October 8, 1871: The Peshtigo Fire

On this date in 1871, the deadliest fire in American history killed anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 people. If you believe today is the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, you're right. It was a devastating blaze, which left 90,000 people homeless. But most estimates place the number killed at 300.

But it was the Peshtigo, Wisconsin fire--which occurred on the same night--that I was referring to in the first sentence. This was not a coincidence, there were several major fires that evening in Michigan. The Midwest had endured a hot and dry summer in 1871, and a howling wind that night--estimated at 40 miles per hour--blew across the region and that guaranteed any small fire would turn into a conflagration.

Peshtigo, which is on the western shore of Green Bay, was a lumber town in 1871, and it was also home to the nation's largest woodenware factory.

In the 19th century, brush not needed by lumberjacks was often set afire in the fashion of the fall leaf fires utilized by suburbanites a couple of generations ago. And when the wind picked up on that awful night, so did the sparks--small fires combined to make one giant one. Farmers--some of whom had set fires to clear their fields--and townspeople were suddenly enveloped in literal tornadoes of fire. Trees were uprooted and then incinerated, rail cars were tossed and were incinerated as well--homes exploded. Some people simply burst into flames. Others took refuge in wells, swamps and rivers--some were boiled alive, others drowned. Wetlands were particularly deadly, marsh gases contributed to the inferno. Those who sought safety in Green Bay fared better.

The fire swept through the entire western shore of Green Bay and crossed into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The intensity of the Chicago Fire allowed it to cross the Chicago River--but the Peshtigo Fire made a twenty mile jump across Green Bay over to the Door Peninsula.

On my way back from my Upper Peninsula trip, I passed through Peshtigo, which is quiet town of 1,200, five hundred fewer than the town's population on October 8, 1871. As is my wont, I arrived late in the day, after closing time of the Peshtigo Fire Museum, which is pictured on the upper left. On the upper right is the sculpture that greets visitors to the museum.

About 350 victims of the fire are buried in a mass grave, pictured on the lower left. As for the wide estimate of the fire's fatalities--1,500 to 2,500--since entire families were killed, in many cases there was no one left to report the deaths. Some victims left behind only charred bones, others just ashes.

The Peshtigo Fire was studied by the US military during World War II, it sought to recreate a Peshtigo firestorm--and it succeeded in Dresden and Tokyo.

Related posts:

August 2, 1876: Dead man's hand and the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok

July 4, 1882: Buffalo Bill Cody and the birth of the rodeo

September 7, 1876: The defeat of Jesse James in Northfield, Minnesota

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