Port Huron Fire of 1871 as a result of the Port Huron Fire, and at least 200 from all the fires in the state. The origins of the fires are unknown, but the damage was worsened by a number of factors. Uninterrupted drought had plagued the Midwest into early October and winds were strong. When the wind increased and shifted direction, fire fighters were unable to control the flames any longer. Vast tracts of forest burned for a week in parts of Michigan and Wisconsin. Within hours, several Midwestern cities and towns were reduced to charcoal and ash. That same night, the Great Chicago Fire
Monument to the Great Fire of London Tamdiu Patravit Nondum Restingvitur" (but Popish frenzy, which wrought such horrors, is not yet quenched) were added to the end of the inscription on the orders of the Court of Aldermen in 1681 during the foment of the Popish Plot. Text on the east side originally falsely blamed Roman Catholics for the fire ("burning of this protestant city, begun and carried on by the treachery and malice of the popish faction"), which prompted Alexander Pope (himself a Catholic) to say of the area: <poem>Where London's column, pointing at the skies, Like a tall bully, lifts the head, and lies. –