewhere

Another fire burned in the lower half of the Door Peninsula. A misconception is that the Peshtigo fire "jumped" across the bay to the door peninsula, however these were separate fires. The fire started south of New Franken and spread due to the wind. The fire burned the towns of Union, Brussels and Forestville. The fire also burnt the town of Williamsonville (located in modern-day Gardner) which left only 17 alive from the population of 77. The town did not rebuild. The fire spanned from its starting point to south of Sturgeon Bay and an estimated 7,500 people were left homeless due to the fire.

Illinois

Chicago

Further information: Great Chicago Fire

Painting of the Great Chicago Fire by Currier and Ives

Illinois suffered one of the most well-known fires in American history, that being the Great Chicago Fire. The fire broke out at around 8:30 PM on October 8th near or in a barn belonging to the O'Leary family . The cause of the fire is not confirmed, a common tale is that Mrs. O'Leary's Cow knocked over a lantern in the barn starting the fire, however this has been not confirmed. (see #Theories) The fire quickly spread due to the strong winds mentioned previously. Another contributing factor of the fire's growth was that the fire had created a fire whirl which flung burning debris further. The fire eventually stopped due to burning itself out and rain that started the night of the 9th. The fire killed around 300 people, burned 2,112 acres and costed $222 million. The fire would cause Chicago and many more cities to create regulations to help prevent fires from breaking out and spreading as far.

Urbana

On the same day of the Great Chicago Fire, a fire broke out in Urbana. It was caused by children playing with matches in an alley. It burned a few buildings.

Minnesota

The first of the great fires started in Minnesota, the October 5th Ottawa Daily Citizen reported "A conflagration has been raging on the prairie and in the big woods west since Friday last." This shows the fire started around September 29th. The fire's cause is unknown, but it began around Breckenridge and quickly spread due to strong winds towards the "Big Woods" region. By October 6th the fire had reached as far south as the Iowa border, as far east as the Minnesota River. It is unknown how many lives were lost, a Newspaper from October 7th while the fire was ongoing reported just 2 lives lost. At the time this fire was known as the Great Prairie Fire

Michigan

Main article: Great Michigan Fire

Michigan saw many fires spread across the whole state. These fires were said to be caused by land clearing fires that grew out of control due to the "slash" that laid on the ground due to heavy logging. The fire also grew due to the strong winds. The cities of Holland and Manistee were completely destroyed and other cities such as Alpena and Port Huron (in the Port Huron Fire) were damaged. The city and county of Menominee was damaged in the Peshtigo Fire. Overall the fires burnt around 2.5 million acres. The death count is unknown.

Canada

Image taken after the Windsor Fire

On October 12th a fire broke out in Windsor, Ontario it is said to have been caused by an overheated iron. The fire quickly ravaged most of the wood buildings in the commercial district. In the end no one died, but 100 buildings were destroyed. Many of the citizens rebuilt their houses out of wood to prevent future fires.

Kansas

Kansas experienced multiple prairie fires including one "about 15 miles up Soldier Creek", one "from Osage City to Dragoon Creek, a distance of six miles.”, another "at the head of Mulberry, Chapman, and the east branch of Pipe creeks", and one north of Thayer. It is unknown the extent of damage of these fires and if any lives were lost.

Nebraska

Nebraska also experienced multiple prairie fires near Covington, Fremont, and North Bend.

Ohio and Indiana

Fires along the Toledo and Wabash Railway burnt near cities such as Antwerp and New Haven.

Iowa

On October 5th Iowa suffered a fire in Burlington.

South Dakota

Yankton, South Dakota suffered a fire on October 5th.

Elsewhere

It seems as though most records of the fires have been lost to time, Professor Increase A. Lapham wrote a report to the Chief Signal Officer saying "The work of extending the prairie border was exhibited in the autumn of 1871 upon the grandest scale. Fires have swept more or less completely along the whole northern frontier, from the Rocky Mountains through Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and even into New York and Pennsylvania.” Another source states that the fires "extended to Utah, Nevada, California, and Oregon in the west, and to Virginia, Pennsylvania, and eastern New York."

Theories

The concurrence of these fires raised many theories about what happened to cause them. One popular hypothesis arose only 2 years after the fires. The theory states that fragments of Biela's Comet which split into 2 around 1845, impacted the grounds of the fires and lit them ablaze. Another theory states that lightning caused the fires. There are also many more theories on what caused the Great Chicago Fire specifically. For example a group of gambling men started the fire. Still other speculation suggests that the blaze was related to other fires in the Midwest that day. The fires were most likely caused by controlled burns and railroad sparks that grew out of control due to the cold front, but whatever the cause there is no way to know for certain.