Patterns of Anthropogenic Fire within the Midwestern Tallgrass Prairie 1673–1905: Evidence from Written Accounts

Abstract

We conducted literature searches of records from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to create a source bibliography of wildland fire descriptions occurring between 1673 and 1905. A total of 795 landscape fire records were identified within or near the eastern tallgrass prairie–forest transition region, including 32 attributed to Native Americans, 194 to Europeans from spontaneous records in the nineteenth century, and 569 to Europeans from a systematic dataset collected during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Minnesota. From these historical accounts, we find overwhelming evidence that a two- to three-week period during October and November, known then as “Indian summer,” was the primary wildland fire season. Our records indicate that Native Americans used fire primarily for hunting, whereas Euro-American fires were set to reduce fire hazards near their habitations, to eliminate crop residues, and to facilitate plowing, or they were escapes due to mere carelessness. Only five lightning-caused fires were identified. Individual fires frequently burned thousands of hectares, creating dense smoke, damaging trees, personal property, and occasionally burning inhabitants fatally. South and southwest were the most frequent wind directions during wildfires. Drought years, including 1796, 1819, 1856, and 1871, were characterized by extensive fires, which ultimately resulted in legislation to protect property owners and public welfare. Fire events for the study period are certainly underestimated by this dataset because only large, spectacular, threatening fires were recorded, especially during European settlement. In addition, our estimate of Native American fire frequency and prevalence is less than their historical/expected frequency, due to their widespread population collapse and changed hunting methods following contact and dispossession by Europeans.