ABSTRACT
Fires crackled and burned in the Wisconsin woods during the fall of 1871. Farmers and lumber workers had spent days putting out the fires; just when they would think it was over, another spark would send the woods up in flames. Frustrated, the people searched the sky, desperate for rain. Churches held prayer meetings asking for the much-needed moisture, but the only clouds were those that held smoke and cinders. On Sunday evening, October 8, the citizens of the town of Peshtigo were getting ready for bed when they heard a roaring sound. Looking out their windows, they saw the skies turn a blazing red. The forest that surrounded the lumber town was in flames. Desperate parents pulled their children from bed and ran to the river in their nightgowns and underclothes. The heat of the fire was already so strong that breathing caused their lungs to burn.
