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.