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The Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871 (Vanity)

Posted on 10/26/2006 8:38:25 PM PDT by Ptarmigan

On October 8, 1871, as Chicago was burning in the Great Chicago Fire. Another even more devastating fire ravaged northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Peshtigo was center of the timber industry. Fires were set for clearing in the forest. However things go bad. The fires started to grow uncontrollable. Then a cold front comes by on October 8th and brings strong winds. These winds fan the flames even further. These small flames exploded in massive wildfires. These strong winds also help fan the flames in Chicago. The fire managed to spread by jumping into Michigan. The fire burned down Holland, Michigan and Manistee, Michigan. By the time the firestorm ended, 1,875 square miles, which is the size of two Rhode Islands was burned. The death toll is in the neighbor of 1,200 to 2,500, which makes it the worst fire in American history. The World Trade Center attack claimed 2,749 lives, however that was mostly from the collapse. Since the fire happened, some believe it was caused by fragments of Comet Biela impact, since the Great Chicago Fire and Great Peshtigo Fire happened on the same day. Sadly, this inferno is largely forgotten due to the Great Chicago Fire.

The Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871 Wikipedia-The Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871


TOPICS: History; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 1871; 18711008; greatpeshtigofire; history; peshtigo; peshtigofire; wildfire; wisconsin

1 posted on 10/26/2006 8:38:27 PM PDT by Ptarmigan
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To: Ptarmigan

Holland is a long way from the UP so that gives an indication of how far apart the fires were.


2 posted on 10/26/2006 8:48:02 PM PDT by cripplecreek (If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?)
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To: 75thOVI; AndrewC; Avoiding_Sulla; BenLurkin; Berosus; CGVet58; chilepepper; ckilmer; demlosers; ...
This is just a tiny little catastrophe; however, there was a book out 20+ years ago claiming that the reason there were so many widespread (100s of miles apart) was that flammable material from a broken up comet started them all.

· Catastrophism ping list · join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark ·

3 posted on 10/27/2006 11:40:38 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Dhimmicrati delenda est! https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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the 1871 fires, didn't check the links, let me know if any are not working.

http://www.peshtigofire.info/bales1.htm

http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/fires.html

http://www.huroncitymuseums.org/michiganhistory.htm

http://www.michmarkers.com/startup.asp?startpage=L1628.htm

http://www.saugatuckdouglas.com/history.html

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct08.html

http://www.rootsweb.com/~mimanist/ManHist14.html


4 posted on 10/27/2006 11:45:00 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Dhimmicrati delenda est! https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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Not pertaining to 1871, but regarding impact on Lake Michigan:
Rain of Iron and Ice
by John S. Lewis
On November 27,1919, a meteorite fell into Lake Michigan near the Michigan shore. "Residents of Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, South Bend, Grand Haven, and other Western Michigan cities fled from their homes in panic, fearing an earthquake. Houses were shaken, the country was illuminated as by a bright sun's rays, so all-enveloping it was impossible to tell from which direction the flare came, the earth trembled for half a moment and then came a deep prolonged rumbling as of a terrific explosion." (p 159)

5 posted on 10/27/2006 11:46:22 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Dhimmicrati delenda est! https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Some years ago there was some speculation that these fires, and possibly the Chicago fire, WERE caused by a meteor shower.


6 posted on 10/27/2006 12:48:38 PM PDT by BenLurkin ("The entire remedy is with the people." - W. H. Harrison)
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To: Ptarmigan

Doesn't this have something to do at some point with WELS? I used to hear WELS folk talk about this a lot. I forget what they said!


7 posted on 10/27/2006 1:16:59 PM PDT by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)
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To: SunkenCiv

The Comet and the Chicago Fire:

http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2006/arch06/060206chicagofire.htm

Is there plausible evidence that a comet may have caused the Chicago fire and its regional counterparts? In 1985, Mel Waskin, who had earlier discovered Donnelly’s work, published a book, Mrs. O’Leary’s Comet, suggesting that a comet did indeed spark the October 8th fires. More recently, Robert Wood, a physicist and aeronautical engineer formerly with Douglas Aircraft and McDonnell Douglas, gained attention from the Discovery Channel and other media for proposing the same idea.

The proponents of the cometary explanation cite many fascinating details confirmed by eye witness reports: the descent of fire from the heavens, a great “tornado” of fire rushing across the landscape and tearing buildings from their foundations, descending balls of fire, a rain of red dust, great explosions of wind accompanied by blasts of thunder, buildings exploding into flame where no fire was burning, and a good deal more. Some of the parallels with the later Tunguska event are impossible to miss.


8 posted on 10/27/2006 3:54:16 PM PDT by Fred Nerks ("Illegitimi non carborundum",)
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To: Ptarmigan

I read a book about this a few years ago. Very interesting the way different people survived according to some critical choices they made....for example, being willing to go into the water, and risk the cold, etc, instead of staying on the land.


9 posted on 10/28/2006 8:05:20 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher (We are Americans...the sons and daughters of liberty...*.from FReeper the Real fifi*))
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To: SunkenCiv

One thing to note is many people died in the fire, which makes it very catastrophic.


10 posted on 10/28/2006 9:58:29 AM PDT by Ptarmigan (Ptarmigans will rise again!)
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To: Ptarmigan

Literally thousands died in the fires which began that night.


11 posted on 10/28/2006 10:06:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Dhimmicrati delenda est! https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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12 posted on 08/13/2018 8:44:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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