Statewide fire

In the Fall of 1871 there was a drought over much of the Great Lakes.  Debris from logging and land clearing was tender-dry.  Wells went dry, crops failed, streams shrank..  On October 8 a great wildfire struck the town of Peshtigo, Wiscon killing 1300 people and the fire spread to Michigan.  It burned over 1,100,000 acres.  Another fire destroyed Chicago.  Additional fires across the state resulted in at least 200 deaths.  Ten years later another fire struck the area between Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron which was completely devastated.   The Fire burned for over a month.  Over 2 million acres were burned and hundreds of families lost everything. 

    Farmers reported that the skies were dark with smoke for several days.

Historic Diary

See Daniel Stewart’s Historic Diary of an American Farmer part of which are included on this web site and the CD.  This Historic Diary actually is a record of what people did every day back in the pioneer days.  Wesley Arnold donated the entire collection of Daniel Stewart’s Diaries to the Center Line Public Library and had placed it on CD so that anyone may be able to view it for free.