On October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire tore through the city, killing 300 people and destroying some 17,000 wooden structures. It’s remembered today as one of the most infamous fires in American history, and most people know the story about Mrs. O’Leary cow’s allegedly starting the blaze by kicking over a lantern. But on the very same night, a far more deadly fire occurred some 250 miles north of Chicago: the Peshtigo Fire.
The deadliest fire in American history, the Peshtigo Fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, killed as many as 2,500 people in a single night. The entire town of Peshtigo went up in flames, and the devastation was so great that some have since speculated that the town was hit by a fiery comet.
Yet while the Great Chicago Fire became an important chapter in American history, the Peshtigo Fire has been all but forgotten. This is what happened on the terrible night in Wisconsin back in 1871.
The Town That Turned Into A Tinderbox
Three decades before the Peshtigo Fire, the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin was settled along the banks of the Peshtigo River. In 1838, the town’s first sawmill was built, and Peshtigo quickly became an important mill town in the region. It sent its abundant white pines down the river and through Lake Michigan, where timber from Peshtigo was consumed across the Midwest.
Unfortunately, Peshtigo’s industrial success made it vulnerable to fire…