Massive wildfires swept through the forests of Michigan & Wisconsin, engulfing the Midwest & East, then northeast U.S. in a yellow sky & blue sun from the smoke. Known at the "Thumb Fire" the entire thumb of Michigan's forests were burned. Entire towns burned, killing at least 282 & causing upwards of $65 million (inflation-adjusted) in damage. 3400 barns, homes & schools were destroyed. 15,000 people were reportedly left homeless. It is amazing the death toll was not higher as it burned more than 1 million acres in less than one day. This ranks up with the Minnesota Hinckley Fire of September 1894 (another big drought year that lasted through 1895), Great Fires of 1871 as some of the most destructive in Great Lakes history.