The forgotten story of the Great Peshtigo Fire, 1871

 “ But few families had enough money to simply abandon their land and start again someplace new.” (p. 7)  Definition: to leave forever

 “Farmers used fire to clear their land of tree stumps and brush left behind by the lumberjacks.” (pg. 6)  Definition: small trees and shrubs

 “By the morning, more than a billion trees were gone, and an area twice the size of Rhode Island was a sea of charred trees and ash.” (pg. 9)  Definition: burned

 “These rare fires happen when there are strong winds and large amounts of flammable material—like trees–to feed the flames.” (pg. 8)  Definition: likely to catch fire

 “Whipped up by the wind, the small fires in the forest grew bigger until, finally, they all joined together into one monstrous inferno.” (pg. 8)  Definition: a raging fire or place of intense heat

 “Just 40 years earlier, Chicago was a small town on a mosquito-ridden marsh.” (pg. 6)  Definition: an area of wet, low land

 “Little rain had fallen during the summer, and the entire Midwest of the United States was parched.” (pg. 6)  Definition: very dried out or thirsty

 “The river’s rushing waters carried the giant logs downstream to Peshtigo’s sawmill, where they were transformed into lumber for building.” (pg. 6)  Definition: a place where people use machines to saw logs into lumber

 “October 8 dawned unnaturally hot, and the sky glowed orange from the many small fires smoldering in the forest.” (pg. 7)  Definition: to burn and smoke slowly, usually with no flames