It is unimaginable to picture whole cities burning, much less whole counties, but that was the case in 1871, and then remarkably, ten years later again in 1881. The whole Michigan Thumb suffered two disastrous fires. The Thumb Fire of 1881 brought the American Red Cross to the first major disaster they brought relief to. The combination of the two fires marked the end of the lumber industry in the Thumb and the clearing of the land for agriculture. But that was the only benefit, as each fire brought over 200 dead, tens of thousands homeless, and thousands suffering burns, inhalation, smoke blindness, and more from the fires.

Significant Michigan forest fires from 1871 through 1911. Features the Metz Fire of 1908 and the Ausable-Oscoda Fire of 1911.

Report on the Michigan Forest Fires of 1881 by William Bailey O., first published in 1882, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

October 8, 1871 was forever known and the day Michigan burned. But it was not the first or the last of the great Michigan forest fires. Fires had burned through Michigan's Thumb area as early as 1853, 1861, 1862, 1864 and again in 1881. The 1871 fires ate their way through parts of Menominee County, most of the territory from the shores of Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, and downward into the Thumb. In its course, Holland, Manistee and Glen Haven were destroyed, as were at least 40 smaller villages and hamlets.This comprehensive book covers the relief work of the American Red Cross; the story of the Upper Peninsula fires and the burning of Ontonagon, which pitted corporate greed against the general population; to a rescue by sea of two lighthouse keepers threatened by high seas on one side and an approaching wildfire on the other. Also covers the Metz tragedy in which women and children were burned to death in a railroad car and the twin fires in Au Sable and Oscoda. Discusses the history of forest firefighting and equipment in Michigan.

Discover how important railroads once were to Michigan's Thumb region in this wonderful collection of images. Although the area is best known for its agrarian roots, the railroad operations were involved in so much more, from light industries that fed the auto industry to shipments of fish from Saginaw Bay into eastern markets. Return to a time when everyone knew the route of the "Polly-Ann," local citizens identified the time of day by the sound of a train whistle, and the arrival of a train crew nearly doubled a town's population. Many of the images in this book have never been seen before, or, if so, only in a family's living room, soon to be returned to grandpa's trunk in the attic. These images surfaced to introduce future generations to what railroading in the Thumb once was. In an age when many of these railroad lines have disappeared, it can be hard to believe how many once crisscrossed this area.