The New Madrid earthquakes were the biggest earthquakes in American history. They occurred in the central Mississippi Valley, but were felt as far away as New York City, Boston, Montreal, and Washington D.C. President James Madison and his wife Dolly felt them in the White House. Church bells rang in Boston.
From December 16, 1811 through March of 1812 there were over 2,000 earthquakes in the central Midwest, and between 6,000-10,000 earthquakes in the Bootheel of Missouri where New Madrid is 
located near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. In the known history of the world, no other earthquakes have lasted so long or produced so much evidence of damage as the New Madrid earthquakes.
Three of the earthquakes are on the list of America’s top earthquakes: the first one on December 16, 1811, a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale; the second on January 23, 1812, at 7.8; and the third on February 7, 1812, at as much as 8.8 magnitude. After the February 7 earthquake, boatmen reported that the Mississippi actually ran backwards for several hours. The force of the land upheaval 15 miles south of New Madrid created Reelfoot Lake, drowned the inhabitants of an Indian village; turned the river against itself to flow backwards; devastated thousands of acres of virgin forest; and created two temporary waterfalls in the Mississippi. Boatmen on flatboats actually survived this experience and lived to tell the tale.
As the general area experienced more than 2,000 earthquakes in five months, people discovered that most of crevices opening up during an earthquake ran from north to south, and when the earth began moving, they would chop down trees in an east- west direction and hold on using the tree as a bridge. There were “missing people” who were most likely swallowed up by th
e earth. Some earthquake fissures were as long as five miles. Lights flashed from the ground, caused by quartz crystals being squeezed. The phenomena is called “seismoluminescence.” The skies turned dark during the earthquakes, so dark that lighted lamps didn’t help. The air smelled bad, and it was hard to breathe. It is speculated that it was smog containing dust particles caused by the eruption of warm water into cold air. Sounds of distant thunder and loud explosions accompanied the earthquakes. While the horrors of surviving these earthquakes was unimaginable, there is another side to the story. It is a story that even today it defies explanation.
The earthquakes were preceded by the appearance of a great comet, which was visible around the globe for seventeen months, and was at its brightest during the earthquakes. The comet, with an orbit of 3,065 years, was last seen during the time of Ramses II in Egypt. In 1811-1812, it was called “Tecumseh’s Comet”. Tecumseh was a Shawnee Indian leader w
hose name meant “Shooting Star” or “He who walks across the sky.” He was given this name at birth. A great orator and military leader, Tecumseh organized a confederation of Indian tribes to oppose the takeover of three million acres of Indian lands, which were obtained by the Treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809. His brother, a religious leader called “The Prophet,” had gained fame when he foretold the total eclipse of the sun on June 16, 1806.
During this time, the Governor of Indiana Territory William Henry Harrison–worried about The Prophet’s popularity–had challenged him to produce a miracle. After the day of the “Black Sun” the brothers had no trouble attracting followers. A Black Sun was said to predict a future war. On September 17, 1811 there was another solar eclipse—which, again, was predicted by The Prophet. In late September 1811, Tecumseh appeared at the Creek Confederacy’s annual council at the Indian town of Tuckhabatchee in what is now Alabama. Thousands of people were there, including white traders and government officials and all the important chiefs. He asked the tribes to join his confederation and to be patient, to not fight the whites until all the tribes had been united and the time was right. Then, all would strike simultaneously.
He promised aid from the British. He pointed to the Great Comet and told them that he, the ‘Panther Across the Sky,’ was sent by the Great Spirit. The comet had reached its brightest during his stay at Tuckhabatchee, so many were convinced by the omen, but his talk met with only mixed success. Frustrated by indifferent responses by some of the important Creek chiefs, Tecumseh angrily left the council. Before he departed he gave the leaders a “withering look” and 
said: “Your blood is white. You have taken my talk and the sticks (tobacco) and the wampum and the hatchet, but you do not mean to fight. I know the reason. You do not believe the Great Spirit has sent me. You shall know. I leave [here] directly and shall go straight to Detroit. When I arrive there, I will stamp my foot on the ground and shake down every house in Tuckhabatchee.” The Creeks, according to legend, began counting the days, figuring the time it should take Tecumseh to reach Detroit.
At about 2:15 a.m. on December 16th, the date they calculated for Tecumseh’s arrival, there was a sudden, loud rumbling. It was followed by noise that was described as similar to “the discharge of heavy artillery.” Then the earth began moving violently. Buildings shook and jumped. Trees were uprooted. There was a “complete saturation of the atmosphere with sulphurious vapor.” And, in fulfillment of Tecumseh’s prophecy, Tuckhabatchee was leveled. Every house in the Creek village collapsed into ruins, as did thousands of others throughout the Mississippi Valley.
It was the first of the New Madrid earthquakes—the most powerful series of quakes to ever hit the United States. 200 years later, we believe we know why the earth shook that day, why the ground cracked open and new lakes were formed, why the Mississippi ran backwards and changed its course. Today, we think we know what comets are made of and where they come from. We perhaps display arrogance, though, pretending to understand the means and methods of the Great Spirit. There is much yet undiscovered in both Heaven and Earth. Feel free to leave comments and be sure to hit the “Like” button at the bottom of this post.
