About this Exhibit
Over 100 years have passed since the devastating fires detailed in this exhibit burned through northeastern Minnesota, but natural disasters are still in the news. Though some circumstances have changed, our lives and livelihoods remain at risk due to conditions that are only partially under our control.
We developed this exhibit to explore the causes and effects of the fires of 1918 on the Cloquet-Moose Lake region as well as the rest of the state. By combining survivor stories with photographs taken shortly afterwards, this exhibit offers a first-hand glimpse into the experiences of those who survived the fires. We hope their stories have inspired you, and given you reasons to ensure something like this does not happen again.
Stephanie Hess, Exhibit Curator
Molly Huber, Editor
Related Resources
The stories in this exhibit are a small sample of the life-altering experiences of the 1918 fires. If you are interested in learning more about the fires, such as the personal testimony and the legal battles afterwards, check out these resources:
- 1918 Fire Stories. Moose Lake, Minn.: Moose Lake Area Historical Society, 2003.
- Brown, Curt. Minnesota 1918: When Flu, Fire, and War Ravaged the State. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 2018.
- Carroll, Francis M., and Franklin R. Raiter. “The People versus the Government: The 1918 Cloquet Fire and the Struggle for Compensation.” Journal of Forest History, vol. 29, no. 1, 1985, pp. 4–21. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/4004968 (accessed Aug. 17, 2023).
- Carroll, Francis M., and Franklin R. Raiter. The Fires of Autumn: The Cloquet-Moose Lake Disasters of 1918. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1990.
- “Cloquet Fire (1918): Topics in Chronicling America.” Library of Congress. https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-cloquet-fire (accessed August 31, 2023).
- Cox, William T. Annual Report of the State Forestry Board of the State of Minnesota for the year ending July 31, 1918. Minnesota Forestry Board, 1918. https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll11:285 (accessed August 31, 2023).
- “The Fires of 1918 Research Guide.” University of Minnesota Duluth Archives and Special Collections, July 2023. https://libguides.d.umn.edu/1918fire and https://libguides.d.umn.edu/1918fire/docs (accessed August 31, 2023).
- Hollingsworth, Jana. “Historic wildfires once destroyed entire cities in northern Minnesota. Could it happen again?” Star Tribune, October 1, 2021. https://www.startribune.com/1894-1918-wildfire-hinckley-cloquet-moose-lake-greenwood/600097049/ (accessed August 31, 2023).
- Jacobson, Connie. Hellfire in Hermantown: The 1918 Forest Fires and How They Affected Hermantown. Brule, WI: Savage Press, 2018.
- Minnesota Forest Fires Relief Commission. Final Report of Minnesota Forest Fires Relief Commission. Duluth, MN: N.p., 1921 (accessed September 13, 2023).
- “Minnesota’s Fiercest Fires: Moose Lake, 1918.” Public Broadcasting Service, aired November 13, 2012. https://www.pbs.org/video/moose-lake-1918-23898/ (accessed August 31, 2023).
- “Moose Lake and Cloquet Fires of October 1918: 100th Anniversary of Devastating Wildfires.” Duluth Office, National Weather Service. https://www.weather.gov/dlh/MooseLake_Cloquet_1918Fires (accessed August 31, 2023).
- Nelson, Paul. "Cloquet, Duluth, and Moose Lake Fires, 1918." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/event/cloquet-duluth-and-moose-lake-fires-1918 (accessed August 31, 2023).
- Norrgard, Chantal. “Welfare State, Settler State: Ojibwes, Social Citizenship, and Disaster Relief in the Great Fire of 1918.” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, vol. 14, no. 4, 2015, pp. 521–30. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43903532 (accessed Aug. 17, 2023).
- Richardson, H. W. “The Northeastern Minnesota Forest Fires of October 12, 1918.” Geographical Review, vol. 7, no. 4, 1919, pp. 220–32. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/207371 (accessed Aug. 17, 2023).
- Skalko, Christine and Marlene Wisuri. Fire Storm: The Great Fires of 1918. Cloquet, Minn.: Carlton County Historical Society, 2003.
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