Hello Rob and list,
In his 1975 book, Fallen from Heaven: Meteorites and Man, a compilation
of descriptions of some 100 falls and finds, Richard M. Pearl notes the
following regarding the Homestead fall:
"Between 10:20 and 10:30 p.m. on the cold winter night of Februrary 12,
1875, a tremendous ball of fire streaked across the Iowa sky from south
to north. It began to slow at an altitude of 2 1/2 miles. Great
detonations were heard, accompanied by a 'rushing, rumbling, and
crashing sound.' 'The observers....were quite overcome with
fear....horses shying, rearing, and plunging to get away, and dogs
retreating and barking with signs of fear.' The sight was visible from
St. Paul to St. Louis and from Omaha to Chicago, but, as is customary in
such events, the witnesses disagreed as to what they saw and heard.
This was the phenomenon that dropped the Homestead stony meteorite, over
100 pieces of which, weighing about 484 pounds, were picked up in Iowa
County between
Amana ( Amanda von der Hohe, settled by the communal Amana Society ) and
Boltonsville in the several years afterward. The first stone was found
on February 15, lying on the snow and sticking to the snow and ice
beneath. It had bounced from its original position. Professor Gustavus
Hinrichs, of Iowa State University, who taced its course, published in
St. Louis in 1905 an illustrated booklet in which he urged adoption of
the name Amana instead of Homestead. The railroad station at this
latter place became headquarters of the "meteor-brokers", where trading
at $2 a pound occurred. Other names that have been used include Iowa
County, in which it fell, Marengo, Sherlock ( Sarah Sherlock found the
first large piece, the "Sherlock stone" , weighing 7 pounds) and West
Liberty. Yale University has the largest collection, 35 kilograms."
The above is the entirety of Pearl's entry for Homestead. Hope this
helps.
Best wishes,
Charlie
--- Begin Message ---
Hello all-
I'm looking for any info about the falls of Allegan and/or Homestead. I have
the CatMet info but can't find much else in the way of description of the
falls or historical information.
Thanks in advance,
--
Rob Wesel
------------------
We are the music makers...and we are the dreamers of the dreams.
Willy Wonka, 1971
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