Sketch of the Great Fires in Wisconsin

The Peshtigo fire in Northeastern Wisconsin is the deadliest wildfire in recorded history, claiming somewhere between 1200 and 2500 lives. Estimates vary due to the fact that many victims were buried in mass graves. It burned between 1.2 and 1.5 million acres. It took place on October 8, 1871, and gets little notice because that was the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, which claimed around 300 lives and burned about 2000 acres. This contemporaneous account was put together by Frank Tilton, ed