Excerpts

Brookston Population: 141 Incorporated: 1907 On October 12, at 4:30 in the afternoon, a fire was discovered along the Great Northern tracks at Milepost 62, four miles west of Brookston. It eventually destroyed Brookston and blackened 500 square miles of land. The Fire That Burned 500 Square Miles Brush fires, clearing fires, and railroad fires were smoldering all along the Great Northern Railway line from Floodwood to Cloquet during the fall of 1918. But on October 12, at 4:30 in the afternoon, a fire discovered along the Great Northern tracks at Milepost 62, four miles west of Brookston, eventually destroyed Brookston and blackened 500 square miles of land. The name Milepost 62 means little in this century, but it haunted an entire generation. On Thursday, October 10th, a passenger train from Duluth called the Wooden Shoe, after the conductor's wooden leg, stopped at Milepost 62 near a siding used for loading wood products. Ten thousand cords of pulpwood, railroad ties and cordwood, surrounded by wood chips and bark, lay in piles on both sides of the tracks, a tinderbox for train sparks. Farmers Steve Koskela and John Sundstrom, culling ties at the siding for Koskela's barn, noticed a column of smoke after the train pulled away. Dropping everything, they dashed over to the smoke to find a grass fire near the piles of wood, which quickly spread under the piles of cordwood. Unable to trample the fire, they rushed home for pails and shovels, and called for help to make a firebreak. By the time the section crew arrived at 6:00 p.m., businessmen and neighbors joined in the effort to contain the fire. When a strong northwest wind hit on the 12th, Koskela prepared his farm for a fire. He was able to save his family and house, but lost his stock and outbuildings. Two miles south of Brookston, John Iwasko and his wife moved their valuables to the root cellar. As the sun turned red from the smoke and burning leaves fell around the farm, Mrs. Iwasko hid in the root cellar while her husband went to release a team of horses from the burning barn. The fire hit in an instant, and blew the roof off while John ran to the creek, where he watched the fire destroy his horses. Meanwhile, his wife, suffocating in the cellar like so many in the fire, attempted a daring escape by wrapping herself in a blanket and running one hundred feet to the creek. unable to see and badly burned, she made it to the creek, saving her life. Mr. Iwasko carried her to Brookston for help, but by the time he got there, Brookston was gone. Back in Brookston, a town of 500 people, city Mayor Charles DeWitt was awakened by his wife at 2:00 p.m. He had just spent all night working for the railroad and woke to a rising wind, smoky air and a red sun. Soon, houses along the streets burst into flames from the intense heat, even before the fire emerged from the woods. By 4:10 p.m. a relief train carrying two hundred people left Brookston, only to encounter intense flames that scorched many of the refugees in the open gondola cars, including DeWitt, his wife, and their three small children. The blackened car and injured, hysterical refugees eventually made it to safety in Superior. Many people were killed attempting to flee by automobile, including sixteen-year-old Earl Miettunen's mother, who was thrown out of their car after hitting a tree in the road. She was never seen again. After reducing Brookston to ashes, the fire jumped the St. Louis river and spread rapidly inland across the Fond du Lac Ojibwe Indian reservation, where the Ojibwe people had no railroad access for safety. Grace Sheehy lived on a farm with her five children, aged eleven months to twelve years, while her husband, Paul, worked in the shipyards in Duluth. At 3:30, Mike Beargrease arrived to help carry the children to the neighbor's home. On the way, the fire crossed the road and they were forced to detour toward Cress Lakes. Luckily, a boat was moored on the lake, and Beargrease paddled them into the center of the lake, where they watched the fire burn all around them. Fifty-seven Ojibwe homes were destroyed, along with their livestock and feed crop. Prior to the fire, business in Brookston had boomed when the railroad arrived. Mr. C. A. Tester, a widower with six children, arrived from St. Paul to assume his role as the new depot agent. Along with a jail and depot, the J.F. Ryan Store, Epperson's General Store & post office, the Shurman Hotel, Mrs. Brittany's restaurant, and the Edlund & Olson Mercantile Company drew customers into town. In August 1905, land on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation opened for homestead settlement, and the Northern Lumber Company built a warehouse in Brookston, with plans to begin logging on the reservation. One year later, Rowe McCamus and his father, Samuel, commenced the publication of the Brookston Herald, which ended the day of the fire in 1918. The Most Infamous Fire in Minnesota History Named the worst fire in Minnesota history, the Milepost 62 Fire cut a swath of destruction forty miles long and twenty miles wide. By comparison, the Moose Lake-Kettle River fires scorched a piece of earth thirty-one miles long by fourteen miles wide. Four hundred and fifty-three people died in the area, and the financial loss topped $30,000,000. Brookston Today Although completely destroyed by fire in 1918, Brookston rebuilt. Located on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, the city is now home to the Brookston Community Center, the post office, Stony Brook Saloon, Colonial Homes, and Immanuel Lutheran Church, as well as The Doug Melin Ballpark. On the Fourth of July, the Community Club puts on a parade and fireworks extravaganza that draws up to 2,000 spectators. Brookston also features some good fishing; a boat landing on the St. Louis River provides access walleye, crappie, northern pike and catfish. Remarkably, only one Ojibwe person died in Brookston during the Mile 62 Fire, a little girl who fell from the wagon in which she and her family were fleeing the flames. The Ojibwe's knowledge of woodland living included coping with forest fires. Excerpted from Little Minnesota: 100 Towns Around 100 by Jill A. Johnson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.