Hello Barb (and list),
<<<<"Mark, Im new to the meteorite-list but surmise from reading that
youve got a good handle on meteorite history. Do you have any insight into
the following:"
I am going to assume (you know what they say about that) and guess that you
were directly this question to me, there are a few Marks here (but many more
Mike's). I get a couple dozen like e-mails a month through my website, and
I am somewhat a meteorite historian, so I am not going to far out here.
<<<<"A piece of this specimen is at ASU for positive ID. It is stoney, does
not attract a magnet, with lots of large condrules. The time (1881) may be
off a few years. It belongs to a friend of ours."
Glad to hear that. ASU will surely be able to tell you what it is...or at
least if it is a meteorite.
<<<<"In 1881 Andrew Jackson Warner was driving a stagecoach approximately
fifteen miles west of Rose City Michigan when he heard what he described as
a train passing over his head. Looking up he saw a large rock plunge to the
ground in front and to the side of his route. He stopped the stage, got off
and walked to where the rock had come to rest. It was slightly imbedded in
the ground but was not hot enough to start a fire. He got back on the stage
and drove to his destination Damon Michigan about nine miles away.
<<<<He put the stage away then hooked the horses to a large wooden sled
called a stone boat. He returned to the impact site and using the horses he
pulled the rock upon the sled. He estimated it weighed about 900 pounds. He
secured it to the sled with wire and pulled it into Damon and off loaded it
at the Damon School Yard where it lay for over 75 years. Over the years
about twenty pounds was chipped away for souvenirs.
<<<<Warners great-great-great grandson retrieved it from the school yard
and has it stored in a garage. The remaining mass and pieces total about 750
pounds.
<<<<Damon was a logging camp which was abandoned years ago."
Interestingly there is a Rose City, Michigan meteorite. It fell October
17th, 1921 and was the fourth meteorite known from Michigan, the second seen
to fall.
On the event you described, there is not much I can really tell you from
what you have supplied. If I was given a date of the reported fall, I could
check my archives for Michigan and area meteor reports from that time. I
included a couple meteor reports below as a example. (For those outside of
the US, Indiana is below Michigan.) I should also note that even if I could
match up a date and a meteor report, there would of course be no way of
proving the two events were related.
Good luck with your submission, and should you have any other questions,
feel free to ask myself, or the list in general.
Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.imca.cc
Paper: Fort Wayne Daily Gazette
City: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: Sunday Morning, September 25, 1881
Page: 2 (of 8)
Under "CITY NEWS."
A meteor of surprising brilliancy was observed last night, falling due
west at an angle of about 80 degrees, and disappearing from view in the
northwest. It started falling at 11 h. 22 m. 33 s., Fort Wayne time, and
finished 6 seconds later. To-day will be fine and clear though somewhat
windy.
(end)
Paper: Fort Wayne Daily Gazette
City: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: Thursday Morning, October 6, 1881
Page: 2 (of 8)
A Southern Meteor.
Tuesday night about 10 o'clock the residents in the upper portion of
the city were treated to a meteoric exhibition of wonderful brilliancy. The
meteor seemed to shoot across the sky from south-west to north-east, its
path being marked by a radiance far greater than that of the electric light.
It finally exploded, sending out burning fragments or coruscations in every
direction. The writer is informed by persons who saw the meteor that it was
accompanied by a whizzing sound, and that the noise of the explosion was so
loud that they momentarily expected to hear the fragments falling.
(end)
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