The Great Thumb Fires

The Great Thumb Fires. . , Farmers along the Cass River fled to the water for safety as the fire rolled over them, again and again. They saved their lives, nothing else. Cinders and ash that fell into the river formed a lye that floated to the top. The water was so hot the fish died and floated to the surface by the hundreds. , Huron County News, Thursday Sept. 9, 1881 , , In the autumn of 1871, fires set by farmers to clear their land, fueled by drought and high winds, raged out of control and burned across the Michigan Thumb area. The fire destroyed an estimated two million acres of forest and killed 200 people. , , Ten years later in 1881, disaster struck again, this time burning over one million acres in one day, killing 282 people and destroying several towns in the Thumb. , , In 2008, foresters estimated that this white pine tree is about 125 years old. It probably sprouted soon after the forest fires swept across the Thumb area. The fires cleared this area of trees and underbrush, exposing the rock outcrop engraved with the Sanilac Petroglyphs. , , Right: The American Red Cross published an appeal for help in the Dansville (New York) Advertiser on September 13, 1881. Illustrations of the fire appeared in magazines like Harper's Weekly and Leslie's Illustrated Weekly in October of 1881.