The setting of small fires was a common way to clear forest land for
farming and railroad construction. The whole summer of 1871 was
unusually dry, and all the trees and grass were unusually flammable.
The high winds that blew in with a cold front on October 8 of that year
whipped up many small fires into a single enormous one, which killed
between 1,500 and 2,500 people.
That was the same day as the great Chicago fire, and there were also
major fires on the same day on the other side of Lake Michigan, that
destroyed large parts of towns in Michigan.
