This research paper chronicles the great fire which destroyed the village of Peshtigo in northeastern Wisconsin on October 8, 1871 and analyzes its origins, consequences and aftermath.
During the late evening of Sunday, October 8, 1871, a great forest fire destroyed the village of Peshtigo, Wisconsin and went on to wreck havoc in the surrounding area, the farmlands, wooded areas, swamps and communities bordering on Green Bay and both sides of Lake Michigan. The total death toll from the fire and related perils, including injuries from falling debris, suffocation, drowning, exposure to the elements and suicide came to approximately 800 persons in Peshtigo and about 1200 in the area (Estep 1). Hardest hit were Peshtigo, Sugar Bush, a nearby farming community to the southwest in which 300 farm families lived, and the villages of Menekaune and Williamsonville, Wisconsin and Menominee, Michigan, to the north and east. Fourteen other towns and villages were damaged, including Marinette in the north and portions of Door and Kewaunee Counties to the East and settlements across Lake Michigan in Michigan. The fire torched 1.2 million in timberland and caused about $169 million in property damage (Estep 1). The Peshtigo fire occurred on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire which was allegedly sparked by a cow tipping over a lantern in Mrs. O'Leary's barn, but it caused many more fatalities in a much less densely populated area, 1200 vs. about 250 (Christianson 1).
At the time of the fire, Peshtigo was a booming village with a recorded population of 1500 swollen to over 2000 by hundreds of day laborers, mostly German immigrants, brought in to work in its factories and mills and on the nearby Chicago and Northwestern railroad line which was being extended. The village was bisected by the Peshtigo River and surrounded by nearby thick forests. The principal activities of the town centered around the timber and lumber industries, the fe...