Great Michigan Fire Great Michigan Fire The Great Michigan Fire was a series of simultaneous forest fires in the state of Michigan in the United States in 1871. They were possibly caused (or at least reinforced) by the same winds that fanned the Great Chicago Fire; some believe lightning or even meteor showers may have started the fires. Several cities, towns and villages, including Alpena, Holland, Manistee, and Port Huron, suffered serious damage or were lost. The concurrent Great Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin also destroyed several towns in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1881, much more than half of "the Thumb" region
Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 correspondence was Hayden's Report No. 7 to Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Spencer Baird, a bit of which is excerpted below: Yellowstone Lake, WY August 8th, 1871 - Dear Professor Baird, Your letters of June 6th and July 3rd were brought us from Fort Ellis by Lt. Doane who has just arrived to take command of our escort and accompany my party the remainder of the season. ... We arrived at the banks of the Yellow Stone Lake "[sic]" July 26th [actually July 28] and pitched our camp near the point where the river leaves the Lake. Hence