774 



WISCONSIN 



miles in width and of indefinite length; for 

 the extraordinary, almost preternatural, man- 

 ner of its progress; and for the incalculable 

 amount of its destruction in property and in 

 human life. This deluge of fire swept over 

 four counties, and portions of two more, im- 

 mersing them, as it were, in a tempestuous sea 

 of flame, accompanied hy a most violent hur- 

 ricane, which multiplied the force of the de- 

 structive element. Forests, farm improve- 

 ments, and entire villages, were consumed, 

 and a very large number of men, women, and 

 children, perished. Even those who fled before 

 the fire and sought refuge in cleared fields, 

 swamps, lakes, and rivers, found no safety 

 there, multitudes of them having been either 

 burned, or died by suffocation or drowning. 



One of the towns swept out of existence 

 was Peshtigo, and its destruction is thus de- 

 scribed by the Milwaukee Relief Committee: 



The fire which destroyed Peshtigo occurred on the 

 evening of the 8th of October, and history has never 

 furnished a parallel to its terrible destructiveness. 

 Shortly after the church-going people had returned 

 from the evening service, an ominous sound was 

 heard, like the distant roar of the sea, or of a coming 

 storm. This increased in intensity, and soon the 

 inhabitants became apprehensive of coming danger. 

 Balls of fire were observed to fall like meteors in 

 different parts of the town, igniting whatever they 

 came in contact with. By this time the whole pop- 

 ulation were thoroughly aroused and alarmed, and 

 caught up their children and what valuables they 

 could hastily seize, and began to flee for a place of 

 safety. Now a bright light appeared in the south- 

 west horizon, gradually increasing till the heavens 

 were aglow with light. But a few moments elapsed 

 after this before the horrible tornado of fire came 

 upon the people, and enveloped them in flame, 

 smoke, burning sand, and cinders. Those who had 

 now reached the river or some other place of safety 

 were suffocated and burnt to a cinder before they 

 could advance a half-dozen steps farther. No pen 

 can describe, no brush can depict, the realities of that 

 night. Exaggeration would be utterly impossible. 

 It defies human ingenuity. 



The character of this fire was unlike any we have 

 ever seen described before. It was a flame fanned 

 by a hurricane, and accompanied with various elec- 

 trical phenomena. Those that survived the terrible 

 ordeal testify that they received electrical shocks, 

 while they saw electrical flames flash in the air and 

 dance over the surface of the earth around them, but 

 the flash was past in half an hour, though the fire 

 continued to burn during the whole night. The tor- 

 nado came from the southwest, and swept over a 

 tract of country eight or ten miles in width, and of 

 indefinite length. The timber in its course was 

 felled by the wind and burned by the fire, and every 

 vestige of fence and building was swept away, with 

 two or three exceptions. Sometimes the wind struck 

 the earth with such force that the small undergrowth 

 was torn up and heaped in rows, while at other 

 times it would skip away from the earth. The whole 

 population of Peshtigo village and of the fatm-lands 

 in its vicinity was 2,000, and fully one-third of those 

 perished on that fearful night. On the east shore of 

 the bay, reports place the loss of life fully as high as 

 at Peshtigo, making the entire loss of life reach the 

 fearfully large number of 1,200. Some of the bodies 

 were so thoroughly burned and consumed that they 

 could be scooped up and held in the double hands. 

 But the details and incidents are too harrowing to re- 

 late. We saw many children, some only one month 

 old, -which had been kept in the water the whole night, 



and yet survived. Some who -were too ill to walk were 

 taken from their beds and thrown into the water. 

 About fifteen per cent, of those injured are so badly 

 burned that it is impossible for them to recover. 

 The others will be able to return to business in a 

 month's time or less. The burns occurred most 

 frequently upon the feet, hands, and face, and nearly 

 all suffer from the inhalation of hot sand and cin- 

 ders, and from the usual pulmonary complications 

 of burns. The people have been literally stripped 

 of every thing. Not a vestige of house or fences, or 

 any thing of a combustible nature, remains. A more 

 desolate spectacle cannot be imagined or described. 



At the tidings of so great a calamity, Gov- 

 ernor Fairchild hastened to the place of suffer- 

 ing^ to provide for the relief of as much of it 

 as it was in his power to do. He also ap- 



Eealed to the humanity of the citizens of the 

 tate by the following proclamation : 



GREEN BAY, October 13, 1871. 

 To ihe People of Wisconsin : 



The accounts of the appalling calamity which has 

 fallen upon the east and west shores of Green Bay 

 have not been exaggerated. The burned district 

 comprises the counties of Oconto, Brown, Door, and 

 Kewaunee, and parts of Manitowoc and Outagamie. 

 The great loss of life and property has resulted from 

 the whirlwind of fire which swept over the country, 

 making the roads and avenues of escape impassable 

 with fallen timber and burned bridges. The long 

 drought had prepared every thing for the flames. 



The loss of life has been very great. The first 

 estimates were entirely inadequate, and even now it 

 is feared that it is much greater than present ac- 

 counts place it. It is known that at least 1,000 

 persons have been either burned, drowned, or smoth- 

 ered. Of these deaths 600 or more were at Peshtigo 

 and adjacent places, and the others in* Door, Ke- 

 waunee, and Brown Counties. Men are penetrating 

 that almost inaccessible region for the purpose of 

 affording relief, and I fear that their report will in- 

 crease this estimate. 



From the most reliable sources of information I 

 learn that not less than 3,000 men, women, and chil- 

 dren, have been rendered entirely destitute. Mothers 

 are left with fatherless children ; fathers with mother- 

 less children. Children are left homeless orphans. 

 Distress and intense suffering are on every hand, 

 where but a few days ago were comfort and happi- 

 ness. Scores of men, women, and little children, 

 now lie helplessly burned and maimed, in temporary 

 hospitals, cared for by their more fortunate neigh- 

 bors. 



These suffering people must be supplied with 

 food, bedding, clothing, feed for their cattle, and the 

 means of providing shelter during the winter. The 

 response by the good people of 'Wisconsin has al- 

 ready been prompt and generous in meeting the im- 

 mediate need, and is being faithfully and energeti- 

 cally distributed through the relief organizations at 

 Green Bay, but provision must be made for many 

 months in the future. 



There are wanted flour, salt and cured meats, rot 

 cooked, blankets, bedding, stoves, baled hay, build- 

 ing materials, lights, salt, farming implements and 

 tools, boots, shoes and clothing for men, women, 

 and children, log-chains, axes with handles, nails, 

 glass, and house-trimmings, and indeed every thing 

 needed by a farming community which has lost ev- 

 ery thing. 



To expedite the transfers at Green Bay, all boxes 

 should have cards attached to them, stating their 

 contents. All supplies should be sent to Belief 

 Committee of'Green Bay. Money contributed should 

 not be converted into supplies, but should be for- 

 warded to the committee. 



Depots have been established at Green Bay, under 

 the management of a committee of public-spirited 



